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 the recent run on guns, nationwide. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
I noticed that spot silver rebounded a bit on Friday, to $12.33 per Troy Ounce. I still consider silver a strong “buy”. That is IF you can find any physical silver for sale. Most dealers have completely sold out! Is your local coin shop sold out? Then phone around to your local pawn shops. Perhaps they still have some…
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Rhodium has continued its nosedive–with the spot market now down around $2,500 per ounce. I hope that folks bought some when I suggested it in February of 2016 (at $670/oz.), and sold some when I suggested it in February of 2020 (at $10,000 per ounce.) If you did, then you owe me a dinner! A really nice dinner.
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Jim Rickards: economic freeze is here, get gold, silver if you can and get ready
Economy & Finance:
The U.S. Congress is now poised to pass a $2 trillion emergency funding legislative package. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has committed to $4 trillion in a new round(s) of Quantitative Easing (QE). In the long run, both of these moves will be wildly inflationary. But for now they are just trying to staunch teh stock market bleeding, and deflation. Get ready to be whipsawed by deflation and then inflation, folks. This will not end well! – JWR
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I was asked by a reader about the DJIA rally on Friday morning (March 20, 2020.) My reply: It is amazing how high a dead cat can bounce. Then, sure enough, the Dow dropped 913 points, before the closing bell. We can expect continuing volatility, in the next few weeks. The Bear has arrived. Treat any rallies that you see as Bear Trap rallies. Sell off most of your remaining equities, during these rallies. The only exceptions might be a very few depression proof blue chip stocks. Oh, and shares of the makers of hospital ventilators! – JWR
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At Zero Hedge: The Crash Of 2020 Is Now Worse Than The Great Depression. The piece begins:
“Back in December, someone in China made bat soup (at least according to the officially accepted narrative that doesn’t get you banned on Facebook, Twitter, etc), and the rest is history: in the next three months, the global equity market has lost $24 trillion in value, more than the $22 trillion in US GDP. And here is a staggering chart from BofA putting the crash of 2020 in its historic context: in the past month, the US stock market has crashed faster than both the Great Depression and Black Monday, and in terms of the total drawdown, the crash of 2020 is now worse than 1929 and is fast approaching 1987.“
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European Banks Face Financial Crisis 2, Shares Hit 1988 Lows
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Also at Wolf Street: After Blowing $4.5 Trillion on Share Buybacks, Airlines, Boeing, Many Other Culprits Want Taxpayer & Fed Bailouts of their Shareholders
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Distressed debt doubles in a week in the US
Commodities:
Michael S. sent us this: April Could Be Worst Month Ever For Oil
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Arthur Berman at OilPrice News asks: Is Saudi Arabia To Blame For The Looming Economic Recession?
Derivatives:
At Risk.net: Exchange shutdowns could trigger derivatives unwinds
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Virus volatility a shot in the arm for China’s dormant derivatives market
Forex & Cryptos:
It is interesting to see that the USD/CHF pair is back almost to parity.
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The US Dollar has been rapidly losing ground against the British Pound since March 9th.
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Bitcoin’s 85% Bounce Shows Crypto Is Fundamentally Alive and Well
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Woman Arrested for Stealing $480,000 From Crypto Exchange She Co-Founded
Tangibles Investing:
A run on guns: Folks who bought guns during the past three years when they were plentiful, prices were low, and the selection was almost unlimited are now doubtless patting themselves on the back. But the folks who are looking for guns now? They can pretty well forget it. Unless perhaps they are looking for bolt action rifles. Oh, and most gun shows are being cancelled, all across the country. That just leaves a few classified ads and venues like GunBroker.com. But I expect prices there to start galloping, shortly.
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 from local news outlets that is missed by the news wire services is especially appreciated. And it need not be only about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!