April 2009

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Some people have a hobby of searching rolls and rolls of coins for 40% or 90% silver coinage that is no longer being minted.  They call themselves Coin Roll Hunters, and their activity is called coin roll hunting, or CRHing.  But it’s not just some US coins that have silver in them.  Many Canadian coins do as well.

 

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Six months ago platinum was hovering just below gold in value.  The time was right to buy then, just as right now, the time has once again come to jump on the platinum train and reap some rewards in this dismal economic environment.  Platinum today is at about $1200 per ounce, but many factors including mine closures and production declines.  The white metal is primed for a real recovery, years before an earnest economic recovery will occur anywhere in the world.

 

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The current global economic downturn is nothing more than a reorganization of wealth.  Whether or not you agree with how and why it is being reorganized is up to you, but there are some ways to really benefit financially in this time of bad news and gloomy profit reports.  Not all investment transactions occur on a computer screen.  Some people collect antiques and build stockpiles of precious metals and other valuable goods.  Right now is one of the best times to get these items at great prices because so many people are looking to turn their possessions into quick cash and are unwilling to do the research and footwork to figure out what their collectibles and tangible investments are really worth.

 

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In a meeting today with The Federal Reserve Board and Chairman Bernanke the topic of recovery from this most recent economic crisis was discussed at length.  All parties agreed rather quietly that the worst may be over, given that GDP contraction and other figures are beginning to show signs that the descent is slowing and perhaps beginning to reach a floor.  Early indicators show that this news is being taken quite well in other regions of the world, as it should be, but it’s easy to wonder just how much of this is truth and just how much of it is fluff intended to keep the American consumers, and other investors around the world, from seeing that the emperor has no clothes.

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Remember back when coins were minted out of mostly silver? You don’t have to go too far back in history to see coins that contain 40% or even 90% silver. There are still some of these coins floating around in circulation even. Right now though, with the price of copper slowly but surely climbing, and with industrial demand low, some people have begun sorting their pennies and hoarding the 95% copper dates. This is an attempt to begin to build a cache of copper where the copper in the cent is worth more than the face value of the coin. The 95% copper content holds true for all US pennies dated before 1982. Some of the 1982’s are copper, but many are zinc, like the current pennies that are being created at the mint today are.

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Many investors are awaiting the results of the stress tests that US banks have had to undergo as part of an effort to figure out the solvency and transparency of the institutions that accepted TARP money last year. However, the parameters and details of the test have many people worried. Without a real, independent stress test, US consumers and investors will have no real idea of the true solvency of the financial institutions that have accepted billions in federal help.

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Many US banks have failed in the past twelve months. Others have recently announced that they are not only surviving, but also beginning to see some real earnings stack up despite the global economic downturn. Only a year ago people were stashing their money in high yield online savings banks like HSBC and ING Direct where they could earn upwards of 3% on their cash. But the recession has really taken away much of what initially attracted investors and consumers alike to online savings accounts.

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Right now, during earnings season, many stocks are taking some serious hits. Others are coming out ahead and showing investors that there really are still some bright spots out there. A little bit of economic sunshine could go a long way right now, but perhaps it’s time to start bucking the trend a little. Since everyone’s got their money in investments that are slow, boring, but sure things, why not strike out and speculating a little? It can be a great way to diversify the risk factor of an investment portfolio as well as just being plain fun to put money on a long shot with a potential for an extremely high return.

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With the rest of the world’s economy on lockdown and in a severe recession, it’s amazing to see that China, one of the world’s largest and most prevalent consumers of commodities has reported a huge GDP growth for Q1. This growth could signal that the Chinese government and labor resources have been able to tiptoe around the global economic slowdown by maintaining a huge labor resource pool.

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To me it’s interesting to ponder the catalyst for the most recent upswing on Wall Street. We’ve seen steady gains for almost a month now, most of which came on the heels of positive news from financial institutions and actions by the fed to monetize some of the debt incurred in the latest stimulus package. But I really think that the bullish trend has caused some people to misdirect their optimism when it comes to the speed and momentum of the imminent economic recovery. Perhaps investors have also been too lenient in their assessment of the state of affairs we currently find ourselves in globally. Many other economies are reporting that their GDP has shrunk by larger amounts than they were previously expected to.

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Wells Fargo’s recent announcement to begin to issue the US government preferred stock as a repayment for their TARP funds, and the news that their company has been very profitable in the most recent quarter have really helped to bolster the financial sector of the stock market in recent days.  Investors are more secure with the idea of sticking their necks back out and assuming some level of investment risk.  This recent news and upward trend in the Dow Jones Industrial Average may signal that the markets are finding the elusive bottom.

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