- the dollar gets bought on Monday and Tuesday
- Chuck questions how folks are srtuggling with huge wages…
Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Yesterday, I was stuck 3 times with needles… ouch! I’m doing fine according to my oncologist… So, there’s that… I came home from the visit, ate lunch and fell asleep in my chair for about 4 hours… That nap made up for all the lost sleep Monday night… The band: We Five greets me this morning with their 60’s song: You Were On My Mind…
Well after a brief visit to the selling table, the dollar returned to getting bought yesterday, following Monday’s gain… The BBDXY gained 2 index points, and I now 6 index points above where it was last Friday… It’s all about the war, folks… right now, sentiment is not about fundamentals in the U.S. and how they will be able to function with all this debt servicing cost….
And Gold, which a few days ago, looked as though it had gone through the gauntlet of SPTs and come out of it and was ready to move forward, had had a relapse and is back in the gauntlet… Gold was down on Monday $54 and then yesterday it was down $15 more dollars to end the day at $4,469….
Silver couldn’t find a bid either, and lost 41-cents on Monday and then yesterday it was down 20-cents to end the day at $74.54
The price of Oil, after a brief dip below $90 to end the week, has rebounded and gained $2 yesterday to end the day at $94.87
And finally, the 10-year Treasury has seen a ton of Fed Head yield control, and with the PCE rising to 3.8% the pressure on yields to go higher remains… The 10-year ended yesterday at 4.44% yield…
In the overnight markets last night… the dollar remained at 1,202 in the BBDXY, so no movement there… Gold is up $7 to start the day and Silver is down 20-cents… Gold pricing has seemed very strange to me lately… it is what it is, but I don’t have to like it!
The price of Oil bumped higher to trade with a $95 handle overnight, and the 10-year also saw its yield bump higher to trade with a 4.48% yield this morning… And since I’ve been reporting it lately… Copper has risen to $6.60 overnight…
I’m wondering about the economy and how the stock market has taken over the viewpoint of the economy, and then I read that Lola aka Goldman Sachs estimated, in a recent survey, that 41% of American households earning between $300K-$500K are living paycheck to paycheck. Hardly a sign of a healthy economy.
So, they’re telling us that if you make $300K a year you can barely make it? Are you kidding me? What planet are they living on? Well, then if I step back and think about that, the $300K a year household has probably bought a McMansion, drive two Mercades and have an 85-inch TV in every room of their McMansion… Yeah, that would do it…
Ok, Chuck, you’ve made your point, move along now… Well, longtime associate, Bill Bonner had this to say about home economics: “Auto delinquencies are at a new record, and credit cards are near record high. In nominal dollars Autos, credit card, student loans and other are higher now than in the Great Financial Crisis (GFC).
Excluding housing there is about $621 billion in 60-day or longer delinquencies. People are paying their mortgages but struggling mightily everywhere else. Somehow the DOW isn’t helping.”
Chuck again… So, the Dow is faltering as the leader of the pack, so to speak for the economy… it never should have been the leader of the pack, and it was only time that would expose it for the sham that it was…
Economic fundamentals should have been the driving force… And with that, Economic fundamentals have taken the back seat to the Dow… for many years now… And it would warm my heart to see fundamentals return to the forefront…
Speaking of fundamentals… here in the U.S. April’s Job Openings printed yesterday and showed a HUGE jump in the numbers from 6.9 Million to 7.6 Million… I think that this data shows that businesses are not going hog wild hiring, but would certainly like to… Qualified hires are what the problem here is…
And in more fundamentals; The Federal Reserve publishes an annual report that includes information on what adults think of the US economy. And the latest data shows that Americans are generally feeling a little less positive than they did the year before.
In 2025, 26% of American adults felt that the national economy was in good or excellent shape, down from 29% the year prior. In 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, 50% of adults had “good” or better feelings.
It’s trending in the wrong direction, but don’t let that get in the way og buying more stocks… I’m just saying…
I mentioned the Chinese renminbi on Monday, and how the currency was enjoying its gain VS the dollar… It continues to take out levels VS the dollar and trades this morning around 6.7632… It has really dropped in level (it’s a European Priced currency) VS the dollar, but as I’ve previously explained… the currency is a long was off in price from where it was when I got EverBank to begin offering renminbi deposits…
And just when I signaled out that the Russian Ruble was rallying, the rally stopped and it began to get sold again… I should’ve known better with a girl like you… no wait! I should have known better than to highlight a currency, for it’s like a kiss of death to the currency!
Well, Gold buying by Central Banks may have slowed in this last year, it’s still strong and pushing Treasuries out as the preferred reserve holding by Central Banks… Kitco.com had this: “Gold represented roughly 27% of global reserve assets at the end of the year. As of the end of 2024, gold holdings accounted for 20% of total global reserves. As gold demand has soared, holdings of U.S. Treasuries have declined, representing about 22% of total reserves, down from 25% in 2024.”
This is one of the fundamentals I keep talking about… The U.S. just keeps increasing their debt, thus Treasury issuance is increasing, but Central Banks are slowing their buying of Treasuries, and buying Gold instead… The U.S. will eventually have to buy most if not all of its own Treasury issuance… That’s what’s called “Monetizing their own debt” and that’s BAD folks… I’m just saying…
The U.S. Data Cupboard today has the ADP Employment Report, which to me is the most important labor report, for it has no hedonic adjustments, and I think that ADP is the system that every Corporation in the U.S. uses to do their employment duties, i.e. wages, taxes, etc. So, if they see HUGE employment they show it in this report, and vice-versa… We’ll also see the April report for Factory Orders, and the Fed/Cabal/Cartel’s Beige Book…
To recap… The dollar’s brief foray below 1,200 in the BBDXY only last 1 day as the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz escalate… Remember… War = dollar strength, and Peace = dollar weakness… Chuck is all over the board this morning with his thoughts so, you’ll have to go back and read it if you want to learn something new….
For What Its’ Worth… Well, this article is a little off the normal stuff that I use here. It’s about a short seller being found guilty of manipulation and it can be found here: Andrew Left Found Guilty in Case That Spooked Short Sellers – Bloomberg
Or, here’s your snippet: “Famed short seller Andrew Left faces the possibility of decades behind bars after being found guilty of using disingenuous social media posts to manipulate stocks, in a landmark case that threatens to chill a broader trading strategy loathed by corporate executives.
Left, who gained a large online following with his blunt commentary about major US companies as well as smaller stocks popular with retail traders, was convicted Monday following a three-week trial in Los Angeles. Even before his conviction, his 2024 indictment spooked the industry and led some short sellers to beef up legal disclaimers.
Now, the 55-year-old faces more than two decades behind bars at an Aug. 31 sentencing hearing, though criminal defendants frequently get less time. Left will remain free until then.
From the day it was filed, Left’s case was closely watched by short sellers worried they could come under fire, too. It also captivated their detractors, such as corporate executives, hoping that the government would rein in the bears they blame for hurting stock prices.”.
Chuck again… While I think that the short seller is important in a normal run of business, but not MANIPULATION! And that’s what’s on trial here, and short sellers everywhere should sit up and take notice….
Market Prices: 6/3/26: American Style: A$ .7169, kiwi .5899, C$.7218 euro 1.1621, sterling 1.3455, Swiss $1.2687, European Style: rand 16.2641, krone 9.2781, SEK 9.3472, forint 305.23, zloty 3.6467, koruna 20.8105, RUB 73.56, yen 159.78, sing 1.2816, HKD 7.8363, INR 95.70, China 6.7706, peso 17.28, BRL 5.005, BBDXY 1,202, Dollar Index 99.36, Oil $95.86, 10-year 4.48%, Silver $74.61, Platinum $1,938.00, Palladium $1,377.00 Copper $6.60 and Gold… $4,465
That’s it for today… Lots of stuff, eh? My beloved Cardinals have run into a buzzsaw, that being the Texas Rangers… UGH! Man, I was in the infusion room for over 3 hours yesterday, and when I came home, I could barely hold my eye open… But I made up for that! I received an infusion of Iron yesterday along with my cancer treatment, so, I should be feeling much stronger in the coming days… I’m from Missouri, I’ll have to see to believe it! But I’m optimistic so I’ve got that going for me! REO Speedwagon takes us to the finish line today with their great song: Ridin’ The Storm Out… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler