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 catch some whiffs of recession in the air. (See the Commodities section.)
Precious Metals:
Gold and silver have seen another week of solid price gains versus the Dollar. As of Thursday morning:
As of Thursday, one well-known national bullion coin dealer was charging a whopping $30,830 for a $1,000 face-value bag of pre-1965 90% silver quarters.
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Wall Street, Dollar Apologists Busted for Ever-Shifting Anti-Gold Arguments.
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Texas May Launch Its Own Gold-backed Digital Currency.
Economy & Finance:
Treasury Plans to Raise US Debt to $50 Trillion.
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From The FEE: Silicon Valley Bank, Another Victim of Expansive Monetary Policy.
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Video commentary from Matt Christiansen: Small Business Bankruptcies Surge Past Pandemic/Lockdown High.
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Yea, verily, “Get Woke, Go Broke”: Anheuser-Busch loses more than $5 billion in value amid Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light controversy. JWR’s Comment: Something tells me that this isn’t yet the bottom, for their stock price.
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The BRICS Street Boys Toppling G7 Economies.
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Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Warns of Continued Banking Crisis and Potential Trouble Ahead.
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Video from Dr. Peter St. Onge: Dr. Doom: “Most banks are technically insolvent”.
Commodities:
Global freight slump deepens at the start of 2023: Kemp.
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With Confidence in the Nickel Market So Low, What is Next?
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China’s Lithium Hub Cuts Back Production After Price Collapse.
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Another telling piece, linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Semiconductor Sales Plummet Globally. JWR’s Comments: There are many small and diffuse indicators popping up everywhere that the global economy is sliding into a recession or even a depression. Batten down the hatches, folks. The seas will be getting rough.
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Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured.
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From OilPrice News: Hedge Funds Are Still Bearish On Oil But Bulls Are Gaining Steam.
Inflation Watch:
Reported on April 6th: Walmart Warns of ‘Higher Prices’ Due to Inflation in 2023 — Makes Moves To Lower Costs 20%.
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When less is not more: Investigating US consumer awareness of shrinkflation.
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A report from the globalist/socialist World Bank: Growth Slows for Most MENA Economies Amid Double-Digit Food Inflation. Describing the situation in the Middle East and North Africa:
“The twice-yearly report found that average year-on-year food inflation across 16 MENA economies between March and December 2022 was 29%. This was higher than headline inflation, which rose on average to 19.4% year-on-year during that period, compared to 14.8% between October 2021 and February 2022, the month of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
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Persistent Inflation and Unhappy Consumers. JWR’s Comment: I find it humorous how these pundits characterize a decrease in the rate of increase as some sort of huge improvement.
Forex & Cryptos:
France Calls on Europe to Ditch U.S Dollar, Seek ‘Strategic Autonomy’.
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At Currency Thoughts: Reserve Bank of India Interest Rate Not Raised This Time But More Increases Deemed Possible.
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Update: Forex Price Surprises. (Most Volatile Forex Contracts with Large Price Movement.)
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Ex-Deutsche Bank investment banker charged in US with crypto fraud.
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The party line, as pronounced by The WSJ: Decentralized Cryptocurrency Markets Threaten U.S. Security, Treasury Says.
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Binance.US unable to find bank partners in the United States: Report.
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Jim Cramer on Coinbase stock: ‘I wouldn’t touch this thing at all’.
Tangibles Investing:
Morgan Stanley issues apocalyptic real estate warning.
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At Fortune: Global market for secondhand clothes is set to nearly double by 2027.
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New cars have become luxury items.
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!