- Currencies and metals rebound on Friday
- But then get sold overnight…
Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! What a great weekend here down South… The U.S.’s baseball team is off to good start in pool play of the World Baseball Classic. This will be a hard-fought group of games with professional ballplayers scattered among the Global teams. My beloved Cardinals are finding that getting rid of their star players is NOT a good recipe… UGH! Creedence Clearwater Revival greets me this morning with their song; I Put A Spell On You…
Well, the BLS tried to put lipstick on the pig last Friday, when they added 90,000 jobs to the surveys, but the pig was just too ugly, and the total jobs created in Feb were negative -92,000… That’s right the BLS let a negative report get through to the public! You know I don’t like to start the letter with Data, but I just couldn’t pass this up…
You would think that a weak labor report like that would do major damage to the dollar…. But NOOOOOOOO! The dollar rallied on the news, even though the rate cuts are now in the cards for later this year. The BBDXY rose to 1,203 on Friday to end the week, and I’m totally frustrated by this… I just don’t get their reasoning behind buying dollars…
The U.S. Gov’t must have sent the BLS a memo saying that they needed to show a weak labor report so that when it comes time to cut rates, they can point to the weak labor…
The price of Gold ended the week up $91 to close at $5,174. Silver also ended the week on good note, rising $2.20 to close at $84.59… Gold & Silver are still on every geopolitical trader’s list to buy and hold, so add that to the Global Central Banks still at the Gold auction window, and you have a recipe for a strong price…
Silver is another animal and it has long been the whipping boy of the SPTs… And whatever form of short sellers there are our there… What to do with this supply and demand feature of Silver is their problem, and as long as the Gov’t turns its head regarding Governing the COMEX, we’ll continue to see the supply and demand feature of Silver give Silver a boost, only to be chopped down by the SPTS… I rest my case…
The price of Oil was the biggest mover to end the week… The price of Oil gained $10 on Friday and ended the week at $90.90… The finance minister of Kuwait, said that he saw the price of Oil rising to $150 because of the shipping problems in the Gulf region… Yes, that’s just one man’s opinion, but an educated one and we should take that as a omen..
The rising price of Oil is going to play havoc with inflation, and that puts the Fed Heads in a conundrum… they’ll have the labor market going to hell in the hand basket, but inflation rearing its ugly head once again.. Hey! What did the Fed Heads think was going to happen with inflation when they cut rates when their target rate for inflation was still above 2% and…. Money Supply is still cooking with gas… Did they think that this will all work our peachy? They must’ve thought that, because they just kept on cutting rates while money supply was soaring….
Speaking of inflation… I haven’t spoken about inflation in a while, other than say that I thought it was going to rise, so I thought I would include this listing of inflation rates… And this report card was taken before the price of Oil soared again… check this out:
Got this from dear reader John Dienner’s Ruminations news letter… Google him and sign up for his letter, I think you’ll see why, soon….
In the overnight markets last night… All hell has broken loose! Sorry about the harsh language, but, it needed to be said. The price of Oil quickly continued its run upward from last week, and soon went above the $100 mark… I guess the finance minister from Kuwait is on to something….
With the price of Oil screaming higher one would think that the inflation ghouls would be selling dollars left and right… But that would be wrong; the dollar immediately received a bid and proceeded to climb to 1,210 in the BBDXY… That means the currencies are getting pummeled… And Gold & Silver were not being treated very nicely last night, and this morning…
Everything I read regarding this dollar rally says that it’s a “flight to safety”… Isn’t that akin to running to the wolf because they’re scared? Safety in the dollar? What are they smoking? This is crazy! SERENITY NOW!
The euro lost the 1.16 handle last night and was getting close to losing the 1.15 handle… I had checked the currencies on Saturday, and they all looked healthy, but then the trap door sprung last night and suddenly they have all returned to their sick beds…
The dollar buying backed off overnight, and the BBDXY starts our day/ week at 1,203… The euro has recovered a bit of ground, but the rest of the currencies all look as though they need some panacea to help them. The Petrol Currencies are well bid, as long as you’re not the Russian ruble, or Mexican peso… The so-called “flight to safety” should include the Swiss franc… I’m just saying…
So the price of Oil is soaring and in another “you won’t believe it scenario” the yield on the 10-year has risen to 4.18%, in this case, the bond boys are looking at the price of Oil and thinking that inflation is going to come back stronger than before, and that the Fed Heads will have to hike rates, so they’re getting ahead of the curve…
So, you see, that all hell has broken loose, and that not sane people are running the asylum… I had better just go to the Big Finish, because I’m going to get into trouble if I say anything else…
The U.S. Data Cupboard had more than just the Jobs report last Friday; it also had the delayed Retail Sales report for Jan… And that report showed more rot on the vine of the economy, as Retail Sales were a negative -.2%… And when you take out auto sales, the report showed 0% gain…. With the price of Goods so high, you would think that it would make up the lack of Retail Sales… But apparently, the lack of Retail Sales were so great that even the higher prices of goods couldn’t keep it from going negative.
This week’s Data Cupboard starts the week with a whimper… There’s nothing to really report on here until Wednesday, and then we’ll see the color of the latest STUPID CPI, and even using all the tricks of the trade to keep inflation from showing up here, the report should show that inflation remained well-above the Fed Heads 2% target rate….
To recap… The markets ended the week last week looking over its shoulder at the war in Iran and fearing the worst… The stock jockeys were looking for protection, and that saw Gold & Silver rally strongly on Friday to end the week. The price of Oil soared to a $90 handle, and the ten-year closed the week with its yield at 4.13%… Chuck talks inflation this morning, and doesn’t like the direction it’s going! In the overnight markets the dollar has rallied, Gold & Silver have gotten sold, bonds are getting sold, and the price of Oil has traded over $100!
For What It’s Worth… well, I have something a little different for you today… This is a link to a video interview with the head of Wheaton Precious Metals… He’s a very interesting person to listen to, and I suggest that you take the time to click the link and watch and listen… you can find the video here: “We’re Consuming More Than We Produce” Silver Warning | Randy Smallwood
Or, here’s a snippet from the video: “Gold testing $5,400 is not a temporary surge; it reflects what Wheaton Precious Metals CEO Randy Smallwood describes as a structural shift in markets. Speaking with Kitco News at PDAC 2026, amid escalating Middle East tensions and a sharp move higher in oil, Smallwood said precious metals are entering a new phase driven by fiscal imbalances, currency concerns, and renewed demand for hard assets.
“I do think 5,000 is a new base for gold,” Smallwood said. “Gold is a currency. It’s been a currency forever.” He argued that the long-held view of the U.S. dollar as the primary reference currency is being reassessed as deficits widen and geopolitical risk intensifies.
Smallwood also pointed to silver’s multi-year supply imbalance, noting, “We’re consuming more of it than what we’re producing,” after peak silver production in 2017 and 2018. His comments come after Wheaton closed a $4.3 billion transaction last week to double its silver exposure at Antamina, positioning the streaming company for what he sees as a sustained monetary and industrial shift.”
Chuck Again… what do you think about a $500 price for Silver? Supply and demand, folks… it’s that simple…
Market Prices 3/9/2026: American Style: A$ .7018, kiwi .5910, C$ .7384, euro 1.1562, sterling 1.3349, Swiss $1.2838, European Style: rand 16.7757, krone 9.6833, SEK 9.2408, forint 353.65, zloty 3.7020, koruna 21.1258, RUB 78.16, yen 158.76, sing 1.2804, HKD 7.8169, INR 92.53, China 6.9169, peso 17.90, BRL 5.22381, BBDXY 1,203, Dollar Index 99.24, Oil $103.10, 10-year 4.18%, Silver $83.06, Platinum $2,112.00, Palladium $1,575.00, Copper $5.75, and Gold… $5,084
That’s it for today… I’ve been having problems with my breathing again… I talked to my heart doctor, and he wants to see me as soon as I get back home. I’ve had a sack of fluid around my heart for some time, but I think it’s time to drain it, which involves a needle stuck in my chest… Sounds awful to me, but then after all the operations I’ve had, what the heck! Our Billikens and Tigers both lost their last regular season games on Saturday, so it was not a good day for sports in the gateway city… The USA baseball team plays Mexico tonight, should be a good game… And our Blues won late last night… The Buckinghams take us to the finish line today with their 60s song: Mercy, Mercy… I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today and don’t get caught up in the chaos in the markets, and Please Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler