Energy prices at record levels
Tensions between Russia and the western world are causing oil and gas prices to continue to rise. In the first two weeks after the Russian invasion, the price of oil rose by more than 20 percent and gas prices climbed to record levels.
European countries, above all Germany, are dependent on energy supplies from Russia. Persistent tensions could hit consumers’ wallets directly, even if there are no immediate delivery stops.
Fuel prices are also trending towards the highest level. On March 8, 2022, the price of a liter of premium petrol rose to more than 2 euros for the first time. Diesel even cost a little more than petrol. Everything indicates that inflation rates will be higher in the long term in 2022 than previously expected.
In a securities account, you as an investor can at least partially cushion such developments with two building blocks: with gold and with bond ETFs, i.e. with ETFs with inflation-linked government bonds.
Some crypto fans consider bitcoin to be a kind of digital gold. Unlike, for example, FIAT currencies such as the euro or dollar, the most important of all cryptocurrencies is finite. For technical reasons, there can only be 21 million Bitcoins – no more and no less. Just like physical gold, cryptocurrency is finite. Bitcoin is also mined like gold. Mining takes place through the global network.
We in the advice editors of finanzen.net are a little more cautious. Digital coins cannot (yet) hold a candle to gold, and cryptocurrencies continue to be a very volatile investment.
The question remains: how should you react in the current situation? To answer this question, we first have to take a look at the current interest rate dilemma!