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Gold ! Update Oct 18 2025

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Gold is golden right now.

Seems like only a few short weeks ago that I penned an article revolving around the price action of both gold and silver.

My, how time flies when you’re having a good time, and gold and silver prices are definitely partying it up.

Up over a thousand dollars an ounce in just a handful of weeks, gold is reaching new heights seemingly every day. The price increases of both metals hit high gear in the last 6 weeks or so and only time will tell if the meteoric rise continues or takes a breather and corrects a bit.

On October 17^th, prices finally took a break and backed off of their relentless rise.

Silver mirrored gold rise and its price finally broke through its January, 1980 high of $50/oz. Doing the quick math, it took silver 45 years to recover where it was way back then. Half a century!

Why now are both metals soaring you ask?

There are many theories and some cold hard truths as well.

Rising prices are brought about by the simple fact that there are more buyers than sellers of the available supply. It is true that a dwindling supply can also cause price spikes, but in the grand scheme of things, this is not the case at this particular point in time with gold and silver.

The gold market is not very large compared to many other markets. At gold’s current price, the total gold market sits at around 1.2 trillion. For comparison, the U.S. stock market tops the 62 trillion-dollar mark while the global stock market is valued at about 127 trillion.

Meanwhile, the silver market sits at about 3 trillion.

So who is buying all this silver and gold and driving prices into the stratosphere?

The rumor mill points a possible finger at central banks of the world.

Central banks are the banks of entire countries. They control the currency of each of their respective nations with the exception of the countries that use the Euro. The Euro is controlled by the European central bank which encompasses 20 countries.

Needless to say, if central banks are scooping up gold and silver, it can supercharge the markets of either metal due to the sheer size of their bankrolls.

Keep in mind, central banks can print up as much money as needed or desired. Even if the number of central banks buying the metals are few in number, the fact that they can print up as much money as they want makes a central bank a powerful force.

Even one central bank buying gold could drive the price higher. The more central banks that start to accumulate the metal, the faster the price rises.

Whereas an individual investor buying spree would certainly move the metals, a central bank buying spree has the possibility of fueling an inferno of price rises.

Why would the central banks of the world want gold or silver or both?

Simply put, gold and silver cannot be printed up willy-nilly like paper money.

Since the beginning of time, gold has been the money of kings. It is often called the only “real” money. It cannot be manufactured at will like paper dollars can. Its store of value has withstood the tincture of time over many thousands of years and it long standing store of value has never been duplicated nor questioned. Keep in mind also that the more paper dollars are printed, the more they lose their value. And conversely, when paper currencies lose their value, gold goes up in price in those very same currencies.

And since central banks everywhere have been printing up paper dollars for decades, gold’s price has been steadily climbing in response.

Now that gold is on the menu for central banks, the race to print up paper currencies to buy gold is on.

It’s not rocket science.

Its economic science. Print paper and buy more gold. And the more they do it, the higher the gold and silver prices may go.

As always, what goes up can go down, so caveat emptor is the warning of the day.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

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(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com

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Shrinkflation Oct 5 2025

Shrinkflation at its best.

I read an article about what the author called “Shrinkflation”. I had heard that word before but always referred to the idea of shrinkflation as “packaging inflation”.

Packaging inflation, or Shrinkflation, if you want to use that word, refers to companies dealing with higher production costs by reducing the amount of whatever it is that is sold instead of increasing the price.

If you ever see, and we all have, “new” size stamped all over the label, or words such as “family size”, “larger size”, “party pack” or “value size”, you are seeing the precursor to Shrinkflation.

What companies do is introduce these larger sizes, and charge more for them. Then, over time, they slowly reduce the amount (be it weight, volume or liquid measure), until they get back to the original size, or close to it, all the while the price remains.

The weight of the Hershey’s bar in the 1950’s was about four ounces. A honker of a bar. This was its standard off the candy shelf size. Today it weighs about 1.5 ounces.

To top it off, the price of the four-ounce chocolate bar was a nickel. Today’s reduced version costs on average $1.30.

Do the math, and today’s bar has had a 6,610% increase since the 1950’s.

Yikes!

Beside the bait and switch method of size manipulation to get you used to a higher price thinking you get more, then slowly shrinking the amount you get over time while keeping the price elevated, packaging inflation is a bit faster in accomplishing the task but just as stealthy.

Millions are spent in research to make the necessary changes to packages to avoid raising prices and instead just give less of something.

Shaping bottles with a “waistline” or conical bottoms skinnies up the volumes. Making cereal boxes the same dimension in front but reducing the width makes them appear the same size but with less.

Gum sleeves may have a “blank” spot where a piece of gum used to be. You don’t see the blank until after you’ve bought it and opened it up.

Ice cream tubs may still look like a gallon tub but are miniature same shape versions.

Beer companies added water and sold it as “light” beer. Potato chip companies fill the bags with air so you can’t tell the amount. Ice cream, butter and cream cheese companies came up with the “whipped’ version which contains more air. And air is free and takes up space to boot.

Coffee is packaged in 12 ounce bags instead of the usual pound it used to be sold by.

Pill bottles are stuffed with cotton to take up room so us shakers cannot hear the empty space. They say the cotton is to stop the pills from breaking but we know better.

Eggs are still sold by the dozen but one day we might see the “eleven” pack. Not just yet however, so the price just keeps going up. Same with a gallon of milk.

Don’t look now but some toilet paper companies have (brilliantly I might add) increased the size (diameter) of the cardboard roll so you get less paper. Didn’t know that one did you?

That’s the “sh*ts” ain’t it?

Like I said, companies are shelling out millions to marketers to come up with new ways to save money while trying to put one past you.

Or better said, to put “less” past you.

Less product that is.

And we can’t really blame them. They don’t want you to get mad and stop buying their products. And they don’t want to raise prices. So they just give you less. And they find ways to give you less without making it too obvious.

All of this has given me a headache. So I better go buy a bottle of aspirin.

Or buy two bottles, as a bottle of aspirin ain’t what it used to be.

Literally.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

(end)

(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

Both Turkey Matters and Pickleball Matters are in full swing.

Two ways to help feed the hungry.

Turkey Matters I match funds for Thanksgiving meals for Interfaith Food Ministries

Link here: https://www.interfaithfoodministry.org/

Thanks for helping !

Marc

Getting a Handle on Propane cost Oct 4 2025

Let us get those expenses down

Getting a handle on Propane Costs

With inflation on the forefront of almost everyone’s mind and hammering down our pocketbooks, reducing those expensive yet necessary household costs can be a difficult endeavor. Energy costs are a big one when it comes to budget-busting items and those of us who use propane know it can be a pricey and ongoing expense.

Enter The Propane Collective. Established in late 2023 as a community solution to
ever-increasing propane costs, its founder, Janet Maineri, already pioneered one of the first local propane “co-ops” in the United States back in 2005 called the Coloma-Lotus Co-op. The concept was a simple one: get a whole bunch of people to agree to switch to a single propane company and use that as leverage to lower the price of propane for its members in the Coloma-Lotus community.

The idea grew out of her view that the propane industry often lacked price consistency as well as price transparency. Operating on a volunteer basis only, the Co-op she founded was a word-of-mouth type of arrangement with her friends and neighbors.

Fast forward two decades later and the Co-op had grown to the point where operating it as a volunteer effort became unmanageable. As a result, in 2023, Maineri transitioned the Coloma-Lotus Co-op into a membership-based offering called The Propane Collective.

Today, members pay a small fee to gain access to negotiated rates, leveraging the group’s buying power. Through this structure, Maineri strives to obtain lower pricing, greater transparency, and improved customer service.

Members of The Propane Collective receive free tank monitoring, propane discounts based on a published wholesale rate, zero delivery fees on routed service, and competitive tank rental costs. Membership is also available to those who own their own tanks.

The Propane Collective serves a growing number of communities across El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Sacramento, and Yuba counties. Maineri publishes the company’s propane rate history going back to January 2024, which can be viewed on its website: www.propanecollective.com.

Maineri speaks highly of The Propane Collective’s exclusive supplier, noting their alignment with the Collective: “We’re fortunate to work with a local, family-owned company with decades of experience. They’re big enough to meet our collective needs yet small enough to maintain a personal touch. And when you call, you’ll reach someone right here in California,” Maineri said.

Maineri also shared feedback she’s received from members: “I love hearing from members. One woman told me she was saving so much on propane she could actually keep her home warmer. That just made my day,” she said.

Co-ops and collective type entities are nothing new and they can provide all sorts of goods and services and propane groups are no exception.

In my opinion, and from many years of buying propane, I consider the propane business to be very competitive—which, at times, may work against customers rather than for them.

In my November 1, 2025 article entitled “Squeezing Down Utility Bills”, I wrote; “As for propane, well on that one I am stuck. I tried switching companies every so often for the teaser rate, but changing tanks every time I did that was a pain. And the initial deals they offer you to switch expire quickly so you are soon right back paying regular prices. I could own my own tank, but besides being a hassle to do so, I would then be on the hook for its integrity and safety and that I am not interested in”.

As for my concerns regarding propane, I couldn’t have said it better myself than I did back then. LOL.

In conclusion, a grass roots group like the Propane Collective may offer benefits beyond just being a one-off homeowner like me shopping for a way to lower my energy costs. Although there are pros and cons for just about any method of procurement, an entity like The Propane Collective might be worth taking a look at.

More information can be found at www.propanecollective.com. (530) 881-1189

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

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(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities or join any entity or group mentioned here, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. No guarantees are implied herein on the company mentioned in today's article. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com

Update 9/11/2025

YAHOO FINANCE TODAY:

Update Guaranteed Investment Options Aug 26 2025

Is an FDIC investment a viable alternative to stocks?

With the ups and downs of the markets, some investors prefer to be in risk free investments to avoid the stress of losing money.

That said, with interest rates off the zero percent floor we had seen since 2008 or so, there are options for risk free investing in both annuities and government guaranteed debt instruments.

We have covered annuities many times here on Money Matters but in a nutshell, you can purchase an annuity which gives you a portion of the stock market increase but have no downside at all. Think of it as gathering up vegetables in the garden and keeping them in the fridge. The vegetables represent profits. The next year you get no vegetables but the third year you get some more. The guaranteed annuities work kind of like that.

If the market goes up in year one, you get a portion of the increase. If the market goes down the next year, you keep what you made but don’t make any gains.

If the market goes up by the end of the third year, you get a portion of that and it is added to the first year’s profit.

Slowly your “profit” fridge can gather more and more vegetables but your “profits” can never be taken back.

Maybe some years you get vegetables and some years you don’t.

The point being, in up markets you make money. When the market drops, you make nothing but lose nothing. You get to keep your annual gains no matter what.

There are many varieties of annuities and they are all different but I hope you get the picture. Annuities are NOT government guaranteed however. They are guaranteed by the issuing insurance company.

On the government guaranteed side, savings accounts are obviously an option. Certain banks offer up to 5% APR with requirements. Major banks might tread down a little less.

Check out bankrate.com or nerdwallet.com to compare. Make sure whatever and whoever you use that they are FDIC insured.

The downside of a savings account is rates are not locked in and gains can be taxable.

CDs are also available as well as Treasury bills and Treasury notes. T bills are short term (up to one year) and the T notes are offered for longer terms.

Although both are backed by the government in one form or another, there are some differences between CDs and Treasuries.

CDs are issued by banks and credit unions while treasuries are issued directly by the U.S. government.

CDs usually pay a fixed interest while T bills don’t pay interest but are sold at a discount and redeemed at face value when mature. T notes can pay semi-annual interest.

CDs are insured up to $250,000 per depositor and per bank. T Bills and notes have no such limitations so might be preferred for larger amounts.

CDs and T bills/ notes if not kept to maturity may expose the buyer to a loss or gain of principal depending on what day to day interest rates do.

If kept to maturity however, the gains are fixed at time of purchase.

As for tax implications, this is the biggee.

CD interest can be taxable at federal, state and local levels while T Bills and T Notes are taxed at the federal level but may be exempt at the state/local level.

CDs might be the choice for safe, predictable returns and fit the short to medium term investor while T bills and T notes might yield a slightly higher return due to the tax implications.

T bills are sometimes used to park money short term while T notes might be better suited for the medium to longer term investor.

T bills and notes and even CDs are easily purchased through most financial institutions. You can start by asking your bank or stock brokerage firm.

Both CDs, T bills and T notes should carry no fees to purchase them.

In conclusion, you can also by T bill funds like a stock through your broker, but because of the mechanics of how they work, prices can vary day to day and you can lose money.

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(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

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