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 study the news of announced layoffs and planned layoffs. (See the Economy & Finance section.)
Precious Metals:
Gold to Silver Ratio Still Favors Gold. JWR’s Comments: When I checked on Friday, the ratio was a whopping 90.22-to-1. For those who invest in precious metals for the long haul (multi-generationally), this is another good time to ratio trade out of gold into silver.
Meanwhile, the gold-to-platinum ratio is also seriously out of whack. You can now buy almost two ounces of platinum for the cost of an ounce of gold. So this is a good time to trade some gold for platinum. Presently, my favorite platinum coins are the 1/4-ounce, and 1/2-ounce US. Mint Platinum Liberty.
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The Most Overrated Silver Coin in the World.
Economy & Finance:
Ford confirms cutting 3,000 jobs as it pushes towards electric.
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Tech companies chop hundreds of Bay Area jobs as layoffs mount. JWR’s Comment: This doesn’t include the 1,000+ layoffs expected when Broadcom‘s $61 Billion acquisition of VMWare is completed. And there will probably be many other pre-Thanksgiving layoffs by tech companies in the Bay Area, as the realization of the recession sinks in.
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Layoffs are in the works at half of companies, PwC survey shows.
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97 percent of execs say US in recession despite Biden’s definition change.
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The latest “deep pockets” lawsuit: Georgia jury awards $1.7 billion in Ford F-250 truck crash.
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At Wolf Street: Inventory Shortages & Gluts, by Retailer Segment: Where They Are and Why.
Commodities:
H.L. sent us this:
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OilPrice News reports: Aluminum Smelters Shutter Operations In Europe As Power Prices Soar.
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Europe’s Gas Price Is Now Equivalent To $410 Per Barrel Of Oil. JWR’s Comments: This is playing out just as I had warned folks, when Russia invaded Ukraine: Bartertown: “Embargo on!” At least for now, the Russians hold the keys to the kingdom.
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Reader C.B. spotted this: Sulfur shortage: A potential resource crisis looming as the world decarbonises.
Regulation, Taxation, & Overreach:
What the new $80 billion for the IRS really means for your taxes.
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Canadian province shuts down 39 trucking companies involved in Freedom Convoy protests.
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No Bottom now to Democrat abuse of Power.
Inflation Watch:
Some Observations by JWR: How long will inflation persist? Take a close look at the St. Louis Fed’s M2 chart. If you run your cursor over this interactive chart, you will see that it took about eight years (from May 2012 to February 2020) to add $6 trillion to the U.S. money supply. But then another $6 trillion was added in just two years (from March 2030 to March 2022). Looking further back, we can see that the Fed has doubled the money supply since 2013. Meanwhile, from 2013 to 2022, the Fed ballooned their balance sheet from $3.7 trillion to $8.9 trillion. Take note that both of those tallies represent “out of thin air” money.
I believe that the Fed’s Board of Governors will lose its collective nerve this fall, as the recession sets in. They will pivot back to a loose monetary policy, with some form of Quantitative Easing — though it is likely that they’ll prevaricatively call it something else. The only thing that will slow inflation is tight money — ideally, where the prevailing interest rate matches the inflation rate. Doing so would surely crash the economy and be political suicide. So the Fed will try to muddle their way through. Thus, they will doom us to a decade or more of stagflation. Plan accordingly.
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Highest food inflation rates in the world.
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Raising a Family on a Minimum Wage: The Elephant in the Room.
Forex & Cryptos:
European energy crisis sees Euro make new, multi-decade lows vs the Buck – Newsquawk US Market Wrap
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ABC News: Euro falls below parity with the dollar. What’s the impact?
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The Best Exchanges to Cash Out Bitcoin.
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Certain regulatory clarity could be ‘hugely detrimental’ for crypto, says former CFPB director.
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Crypto trader doubles portfolio in a month betting against Jim Cramer.
Tangibles Investing:
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Tracy M. forwarded this link: The Monterey Car Week auctions set an all-time record of $469 million in total sales. This smashed the $395 million mark set at the annual event in 2015.
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!