Category: Economics & Investing

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review. Each month we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. We cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. What Did Gold Do in April? Gold prices started April steady, after gaining 8.1% in the first three months of this year. This changed on the 4th, when gold rallied after North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan. President Trump ordered a cruise missile strike boosing Gold. The Syrian airfield is thought to have been the staging point for …

Hugh, I love your site and read it almost daily. I was wondering if you know anything about Karatbars? One of my coworker’s pastor is promoting them. The ones he has shown me look like gold leaf on a business type card. Is this worth looking at, in your opinion? It’s European Euros currency exchange from what I see. Thanks for your time and input.

HJL’s Comment

Karatbars is nothing more than a multi-level marketing scheme.

U.S. Shale Rebound Hobbled By Higher Drilling Costs. While the U.S. oil majors are seeing earnings improve in the first quarter of 2017, breakeven prices are on the rise and could limit profitability of E&P’s o o o What The Gold Futures Curve Could Be Telling Us o o o Build Your Own Home DIY Without a Bank Loan: “Avoid Regulation, Crime and Floods” o o o Gold Manipulation And $1.2 Quadrillion In Derivatives o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

New Jersey Town Takes On Wells Fargo Bank: ‘They Stole Our Wealth’ – DSV o o o Economic Reality: Bottom 50% of Americans No Longer Matter. “The unfortunate truth of the matter is a record Half of American Families Live Paycheck to Paycheck.” o o o Central Banks’ Obsession with Price Stability Leads to Economic Instability o o o Analytical Charts – Jim Wyckoff Gold Scores a Solid 1st Quarter Performance o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Hello Hugh and Jim, Per Jim’s good advice, my wife and I have been taking nickels out of our pocket change each day and setting them aside. It has been an easy and painless way to simultaneously set aside some cash, hedge against inflation, and invest in industrial metals. Over the last couple of years, we have accumulated over $150 in nickels. I’m wondering now, at this point in time, whether it would be wiser to take the cash value from those nickels and use it to purchase pre-1965 “junk” silver coins, or retain the nickels as a store of …

Economic News for Preppers 10 Retirement Stats That Will Blow You Away. Think you’re ready to retire? These statistics might change your mind. – H.L. o o oE NY Times (‘Laughable Stunt By Plutocrats To Enrich Themselves’), WSJ (‘Ambitious Course Correction To Restore Broad-Based Prosperity’) Debate Trump’s Tax Plan o o o Wonder Woman was on to something “Counterfeiting money like that [Printing as much as they want] on a large scale like that would be a very potent economic weapon!” – DMC o o o Ford’s Profit Falls 35% on Recall Costs, Weaker U.S. Sales o o o SurvivalBlog …

Podcast: Despite the new ‘plan’, this is -still- a no-brainer tax strategy “The reason I’m skeptical, though, is that each and every line item in the tax code has a certain group of beneficiaries that’s willing to fight tooth and nail to keep it.” o o o A roundup of articles on the Trump Tax Policyfrom the TaxProf Blog o o o Gold Hostage To Stocks o o o The Healing Power of Gold and Silver – H.L. o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Cashless society getting closer, survey finds. “More than a third of Europeans and Americans would be happy to go without cash and rely on electronic forms of payment if they could, and at least 20 percent already pretty much do so, a study showed on Wednesday.” – G.G. o o o Government Employee Salaries Outpace Private-Sector Salaries by Double Digits for Similar Work. “Government employees earn roughly 17 percent more in total compensation than private-sector workers in similar jobs, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.” – G.G. o o o Canada’s Housing Bubble Explodes As Its Biggest …

Is The Deep State Creating Another “Crash Of 1929”? o o o Leo Nelissen is sounding like a Perma Bull, over at Seeking Alpha: The Market Is Overbought, But There Is Plenty Of Room In The Near Future. JWR’s Comment: The U.S. equities markets are starting to look “toppy” to me. It is high time to bail out and get into cash and metals. But shorting the market right now could prove deadly. o o o This bubble finally burst. Which one’s next? o o o Sweden’s Gold Reserves: 10,000 gold bars shrouded in Official Secrecy – H.L. o o …

SurvivalBlog reader MHL wrote in: “My son lives and works in Colorado (lucky guy); his father and I are in Ohio. With the offspring soon to celebrate a birthday, my husband wanted to gift the boy with money, which is always welcome no matter what one’s age, so he took cash and one of the kid’s bank deposit tickets to an Ohio branch of our son’s bank (Chase Bank). He was informed by the teller that unless we had an account with Chase, or were co-owners of the Colorado account that they could not accept cash for deposit. I’ll write …

Global Silver Mining Industry Productivity Falls To The Lowest In History o o o The French Election And A Gold Price Forecast o o o The Bullish Case For Oil Is Fading Fast. As the bullish case for oil is losing strength and the contango is back, major hedge funds have started to close some long positions. o o o How a $1.4 Billion ETF Gold Rush Rattled Mining Stocks Around the World o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Yet another take on the future of cash: Cash Is King No More – O.M. o o o Has The OPEC Deal Been A Success? While the prospect of a production cut extension seems good, OPEC’s decision will ultimately depend on whether or not the members view the cut as a success. o o o Gold Consolidating As French Vote Goes As Expected o o o The epic retirement crisis for older Americans: The median family of retirement age has $12,000 in savings. o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our …

Lee Adler: Warning Signs a Stock Market Crash Is Coming o o o Advice from Jeff Miller: Stock Exchange: How to Trade an Overbought Market o o o Over at Zero Hedge: How Heavy Is This? o o o Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Shuttering at a Record Pace – G.G. o o o Congress Considers Taxing 401(K) Contributions – B.B. o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Stop federal funding for universities and police that tolerate left-wing violence – D.S. o o o The last time this happened the market crashed o o o Gold Price Forecast: The Correction Into May Has Begun o o o The Great Retail Apocalypse: Americans spend more at bars and restaurants than at grocery stores. o o o The IRS Enlists Debt Collectors To Recover Overdue Taxes, ‘Placing A Bull’s-Eye On The Backs Of Low-Income Taxpayers’ And ‘Putting Out Barrels Of Honey For Scammers’ o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our …