#France: The anti-Macron demonstrations and the price of everything. @BatchelorShow Forbes

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Forbes: Investors Flee Gold ETFs Sending Price Down 5% In February.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Gold prices took a tumble in February after investors pulled almost $2 billion from bullion-backed exchange-traded funds, new research shows.

Still, the recent tension in the banking system has helped steady the market for the yellow metal. Read more here.

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Forbes: Recession Now Far More Likely. Blame The Banks

By SIMON CONSTABLE

After more than nine months of waiting, the much-heralded U.S. recession may actually happen. Still, it's not guaranteed. Read more here.

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#FoodSecurity: Wheat crop harvests in Russia and Ukraine at risk for 2023. Barron's. @BatchelorShow

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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#France: The tactical garbage strike in Paris and the strategic thinking pensioners vs. Macron. John Batchelor, Briefings Magazine.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Barron's: This Summer Could Be a Scorcher, Lifting Wheat Prices

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Expectations of an unusually hot and dry summer, combined with the impact of the war in Ukraine, will likely send wheat prices surging by around 20% from current levels as early as April, experts say.

“Drought will return and hurt spring wheat, not only in the U.S. but other places,” says Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors, in Boca Raton. That, in turn, could lift prices. Read more here.

Busted T-72BA near Starobesheve in East Ukraine

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Briefings Magazine: The Hidden Benefits of Mass Disruptions

Tech hasn’t had a big wave of extinction since 2001.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There’s no doubt about it. Consumer-tech companies such as Meta, Apple, Google, Netflix, and Amazon came of age over the last decade or so. Some grew from dorm rooms or garages into corporate behemoths at warp speed and hired experts by the boatload. Collectively they gained colossal publicity and political influence. Then came 2022, with plummeting stock prices. So began the hiring freezes and eye-popping layoffs.

Should we be concerned? Perhaps not. Tech’s always been a rough-and-tumble place, embracing an ongoing cycle of innovation, disruption, and destruction. Each cycle is similar, but each has its unique quirks. Read more here.