May 4, 2024

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. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, news of BRICS countries dumping U.S. Treasuries. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Costco says its 1-ounce gold bars are real and have been selling out in hours.

o  o  o

Spot silver and gold both dipped sharply, over the weekend. This is another buying opportunity, for those of you who stack bullion coins.

o  o  o

A Kitco.com editorial, from Neils Christensen: Gold’s selloff doesn’t change the long-term bullish outlook – Saxo Bank.

Economy & Finance:

$18,900,000,000 in US Treasuries Dumped by BRICS Members China, Brazil, India and UAE in One Month. JWR’s Comments: If all of the BRICS nations consistently stop rolling over their US Treasury paper in the next three years, then we could witness a veritable sea change in the global currency regime. Jerome Powell must be worried. To be ready for any Dollar chaos, stick with the sage advice: diversify into precious metals.

o  o  o

House Passes CR Bill Without Ukraine Funding to Potentially Avoid ‘Government Shutdown’.

o  o  o

Next, over at Zero Hedge: Credit Risk Heightens As Equity Gamma Flips Negative.

o  o  o

A Third Of Remote Workers Say They’d Quit Or Find A New Job If They Were Asked To Return To The Office.

o  o  o

Biden Forgives Student Loans for 804,000 Borrowers.

Commodities:

Tony sent us this: Copper prices fall on firm dollar, rising inventories.

o  o  o

Barron’s: Oil Trading Is Going Haywire as Storage Tanks Run Dry.

o  o  o

Farmers expected to store bulk of 2023 crop.

o  o  o

At OilPrice News: Europe Likely To Avoid Soaring Natural Gas Prices This Winter.

o  o  o

At Currency Thoughts: Spotlight Shining on Oil Prices.

Inflation/Deflation Watch:

CNNDefeating inflation without higher unemployment is still unlikely.

o  o  o

WSJ: Another Worrisome Inflation Indicator: Surging Mining Costs.

o  o  o

China’s economic activity again weakened in September, China Beige Book survey shows.

o  o  o

News from Germany: Inflation rate of +4.5% expected in September 2023.

o  o  o

FitchSolutions: September 2023 Inflation Tracker: Global Inflation On the Rise, But Only Temporarily.

Forex & Cryptos:

GBP/USD Price Forecast: Pound Rallies on Positive UK GDP Report.

o  o  o

Bitcoin Surge Above $27,000 May Not Last, Here’s Why.

o  o  o

3AC’s Su Zhu Apprehended in Singapore on Flee Attempt.

Tangibles Investing:

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: US pending home sales plummet as high mortgage rates take a toll.

o  o  o

CBS: Homes “unaffordable” in 99% of nation for average American.

o  o  o

GunMagWarehouse (one of our affiliate advertisers) is running a special on G-Shock Solar-Powered Digital GA100L-8A Wristwatches for just $79.99 each. These sturdy watches —  made by Casio — are ideal for disaster situations. And, of course, GunMagWarehouse also has a huge selection of high quality full-capacity magazines, with frequent sale pricing. Stack them deep.

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!