Economics & Investing For Preppers

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. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at prospects for a digital Euro currency and a new Digital Dollar..

Precious Metals:

The past week has been a rollercoaster ride for silver, gold, and platinum. On Monday, September 21st, the price of silver broke down 9%. It got as low $22.55 on September 25th. But this morning it was back up to 23.33. This level of volatility in silver and gold can be frightening. But we need to step back and look at the big picture. Here is some long-term perspective: Golden Bulls: Visualizing the Price of Gold from 1915-2020.

And always remember this: Gold and silver are not becoming “more valuable”.  The “rising price” of commodities merely reflects the U.S. Dollar gradually becoming worthless.

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Is The COMEX Fudging Physical Delivery Data?

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Despite Mint Closures, Silver Bullion Sales Surge Past 2019 Numbers

Economy & Finance:

At Seeking Alpha: Barclays sees valuations at dot-com bubble levels, cuts megacaps

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Martin W. Armstrong: Leaked files Expose $2.7 trillion Money Laundering by Big Banks

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Wolf Street reports: Hit from All Sides, European Bank Stocks Swoon to 1988 Low

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“He Needs Cash”: Ron Perelman’s Leveraged Empire Collapses In A Deluge Of Fire Sales

Commodities:

H.L. sent us this: GE is getting out of the coal power business

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OilPrice News reports: The Tipping Point For Mass EV Adoption

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I missed seeing this piece by Rick Mills when it was posted back in February:  The Copper Market Is A Coiled Spring

Derivatives:

Marketwatch posted this report: Global Triennial OTC Derivatives Market 2020 with COVID-19 impact on Industry: Growth Global Industry Size, Top manufacturers Entry, Analysis, Share, Showing Impressive Growth rate. JWR’s Comment:  In times of uncertainty like these, hedging has become a must for the banking and industry giants.  However, that also creates a different sort of risk of its own.

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Swap Margin Rule Changes  — Seeking a Delay

Tangibles Investing:

A last-minute update: Details were just released on the high bidders in the auction of Remington’s assets:

  • Vista Outdoor Inc. for its Lonoke ammunition business and certain IP assets
  • Roundhill Group LLC for its non-Marlin firearms business
  • Sierra Bullets LLC for its Barnes ammunitions business
  • Sturm, Ruger, & Co. for its Marlin firearms business
  • JJE Capital Holdings LLC (the parent company of Palmetto State Armory) for DPMS, H&R, Stormlake, AAC, and Parker brands
  • Franklin Armory Holdings Inc. for Bushmaster brand and some related assets
  • Sportsman’s Warehouse Inc. for Tapco brands

Cryptos:

Digital euro will not be a substitute for cash: ECB President. JWR’s Comments: The digital Euro may be a blockchain-based derivation of the current EC Card system.

The nascent sovereign cryptocurrencies are troubling. They lack the inherent opaqueness of private cryptocurrencies.  The state-issued cryptos will indeed have security, but they will be 100% tracked and fully taxable. They also represent the ultimate in state power. If for any reason, an individual is deemed an enemy of the state, their national e-currency can be frozen or seized in the blink of an eye, leaving that individual unable to legally work or transact any business. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Think tangibles. I’ll soon be posting a short feature article about what I’ve dubbed The 20 “S” Tangible Investments. Stay tuned.

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Though still in the planning stages, this doesn’t bode well: Unprecedented Monetary Overhaul: Fed Preparing To Deposit Digital Dollars Directly To Each American

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How BTC Held On Exchanges Matches Bitcoin’s Deadliest Drop Yet

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Crooked police chief sentenced to 8 years for dark web shenanigans

 

Tangibles Investing

Home prices suddenly see biggest gains in two years.

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‘The housing market is on a sugar high’: Home sales are soaring, but is it a good time to buy? Here’s what the experts say

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We’ve reported on this before, but now the trend is accelerating: U-Haul prices jump amid high-tax city, state exodus

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 closely watch specific markets. If you spot any news that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, then please send it in. News items from local news outlets that are missed by the news wire services are especially appreciated. And it need not be only about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!




13 Comments

    1. YEP, or de-monetize you ( Alex Jones- and on YouTube conservatives/ice age/chemtrails etc), defund you, close down your “Go Fund Me” page (Rittenhouse), close your credit account( Warne scope mounts), or just by “accident”- or “fraudulent charges” that cause them to “re-issue” another card- 2 weeks wait, charges that the card company ” doesn’t recognize or think it is a legit charge”

  1. So the fed is discussing a proposal that “that the proposal “would create a new payments instrument, digital cash, which would be just like the physical currency issued by central banks today, but in a digital form and, potentially, without the anonymity of physical currency,” admitting they can crack the public’s privacy data as they please.”
    If this passes & paper dollars are removed from the marketplace, the fed could track everything that one buys w/ that digital cash. Any gun purchase from a private seller, or at a gun show, every box of ammo, every prep one buys locally or from ebay or amazon, would be tracked by the fed, creating another Big Brother in addition to the NSA (Nat’l Security Agency). Private transactions would cease to exist, except in barter.

  2. I despise the banks these days and keep very little in my checking account, just what’s necessary to pay a few bills. My parents called me the other day and asked if I thought they should reduce the amount of money in their checking account and keep some cash in the safe. Of course, that is what I would recommend to anyone. So….they went to withdraw $20k from the bank. The banker told them “We don’t keep that much cash on hand. It will take a week to get the cash for you and the maximum we can provide to you is $4k per week”. It’s going to take 5 weeks to get their cash from the bank. Is this now the current trend?

    1. Butch… and that may possibly fall in category of submitting SAR ( Suspicious Activity Report) … would ask if that amount triggers the report… don’t know if SAR(s) are still current… I can say that getting ones $$$ out of the bank is a major challenge under current regulations that were enacted during Obama administration

        1. Butch, if that was my parents, I’d suggest that they call the bank to cancel that withdrawal -to avoid the attention. Then in maybe 3 weeks, withdraw a smaller amount, maybe $2-3K. Make a withdrawal of $17500-3500 every 2-4 weeks, until they get their 20K. (Not sure if there’s any value of withdrawing different amounts, to prevent anyone from noticing a pattern.)

  3. I’m pretty sure the trigger level for SARs is $10,000. At least it was at the time I retired (2017).
    There are multiple laws against “smurfing”, that’s the practice of structuring withdrawals, payments or sales to keep them below the trigger level to avoid the attention of various Federal agencies (DEA, IRS, etc.)
    Just for consideration.

    Retired Cop

  4. Ah, Ron Perelman. His net worth “plummetted from $19 billion to “just” $4.2 billion.

    I doubt I would be interested in any of what he is selling.

    This from the article: Perelman has his skeptics, including Richard Hack, who wrote a book about him in 1996.

    Hack concluded: “If you want a simpler life, you go buy a farm in Oklahoma, not sell a painting out of your townhouse in Manhattan. If he’s selling his art, it’s because he needs cash.”

    Sigh.

    Carry on

Comments are closed.