Category: Economics & Investing

Companies Stock Up as Commodities Prices Rise. (This sort of hedging can of course start a snowballing effect.) Why Global Food Price Inflation Really Matters   Reader B.B. highlighted this: As World Becomes Zimbabwefied, Cotton Futures Surge 17% In One Month Treasury TIPS: A Looming Disaster for Small Investors Inflation ‘Higher Than Official Statistics Reveal’. (An interview with Marc Faber.) Supermarket surprise: smaller servings, same price. Bond Market Flashes Inflation Warning: Jump in U.S. Treasury yields signals market fear that Fed is behind the curve on prices

Darin H. flagged a blog piece by Chris Martenson: How long can the party in stocks last? Several readers mentioned this new video from Future Money Trends: Gold This Decade. Jim Rickards on Reserve currency, hot money and global food price inflation. (Thanks to David W. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Shrug Off Mixed Unemployment Reports   Unemployment Falls to 9%, Lowest Since 2009   Regulators Shut Three Small Banks; 14 Failures in 2011   Why You Should be Buying Gold as the Fed Prints Money   Jim Rogers:  Obama is Ruining America  

E.M.B. sent this: Coming Soon: A 300-Percent Increase in Foreclosures Smoot-Hawley Redux: As the Greater Depression continues along a parallel pathway with the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress is about to commit the same blunder it made in 1930. (Thanks to C.D.V. for the link.) From Brett G. comes this link: Copper, Gold May Jump 30 Percent on Inflation Fear CoinWeek reports: Threat of Counterfeit Morgan Silver Dollars from China (Thanks to loyal content contributor R.D.F. for the link.) FDIC Friday Follies: Two more banks bit the dust on Friday, February 4th. (Both in Georgia.) Items from The Economatrix: …

More Investors Position for Possibility of U.S. Default Commentary from Spengler, over at The Asia Times: Food and Failed Arab States “First, they ignore you, then they ridicule you…” Now we seem to be getting to the ridicule stage: How Much is a Nickel Worth? More than Five Cents, Says Michael Lewis. (Thanks to Randy F. for the link.) I spotted this over at Zero Hedge: Ron Paul to Ask Fed Why After Trillions in Free Money, Unemployment is Still Sky High Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke Speech Helps Push Stocks Higher   Shoppers Shook Off the Snow in January, …

Episodes of Hyperinflation Reader Erik K. wrote: “I have to thank you for your post in SurvivalBlog on August 22, 2010 regarding a coming scarcity of sugar for 2011. After I read the article my wife and I went to our local big box store and purchased enough sugar to last our family for several years to come. We vacuum sealed the sugar in 5 gallon buckets using our iron, vacuum and mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. The buckets we used were free from a bakery and the cost of mylar and oxygen absorbers were $2.40 for each bucket. A …

‘Too Early to Declare Victory’ Fed May Not End Bond Buying. (Thanks to Jonathan C. for the link.) Phil F. flagged this: Which will it be, inflation or deflation? Maybe neither, maybe a run B.B. suggested: Bernanke, BLS Lie About Inflation: Dr. Doom Faber Former Treasury Secretary is A-Scared; Should You Be? Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Mixed a Day After the Dow Tops 12,000   Oil Prices Fluctuate On Egypt, Growing US Supplies   Winter Storms Expected to Slow US Economy Slightly   Gold and Silver Set to Resume Upward Trajectory   Donald Trump:  Things in the US Could …

Forecaster predicts the next crisis Bob Chapman: A Nation Exclusively Run For Corporate Interests. (Thanks to John R. for the link.) G.G. sent this: Egypt and the growing problem of global inflation. John also mentioned a guest post over at Zero Hedge: The Road to Madness Is Paved With $100 Bills Your Cheat Sheet to the 11 Countries Which Could Follow Egypt’s Lead Huge Winter Storm Threatens Wheat, Cattle Items from The Economatrix: Nine Signs that the Price of Oil is About to Soar Beyond $100 a Barrel   Less Than a 3% Drop in Asset Values Could Wipe Out …

Authoritarian governments start stockpiling food to fight public anger Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) Bank of America dealt another foreclosure blow in Nevada Items from The Economatrix: Energy Stocks Push Indexes Higher   Oil Prices Rise on Egypt Unrest, Brent Tops $100   Consumer Spending Up 0.7% In December   Egypt’s Economy Hurt as Travelers Avoid The Unrest   World Stocks Fall on Egypt Turmoil   Gold Premiums Highest Since 2004; China Stock Up

Egypt and Tunisia usher in the new era of global food revolutions G.G. flagged a piece by veteran investing guru Richard Russell (of Dow Theory fame): The Dollar Has Lost All Stability And Is Ready For A Crash B.B. sent this: Why the Smart Money is Trading Dollar Bills for Hard Assets Items from The Economatrix: All 100 Oz. Bars of Silver Gone in a Matter of Days Davos 2011: Roubini Says G-20 Has Become G-0   America Faces Biggest Deficit in History   Federal Reserve Concerned Over US Job Creation   UK Retailers Cut 10,000 Jobs Last Month   …

Rocky Mountain Power asks for 13.7% rate hike Reader Steve C. pointed us to a blog written by Barry Ritchie, a missionary in Honduras. Ritchie mentions that staple foods like rice and beans have nearly quadrupled just in the past year. Steve’s comment: “Food inflation is most certainly on the rise, and apparently even faster in those areas where folks can even less afford the increase.” The Downsizing of America:  Manufacturers Learn Creative Methods of Repackaging Inflation  

Bryan E. noted that Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has proposed a list of budget cuts that will total $500 Billion dollars in savings. “The Houston Cannonball” mentioned a link at Zero Hedge for a map of the dozens of riots in recent weeks across the globe that can be attributed to price hikes as well as a few price hikes in the US. Sue C. sent this: Budget deficit to hit $1.48 trillion. The congresscritters in Washington D.C. now have us swimming in red ink! Items from The Economatrix: Mike Ruppert:  The Beginning of Systemic Failure Regulators Shut Down …

G.G. suggested: Silver Coin Sales, ETF Outflows Show Divergence In Markets Jerry Robinson: State of the Union: Four Absurd “Solutions” to America’s Debt Crisis Foreclosure Document Fraud Drives Notaries to Take the Fifth Items from The Economatrix: Paper Money Madness:  Inflation-Fueled Economic Growth Does Not Indicate That An Economy Is Getting Stronger   Marc Faber Expects 10% Drop in S&P 500   Market Manipulation, Why Gold And Silver Have Declined   Roubini Says US Risks “Train Wreck” From Bond Vigilante Wrath   Financial Meltdown Was “Avoidable,” Inquiry Concludes 

Reader Donald M. sent this: The Fed Won’t Be Able to Combat Inflation by Raising Fed Funds Rate In the latest Daily Bell: US Panel Blames Banks for ’08 Meltdown, but not Central Banks John Browne: The Great Debt Shift. Here is a quote: “Two of the world’s largest economies, the EU ($16 trillion) and the US ($14 trillion), have become the leading practitioners of private-to-public debt shifting. The US has assumed the debts of banks, insurers, mortgage holders, and even entire industrial sectors. The European Union has done the same for entire states. The resulting public debt levels are, …

Watch Out For Hidden Inflation Costs As Packaging “Shrinks” World moves closer to food price shock Top 25 countries that could get crushed by food inflation World Food Prices Reach Nominal High What China’s Rising Inflation Means for You

John R. suggested this piece by Rick Ackerman: Finally, It’s the Fed That Has Become Too Big to Fail Reader AmEx (American Expatriate) sent this: Gold Holdings in ETPs Plunge Amid Signs of Recovery Nevada Unemployment: The Worst Gets Worse Items from The Economatrix: Second Wave of Housing Bust Hammers More Cities   Consumer Confidence Index Hits Eight-Month High   US Economy Contracting, Pound Plunges   World’s Economy Recovery Continues, Says Think Tank