John T. Reed’s news blog

A Russian in NYC said, “Everyone I know [in Russia] is trying to get money [rubles] out at all costs.”.Told ya. What they really mean is they are trying to convert rubles into non-inflated foreign currency. The alternative is to buy goods and hope to barter with them. At present in the US, converting your USD into other currencies is no big deal. But if the ’flation hits the fan, it will be illegal, as getting the local currency out is now illegal in Russia. Procrastination may be fatal to your life savings. And your foreign currency must be held...

I have mentioned the 1930s Spanish Civil War repeatedly. Americans and others have volunteered to fight on the socialist side against Franco and the Nazis. A Ukraine surgeon was asked about her mood Tuesday. She raised her fist and said, “No pasarani,” Spanish for “They shall not pass.” That was a slogan from the Spanish Civil War. My email is johnreed@johntreed.com.

Russia is having trouble getting ocean-going tanker ships to carry their oil because of the tanker owners not wanting to carry Russian oil and banks not wanting to finance the shipments. That makes me think the insurance companies who insure ocean shipments could also be enlisted to refuse to insure ocean-going tankers carrying oil originating from Russia..I recently posted that oil is a fungible commodity that loses its Russian once it is sold. Apparently, I spoke too soon. Apparently it does not lose its Russian identity until it crosses the ocean, which suggests they can only sell it overland, which...

Dem Senators Wyden, Bernie, and Pocahontas proposed but did not get, taxation of unrealized capital gains. Since the beginning of tax law in 1913, gains were only taxed when the asset in question was sold. One reason is you may not have any money with which to pay the tax until you sell it. Democrats want your money NOW Dems want more tax money from the rich. The rich have excess savings compared to the average person. They invest those savings in capital assets like stocks bonds, real estate, commodities like gold. Under tax law since 1913, Dems have to wait until...

Rehab is really big among individual real estate investors. It is almost total bulls***. It is almost never profitable, almost always causes a loss on the cost of the rehab. In the typical case, the investors pays, say, $350,000 for the property then spends another, say, $8,000 fixing it up. Then he sells it two or three years later for $395,000 and says he made $37,000 profit on his $8,000 rehab. What a financial genius! In fact, The $45,000 appreciation almost certainly came from inflation and marketwide appreciation. In other words, probably all similar buildings, including those that were not rehabbed at...