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Big Fat Idea – Copper!

Claudia Tournquist of Kodiak Copper joins Mike to share the worldwide supply and demand challenges for copper, the long term bull market it has created, and how investors can take advantage.

Mike’s Comment Oct 2

If you didn’t anticipate Trump’s election, Brexit, the storming of the Capital Building and global unrest then you need to understand the dominant trend to know what’s coming next.

Housing-market risk jumps to high in Canada government rating

Canada’s housing agency said the country is now at high risk of a sharp correction in home valuations as the continued appreciation in prices becomes unmoored from economic fundamentals.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. raised its market risk assessment to high from moderate on Tuesday, in a report showing both activity and prices remain near record levels reached earlier this year amid rock-bottom mortgage rates and a frenzy for bigger living spaces driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though Canada has seen a rising vaccination rate and an improving economy since then, the strength in the housing market is still far beyond what’s warranted by these developments, with prices further detached from labor incomes, the agency said.

“We’re seeing price acceleration, over-valuation, and it’s increasing the vulnerabilities for Canada,” Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist, said on a conference call with reporters. “Hopefully we don’t see a large fall in house prices.”

On top of the shift in the national outlook, the agency raised its risk assessment of Montreal’s housing market to high from moderate, bringing the number of Canada’s major cities deemed most at risk to six. Vancouver was a notable exception, seeing its risk assessment fall to low from moderate on an increase of homes on the market that’s caused price growth to settle down…read more.

Ethereum developer pleads guilty for conspiracy to violate sanctions laws

Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he conspired with North Korea to violate United States sanctions law.

On Monday, Griffith pleaded guilty in New York to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which forbids U.S. citizens from exporting technology and intellectual property to communist countries. As part of the plea deal, Griffith could face up to six-and-a-half years in prison. Formal sentencing is expected to commence in January 2022.

Virgil, who served as senior researcher for the Ethereum Foundation, was arrested in November 2019 after attending a conference in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang earlier in the year. Prosecutors allege that the developer gave a presentation on how to launder money and evade sanctions using blockchain technology…read more.

Mike’s Comment – Sept 25

Same old politics – just as nasty along with the free lunch express – but the question is, would we have it any other way?