Podcast & Video Of The Week
Podcast & Video Of The Week
Conflict In Israel, Banana Wars, And A Video On Energy & Commodities
It would be remiss to not mention what is going on in Israel over the weekend. I have been trying to figure out more details on the conflict, but there is a lot of news out there that I have a hard time trusting. From what I can tell, the conflict in Israel was triggered by actions around the Al-Aqsa mosque, but it is a situation worth monitoring moving forward. Some have speculated that there might be issues around the Straits of Hormuz or the Suez Canal in the Middle East, but we will see what happens. I will see if I can find a podcast and/or videos that are good breakdowns of what is going on in Israel and Gaza for next week, but geopolitical conflict puts commodities like oil and gold in the spotlight for several reasons. It’s a tough situation, but I doubt that these events will be bearish for oil and other commodities. Futures markets for oil (brent and WTI) are both up more than 4% Sunday night as I write this.
I’m not here saying oil is going to go up 10x in dollar terms, interest rates will hit double digits, or gold will go up 20x, but I do think that geopolitical events highlight commodities as an asset class. I do think we see $100 a barrel for oil by the end of the year, interest rates that will stay higher for longer, and gold that is due for a bounce after being down for 6 or 7 down weeks in a row if I remember correctly. I don’t have any short term price predictions for gold, but I’m confident gold priced in dollars will be higher in 3 to 5 years, potentially heading past $3,000 an ounce.
Founder’s Podcast - Sam Zemurray
This one isn’t about investments exactly, but I recently came across the Founders Podcast when I was poking around for new things to listen to. David Senra takes the books that he reads on different well-known founders throughout history and breaks down his most important takeaways. This episode was on Sam Zemurray. He was an immigrant that started with nothing, and eventually took over United Fruit. The podcast talks about Zemurray getting involved in wars in Central America (known as the Banana Wars), and some of the things he did throughout his career that would seem absurd today.
The Jay Martin Show w/ Louis Gave
This video covers some of the geopolitical risk out there (interesting since it was recorded a couple weeks ago) and the risk of higher energy prices due to lack of investment in the energy sector over the last decade. We are shifting from the United States from being the unipolar power, to world with multiple power centers and spheres of influence. This includes China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, all of which have been negatively impacted in different ways by short-sighted US foreign policy. He’s not calling for the end of America like some have, but he is predicting that we are near the end of the unipolar moment, where America could dictate world affairs without much pushback from other countries. He points out that Europe is in a rough spot because they have to import most of the important commodities that are the lifeblood of any developed economy. It’s a big picture look at some of the things happening on the geopolitical chess board, and it’s worth a watch.