Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we look at increasing new car and truck prices for the 2024 model year. (See the Inflation Watch section.)
Precious Metals:
SMM Forecast for Platinum and Palladium Demand in 2023.
o o o
Updated Silver Price Forecast For 2023.
o o o
Gold price predictions for next 5 years: Will gold continue rising amid weaker USD?
Economy & Finance:
Reuters: Fed might raise policy rates to 6% – BofA.
o o o
CFOs prepare to face a turbulent economy.
o o o
Why It’s So Hard for China to Shake the ‘Uninvestable’ Tag.
o o o
How Do Stocks Perform in March? After a Volatile February, Here’s What We Know.
o o o
At Zero Hedge: Global Depression By 2025, Caused By Interest Rates & Inflation: Simon Hunt.
Commodities:
The 2023 Outlook for U.S. Agriculture From USDA’s Chief Economist. JWR’s Comment: Note the dismal forecast for cotton. Long-time readers of SurvivalBlog may recall that two of my pet global economic indicators are cotton and copper. Although it is often the victim of market manipulation, cotton is still a good indicator.
o o o
A glance at the 5 year copper price chart illustrates just how quickly and how far “Dr. Copper” can fall.
o o o
From OilPrice News: EU Energy Crisis May Lead To $100 Billion In New U.S. LNG Projects. JWR’s Comments: The U.S. is blessed with an abundance of natural gas. We burn off a tremendous amount of “excess” gas every year, in flares that are so large that they can be seen from space. (Flaring is done because there are inadequate pipeline networks to bring all of the natural gas from oil and shale oil developments to market.) But mark my words: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) ports and ships will be an inviting target for international terrorists in the 21st Century. The LNG infrastructure is almost impossible to protect.
Inflation Watch:
Fed minutes show members resolved to keep fighting inflation with rate hikes.
o o o
Want to buy a BMW? The price for a MY24 M4 jumped from $74,700 to $77,000.
o o o
Up, up, up: 2024 Ford Mustang Prices Are Up, and the Dark Horse Is Nearly $60K.
o o o
2024 Chevy Silverado HD Pricing Revealed with Modest Increases.
Forex & Cryptos:
o o o
At Currency Thoughts: Dollar Begins March with a Decline, and Asian Equities Buoyed by Stronger-than-Expected Chinese Growth.
o o o
Bloomberg: The World’s Most Painful Trade Is Finally Ending as Dollar Peaks.
o o o
DCG Lost Over $1 Billion In 2022 Due To Crypto Market Crash: Report.
o o o
SEC charges former FTX exec Nishad Singh with defrauding investors.
Tangibles Investing:
Housing Market 2023: Where It’s Headed, According to Experts.
o o o
Over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site, there was a link to this, from CNBC: Mortgage demand from homebuyers drops to a 28-year low. JWR’s Comment: There won’t be much of a “Summer buying season” for houses, this year. The declines in real estate prices — both residential and commercial — will be huge, even in the midst of high general inflation.
o o o
Brownell’s (one of our affiliate advertisers) is offering Free Shipping on orders of $199 or more. Use Code: SITESHIP for your order, to get free shipping. This offer ends on March 6th, 2023. Oh, and they are also running a special on the package of a MagPul AR-15 D60 60-Rd Drum Magazine along with a pair of 30-Rd PMAGs, for just $119. That is not bad, considering that a D-60 drum just by itself normally retails for $129. To find this package deal, enter this SKU in their search box: 100023297
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. Thanks!