Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in Valmet rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
Allen Sykora: Sentiment Upbeat On Palladium, Less Dubious Of Platinum: UBS
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“I’m Not a Gold Bug – You’re a Dollar Bug!”
Economy & Finance:
At Zero Hedge: Is It Time To Start Worrying About China’s Debt Default Avalanche?
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Blog reader H.L. spotted this: America’s largest cities drowning in debt, with Chicago leading the way, study finds. The Fox News piece by Frank Miles begins:
“America’s 10 largest cities, largely Democrat strongholds, are drowning in municipal debt, according to a new report from government watchdog Truth in Accounting.
The report sought out “to determine what … overlapping financial entities mean for taxpayers’ bottom line.” Truth in Accounting said its purpose was to “calculate the various bills (and surpluses, when available) at the city government level and divide them out to determine a per-Taxpayer Burden.”
The two cities with the highest burden: Chicago and New York City; Chicago’s combined taxpayer burden: $119,110; New York City’s combined taxpayer burden: $85,600.”
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Deutsche Bank Death Spiral Hits Historic Low. European Banks Get Re-Hammered
Commodities:
Xi Sends Trump A Message: Rare-Earth Export Ban Is Coming
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OPEC Considers Extending Production Cuts Till End-2019
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Nickel Prices Could “Go Through The Roof”; Watch For Signs – Expert
Forex & Cryptos:
Lambo-Lusting Britons Lose $34 Million to Forex and Bitcoin Investment Scams
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Tether Ordered to Freeze Transfers to Bitfinex by New York Supreme Court
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Aussie Bitcoin Miner Retrofits Government Computers, Faces 10 Years in Prison
Here is how the CCN article begins:
“A man from Sydney, Australia will appear in court on Tuesday after turning a government computer into a bitcoin mining rig. He allegedly mined $9,000 worth of cryptocurrency on the modified machine.
The 33-year old IT contractor allegedly tweaked the federal government computers to optimize them for bitcoin mining. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of ten years in prison.”
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IRS Says It Will ‘Soon’ Issue Crypto Tax Guidance in First Since 2014
At Seeking Alpha: No, All Isn’t Clear For Bitcoin Yet
Tangibles Investing (Valmet Rifles):
The Valmet international conglomerate–headquartered in Finland–s best known for its agricultural machinery. (Shown.) Almost forgotten is their history as a firearms manufacturer. Up until the 1990s, they made what was considered by many experts to be “The Cadillac of AKs.” They company got their start making guns during WWII. But it was when they transitioned to making variants of the Kalashnikov family of battle rifles that they caught the attention of American gun collectors. It was a Valmet Model 76 that Robin Williams carried, in the campy 1983 movie “Survivors.” And it was the Valmet Model 82 bullpup that was featured in the “future war” vignettes in the original Terminator film.
Starting with the Valmet Model 62, and ending with the 92 series, Valmet used precision machining to produce some fantastic AKs. Valmets were only imported in small numbers from the 1970s to the early 1990s. They are now incredibly collectible, and their prices have gone stratospheric in the past two years. Although you can still find some Valmets at guns shows under $3,000, they often sell on GunBroker.com for $4,000 to $7,000.
So keep your eyes open for the Valmet Model 62, 76, 78, and 82, when perusing gun show tables. As with most other collectibles, it is “mint condition, in original box” specimens that fetch the highest prices.
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The HK91 magazines, parts, and accessories that I’m liquidating over at the FALFiles are selling out rapidly. If you are an HK rifle owner, then please take a look. I was digging in JASBOOR on Tuesday morning, and I found another big tote bin with 113 more HK-made and Rheinmettal-made G3 200 round HK91-compatible magazines that I had missed. They are mostly steel, and these are some of the most “minty” of all.It may be a few days before I get those sorted and added to that FALFiles post. Stay tuned.
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers.
News Tips:
Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who particularly watch individual markets. And due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” investing news. We often get the scoop on economic and investing news that is probably ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
James, what does “JASBORR” stand for? I’ve heard of all kinds of other, mostly military-originating, acronyms. But I can’t figure out what this means.
Thanks!
Jim’a Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy.
Ha! Makes perfect sense now. I’ve got a few of those too. Some so secret I can’t find them anymore!!
Xi Sends Trump A Message: Rare-Earth Export Ban Is Coming
I just heard about an interesting and previously unknown to me source of Rare Earth minerals. It turns out that ‘clean coal’ leaves huge amounts of ash and non-combustible material behind. Makes sense. Within this ash, governments now wondering what to do with it, are hundreds of years supply, at the US current use rates, of Rare Earth minerals, if we have the political will to extract them. Coal is hated so much by the leftists that use of the ash material will probably made illegal and treated as Hazmat to be buried in the Nevada desert, when in the least, it could be used as fertilizer and fertilizer additives in sparse enough amounts. There’s got to be just a tad (sarcastically) of nitrogen in there.
Deutsche Bank and Bitcoin (and Fintech)
Yep, hows that short banks – long Fintech trade working so far? I have Venmo and Square’s Cash App on my phone. I like the Cash App better. And, you can buy Bitcoin right in the app, no muss, no fuss. Before somebody goes all Gray Man at me about using Fintech, uh, they know where your US dollars are already.
Cities in debt
For New York and Chitown that debt is on top an estimated Federal debt of $85,000 per person. Workin’ for the company store!
Aussie Bitcoin Miner
How many years does the Aussie government get if it modifies your personal computer? What’s that? Oh, I see.
This information is from the wyomingmining ~ Webpage from the Wyoming Mining Association. =
“Northeast Wyoming is home to one of the highest grade rare earths deposits in North America, currently under development.” [Wyoming is in the Redoubt.]
“Rare earth elements (REE) are naturally occurring materials with unique properties that make them essential to new technologies. REEs include 17 elements that share similar chemical properties, which give them the ability to discharge and accept electrons, making them an integral component of many modern day electronic, optical, magnetic, and catalytic uses.”
“Despite their name, REEs are actually commonly found on the Earth, but most do not occur in large enough quantities and high enough concentrations to mine easily.”
“From 1940 to 1990, the United States produced and mined its own rare earth minerals. Mountain Pass mine in California was the biggest resource in the country.”
“Until the 1980s the U.S. was one of the world’s largest producers. … China has increased production by more than 500% since 1990 due to its substantial deposits and ~~>cheap labor.” (Economic Slaves)
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Me = Apparently, the California mine was the resource available in the USA. … Trump and his advisers seem to have a plan for every contingency with China. Hopefully, there is one for Rare Earth Elements too.
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Also from Wyoming Mining Association: ‘Wyoming, the nation’s leading coal producer since 1986, provides about 40% of America’s coal through the top 10 producing mines located in the Powder River Basin.”
“Most Wyoming coal is sub-bituminous, which makes it an attractive choice for power plants because it has less sulfur and burns at around 8,400 to 8,800 BTUs per pound. Wyoming coal is considered clean burning, which means it is better for the environment.’
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Trump and his advisers have been planning on how to Make America Great Again for years. [The people (Including many Americans) that want to destroy America as we know it; also, want Trump gone way back in 2016]
$4000-$7000 for a Valmet ?
Wow ! Had a chance to buy one back in the 90’s, but it was in the smaller caliber plus the shop was asking $1700 for something that felt like more of an antique then a viable shooting piece.
Too bad they couldn’t import some of the newer models.