Economics and Investing:

We are now experiencing net withdrawals from the 401K market. This is bad news: WARNING: U.S. Ponzi Retirement Market In Big Trouble, Protect With Precious Metals

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Oil Majors Lower Risk: Favor Shale Over Offshore. Big oil has changed its strategy radically, investing much more in short cycle projects with high short-term yield.

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$540,701,000,000: U.S. Property Taxes Hit Record in 2016

JWR’s Comment: Here is a puzzler: When is private property not private? When you have to pay a yearly rent to your government. Do you think that you really “own” your land, even when there is no mortgage? Just stop paying your property taxes and find out who is in possession of it, three years later. High property taxes are particularly troubling to those of us who home school our children—since the “key service” funded by property taxes are public schools.

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The pundits claim: The US Dollar is Forecast to Rise Again

JWR’s Comment: Back in November as the U.S. Dollar (USD) was reaching a 10-year high, I advised SurvivalBlog readers to hedge into Swiss Francs. (CHF is the acronym for “Confederatio Helvetica” Franc.) More recently, the USD has lost ground to the CHF, confirming my expectations. I now expect a rebound in the USD for the next few months, and then a continuation of that slide, when the Dollar enters Summer Doldrums. If you haven’t done so already, it is wise to take a small hedge position in CHF. If you have a Paypal account with a positive balance, that is as simple as adding the Swiss Franc to your list of currencies, and making a balance transfer. Watch the Forex market closely and make the switch on an “up” day for the USD.

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