There are no two ways about it …
A recession is well on its way, and there’s nothing anyone can do now to stop it.
Bailout checks, Federal Reserve Hail Marys and bureaucratic buffoonery will be the equivalent of putting a piece of gum on the crack of a failing dam.
It sucks.
Make no mistake, the falsified data from China, the WHO’s glaring incompetence, lack of preparation from Washington, and continued partisan pissing matches have all screwed us. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that a recession is inevitable.
How bad it will be, however, is still up in the air.
JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) thinks it’s going to be severe.
On Tuesday, JP Morgan announced during earnings that it has set aside $6.8 billion in anticipation of an avalanche of defaults.
Here’s what CEO Jamie Dimon had to say:
In the first quarter, the underlying results of the company were extremely good, however given the likelihood of a fairly severe recession, it was necessary to build credit reserves of $6.8 billion, resulting in total credit costs of $8.3 billion for the quarter.
He’ll be fine, as will the bank.
When the proverbial poop hits the fan, banks and CEOs just have to wait in line to get their government cheese. It happened during the last recession, and it’s happening again, as we head into this next one.
You’ll also be getting a check from the government, but it isn’t really a bailout since you and your kids will be on the hook for the debt that will be incurred from it.
Make no mistake, when that check arrives, you may breathe a sigh of relief, but to survive this next recession, don’t count on the government for a damn thing, other than more thievery, lies, and misinformation.
Despite running headfirst into another global economic meltdown, there is a silver lining.
When everything bottoms out, you will pick up dozens of stocks selling at massive discounts.
At the moment, I’m eyeing up some that are gearing up for a very nice run off of recent lows. Some have already started like these.
Utilities, industrial, and vice stocks. They’re all cheap and will probably stay that way for the next few months.
And everyone loves gold during these uncertain times, too.
Now I’ve opined on this in the past.
Owning physical gold because you think it’s the only currency you’ll be able to use if the world goes to hell, is, for lack of a better word, stupid.
If the world really goes to hell, you’ll be much better served owning things such as firearms, seeds, water, electricity, video surveillance equipment, livestock, and plenty of tools.
Just the idea that people will conduct day-to-day transactions with gold coins is absurd.
However, when things get bad, the overwhelming consensus is that gold is the perfect hedge against inflation. I think that’s debatable, too. But what’s not debatable is that the consensus is that this is true. Thus the reason I also have a bit of gold in my portfolio. I’d be stupid not to.
The question you need to ask yourself, though, is what’s the best way to play gold right before a recession hits?
Tesla is dead. Elon Musk is ruined. [sponsor]
Electric cars are about to become a thing of the past. Thanks to a new discovery known as “Blue Gas” companies that produce electric cars (like Tesla) are about to go down in flames. “Blue Gas” is 100% emission-free, propels vehicles hundreds of miles, and allows cars to fully charge in minutes. Bloomberg projects that “Blue Gas” will “skyrocket 1,000 times over.” But “Blue Gas” is slated to go global soon. And this company driving the “Blue Gas” industry is primed to shatter any gains paid out by Tesla. More here.