* Guests: Kelly Finnegan, Over the past 50 years, Rust Coins has been working to educate customers about precious metals – RustCoinAndGift.com

* Honest Money Report: Gold: $1920.30 Silver: $23.88.

* Merck Covid Drug Linked to New Virus Mutations, Study Says – John Lauerman.

* Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 pill is giving rise to new mutations of the virus in some patients, according to a study that underscores the risk of trying to intentionally alter the pathogen’s genetic code – Bloomberg.

* The Fed Hikes Rates for 8th Time in a Row Benchmark rate goes up another quarter percentage point.

* Fed Raises Rates Again, But Are Markets Listening? Recent stock gains have been driven by hope that a rate-raising cycle may be over. The Fed keeps telling investors that it’s not – NYT.

* Look at how minimum wage has changed over the years – In 1964. US minimum wage was $1.25 an hour.

* Save Money While Fighting Climate Change. Many American consumers are now eligible to save thousands of dollars when they buy an electric car, heat pump, solar panels or energy-efficient appliances. Those savings kicked in this year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, major legislation that aims to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The law tackles two major sources of those emissions, transportation and housing, in part by helping Americans electrify their cars and homes, and by making the most energy efficient choices more affordable through tax credits and rebates.

* GM Reports Strong Profits as It Moves to Challenge Tesla.

* Last week, a self-driving car stopped in the middle of a busy street during the morning rush hour in San Francisco, jamming traffic for nearly two miles. The car, which was operated by Waymo, did not leave the intersection until company technicians arrived about 10 minutes later and manually drove it away.

* With services in San Francisco and Phoenix, Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is one of two companies operating so-called robotaxis without drivers behind the wheel. The other, Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, offers a service in San Francisco. The services are the culmination of more than 10 years of research, development and testing by the two companies.

* Biden and McCarthy In Talks On Raising Debt Limit – The meeting, did not yield a breakthrough, Biden insisted that Congress would have to pass a debt-limit increase with no strings attached to avoid a financial cataclysm.

* The Dishonest Spin Over the Debt Ceiling From Both Sides Of The Isle.

Radio Show Hour 1 – 02/02/2023