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 nascent Digital Yuan sovereign cryptocurrency. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)
Precious Metals:
Silver and gold both dropped by about 4% on Thursday (September 16, 2021), in a kneejerk reaction to news of a 0.7% rise in U.S. retail sales. It seems that some silver investors haven’t thought through the impact of the recent spike in Dollar inflation. (The dollar figure of sales increased in part because prices increased.) Once they do realize this, then the metals will bounce back. But for now, this is a good buying opportunity, to add to your silver stack. Presently, you can buy a $1,000 face value bag of pre-1965 circulated (“junk”) 90% silver coins for just 20 times face value.
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Gold likely to make new highs by end of 2022, says Equitymaster’s Vijay Bhambwani.
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Arkadiusz Sieroń: Eurozone Impact On Gold: The ECB And The Phantom Taper.
Economy & Finance:
Top 10 Economic Predictions for the Next 10 Years.
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At Wolf Street: Proposed EV Tax Credits = Braindead Economic Policy +Last Thing the Booming EV Industry & EV-Hungry Consumers Need.
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News from England: Nearly one in five shoppers has been refused cash sale.
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A “Rare Disconnect” Between Prices And Fundamentals Emerges In Latest Fund Manager Survey.
Commodities:
H.L. sent us this: Chip Shortage Drives Tech Companies and Car Makers Closer.
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OilPrice News reports: Oil Jumps To Six-Week High On Brighter Demand Outlook.
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U.S. Gasoline Prices Hit 7-Year High.
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Aluminum Tops $3,000 For First Time Since 2008 On Supply Woes.
Inflation Watch:
Pay attention, folks: ‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry is betting that interest rates are about to go up.
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One Of The Largest US Supermarket Chains Warns Inflation Is About To Impact More Americans.
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Counterfeit Capitalism: Why a Monopolized Economy Leads to Inflation and Shortages.
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At Wolf Street: Americans Expect their Earnings to Get Whacked by Red-Hot Inflation, Blow Off Fed’s Sermons about “Temporary”.
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At the FEE website: Media Attempt to Downplay Alarming New Inflation Report.
Forex & Cryptos:
Fitch Upgrades Taiwan, China to ‘AA’; Outlook Stable.
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Five Key Drivers of the Forex Markets.
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Back in May and June of 2021, the mass media headlines were replete with stories of China cracking down on crypto miners and exchanges. My speculation is that this was part of the rollout strategy for the Digital Yuan – their planned sovereign cryptocurrency. Let’s not forget that China has a still largely centrally-planned economy. I believe that their “crackdown on private crypto competition” phase was planned to take place 12 months in advance of a soft launch of the Digital Yuan. If so, then that would make that May of 2022. A full public introduction would probably be three months later, assuming that they will allow time to work out all of the kinks. – JWR
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Crypto: Litecoin Dump, NFT Bets, and Coinbase Debt.
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5 Best Cryptocurrency to Buy for Long Term Returns September 2021 Week 3
Tangibles Investing:
Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) is continuing its weekend sales on complete M4 Freedom Classic Upper and Lower Assemblies. Just slap an upper on a lower, add a magazine and your choice of irons or an optic, and you have a complete M4gery Carbine. I’ve noticed that they’ve been alternating between black, flat dark earth (FDE), and olive drab (OD) furniture for these uppers and lowers — a different color, each weekend. To see these Upper and Lower Assemblies, click on “Daily Deals” at the Palmetto State Armory website. This weekend, it is olive drab, on sale. (Put “7779347″ in their search box.) A side note: President Biden will very likely soon be replaced by the Maoist and rabidly anti-gun President Harris, so consider these M4s a great investment. (Although it is rumored that the Democrats may choose to dump Harris, first.) Regardless, stack them deep!
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Housing Market Forecast 2021 & 2022: Is Crash Coming Next?
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 or 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!