Here are the latest 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 JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on the recent massive Equifax Hack attack. (See the Troubling Trends section, near the end of this column.)
Precious Metals
The first 26:20 of this 33-minute mini-documentary is well worth watching: Silver vs. The World (Why I Went ALL IN On Silver) His reasoning is sound. If you don’t quite grok it, then watch the first 26:20 a second time.
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Wall St., Main St. Look For Gold To Extend Recent Gains
Stocks:
Stocks, Dollar Slide as Irma Bears Down, Korea Threat Lingers
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Time for some crash protection as US stocks hit record overvaluation
Commodities:
OPEC Fails To Cut Oil Exports Below 2016 Levels
Forex:
The slide continues: United States Dollar (USD) To Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rate History. Are you hedging yet?
Economy & Finance:
U.S. Investor Optimism Rises Again, Hits 17-Year High. JWR’s Comment: The standard advice in the prepper world about avoiding crowds also applies to investing!
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Jamie Dimon’s $13 Billion Secret—Revealed
Derivatives:
Compliance fears slow use of synthetic swaps to cut IM
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And in India: Nifty closes flat with positive bias
Troubling Trends (The Equifax Hack):
Equifax Says Cyberattack May Have Hit 143 Million Customers. (Warning: has auto-start video.) JWR’s Comment: By “customers” they mean just about anyone that they’ve compiled a credit report on. So if you are an adult wage earner with any form of credit (read: just one credit card) then you are probably one of those 143 million. Equifax and the other credit reporting agencies are great big vacuum cleaners for financial data. At the very minimum, they have lists of names and associated Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and that is troubling just in itself. Goodness know what other info got pilfered. Probably my mother’s maiden name and other little gems that could be used to facilitate identity theft. Charming.
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And to compound their public relations nightmare: Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Revealed
Tangibles Investing:
JWR Notes: The collectibles market can see huge price swings, so do your homework. Scarcity and condition are fairly easy to gauge. But the fickle hearts of collectors? Not so much.
Value of classic cars and fine art tumble, while musical instruments become hottest collectors’ item
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15 Collectibles That Are Completely Worthless (Such as Your McDonald’s Toys)
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. So 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!
Re Tangibles Investing:
For me and my family the tangibles that we invest in are simple things such as reading glasses, extra food, a dehydrator, a canner, canning jars, good clothing, silver. These are the tangibles everyone should invest in.
Well said Sam!