- The dollar bugs remain sleeping… but they’ll be awaken today!
- Chuck explains: Gold Swaps…
Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, even a blind squirrel can find an acorn, right? That’s how I felt last night when the Cardinals beat the Angels again, thus marking a 3-game winning streak… They tried to give the game away, but the Angels wouldn’t let them… Talk about two offensive anemic teams! The game doesn’t get started here until 8:30, and at 11:38 it was over… I’m draggin’ the line this morning as a result of my staying up to watch the game! Stevie Ray Vaughn greets me this morning with his song: The Sky Is Crying… The live version of that song too!
Well, more wallowing around and not going anywhere was the description of what the dollar did yesterday… And once again it wore the same clothes as Monday and closed flat on the day at 1,253 in the BBDXY… Gold isn’t waiting around for the Datapaloooza to start in earnest… Gold gained back the ground it lost on Monday, and closed Tuesday up $20 at $2,359.00, and Silver gained 29-cents on the day to close at $28.69…
The euro has finally climbed back over the 1.08 figure… And the rest of the currencies are finally looking like they could get out of their respective sick beds… There is one currency that I want to talk about this morning, and that is the Norwegian krone… After spending the last month losing ground to not only the dollar but also the euro and Swedish krona, the krone has made a strong move in the past 3 trading days… And once again is stronger VS the dollar than the krona, which is how it’s supposed to be…
I had a dear reader send me a note a week or so ago, and he asked me what the heck was going on with the krone, as he stated, I thought with their Sovereign Wealth Fund, where every child that is born in the country to Norwegian citizens, has a retirement fund started for them with $1 million dollars! Talk about an economy that’s hitting on all 8! So… that’s what I’m talking about this morning… the krone!
The price of Oil remained in the $78 handle yesterday, and the 10-year was getting bought, as its yield dropped to 4.44%… I thought to myself yesterday when I thought about the 10-year getting bought… “Why would anyone take a flyer out on what the Fed Heads will do in June when they meet? Haven’t these same Fed Heads disappointed the markets before? Well, I guess it all comes down to what you believe they will do, and so with the Bond boys, they think the Fed Heads will cut in June…
In The overnight markets last night… Again, no movement from the dollar in the overnight markets. The BBDXY remained at 1,253… Gold is up $3 to start the day today, and Silver is up pennies (2-cents) to start the day… This will be a big Data data folks, so expect some gyrations in these asset classes… I don’t think we’ll see the dollar remain in the 1,253 handle at the end of the day… Which way it will go? Only the shadow knows…
The price of Oil slid to the $77 handle overnight, and the 10-year saw more buying overnight, with its yield dropped to 4.41%
Well, me and Tommy James and Shondells are draggin the line this morning… Serves me right for staying up to watch to pathetic teams play…
So…. I read and listened to two different articles about how the African and Asian countries are repatriating the Gold that’s being held for them by the U.S. I guess they don’t trust the U.S. any longer… That would be a severe blow to the midsection to the U.S. if everyone that held Gold in the U.S. wanted their Gold back…
you see… The U.S. performs Gold swaps with physical Gold that they have in stock… Could be the U.S.’s Gold, or it most likely is another country’s Gold… These swaps could end up being a real problem for the country that is believing that the U.S. is providing security for their Gold… Here’s the problem with these Swaps… So, The Fed/ cabal/ Cartel does a swap with XYZ, when XYZ needs some physical Gold… The U.S. sends them the physical Gold, and XYZ puts on deposit an amount of money… So, what happens when XYZ sells the Gold they received in the Swap, and the U.S. says, Ok, time’s up, send it back… And XYZ says… We don’t have it to give it back to you… And then on the other side the country that put the physical Gold on deposit at the U.S. decides like the African & Asian countries are doing now, to ask for their Gold back, and the U.S. doesn’t have it to give back? Remember when German wanted all their physical Gold back and the U.S. made them wait about two years before sending to them? It was because the U.S. had swapped out Germany’s Gold, and didn’t have it to send to them, so the Fed Heads had to go out and buy the difference and they had to the buying stealth-like, and over time to not rile up the markets…
Well, that was long-winded! Rainy days… not much for walking outside… that’s what this week has been weather-wise so far…
With the weakness in the dollar, or the dollar’s inability to gain any ground in recent trading sessions, the euro, sterling and other currencies have gotten healthier… I know that I’ve highlighted the fact that Copper is in a shortage, and that I’ve always told you that a shortage shouldn’t exist, it’s just something that’s in need of a price adjustment… So, the price adjustment in Copper is taking place right now… This is exciting!
The U.S. Data Cupboard has some real zingers this morning… Batting lead off, is the STUPID CPI for April… Then we’ll see the color of the April Retail Sales… Yesterday, the April PPI (wholesale inflation jumped higher to 3.1% year-on-year, VS 2.8% in March… Ok, readers here’s your pop quiz… What does rising PPI tell us? I know you know, so I won’t got through with the answer…
March’s STUPID CPI was 3.5%… with PPI pushing the envelope to higher down the road prices, I’m going to go out on a big fat limb, and say that we should see the STUPID CPI rise in April… thus marking 3 consecutive months of rises in inflation… That’s not going to make the stock jockeys, bond boys, or metals traders very happy… The dollar bugs? Well, they’ll throw in the the towel for a June rate cut, and buy dollars…
The other piece o-data that we’ll see today, is the April Retail Sales… I don’t believe that we’ll see the kind of strength in Retail Sales in April that we saw in March… (remember, March had Easter sales)… The BHI indicates the weaker number in April… And this data won’t get the markets too lathered up… I’m just saying…
To recap… Tuesday was a real snoozer for the dollar bugs, with the BBDXY remaining at 1,253… again! Chuck doesn’t think that the dollar will remain stuck in the mud after today’s data… African and Asian countries are knocking on the Fort Knox door and shouting that they want their physical Gold back… NOW! And Chuck explains how that wont’ be possible.. just yet, that is…
For What It’s Worth… Well, I sure stirred up a hornet’s nest yesterday with my thoughts on EV’s… So, to keep the ball rolling here is another problem that will present itself to the EV’s and it can be found here:Copper Scrappers Target Tesla Superchargers As Metal Prices Soar | ZeroHedge
Or, here’s your snippet: “In the early 1950s, a notorious bank robber, one of the first fugitives on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, was asked after his capture: Why did you rob banks?
William Sutton’s response: “Because that’s where the money is.”
Fast-forward to today. Thieves are targeting electric vehicle charging stations because the charging cords at each stall contain a ‘gold mine’ of copper that can easily be scrapped.
Targeting EV charging stations is nothing new. Still, thieves are noticing copper prices moving higher, mainly due to strained mining supplies and robust demand for powering up America in the digital age. And this trend might spark concern with Elon Musk, as his Tesla Superchargers are being targeted in imploding California.
One Bay Area Supercharger Station had all charging cords severed. This is terrible news for EV drivers rolling up with low battery.
EV blog Teslarati said thieves are targeting Tesla Superchargers across several states:
It now seems this is a new form of attack on Tesla Superchargers, as another identical incident occurred last week in Houston, Texas. Thieves also cut the charging cables in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this year.
This comes as Goldman’s Nicholas Snowdon has warned about the entire copper market “moving into extreme tightness.”
Chuck again… you know, what I think about this? That this is just another example of how our country is sinking with regards to law and order… I’ll let that sink in a minute before I go on…
Market Prices 5/15/2024: American Style: A$ .6637, kiwi .6066, C$ .7335, euro 1.0831, sterling 1.2617, Swiss $1.1058, European Style: rand 18.3092, krone 10.7583, SEK 10.7836, forint 355.38, zloty 3.9407, koruna 22.8579, RUB 91.21, yen 155.59, sing 1.3492, HKD 7.8085, INR 83.49, China 7.2205, peso 16.88, BRL 5.1600, BBDXY 1,253.70, Dollar Index 105.04, Oil $77.67, 10-year 4.41%, Silver $28.71, Platinum $1,043.00, Palladium $993.00, Copper $4.93, and Gold… $2,362.77
That’s it for today… Well, the STUPID CPI printed already this morning, and it showed a slight weakness, and that’s got the dollar bugs heading for cover… So, know the Shadow knows for sure! So, there you go, up to the minute reporting and all for free! Ok, Chuck stop slapping your own back! Hey! I’ve got to do it, because I’m all by myself here, there’s no one else to do that! Well… my favorite Chicago song is playing as I wrap up this letter this morning… Hard Habit To Break… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today… And please Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler