Minor Issues

Mark looks at the price of Apple stock—one of the best performing stocks over the last quarter century, and one of the largest holdings in stock indexes, mutual funds, and Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. Market watchers have kept a keen eye on Apple as it heads for a new all-time high; but, Mark is concerned that a downturn would have a huge ripple effect on the overall market—possibly equivalent to a tsunami.  Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

Mark takes a look at the good news on price inflation and why it is better than reported, but probably short-lived. Other statistics are worsening and, amazingly, even landlords are starting to feel the pain! Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

This episode explores precious metals. Gold (Au) is the main precious metal, followed by Silver (Ag), Platinum (Pt), and Palladium (Pd). These are distinct from valuable industrial metals such as copper (which served as money historically), nickel, and zinc, which have served as token coins in modern times. There are many different ways and forms you can own precious metals. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

Mark is not fooling around today. He looks back at the history of gold and its price, which some believe is too erratic and too unstable (like Bitcoin) to serve as a basis of a monetary system. Mark shows that it is not gold that destabilizes events in the real world, but rather real world events related to political decision-making that has made the price of gold unstable. The price of gold is a "minor" indicator of what governments are really up to.   Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

In this episode, Mark looks at the far away minor issue of the impact of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe. Even though they have switched from Zim dollars to US dollars, ordinary people are still suffering. Their government and its inflationary monetary policy is manifesting itself in some interesting ways. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

SVB Bank and Signature Bank failed this week and were bailed out. Mark explains why the banks failed and why it was bound to happen. The minor issue is that the total FDIC bailout fund is actually smaller than either one of the banks. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

Mark discusses how the Federal Reserve and Covid restrictions greatly increased the price of cardboard boxes; but, with online sales softening, we should expect suppliers to shift the raw materials used to make boxes (wood pulp) into the production of other paper goods, such as toilet paper. Because our demand for toilet paper is relatively inelastic, we should see a decline in the price of toilet paper and better availability. The market will reallocate toward consumer wants and lower prices. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

Mark talks about the recent price inflation reports, as well as reports of job openings from private sector job placement companies. Inflation was higher than expected and job openings declined. What will the Fed do? People are making painful adjustments—Domino's reported disappointing sales, because their customers are "eating in". Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

Mark uses Intel Corporation, the computer chip manufacturer, as a barometer of the business cycle. He looks at the stock price in recent years, its production capacity expansion, and the company's very recent cost- and dividend-cutting moves. Check out Mark Thornton's free book, The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century: Mises.org/Curse Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

Mark Thornton explains the target as another smokescreen that was originally intended to stabilize monetary policy, currencies, and exchange rates, but has become a justification for inflation and central bank manipulation. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.