Uncertainty has truly become the new normal. When the COVID crisis took hold in the US, the first order of business was to stop the spread. Various mitigation efforts ensued, and terms such as ‘social distancing’ became household words. The shutdown of non-essential businesses and public venues followed, and altered policies for those that remained running in some capacity were implemented.
The COVID crisis we are experiencing is unprecedented in modern times. Aside from the human toll in fatalities, it has affected nearly every aspect of life as we know it. From government mandated lock-downs to economic disruption on a global scale, it has exposed the true frailty of the engines that power our world. The prosperity of a functioning society is not simply defined by a monetary equation. Fluctuations and elasticity are an inherent part of such a system and typically weathered in stride. But when the life fabric of life is stretched beyond the breaking point, it’s wise to prepare for a potentially unfavorable outcome.
The gift-giving traditions of the Christmas season can be trying at times. If you have many people to shop for, each with multiple ideas of their holiday wish lists, it can quickly become a full blown shopping adventure. Are you up to the challenge of braving black Friday crowds at the mall or other retail venues? Do you want to endure the long lines, parking hassles, or coming up empty because the item you wanted just sold out? Even with online retail being a part of how we shop these days, it still comes with its own set of issues. Will the gift you ordered arrive in time? Will it make it through the delivery process without damage?
The world is far from a peaceful, stable place. Geopolitical tensions seem to increase, and then subside, but most every storm has been weathered to some extent or another. Those that believe this to be as cyclical as the weather will allude to the fact that every generation has faced its own set of crises, many of which may have been worse than current events, only to have prevailed and come out stronger as a result. And although this is true, if one examines the broader story arc of where things are going, the big picture does raise some concern.
We all know that pawn shops, ours included, deal in many common commodities. There are firearms, coins, jewelry, tools, home electronics, car audio and many other products you would expect to find at a pawn shop. But one of the most interesting things is that our inventory is always in motion, and by the very nature of a business like this, we sometimes come across unique items that do not fit into our general product categorization.
The staff of Metro Pawn & Gun want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas – may this holiday season bring joy and happiness to all!
If you need to borrow money quickly and without a credit check, the pawn/loan process can be very helpful. Bring in items of value as collateral to receive a pawn loan for an agreed amount, and then retrieve your item(s) upon repayment of the pawn amount within a specified period of time.
Gold is a precious metal and fairly rare element that has been used throughout history as a monetary system in the form of coinage, in jewelry and other forms of adornment, and in other arts as well. Although the world monetary gold standard was abandoned in favor of a fiat currency system in the 70s, the value of gold persists and actually continues to grow in spite of this.
Let’s look at opportunity cost. This is a basic economic principle defined as the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. You walk into a prestigious jewelry salon and find that wedding ring of your dreams, for $5000. While most people might not second-guess putting a ‘price’ on something as special as a wedding, the reality of the matter is that if you spend $3000 on one instead, you’ll have $2000 of potential resources to allocate to something else – like the catering, or the reception hall, or the honeymoon!
Some things in the ‘general market of everything’ hold greater value and appeal than others. Technologies change, fads come and go, and styles evolve to reflect the consumers they target. There are also certain ‘fixed points’ in these markets – goods that are equally desirable, if not more so, at any given time.