Sean Brodrick – Investing Megatrends In Gold, Silver, Oil, Nat Gas, Coal, and Copper
Sean Brodrick, Editor of Wealth Megatrends, and contributing analyst to Weiss Ratings Daily, joins us to share his reflections from the recent Money Show in Las Vegas, where he did 2 presentations for the audience there, and how these megatrends are filtering down into investing in commodities sectors like gold, silver, oil, nat gas, coal, and copper.
We cover a lot of ground in this discussion from the macroeconomic currents in the US with the debt ceiling debate, Fed policy, and recession expectations, to how things on the global stage are affecting things from OPEC cuts and Russian oil production. We also review how the Chinese economy reopening may counterbalance contracting economies, their increased investment in coal power in tandem with renewable energy, and the power generation impacts and demand that will arise from the growing focus on electric vehicles. We also note what Dr Copper may be saying about the global economic growth outlook.
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Click here to visit the Weiss Ratings Daily website to follow along with Sean’s market outlook.
First Republic Faces Potential Curb on Borrowing From Fed
Katanga Johnson – Bloomberg – April 26, 2023
– FDIC considers lowering bank’s ratings if deal isn’t reached
– Doing so would likely limit firm’s access to Fed’s facilities
US bank regulators are weighing the prospect of downgrading their private assessments of First Republic Bank — a move that may curb the troubled firm’s access to Federal Reserve lending facilities.
“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has been giving the bank time to reach a private deal to shore up its finances. But as weeks keep passing without a transaction, senior officials are increasingly weighing whether to downgrade their scoring of the firm’s condition, including its so-called Camels rating, according to people with direct knowledge of the talks. That would likely limit the bank’s use of the Fed’s discount window and an emergency facility launched last month,” the people said.
It is curious that so many continue to deny the “De-Dollarization” themes between so many trading partners these days from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa… although one could substitute it for Saudi Arabia), and so many other countries in both the East and West.
Here’s the latest example with Argentina…
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Argentina To Pay For Chinese Imports In Yuan Rather Than Dollars
April 26 – Reuters
“Argentina will start to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars, the government announced Wednesday, a measure that aims to relieve the country’s dwindling dollar reserves. In April, it aims to pay around $1 billion of Chinese imports in yuan instead of dollars and thereafter around $790 million of monthly imports will be paid in yuan, a government statement said.”
Chile’s Lithium Nationalization Decision Validates My Risk-Averse Investment Strategy Approach
Zoltan Ban – Seeking Alpha – Apr. 26, 2023 #JurisdictionRisk
“Given the constant sources of instability that keep coming this decade, my early decision to diversify, by among other things roughly quadrupling the number of stocks in my portfolio is vindicated.”
“The Chilean Government’s decision to nationalize its massive lithium industry is the latest example of factors that go beyond financial analysis that can affect one’s investments.”
China Ramps Up Coal Power Despite Carbon Neutral Pledges
Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent – The Guardian – Sun 23 Apr 2023
“Local governments in China approved more new coal power in the first three months of 2023 than in the whole of 2021, according to official documents.”
“The approvals, analyzed by Greenpeace, reveal that between January and March this year, at least 20.45 gigawatts of coal power was approved, up from 8.63GW in the same period in 2022. In the whole of 2021, 18GW of coal was approved.”
“China relies on coal for more than half of its energy consumption. As homes in the colder north of the country faced the prospect of a grueling winter without heat, the government’s rhetoric shifted from reducing coal to prioritizing energy security.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/china-ramps-up-coal-power-despite-carbon-neutral-pledges