Author: admin

• The dollar recovers for a short time
• Oil and euros move the krone…

Good Day… And a Wonder Dog Wednesday to you! My beloved Cardinals got back to winning last night in Cincinnati 3-0.. Good pitching , received timely hitting and that was that! I really don’t like the Reds because of the brawl they started with the Cardinals years ago… and the damage they did to our backup catcher who had to retire afterwards….  Ok, don’t get me all riled up so early, move on…. The temps have backed off BIG TIME here and I was able to sit outside and watch the game… Jo Jo Gunne greets me this morning with their song: Run Run Run…. 

Well, the dollar didn’t do much yesterday except gain 1 index point to leave it at 1,201 in the BBDXY… But the dollars lack of performance didn’t carry over to Gold/Silver as they were attacked right from the get-go yesterday by the SPTs who wouldn’t let up on their attack all through the day… Gold lost $85 and Silver lost $2.45… I would say that the SPTs had some pent-up frustration, that their last engineered attack on Gold/Silver didn’t scare away investors for Gold / Silver fought back to reach $4,400 and $65 respectively…. 

It’s really sad that they go through these engineered takedowns , don’t you agree? I mean, I’m holding on to my Gold/Silver for they haven’t shook me with these takedowns…  I’ve talked to folks through the years don’t believe these takedowns exist, that it’s just Gold/Silver holders selling at specific levels… I tell they, they may be selling, but they wouldn’t have the effect on the price like the SPTs do with their arms full of short contracts showing up at the window…. 

The price of Oil bumped higher yesterday, to end the day trading with an $85 handle, and the 10-year Treasury, which had seen its yield rise to 4.74% yesterday morning, saw the Fed Heads implement some of their “yield control” and brought the yield down to 4.71%…. 

In the overnight markets last night…. The dollar got sold overnight, as the situation in the Strait of Hormuz just keeps getting darker…. I know, the dollar got bought while the war went on, but now things are clearer and minus a nuclear bomb the U.S. must pull out of the region and stop bleeding money that we don’t have….  So, the dollar sits at 1,198 this morning in the BBDXY… down 3 index points and looking very peeked…  Time for the PPT? Only the shadow knows that.. 

Well, the price of Gold is up $30 to start our day…  and Silver is up 26-cents…. The thing that gets me so riled up with the SPTs is that they have become so brazen in the takedown, and no longer attempt to fly under the radar… The SPTs just seem to do whatever they want and there’s no regulators that will stop them… 

The price of Oil remained trading with an $85 handle overnight, and the 10-year Treasury is seeing some buying to start our day. I Know it’s strange but stranger things have gone on here… The yield to start our day is 4.69%… 

Regarding the SPTs, they didn’t let Copper get off free yesterday and they clobbered it to bring it to $6.52…  Just a week ago this metal was $6.79… The boys have really done to Copper that they’ve done to Gold/Silver for decades now…

There’s lots of articles out there regarding the yen intervention by the U.S… But, believe me that my description of what happened from day one is bang on (except the U.S. sold euros, not dollars to buy yen)  And that is that the U.S. seeing that Japan is the largest holder of Treasuries, and that they are liquid enough that they would be sold by the Bank of Japan to support the yen… And the U.S. couldn’t stand the thought of the BOJ selling their Treasury stash… So, the U.S. joined the BOJ and supported the yen… A lot of good they did, the markets will get back to selling yen as soon as the dust settles in the East….

And circling back to the dollar… Really, I mean let’s talk about the euro…  The Eurozone has their own debt problems but the pale in comparison to the U.S. and Japan, so when the dollar gets sold, the euro responds favorably first…  And I told you last week that it would take some time for the traders to get back to buying euros after $10 Billion of them were sold to buy yen…. And this morning, the euro has a 1.16 handle… So, I guess it’s time… 

And with the euro finally getting past the 1.15 level, it gives trades the freedom to buy Norwegian krone again… The krone is an Oil play, but they also are a euro-play… And when both the euro and Oil are in rally mode, the krone is bought by the truckload….  I’m just saying…

The U.S. Data Cupboard had the July prints of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization… Industrial Production show at .2% growth… not a number I would write home about. Capacity Utilization was flat to down .01%, so Companies are not expanding their offices any time in the near future.. 

To recap…The dollar, just like it did last week, has now recovered all the ground it lost last Friday…  Gold & Silver got whacked good by the SPTs, as they attempt to get Gold/Silver as an investment non-gratis to investors…. I doubt it works for “real holders of the metals” and not the short timers who heard about Gold / Silver’s rises and wanted to take part in them…. 

For What It’s Worth… Well, it’s been awhile since I had the GATA folks send me something and now I have something for you… This is about the Global Economy and the Japanese yen, and it can be found here: Global finance still looks like a ‘giant Jenga tower’ propped up by a Japanese yen that’s in deep trouble | Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee | Exposing the long-term manipulation of the gold market:

Or, here’s your snippet: “The first U.S.-Japan joint intervention in three decades aimed at boosting the yen has come and gone without doing much to ease anxiety in currency markets.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s notepad suggested the U.S. bought $5 billion-$10 billion worth of yen, while Japan’s move topped $50 billion. The exchange rate initially strengthened to about 157 yen per dollar from nearly 164, but has since given back some gains and hovered around 159 on Friday.

To be sure, efforts to prop up the yen were seen as short-term measures to address the symptoms rather than the root causes of the currency’s weakness. Those include Japan’s massive debt that exceeds 200% of GDP, fiscal stimulus that is expected to worsen the deficit, and a central bank that has been slow to raise rates in the face of high inflation.

But given that the yen’s recent instability was enough to trigger the U.S.-Japan intervention, a key underpinning of global financial markets appears riskier.

“Now traders are watching the ‘yen carry trade,’ where cheap yen borrowing funds bets on higher-yielding assets worldwide, and wondering if it’s about to blow up,” Wall Street veteran Ed Yardeni wrote in a note on Tuesday. “The financial system right now looks like a giant Jenga tower with the yen as a load-bearing piece.” …

Chuck Again…  and to think that U.S. secretary Bessent basically fired a bazooka at the currency markets and that Bazooka hasn’t scared anyone against shorting yen… It’s basically wasted money… but don’t let that get to you Scott, better men than you have attempted to save the yen and they all have failed! 

Market Prices 8/19/2026: American Style: A$ .7074, kiwi .5879, C$ .7207, euro 1.1604, sterling 1.3554, Swiss $1.2342, European Style: rand 16.2545, krone 9.4029, SEK 9.5147, forint 314.33, zloty 3.7279, koruna 20.8271, RUB 84.99, yen 159.12, sing 1.2763, HKD 7.8416, INR 95.76, China 6.7391, peso 17.04, BRL 5.2190, BBDXY 1,198, Dollar Index 99.57, Oil $85.80, 10-year 4.69%, Silver $63.67, Platinum $1,741.00, Palladium $1,315.00, Copper $6.52… and Gold… $4,365

That’s it for today and this week, as there will be no Pfennig tomorrow, and the next time I write to you is next Monday… Good friend Dewey came down and sat outside with me to watch the game last night… he’s normally not in town but was this time so got to catch up… and Thursday is not only infusion day for me, but it’s also the birthday of my darling daughter, Dawn… I remember when she was born and to this day she’s still tiny…. A lot like my Grandmother on my dad’s side…  She’s still pretty as can be, and so I hope she has a grand day! Billy Joe Royal takes us to the finish line today with his song: I Knew You When… I hope you have a Wonder Dog Day today and Please Be Good to Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• The dollar recovers its Friday losses
• The SPTs are at Gold/Silver again!

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, they had a sweep in their hands, and then lost it… My beloved Cardinals won the first game VS the Reds but lost the nightcap, after blowing a 3-run lead… UGH! I caught up on my lost sleep from Sunday night yesterday…. And now I have two more days until I go and make up my infusion day… Yes, there won’t be a Pfennig on Thursday 8/20… Santana greets me this morning with his song: She’s Not There (a remake of a song but he does it best!)

Well, the follow through on the selling of the dollar didn’t last too long, as the dollar did gain a bit yesterday after spending the morning below 1,200 in the BBDXY. It finished the day at 1,200 on the mark….  Still down for the day, but not as bad as it was earlier….  The currency traders don’t want to go too fast with their selling of the dollar because when the PPT steps in and stops the slide of the dollar, they will get their beatings…

The price of Gold saw buyers early and often yesterday, and so it gained $40 to close at $4,417… And Silver followed Gold down the path the buyers laid and gained $1.73 to close at $65.90…. I want to mention something here and that is during the last mega rally for Gold/Silver, good friend Aaron said to me, “you know Silver has outperformed, on a percentage basis, Gold 7 of the last 10 years” I then looked it up and he was bang on! And so, I’ve kept that in the back of my mind all these years… 

The price of Oil bumped higher yesterday and ended the day trading with an $84 handle… And the 10-year remained at 4.71% yield yesterday… 

In the overnight markets last night…. The recovery of the dollar continued as the BBDXY picked up one index point overnight… This would be the time to pick up some currencies and metals in my humble opinion, and I have something for you later in the letter that will illustrate this opinion greatly! 

The SPTs are back at Gold/Silver again… And this time they are taking Copper with them… Gold is off this morning $24 and Silver is off 72-cents to start the day… I warned you, right, that the SPTs were still around and that they were just waiting to pounce… Gold/Silver’s recover will be checkered with days like today, but that just gives procrastinating investors a buying opportunity… 

The price of Oil remained trading with an $84 handle overnight, and the 10-year Treasury saw some additional selling overnight and it starts today with a 4.74% yield…   

You know the 10-year Treasury is important to everyone even if you don’t own a bond… The 10-year is used in pricing mortgage rates, and lots of other things that you use or deal with daily…  and last week’s auction of the 10-year wasn’t what you would call a walk in the park… Buyers were less than usual and the ones there demanded that the bond be issued with a higher yield….  The 30-year treasury bond saw the same kind of demands and had to raise its yield to the highest its been since 1971…  

1971, man I was still in H.S. And playing football…. Things seemed to be normal then for me, for little did I know that bond yields were as high as they were and back then they were on their way down from double-digit yields… Nowadays they are going the opposite way, and they are going up in yield… 

Circling back to rising yields… this means the interest we pay to the holder of the bond is going higher on new issued bonds… But guess who holds all those low yielding bonds from before bonds began to lose ground?  Well, my guess would be the banks, and the casino banks that are buyers of last resort at auctions….  So, let’s just say that banks own a ton of low yielding bonds…. well, that’s not a problem as long as they don’t need to sell them… Ask SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) . Who’s to say that tons of smaller banks (not the Casino Banks) have the word get out that they have tons of unrealized losses on their books… 

That could cause a run on deposits from depositors that fear the unrealized losses, and that would cause the bank to have to sell the bonds at a loss…  then unrealized losses become realized losses… And that my friend is Damocles Sword that hangs over banks….  Oh, and the size of their unrealized losses in total is $325.1 Billion, and that was at the latest calc of the number, it’s probably larger now…. 

Ok, I’m going to stop there, because this scares the bejeebers out of me while I write about it….  But if you want to know more click on this link and the guy will explain it all to you… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgNlK6xeDM0

The currencies, as a whole, dropped back to reload yesterday… In the morning they were ready to take off higher VS the dollar, but then the selling of the dollar abated, and so did the currencies’ rally….

Gold continues to get bought by the global Central Banks… This from Yahoo Finance: “a separate 2026 World Gold Council survey (2). It found 74% of respondents expect the dollar’s share of global reserves to fall over the next five years, while 89% expect global central bank gold holdings to rise over the next year. A record 45% also expect to increase their own gold holdings.

The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) says it’s the first time its survey has found more central banks planning to reduce their dollar exposure over the next decade than increase it.”

Chuck Again… this was the first time that the Central Banks said that they would reduce dollar holdings instead of gathering them…. I find that to be a bad omen for the dollar… Don’t you?

If you answered yes, then where’s your diversification? If you’ve been a procrastinator and not diversified as of yet, no worries, there’s still time, and no time is better than today…. Central Banks are going to reduce their dollar holdings, Gold has become more held by Central Banks than dollars, and Chuck says that the dollar in trouble…  Couldn’t be a better time to diversify…. 

OK, you don’t need to be harped at by me this early in the morning, do you? 

The U.S. Data Cupboard today has the July prints of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization…. The both were meh in June, and I don’t see what would make them more than meh in July, but I guess we’ll see, eh?

To recap… The dollar recovered a bit yesterday and overnight, so no follow through on the selling from Friday… The SPTs are at Gold/Silver again today and you can’t say that Chuck didn’t warn you that Gold/Silver’s recovery will be checkered…. And China’s economy is slowing, what does that mean for the U.S.?  

For What It’s Worth… I spent yesterday talking about how the 15^th of August was the day that we started Football Practice… But what was uber important was the fact that it market 55 years since Richard Nixon took Gold away from the backing of Gold…  it was only to be temporary according to Nixon… Yeah right! Anyway, David Gonigam had this piece in his letter yesterday and you can find it here: Gold and Great Nations | Paradigm Pressroom’s 5 Bullets

Or, here’s your snippet: “: Between the Vietnam War and LBJ’s Great Society programs, the national debt was mounting quickly. Foreign governments — especially France — were losing confidence in the U.S. dollar. Under the terms of the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement, those governments were exercising their right to trade in dollars for gold.

Uncle Sam’s gold stash was dwindling quickly, so Nixon decided to “close the gold window.”

“Nixon said the suspension of convertibility was ‘temporary,’” recalls our macro maven Jim Rickards with some lesser-known history.

“I spoke with two of the officials present at Camp David with Nixon the weekend of the announcement, Paul Volcker and Kenneth Dam. They both confirmed to me that the suspension was meant to be temporary.

“The plan was to have a new Bretton Woods-style conference, devalue the dollar against gold (and against other currencies such as the yen, the Deutsche mark and French francs) and then return to the gold standard at the new valuations.

“The first part happened — there was an international financial conference in Washington, D.C., in December 1971 — but the rest did not. While the world was waiting for the conference, countries moved to floating exchange rates without reference to gold.”

Chuck Again… Thanks David, this was a good reminder of the dastardly thing that Nixon did to our country’s finances… he turned a creditor nation into a debtor nation in 15 minutes on TV…

Market Prices 8/18/2026: American Style: A$ .7106, kiwi .5879, C$ .7206, euro 1.1574, sterling 1.3522, Swiss $1.2310, European Style: rand 16.2232, krone 9.4222, SEK 9.5308, forint 314.74, zloty 3.7332, koruna 20.8866, RUB 84.99, yen 159.72, sing 1.2781, HKD 7.8434, INR 95.67, China 6.7433, peso 17.01, BRL 5.2014, BBDXY 1,201, Dollar Index 99.66, Oil $84.92, 10-year 4.74%, Silver $65.18, Platinum $1,755.00, Palladium $1,344.00, Copper $6.65, and Gold… $4,393

That’s it for today… my son, Alex gave me a CD by Duane Betts, the son of the great Dickey Betts, for Father’s Day… I finally got around to listening to it last night… It’s got a country sound to it… When I first was given the CD, my wife said she had never heard of the singer and guitar player to which I didn’t see the CD plainly and a saw the D. Betts, and I said, it’s Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers… And then I looked at it better and said, “On no, I’m wrong about that it’s his son!” The Atlanta Rhythm Section takes us to the finish line today with their song: Imaginary Lover… I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar gets sold on Friday
• and for once there was follow through to start the week!

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! Welcome to hot and hotter St. Louis! We’ve been under a heat dome for a week now, and I’m getting cabin fever from not going outside to read!  My beloved Cardinals found their right-handed slugger…  And he was right under their noses! I had bad stomach all weekend, and finally yesterday it settled down…. I live with so many maladies that they run into each other! Christopher Cross greats me this morning with his song: Never Be The Same…

Well, the dollar got sold on Friday, and Retail Sales for July tumbled down the hill just like Jack and Jill…. The dollar closed the week at 1,201, and looking like it wanted to go further down, but luckily the end of the day Bell rung… 

Gold/Silver found some good bids on Friday, after suffering through an engineered takedown by the SPTs on Thursday… Gold was up $25 to close at $4,377. Silver was up 33=cents to close the week at $64.58. So, Gold/Silver found ways around the SPTs 4 of the 5 days last week… Their rallies from the massive shorts that were put on at the beginning of July are still around, its’s just that the ETF and Physical buying is kicking tail most days… and that’s a good sign…

But, I’m concerned…. Remember about a month or so ago when I told you that the short positions Gold & Silver had gone down? Well, that didn’t last long and the short positions now are greater than they were the last time the SPTs went after the two….  

My friend, Ed Steer, wrote about this and we’re going to listen to what Ed had to say Saturday…. Regarding Silver… Ed Steer had this bit of info on the shorts in Silver this past weekend…”Those 106 days that the Big 8 traders are currently short, represents about 3.5 months of world silver production, or 245.795 million troy ounces/49,159 COMEX contracts. That’s up a bit from the 238.555 million troy ounces/47,711 contracts from last Friday’s COT Report.”

Chuck again… Thanks Ed! Oh, and you can always find Ed at:  www.edsteergoldandsilver.com

So, that’s what concerns me… the SPTs didn’t build up those short positions just to look at their masterpiece!  

But, it’s somewhat like living each day… you could worry about crossing the street and getting hit by a bus….  You could worry about how aww. Forget about it, you know what I’m saying, We could worry about all the shorts, but they may never get executed….  

The price of Oil remained trading with an $82 handle on Friday, and the 10-year finished the week at a 4.69% yield…

In the overnight markets last night… Well, the follow up to Friday’s selling of the dollar was there last night… The BBDXY lost 3 index points and starts today/week at 99.42…. This was a good sign for further development in the selling of the dollar. 

The currencies all look as though they got out of their respective sick beds, except the Russian ruble, who doesn’t seem to get bought even when the price of Oil rallies… The Euro Wannabes are kicking tail and taking names later, which to me is a sign of further dollar weakness…

The price of Oil is up $11 to start our day/week, and Silver is up 83-cents… It will be interesting to see if the SPTs show up today or not…. The 10-year Treasury was left to its own devices and the yield has risen to 4.71% to start the day/ week.

According to MarketWatch.com the Hindenburg Omen is flashing a warning about stocks… Should you fear it? It is just a warning, but they said the same thing in 2008…. And that’s the other thing that concerns me regarding the Gold/Silver rally…  IF stocks crash, the margin calls would be getting sent out like Dear Santa letters…. And the only thing liquid they hold, to meet the call, is Gold/Silver… just keep that in mind….

So much for all my concerns, they may not materialize and mean a hill of beans…. 

Longtime reader, Bob, sent me an email that describes how the European Union is joining the Chinese RMB payments system….  See, that’s what happens when you tick someone off so bad that they do things that hurt you… Remember the U.S. sold $10 Billion worth of euros to buy yen without even a wink and nod to the European Central Bank… 

And what has that buying done for the yen? The yen is already back to 159 and soon it will be 160 again, and all those funds used to buy yen will have been wasted…. And the euro seems to be getting its feet back under it again after having so much of it sold…. 

It appears that Wall St. is all in on risk assets these days, as the rate hike folks fade into the wallpaper… That means that not only you, me and the guy down the street, along with our friendly Centra Banks of the world, won’t be the only ones buying Gold… I’m just saying…

I have something for you in the FWIW section today regarding funding our Debt that is coming ever-so-close to $40 Trillion… YIKES! The higher the debt goes, the faster it rises, for it seems like it was just yesterday that we hit $39 Trillion… The cost to finance the debt is choking off funding other things and is becoming the albatross perched on the neck of Americans…. 

The U.S. Data Cupboard has the Empire Regional Manufacturing Index for us today… Not much… And since I overslept this morning because I was up with a bad stomach all night, the Empre report is out and showed a rise of 20 that surprised the markets and me! Tomorrow, we’ll see Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, now those are market movers…

To recap, the dollar got sold last Friday, thus marking two Fridays in a row where the dollar got sold going into the weekend, only to see it recover the following week… It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any follow through on the dollar selling today… The Hindenburg Omen is flashing; had we better beware? And Chuck has a lot of concerns regarding Gold/Silver’s rally… Sure hope he’s as wrong as wrong can be!

For What It’s Worth… Well, I found this perusing the internet on Saturday, while waiting for Joshua Baez to come up again and hit another home run!  This is about how the auctions that took place last week were absolutely awful, as the interest rates attached to the bonds had to be risen, thus the interest the U.S. will have to pay and if can be found here: Costliest U.S. bond sale since 2001 is investor warning to Bessent | Fortune

Or, here’s your snippet: “The US government sold 30-year bonds at the highest interest rate in a quarter century, a testament to investors’ demand for greater compensation to finance the nation’s growing deficit.

The yield at the $25 billion sale Thursday came in at 5.216%, the most since 2001, even as a drop in oil prices supported US debt in secondary-market trading. The sale, which was met with decent demand, follows the Treasury Department’s 10-year auction a day earlier that drew the highest financing cost at that tenor since 2007.

It’s a headache for President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ahead of midterm elections in November. Lofty government financing costs are already feeding through to the broader economy, after years of elevated inflation and government spending.

“Investors are being asked to absorb a growing supply of government debt globally at a time when deficits remain large, inflation uncertainty persists” and the Federal Reserve is no longer a major buyer, said Michal Stanczyk, portfolio manager for the global fixed income team at Allspring Global Investments.

“If investors continue demanding greater compensation for inflation and fiscal risks, long-term yields could move higher and away from 5% even if Treasury auctions remain well covered,” he said.

The Treasury’s concern appeared to be on show last week when it tweaked its debt-sales guidance in a way that opened the door to potential cuts to long bond supply. Meanwhile, investors are still not rushing to lock in yields at multi-decade highs, signaling a collective wariness that the selloff may not be over.

Representatives for the Treasury didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.”

Chuck Again…. Well, like I’ve said before higher yields are having a bad effect on U.S. finances..

Market Prices 8/17/2026: American Style: A$ .7171, kiwi .5919, C$ .7219, euro 1.1598, sterling 1.3565, Swiss $1.2360, krone 9.4090, SEK 9.4794, forint 312.94, zloty 3.7194, koruna 20.8677, RUB 84.89, yen 159.26, sing 1.2784, HKD 7.8457, INR 95.61, China 6,7414, peso 17.01, BRL 5.2095, BBDXY 1,198, Dollar Index 99.42 Oil $82.62, 10-year 4.71%, Silver $65.41, Platinum $1,767.00, Palladium $1,345, Copper $6.71, and Gold… $4,388

That’s it for today…  That was really something to see Saturday, Cardinals’ Joshua Baez hit 3 home run in his first 3 at-bats in the major league…. And then the fans in Chicago gave him a standing ovation when he lined out in his final at bat…. Saturday was the 15th, and that day will live with me forever, for that was always the first day of football practice, most times 2 x a day, and sometimes 3 x a day in the summer heat…. It’s been over 50 years since I last played football, and well my body aches each 8/15…. REO Speedwagon takes us to the finish line today with their song: Like You Do… I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar recovered all of its Friday losses yesterday
• The U.S. decides to play with paper

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! All ends well for my beloved Cardinals yesterday as they beat a great pitcher and the Phillies 7-1… They won 2 of 3 from the team ahead of them for the playoffs… So, a step in the right direction…  It was very hot here yesterday, thus making that 3 consecutive days of dangerous heat… I like it hot, but this is too hot for even me!  So, I haven’t been outside to read, and I feel like something’s awry… The Friends of Distinction greet me this morning with their 60’s song: Grazing In The Grass

So, all the thoughts of a rate cut, have just about disappeared, and with it so does the beating down of the dollar… The dollar gained 1 index point yesterday and now has gained back all the index points it lost last Friday as it closed yesterday at 1,204… I knew in my heart of hearts that the loss the dollar took last week wouldn’t last long, as it was built on a house of cards, thinking that they might be a rate cut…. 

The price of Gold gained yesterday, but Silver couldn’t find a bid as the SPTs took it down for the day by 40-cents… Gold gained $41 on the day and closed at $4,410… Silver closed at $65.41… Still even with the STPs doing their business with Silver, Silver has recovered nicely from where the SPTs sent it a couple of weeks ago… 

The SUPID CPI played with the markets some yesterday… In July, the quants calculated that the STUPID CPI came in at 3.4% VS last year, that’s a .1% drop, but the monthly STUPID CPI had gained .1%, so if I were their boss and they came to me with these levels, I would ask them to explain how in the hell did the monthly rate go up .1% the VS a year earlier it fell .1%?  After stumbling around and hemming and hawing they wouldn’t have an answer because they didn’t know….  

So, the annual rate of 3.4% played with the rate hike folks… And made them question their status, and that helped Gold to gain.. ‘

In the overnight markets last night… The dollar ran into a roadblock and saw some selling with the BBDXY down 1 index point at 1,203 this morning… The dollar could be subject to a lot of back and forth in its price today, as the data cupboard is interesting…  

Gold/Silver are seeing some selling this morning, as the SPTs are at it again… Gold is down $25 and Silver is down 41-cents to start the day, with the SPTs working on their shorts to affect the prices negatively. 

The price of Oil slipped a buck overnight and starts today with an $81 handle. And the 10-Year  remained at 4.66% yield overnight. 

I saw this on Zerohedge.com “With mortgage rates rising and the ‘low hire, no fire’ economy leaving many anxious about their household finances, the ugly spring selling season has not been followed by a consistent rebound in existing home sales in the U.S.

After falling 1.4% MoM in June (revised up from a 2.4% MoM decline), U.S. existing home sales fell again -1.7% MoM in July (worse than the -1.0% MoM expected). This dragged the annual increase in sales down to just 0.74% YoY…”

Chuck Again….  you could have bet your bottom dollar that rising mortgage rates were going to be a problem for housing…. And so, it appears to be… 

I didn’t intend to start today’s letter with data prints, but they did play hell for the markets yesterday, so they got top billing… 

Well, I can’t get this out of my mind. The thought that China keeps buying physical Gold while the U.S. plays with paper money… I think the horde of Gold that China has is greater than that of the U.S. which is 8,000 tons… (supposedly they still have that much)  Think about that for a minute… China buys physical Gold just about every day and the U.S. bleeds dollar bills….  Yes, the dollar is still the reserve currency of the world… But, if I had my druthers I would choose China over the paper world of the U.S.    

Longtime Pfennig Reader, Bob, forwarded an email to me that told me that China has built a Laser-Powered Grid that transmits electricity through the air….. The U.S. has copper wires that link from A to B, while the Chinese have a laser light carrying electricity to A and B….  

Now, I don’t know if this is true or not, but if it is true, and with the advances made in today’s world, why wouldn’t I believe it? But if it’s true than the Chinese have got something… you can view a video that explains it all here: China Just Built A Laser-Powered Grid That Transmits Electricity Through The Air

My friend, and editor of 5 Bullets, David Gonigam has good piece in his letter yesterday regarding AI and how they will be seeking a taxpayer bailout soon… here’s David: “Slowly, inexorably, the path is becoming clear: The AI industry will be asking for a taxpayer bailout next year. Or, at the latest, 2028.”

Chuck again… this just rankles me to no end… These companies have been spending like drunken tourists and now that they haven’t turned  profit, they ask for a bailout….  I just get so darn mad at these companies… But it’ll do no good, they’ll get it and move on as if they didn’t need it, when we all know better than that…  Taxpayer bailouts are a bugaboo of mine… I think you can tell… 

The euro is still trying to recover, after the U.S. sold $10 Billion worth of the currency to buy yen… I just can’t get over this, and you shouldn’t either! The fact that we did this is bad enough in my opinion, but add in that we didn’t even alert the European Central Bank adds salt to the wound… It will take a while for the euro to recover and get back to gaining VS the dollar, so patience my friend….

The U.S. Data Cupboard had yesterday’s STUPID CPI and the previous day had the Existing Home Sales that we talked about above… Today’s Cupboard has the July PPI (wholesale inflation) and the usual Thursday fare of the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims…  The Jobless Claims had reached a level below 200,000 last week for the first time in month of Blue Moons…. So, it will be interesting to see if the number is above or below 200,000… 

And some things never change… The U.S. budget deficit soared to its highest monthly level in more than five years amid a surge in Medicare costs and as interest on the federal debt continued to weigh on the nation’s fiscal picture, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

In addition to the big single-month jump, the collective red ink across the first 10 months of the government’s fiscal year rose to nearly $1.8 trillion and surpassed the same period in 2025.

The July shortfall totaled $432.3 billion, up some 48% from the same period a year ago and the largest monthly deficit since March 2021. Geez Louise, this is getting to be too much for one country to bear…. 

To recap… The dollar has gained back all of its losses from last Friday as the rate cut folks have cowered into the corner and hid from the masses… Gold found a bid on Wednesday, but Silver struggled with the SPTs showing who’s boss… The STUPID CPI was a bunch of bunk but played with the markets. And we’re still hitting the till, with the monthly Budget Deficit making a high that hasn’t been reached since March 2021… 

For What It’s Worth… Man, to find a FWIW article this morning was like looking for a needle in a haystack… But, I did find one… The guys at Asset Strategies had a great article on how to open a Gold IRA and you can find it here: 17 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Precious Metals IRA

Or, here’s your snippet:”Gold, when combined with other asset classes, can be a valuable component of a diversified retirement portfolio.

By allocating a share of your retirement savings to physical metals, you can enhance financial resilience and better safeguard your purchasing power as you move toward retirement.

But, before opening an account or buying IRA-eligible bullion,  you need to start by asking questions that clarify the strategy, costs, rules, storage arrangements, and service you can expect.

Here’s a simple checklist to prepare you for this step in your retirement strategy…

1. What role do precious metals play in my overall portfolio?

Are you looking for a diversifier, a potential hedge against inflation, or a way to reduce reliance on purely paper holdings? Defining the purpose of the allocation can help you decide whether a precious metals IRA is appropriate and how it may fit within your broader retirement plan.

In general, we recommend adding precious metals to a self-directed IRA after you have met your allocation of core holdings in gold, so that your core holdings are easily accessible in case of an emergency. A precious metals IRA is part of your longer-term strategy.

2. How much of my retirement portfolio should I consider allocating?

There is no universal allocation that fits every investor. Your time horizon, risk tolerance, existing holdings, income needs, and retirement objectives should all be considered. But don’t put all your nest eggs in one basket!

A diverse retirement portfolio is essential, and this is precisely why gold and other precious metals can be so useful when held in combination with other asset classes. Gold and silver prices tend to move independently (low correlation) of stocks and bonds, which helps balance risk and can stabilize a portfolio during economic downturns.

3. Should I consider gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or a combination?

Each metal has different supply, demand, market, and industrial-use characteristics. Ask how the proposed metal mix supports your objectives and whether it aligns with your overall portfolio strategy. Most investors start with an allocation to gold, and add other precious metals to increase the diversification.”

Chuck Again… obviously I couldn’t list all 17, you’ll have to click on the link above to see what the entire list has in store for you… But, you get the idea that starting a Gold IRA isn’t just deciding that you want one…. 

Market Prices 8/13/2026: American Style: A$.7054, kiwi .5845, C$ .7173, euro 1.1536, sterling 1.3495, Swiss $1.2310, European Style: rand 16.1246, krone 9.5087, SEK 9.4804, forint 314.53, zloty 3.7321, koruna 21.0000, RUB 84.01, yen 159.30, sing 1.2799, HKD 7.8468, INR 95.44, China 6.7450, peso 17.05, BRL 5.1768, BBDXY 1,203, Dollar Index 99.89, Oil $81.67, 10-year 4.66%, Silver $65.01, Platinum $1,734.00, Palladium $1,364.00, Copper $6.58, and Gold… $4,385

That’s It for today… Well, my beloved Cardinals now go on a 3-city road trip, how they come home from that will decide if they are be taken seriously among the Playoff contenders or not…. The excitement around the start of Mizzou’s Football Season is high; they’ve already announced the singer of the Anthem at the first game: Sheryl Crow! She of course used to be a Mizzou student! My wife is going to the Muny tonight, so I’ll be batching this evening… I hope it’s not one of those nights as the song suggests. Blind Faith takes us to the finish line today with their great song: Can’t Find My Way Home…. I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar is just drifting along the shore
• The STUPID CPI prints today

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! What the heck is going on with the dollar? It seemed that after it closed at the same level in the BBDXY as it did the previous day (1,203) that the currency traders had gone home already 3 days early… I guess, when I check the overnight markets, in a minute, something will have changed… My beloved Cardinals won last night VS the Phillies 2-0… The bullpen tried to give it away, but then they had a savior…  My second favorite song by Chicago is playing to greet me this morning: Beginnings…

Well, I already told you the dollar didn’t move yesterday and stayed steady Eddie with the BBDXY at 1,203…  Gold couldn’t help itself yesterday as the SPTs took a pound of flesh, and Gold ended the day down, $22. And Silver saw the same SPTs doing their thing pushing Silver down $1.04… Gold closed at $4,369, and Silver at $64.81

The price of Oil continued to rise as the war wages on… Oil was up $2 and change and ended the day at $82.91…. The 10-year Treasury saw its yield bump higher again and ended the day at 4.69% yield…

In the overnight markets last night…. there was some dollar selling overnight with the BBXY down 1 index point to start the day. The BBDXY is 1,202 and looking very shaky.. The STUPID CPI is getting ready to print and most folks that look at this all the time seem to think that we’ll see the STUPID CPI soften in July… That would put the rate cut folks on notice and give some OOMPH to the dollar… We’ll see, eh?

Gold/Silver are back on the rally horse this morning. Gold is up $45 and Silver is up $1.61…  The metals traders are of a different opinion on the STUPID CPI…  I always seemed to pin my flag to the Currency Traders…

The price of Oil bumped higher to trade with an $83 handle this morning, and the 10-year is seeing some more yield control by the Fed Heads, and this has brought the yield on the bond to 4.66%…  why can’t they just leave this bond alone to trade on its own devices?  Well, I know why and so do you… The Fed Heads are attempting to keep rates in the ballpark so that the servicing costs (interest payments) don’t go through the roof…  

The Chinese Gold Association told us yesterday that Gold consumption rose 1.23% for the 1^st half of this year. The association noted that the country’s gold consumption patterns were in flux, as the combination of sharp price fluctuations and a new policy toward taxation on Gold kept Gold from really moving past its previous record for consumption. 

I sure wish the Chinese would clean on just exactly how much Gold they hold… The Gold Co’s listing for holding of Gold for the Chinese can’t possibly be correct, and it’s way too low…. I guess one day, when push comes to shove and the leaders of countries sit down and show what they own, then we’ll know… But that’s a few years from now, the U.S. is not near ready to admit that they’re broke and need to sit down…. 

You know if you ran your household finances like the U.S. Gov’t does, you would be in a small cell but grateful for 3 meals a day!   Yes, the good news is that tax receipts are 3.576% higher YTD in 2026, the bad news is that have spent 3.74% more than we took in, resulting in a deficit of $1.79 Trillion YTD.

 And in case you were wondering on January 8, 1835, President Andrew Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time the United States federal government has reported no national debt. So, it was done once…. of course, the total wasn’t what it is now, but then we could have done something to curb the growth back in the early 2000’s when the debt was only $7 Trillion… and to think, I was yelling from the rooftops then that this was crazy! 

Moving on… you know, we’re still in the dog days of August/summer…  and this year, we’ve seen more volatility in markets than we’ve ever seen previously….  And that scares me every morning when I sit down and look what to write about… The volatility is all over the board, stocks, bonds, currencies, metals, energy none have been spared…. 

The U.S. Data Cupboard has the STUPID CPI for July for our viewing pleasure this morning…  And that’ it… The Data Cupboard this week has left us wanting but the data just isn’t there… 

To recap… The dollar was stuck in the mud yesterday and only moved 1 index point overnight… China’s Gold consumption is strong even with the very high Gold prices earlier this year… And there are conflicting thoughts on where the STUPID CPI will print today… 

For What It’s Worth…  I saw this headline and read the artical and immediately thought it was FWIW worthy… It’s about the shape of the economy in a round about way and can be found here: 25.2 million adults now live with their parents — experts say rent should be ‘non-negotiable’ even for family

Or, here’s your snippet: “The number of adults living with their parents hit a new record in 2025, with 25.2 million adults ages 25 to 35 residing with their parents. That’s almost one in three young people who are still living at home.

Unfortunately, in some cases, these multigenerational living arrangements don’t work out.

Let’s pretend, for example, that Gabriella’s son Juan has moved back in with her. He’s 27 and works as an office manager, but he’s refused to pay his share of the household bills. Gabriella is frustrated that Juan isn’t contributing to expenses, and she’s not sure if she should make Juan move out or how to handle the situation.

So, what should she do?

Understand the reasons for the non-payment

The first thing Gabriella needs to do is to figure out why Juan isn’t paying rent.

“What parents often forget is that the refusal to help out around the house or pay rent is usually just shame combined with some level of learned helplessness in a kid who may have held jobs before but never fully supported themselves,” Hayley Caddes, cofounder of Not Therapy, a coaching company for neurodivergent and stuck 18- to 29-year-olds, told Moneywise.”

Chuck Again… well, I used this to illustrate how businesses are not hiring, they’re not firing either….  and that causes snagnation!

Market Prices 8/12/2026: American Style: A$ .7070, kiwi .5866, C$ .7177, euro 1.1542, sterling 1.3523, Swiss $1.2321, European Style: rand 16.1426, krone 9.4775, SEK 9.5299, forint 315.42, zloty 3.7292, koruna 21.0019, RUB 83.04, yen 159.09, sing 1.2790, HKD 7.8467, INR 95.33, China 6.7447, peso 17.06, BRL 5.1619, BBDXY 1,202, Dollar Index 99.81, Oil $83.61, 10-year 4.66%, Silver $66.48, Platinum $1,802.00, Palladium $1,426.00, Copper $6.68, and Gold…. $4,414

That’s It for Today…  A nice win last night for my beloved Cardinals and keep their hope for the playoffs at fumes and vapors…. I told my two boys on Sunday that this would be a tough and telling series with the Phillies, and it has turned out just that..  I got 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night after not taking a nap yesterday, so maybe I can get back to a normal sleep pattern….  The Best Beach Boys son ever takes us to the finish line today: God Only Knows… I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar recovers most of its Friday losses
• Gold / Silver are ready for lift off!

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you!  A big series at Busch this week between the Cardinals and Phillies… The Phillies took the first game when a Cardinals’ pitcher forgot how to throw the ball to first base! UGH! We had the baby here for a couple of hours last night, and he wasn’t a happy camper! But he’s so darn cute, he can cry all he wants to! I love it, that there’s a new baby around!  The Byrds greet me this morning with their song: 8 Miles High… 

Well, the dollar found that the conviction to rate cuts wasn’t as strong as it was on Friday last week, and the dollar rallied…. The BBDXY gained 3 index points and ended the day at 1,203….   So, all that talk about a rate cut on Friday was thrown out with the bathwater yesterday….  I think most economists came out and talked about how strong and resilient the U.S. economy is right now and that squelched the rate cut talk…. 

Gold/Silver continued their walk back on rally lane yesterday, with Gold up $48 and Silver was up $2.14 on the day… this marks two consecutive days that these two metals were in rally mode… Yes, the SPT’s are still there attempting to keep a lid on their gains, but they’re going about half-heartedly…    I’m not saying that the SPTs will be no problem going forward, I’m just saying that the SPTs haven’t wiped out the metals’ gains as they very well could have if they had wanted… 

The price of Oil is rallying again, and yesterday it gained $3 and ended the day with an $82 handle… I told you that the Peace Agreement that caused the slide in Oil prices was bunk…. And it proved out to be as Friday’s deadline for the Iranians to come to the negotiating table with some kind of deal, came and went….   I read a piece yesterday that talked about the short supply of missiles and bombs for the U.S. had hindered the POTUS from waging more war….  (is somebody hiding them? I kid, because I for one, do not see how a country like us would be short missiles and bombs…. I’m just saying…

And the 10-year Treasury’s yield saw a nice bump higher, and it ended the day with a 4.71% yield… 

In the overnight markets last night… There was no movement in the dollar as the BBDXY stayed at 1,203 throughout the night. Gold is up $6 to start our day, but Silver is down 35-cents…  Silver out performed Gold yesterday, so this is just some profit taking right now, but the SPTs will see this and see an opportunity to take Silver downward… 

The price of Oil also stayed at its closing price all night and therefore starts today with an $82 handle. The 10-year saw some adjustments and starts today with a 4.69% yield. 

When I was copying the Pfennig to the email server yesterday, I noticed how wordy it had become… Well, I can guarantee you that it won’t be that wordy today….  

Well, our special oil reserves have fallen below 300 Million gallons for the first time since 1983…  the actual number is 298.7 Million but… don’t worry the minimum it can be is 70 Million, so we’ve got a way to go…  But after the POTUS released 172 Million gals this past March, it brought our reserves down to below 300 Million….  I don’t get a warm and fuzzy about that, do you?

Tomorrow, we’ll see the July STUPID CPI, and given that the BLS reported 23,000 jobs lost last month, I can see the propeller heads that calc CPI showing something that really scares the bejeebers out of the markets…. Maybe… and Maybe not… But one thing that I’m sure we will see is that inflation continues to be sticky and high….

Speaking of Inflation, I find it very interesting that the Fed/Cabal/Cartel head, Kevin Warsh, continues to state that inflation is still too high, and that his group of Fed Heads will work toward bringing inflation down….  Why do I find this interesting? Because, he’s never told us how he’s going to do that….  And that reminds me of myself always complaining about having to lose weight, but I don’t exercise, eat what I want and don’t do Wegovy or any other weight loss drug….   It’s sort of the same thing… Saying one thing, with no plan to do anything about it! 

And that’s why the bond boys keep marking the yields of bonds upward…. They hope to enforce the Fed Heads into doing something to combat inflation… And like I said the other day, the yield on the 10-year would be higher than it Is if only the Fed Heads kept their hands out of the cookie jar…  

OK, Chuck, talk about something else, all this inflation talk is making me madder than a wet hen! 

Well, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided that while inflation did pick up in the 2^nd QTR this year, that it was too soon to raise rates, and left them unchanged with a Cash Rate of 4.35%…  so, no soup for you!  Is what the RBA told depositors yesterday, and those that are already suffering from rising inflation…  UGH!

The U.S. will auction some short term Bills today, which should be no problem.. Where the problem comes is the 3-year Treasuries… It’s not a lot of them but still someone has to be a buyer…. The current yield is 4.17%, so new bonds will have to be higher yielding than that… I’m just saying..

The POTUS is changing horses in the middle of the stream regarding how Iran is treated… He’s now looking into attempting to hurt the Iranians fiscally…  Well, in my opinion, shouldn’t that have been tried before we decided to bomb them? I’m just saying…  Not that I want to get into discussing the war…..

And, look at yen… a week or so after $10 Billion was spent buying yen to stem its losses, the currency is back to 159….  Intervention doesn’t normally work, and it ends up not working here…. As I aways say “the markets have deeper pockets than any Central Bank” and even when you get coordinated intervention the result is the same…. 

The U.S. Data Cupboard only has the Existing Home Sales for July today… The Data Cupboard has weeks like this every now and then, when the seem to be on vacation…  

To recap… All the talk about a rate cut that caused the dollar to be sold last Friday, was thrown out with the bathwater, and with that the dollar rallied on Monday… Gold & Silver had good days and Chuck said yesterday that he thought they were getting ready for another run higher… And yesterday was a good sign….  

For What It’s Worth… The well is dry once more, and finding a good FWIW article is like getting blood from a turnip… But I did find this that agrees with my take that Gold/Silver are beginning their next leg upward and it can be found here: Five catalysts combine to create ‘one of the more compelling upside setups we have seen in precious metals’ – Citadel Securities’ Rubner | Kitco News

Or, here’s your snippet: “The current market environment offers precious metals investors “one of the more compelling upside setups we have seen in precious metals in months,” according to Scott Rubner, Head of Equity and Equity Derivatives Strategy at Citadel Securities.

Citadel Securities, the largest retail market maker in the United States, is now calling for structural exposure to gold for the first time in 2026, even as it sees enormous potential on the retain side for silver.

The investment giant sees five powerful catalysts converging to create asymmetric upside for both gold and silver: dovish Fed rate repricing, accelerating central bank purchases, net-short CTA positioning, bullish options dynamics in the biggest gold and silver ETFs, and a potential resurgence of retail participation.

Rubner focused his analysis of these catalysts on the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV).

Citadel sees the implied volatility for GLD lifting from a low base, with put/call skew inverted to its deepest level since February, a combination that historically signals accumulating bullish conviction.

“We are seeing the same dynamic in SLV, with implied volatility beginning to lift and skew meaningfully inverting,” which suggests that the silver market is following gold’s lead in repricing upside risk, the firm wrote in a recent note.”

Chuck Again… I guess we’ll have to wait-n-see if I’m right about this, but this article gives my thought some backbone… So, here we go…

Market Prices 8/11/2026: American Style: A$ .7062, kiwi .5878, C$ .7223, euro 1.1538, sterling 1.3496, Swiss $1.2338, European Style: rand 16.1862, krone 9.5056, SEK 9.5060, forint 315.92, zloty 3.7239, koruna 21.0141, RUB 82.46, yen 159.25, sing 1.2803, HKD 7.8463, sing 1.2803,                China 6.7451, peso 17.12, BRL 5.1054, BBDXY 1,203, Dollar Index 99.62,  Oil $82.39, 10-year 4.69%, Silver $65.30, Platinum $1,766.00 Palladium $1,399, Copper $6.66, and Gold… $4,397

That’s it for today… Same pattern with my sleep last night… I’m going to attempt to not nap today, and see where that takes me…  Well, it’s getting close… I’m talking about the College Football Season… My beloved Mizzou Tigers have a daunting schedule this year, so it’s going to be a tough row to hoe for my Tigers… Good luck to them!  The Cure takes us to the finish line this morning with their song: Just Lie Heaven…. I hope you have a Tom Terrific Day today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• jobs report gets dollar sold
• The deadline came and went…

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! My beloved Cardinals won 2 of 3 from Colorado this past weekend, so technically they’re still alive for the play offs, but realistically they won’t make it, not the way they are hitting (or not hitting I should say) the ball right now…  It was a beautiful weekend here, albeit quite warm… I got to hold the new baby yesterday… Geez its difficult to imagine that little bundle of joy, growing up to be a big man…. But I guess, they all do, eh? The Hooters greet me this morning with their great 80’s song: All You Zombies

Well, this week will be interesting, in that it will be interesting to see how the markets react to the Jobs report, after having a weekend to sleep on it… 

On Thursday last week, saw the SPTs attempt to get Gold/Silver back under their thumb… Gold remained positive, but Silver was never allowed a strong bid all day… And then on Friday, after the Jobs Jamboree printed, Gold/Silver went on a rampage… 

Yes, the BLS’s version of a labor report that I call the Jobs Jamboree,  showed that the U.S. lost 23,000 jobs in July…  Whoa there Partner! How could a country that supposedly economically strong lose 23,000 jobs in a month? And get this… The BLS added 235,000 jobs to the surveys… So, in reality, the U.S. lost 258,000 jobs in July…   

The Unemployment Rate fell to 4.1%… How did that happen? the unemployment rate ticked down from 4.2% to 4.1%, largely because fewer people participated in the labor force. The share of those working or looking for work fell to its lowest level since February 2021. 

Yeah, it wasn’t all folks retiring and gaining a Gold watch…  It was made up of mostly people giving up looking for a job…  Employers are keeping what they have and not hiring new for now….

Besides, the Unemployment Rate isn’t what’s looked at for market direction, it’s the number of Jobs added or subtracted in this case, that matter…  and one more thought on the Jobs report… Who is the POTUS going to fire now? The new BLS head has yet to be confirmed, so no one is leading the BLS… Hmmm….

I’ve got a piece for you in the FWIW section today, that was written before the BLS report, but should become clear to you now, that they are on to something here…The BBDXY lost 4 index points to 1,200 and then settled down at that level… For the BBDXY Bloomberg has a graph of its price on a daily basis by hour… And right when the jobs # was announced the line on the graph goes straight down, no stair stepping, no pauses for a cause… Just straight down… 

Which means all the long options to buy the dollar were sold, causing the BBDXY to drop 4 index points. 

The overall performance of the currencies was muted at best, as the euro, the offset currency to the dollar, only gained within the 1.15 handle, and the rest of the currencies followed the BIG DOG (euro). They all gained VS the dollar, but their moves were nothing to write home about… 

Gold ended the week at $4,343 and Silver ended the week at $63.11 and good a reaction for the metals was out of the ordinary for the summer time… And actually Gold and Silver were higher than their closes intraday, but the SPTs were making it difficult to have a real strong rally… No telling where these two would have ended up the week if the SPTs had gone away, they didn’t have to go away mad, just go away!

And Copper? It was on a run that had pushed the metal to an all-time high, and then the STPs came along and sat down beside Copper and it lost $12 on the day…  it ended the week at $659….  Time to start over again… 

The 10-year ended the week at 4.65% yield… Right at about ½ hour after the jobs announcement, the bond got bought as the knee jerk reaction was a rate cut was coming… But then calmer heads took over and the bond went right back to the 4.65% level… 

And don’t look now, but the price of Oil is starting to rise again, now that 2 straits are closed by the Iranians…. 

In the overnight markets last night…there was some dollar buying as the foreign markets don’t agree that the dollar should be sold…. Gold/Silver are up to start the day and week today. Gold is up $12 and Silver is up 41-cents… I think that these two are ready for the next leg upward, but then that’s just me… The time to buy at cheaper levels has come and gone, but in my opinion, there’s never a time not to buy and diversify your investment portfolio…. 

The price of Oil continues to creep higher and starts the day/week with a $79 handle… And the 10-year Treasury bumped higher in yield overnight and starts today, week at 4.66% yield…

Well, I guess the deadline for Iran to come to bargaining table came and went on Friday last week…  And we didn’t attack them… Did we not attack because we’re getting low on bombs? Oh well… The markets didn’t fall for the threat as they did before…  A month ago, I titled a Pfennig… The U.S. Becomes The Boy Who Cried Wolf….  It still applies…

I really don’t know for sure which way the markets will go after the Jobs report, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I have my thoughts as to how they will go….  I do know that the stock jockeys love it when a rate cut is discussed…. So, the stock bubble gets more air blown into it…  The Bond Boys will play hard to get with yields on long bonds (10-30yr) And the currency traders will have thought they did enough for now with marking the dollar down 4 index points… 

The SPTs will be anxious to establish new lines in the sand, and they’ll be ready and waiting for their opportunity…

I read this weekend that I was wrong about the U.S. selling dollars to buy yen in the intervention to support yen that took place… The U.S. sold its reserves of euros… And get this, they didn’t even alert the European Central Bank about this beforehand….  Boy, I bet that ticked a lot of ECB members off when the heard the news… And no wonder, the euro has been struggling in the 1.15 handle,,,,

I find this to be very strange in that 1. The U.S. would normally use dollars in such an intervention, and 2. That the ECB wasn’t made aware of this sale which goes against all the unwritten rules regarding a long-standing rule of coordination between Central Banks…. 

I think Mr. Bessent and others in this decision make a HUGE mistake here ( not telling the ECB beforehand) and credibility has been thrown out the window with the wash… Oh, and yen…. it was still 157 and change to end the week, and if it weren’t for the dollar’s recent slide it would be weaker for sure… So, so far, the intervention has helped the yen stop the selling of it, but for how long? 

First, we as a country, whittled down our Special Oil Reserves, and now we are whittling down our euro reserves…. What’s next? Land? We’ve got plenty of that… I shudder with fear that this would be on the minds of the powers that be…. Let’s hope and pray it doesn’t come to that!

Man, I’m on a roll this morning, don’t stop me… This reminds me of that great line from Animal House… “Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” LOL!

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets tonight (for us) and I expect them to leave rates unchanged after hiking them after their last meeting… The RBA has always proven to be prudent and not rush into things, and so rates will remain unchanged in my humble opinion…. 

If the RBA did raise rates, the A$ would benefit and probably leave kiwi in its dust…  I’m just saying… 

Things have really gone astray these days, and it’s difficult to try and look under the hood, or scatter the straw, or just make plain sense of everything… I’m at wit’s end here… But I carry on despite my shortcomings!

The U.S. Data Cupboard today is empty… And tomorrow’s isn’t anything to write home about… But Wednesday… Yes, Wednesday will bring us the July STUPID CPI…. And there all the rate cut folks will be wondering what they’re thinking about, because the STUPID CPI will show that inflation grew in July and ytd…..

Recap… The Jobs Jamboree showed that businesses axed 23,000 jobs in July… And Chuck says the number is really 258,000…. that pushed the dollar down immediately, with the rate cut folks coming out of the woodwork and running all around as long as the lights are turned on…. 

For What It’s Worth… OK, I saw this last Thursday, and it was written BEFORE the Jobs Jamboree, but I wanted to let you see it anyway, as a rate cut still hangs around and it can be found here: Why a Fed rate cut is coming and how the market will react

Or, here’s your snippet: “The stock market is moving into Friday’s jobs report, which undoubtedly will play big in the Fed’s next policy decision, with a renewed appetite for risk and a cautious tone on interest rates.

A hike comes to mind. Actually, though, just the opposite. A cut.

A nascent, but growing chorus on Wall Street is suggesting the central bank will pivot toward a rate cut as bond yields extract a little speculative froth from lending markets and job growth slows to a point that supports economic growth but tames inflation.

If that happens, get ready.

That combination could provide a crucial floor of support for stocks, which climbed to fresh all-time highs this week on a revived AI trade, and take the market firmly higher right to the end of the year.

To get there, though, depends on the Fed. And all eyes Friday will be on the July unemployment rate.

Economists are looking for 4.2%, unchanged from June and holding at the lowest levels in more than a year. Job growth, however, is slowing, with Wall Street looking for a hiring gain of 97,000.

That split probably capped wage gains, which spillover into inflation pressures but maintains solid growth into the back half of the year.

Even a tick higher on the unemployment rate could trigger stocks to march higher.

“A 4.2% rate clears the way for investors to focus on strong fundamentals, supporting risk-on factors,” said Dennis DeBusschere, chief market strategist at 22V Research. “A higher rate implies a higher speed limit on growth, while 4.1% and below is more obviously risk-off.”

Chuck Again… strong fundamentals? Are you kidding me? But, I told you when Warsh was first appointed to the Fed/Cabal/Cartel, that he wanted to move the goal posts of the inflation calc, so he could convince the FOMC members that a rate cut was worthy… Well, if this plays out then I would have been bang on with my call on Warsh….  

And then… The Jobs Jamboree printed and showed that we lost 23,000 jobs in July… So, everything that this article talked about is on pace, and accordingly, we should see a rate cut… But I shudder at the thought, I’m just being honest here…

Market Prices 8/10/2006: American Style: A$ 7063, kiwi .5890, C$ .7173, euro 1.1552, sterling 1.3501, Swiss $1.2367, European Style: rand 16.21688, krone 9.5057, SEK 9.4846, forint 314.75, zloty 3.7216, koruna 20.9921,   RUB 82.63, yen 158.82, sing 1.2797, HKD 7.8455, INR 95.29, China 6.7448, peso 17.14, BRL 5.0820, BBDXY 1,202, Dollar Index 99.73, Oil $79.03, 10-year 4.66%, Silver $64.11, Platinum $1,750.00, Palladium $1,334.00, Copper $6.62, and Gold…. $4,331

That’s it for today… I’ve not been sleeping well, and that starts a bad cycle of things… I get tired during the day, and take a nap, and then I sleep too long and can’t go to bed at a decent hour because I’m not tired yet…. Reminds me of when I was working, but then I had all the problems of the job on my mind at night, I don’t work any longer so, I have to figure out what’s causing my restless nights…. The Moody Blues take us to the finish line today with their song: Ride My Seesaw… I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar gets sold on Wednesday…
• And Gold/Silver have banner days!

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! I just woke up from a day dream, right here at my writing desk… What a day for a day dream, I’ve been dreaming since I woke up today… (Lovin’ Spoonful)  You know, this could be a woozy of a Pfennig, when I’m breaking out songs already!  Well, maybe…  The Alan Parsons Project greet me this morning with their song: I Wouldn’t Want Be Like You

Well…. no beating around the bush today… The metals broke out yesterday… Gold was up $120.00, Silver was up $2.51,  and Copper was up $9 to pass its previous all-time high!  There was a lot of pent up frustration in these trades, as Gold/Silver had been in their summer slowdowns, but they woke up yesterday and kicked tail and took names later…. 

I really thought they would meet with resistance from the SPTs once they got to $4,100 and $60, but not now…. Gold/Silver flew through those previous lines in the sand and didn’t look back!  Gold closed the day at $4,199 and Silver at $62.17…  it was a banner day indeed for these two metals…

And I didn’t forget about Copper; it ended the day at $674.50… 

Gold /Silver were up even more during the day, only to see the SPTs take their ounce of flesh… I think on days when the metals go on a run, that it make it easier for the SPTs, as they can sell short under the cover of darkness, with darkness being the high levels the two metals are running to… 

The dollar saw selling on the day, and the BBDXY gave back 2 index points to close out the day at 1,203…   I don’t think traders are buying what the POTUS and his defense sec are selling….  They are telling everyone who’d listen that a deal with be done with Iran by Friday… 

My friend, and editor of 5 Bullets letter, had this to say about that: “Which takes us to Friday — just in time for the “deal” to fall apart and the war to resume while markets are closed for the weekend.”

Dave has a way with words… And his thoughts are usually bang on!

In the overnight markets last night… Well, the dollar selling abated and soon we saw some buying of the beleaguered dollar… The BBDXY begins today at 1,204…. What will tomorrow bring? I think in the back of our minds we all are hoping for one thing but know in our heart of hearts that we’ll get the other thing…. I’m talking about the “Peace Agreement”… or whatever they want to call it!

The price of Gold is pushing the metals rally envelope this morning, and is up $61 to start our day, while the SPTs are getting started early on Silver, and it’s down 31-cents to start our day today… UGH! 

The price of Oil starts today with a $75 handle…  hint to those who follow the Oil price…  I would look to buy Oil here, and wait for the deal announcement to be ditched tomorrow…  But then that’s just me… 

The 10-year’s yield control must be over for now, because the bond saw some selling overnight, and the yield on the bond sits at 4.63% yield this morning… 

Well, what do we have here? $100 Billion that was taken in tariffs is being refunded to those that paid them… A total of $129 Billion has been approved for a refund, but now $100 Billion is being refunded… You may recall me wondering how the refunds would be dispersed… For it’s a real Fuster folks… But the folks in charge have the system, and they’ll get them out… The problem as I see if for you and me, is that imports were taxed at high rates, and so the prices were adjusted higher… So where do we stand to get in line for a refund?  See? You and I always get the short end of the stick….  And those elevated prices? Well, I doubt seriously that they will fall…  Once prices go up they remain up…. That’s just how it goes… 

The Euro Wannabes of zloty, koruna and forint, have been itching to get going VS the dollar. Yesterday, the forint had rallied to 313, and I thought about mentioning them then, but forgot, and so, here we are today, and while the three aren’t just pushing the currency rally envelope, they are still attempting to gain VS the dollar this morning…

And all the shenanigans going on with the price of Oil sure has the Petrol Currencies in a pickle… The leader, the Russian ruble, is really getting sold with the current price of Oil down, so too is the ruble… But the Brazilian real is still strong, and the Norwegian krone has gained a bit, most of its gains come from the dollar weakness…  

I still believe in Oil… and I think that once it gets proved that the “peace deal” is a pile of bunk, Oil will climb higher once again…  And we’re one day closer to the reveal of the so-called Peace Agreement with Iran…  I don’t feel that there is one that exists, and so we’ll see tomorrow…  Oh boy, I can hardly wait! NOT!

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the ADP Employment Report and brother did it get the rate cut folks, out in the street and yelling from the roof tops… The report showed that only 44,000 jobs were created in June…  And while a few traders and economists view this report to be the real labor report… There are still millions of people that still believe in the lies and more lies that the BLS gives us and will present their number for Job Creation tomorrow…

Today’s Data Cupboard will have the usual Weekly Initial Jobless Claims for us to view today, and tomorrow, besides the Jobs Jamboree, we’ll see the color of the Consumer Credit (read debt)… And should be an interesting print… 

For What It’s Worth… Well… the Chinese didn’t get the memo regarding Gold’s summer months doldrums… or maybe they did and that’s what drove them into Gold, these lower prices… Well, a report on this can be found here: Chinese Dip-Buying Bolsters Gold as Prices Find Floor at $4,000 | Financial Post

Or, here’s your snippet: ” Chinese institutional investors have swooped on gold in recent weeks, helping to arrest the precious metal’s decline and keep prices above the key threshold of $4,000 an ounce.

Article content

Gold-backed exchange-traded funds in China saw 14 straight days of inflows up to Monday, the longest streak since March, according to calculations by Bloomberg. That points to a shift in sentiment in the world’s biggest bullion market after war in the Middle East fueled a long stretch of outflows and price declines.

“Interest from institutional investors has increased since gold fell to around the $4,000 level,” said Steve Zhou, an analyst at Huaan Fund Management Co, which operates the country’s biggest gold ETF. A selloff in China’s equities markets has helped boost inflows, he said.

Gold has shed more than a quarter from a record high earlier this year, as the Iran conflict fanned inflation fears and raised rate-hike bets, offering a headwind for non-yielding precious metals. But prices just posted their first monthly gain since February and slipped below $4,000 only a few times during July.”

Chuck again… well, I thought that China’s reaction to the drop in price and the summer doldrums of Gold was interesting, and something I kept telling everyone that we should buy the dips…  The Chinese did…

Market Prices 8/6/2026: American Style: A$ .7057, kiwi .5879, C$ .7143, euro 1.1540, sterling 1.3460, Swiss $1.2348, European Style: rand 16.4145, krone 9.53335, SEK 9.4780, forint 315.36, zloty 3.7259, koruna 20.9743, RUB 81.40, yen 157.91, sing 1.2824, HKD 7.8447, INR 95.22, China 6.7627, peso 17.25, BRL 5.1224, BBDXY 1,204, Dollar Index 99.74, Oil $75.96, 10-year 4.63%, Silver $61.86, Platinum $1,748.00, Palladium $1,408.00, Copper $6.79, and Gold… $4,261

That’s it for today… A great win last night for my beloved Cardinas in the Bronx… The took 2 of 3 from the Yankees and come home now for the next 6 games…. They probably won’t make the playoffs this year, but I don’t think anyone thought they would when the season began…. I go into the weekend still dealing with this cold… I usually have them for about 2 weeks, and Kathy gets one and is all healed the next day… it’s not fair! Blackfoot takes us to the finish line today with his song: Highway Song… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar was idle yesterday vut overnight it got sold
• Consumers get left holding the bag

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, just as I suspected, my beloved Cardinals’ bats went silent last night in the Bronx, and they lost 0-2…  The Yankees’ bats were exactly a murderer’s row, but they hit 2 homers and won. I said yesterday that the song : Just Once In My Life, could be the Cardinals’ song after hitting 5 home runs the previous night! I was battling my cold yesterday, but tried to get outside and see if the sun could heal me… I only lasted about an hour outside, as it had turned quite warm… The Amboy Dukes greet me this morning with their song: Journey To The Center Of The Earth…

Now, that’s a great 70’s song for sure, of which my playlist has quite a few of… The kids always cringe when I hook up my player to the Blue Tooth speaker outside and let ‘er rip! 

I’m beating around the bush this morning, because yesterday the dollar ended up in the same clothes it went to bed in, with the BBDXY at 1,205… There was some rhetoric about how the POTUS is giving the folks of Iran warning what will happen if they don’t sign a peace agreement soon…  Well, Oil traders took that to mean that peace is right around the corner, and sold Oil…  The price of Oil ended the day with a $76 handle…  

Gold / Silver had decent days, but without the dollar moving downward, the two metals’ moves were muted… Gold ended the day up $29 to close at $4,079, and Silver ended the day up $1.36 to close at $59.16…  Ok, baby steps were taking here as the two metals inch closer to the lines in the sand the STPs had placed on the two. 

Gold traders are like a young buck with a pickup Truck and pink carnation (McLean) and ready to take on the SPTS’s and their lines in the sand… So, will the young bucks get their cowboy hats handed to them? I guess, we’ll have to wait-n-see… 

I for one think the SPTs are laying a trap, allowing Gold/Silver to rise and then they’ll pull the rug out from under the buyers…  I know, I know, I’m jaded… But I’ve seen it happen on more than a few occasions… I’m just saying… 

But if we garner enough physical buying, maybe the SPTs go away for a short time? 

And the 10-year’s yield after hitting 4.70% yesterday, has been getting bought (By the Fed Heads) and it ended yesterday with a 4.62% yield…

In the overnight markets last night… Well, dollar traders finally got off their respective duffs and pushed the BBDXY down 1 index point to 1,204 to start the day…  And… Metals traders pushed Gold/Silver past their lines in the sand, and said, ” take that!” to the SPTs…   So, everything I just wrote is out of place now… UGH! Well, I’m not going to go back and change everything… You’ll figure it out… 

The price of Oil remained in the $76 handle overnight, and the 10-year saw some additional buying and the yield on the bond sits at 4.61% to start the day…

Remember when I told you that Gold can still rally in higher rates (The 70’S)? Well, I was so happy to read this on Kitco.com that Analysts at Jefferies think the same as me…  So, remember that!

I also found an article on Kitco.com that interviewed a historian, and asked him about revaluing Gold at today’s price… (For those of you at home that don’t know, we, as a country, hold physical Gold at a price of $42.22… That’s quite a bit lower than today’s price, eh?  But the historian doesn’t believe that IF the Gold was revalued that it would be anything that helped individuals…  “revaluation would help the Gov’t and not private holders” he based that thought on what happened the last time…  

Frank talked about this on Monday in the FWIW section… FDR had taken back all Gold held by private holders, (There were a couple exceptions) and once in their hands they revalued Gold from $20 to $35, but that didn’t apply to private holders… So, there you have it…  I was always under the impression if Gold got revalued that it would apply to all Gold under the sun and moon… I’ll have to think about this some more… 

The current price the Gov’t uses for their Gold is $42.22, which was set after Nixon removed Gold from backing the dollar… And no one on the face of the Earth has been able to purchase Gold at that price since the dirty deed was done by Nixon…  

I used to field calls from investors that would tell me that the deficit problem would go away if we revalued Gold…  I then I would break it to them nicely that revaluing Gold wouldn’t make a dent in our deficit, which is now closing in on $40 Trillion… 

I know, from time to time I get off on a tangent and then the next thing is that the letter is over and I didn’t touch on some things…  And this was one of those times!

And there’s something in the air tonight (Collins) regarding Margin in stocks that’s got me wondering…  Margin debt has reached 160 Billion… So, for anyone out there that follows this stuff, tell me how this doesn’t end up in tears?  

And that bothers me regarding the path that Gold/Silver are on… When push comes to shove with margin calls what will get sold to cover the deficit, certainly not their precious stocks… But if they hold any Gold/Silver it will get sold because they are very liquid assets…  I’m just saying… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the July Factory Order, which were forecast to be positive, but…. They printed a negative -.3%…  That’s two consecutive months of negative prints for Factory Orders… Which is really confusing as Manufacturing keeps inching higher… I know, they are two different animals, but They party with the same folks…  

The Trade Balance was a deficit of $73 Billion… Back to our old Tricks before tariffs… 

Today’s Data Cupboard has the ADP Employment Report for July… Once again, I’ll say that this report is supposed to be a harbinger of what the BLS report that prints on Friday will reveal…  But with no one really knowing what the BLS will add to the surveys, it doesn’t work that way… 

To recap… it was a nothing day in dollar trading yesterday as the BBDXY went to be last night with the same clothes it had on the night before… Gold/Silver found a way to gain on the day, and close in on the lines in the sand that the SPTs had placed… Be careful here… 

For What It’s Worth… my friends, Mike and Rich Checken wrote a great piece on Silver that I thought it would behoove you all to read, and it can be found here: Why Silver May Be One of Today’s Most Overlooked Hard Assets

Or, here’s your snippet: “Silver has long occupied a distinctive place in the precious metals market.

It appeals to investors seeking portfolio diversification and a hedge against inflation, but it also benefits from a broad set of industrial uses that tie demand to real economic activity. As a smaller market than gold, silver also tends to be more volatile, yet the volatility allows for some truly profitable highs and advantageous lows. That combination is one reason silver continues to deserve serious attention from long-term investors.

Despite the current pullback, silver is up roughly 55% year-over-year, and up nearly 130% over the past five years.

Even now, silver remains supported by two important pillars: physical investment demand and industrial demand. Even as some parts of the market have shifted midway through 2026, the broader case for silver remains intact.

Physical Investment Demand Remains Resilient

Despite changing market conditions, many investors continue to view physical silver as a good value and as a practical diversifier within a diverse portfolio.

While physical buying patterns varies by region, and sentiment has dampened in the time since silver hit all-time highs at the end of January, the broader takeaway is clear. Investor demand has not disappeared. It remains active enough to reinforce silver’s role as a hard asset for those seeking to hedge against inflation, respond to market uncertainty, and align metal mix within a disciplined long-term strategy.

For long-term investors, that is an important signal. Silver continues to attract buyers who want tangible exposure to hard assets rather than paper-only positioning. Does that include you?

If so, today’s lower spot prices are an opportunity.

Silver Is Not Driven by One Story Alone

One of silver’s most important strengths is that it is not dependent on a single source of demand. Unlike equities and other assets driven mainly by investor sentiment, silver also serves a practical role across the global economy. From electronics and automotive applications to grid investment and advanced technologies, silver’s industrial relevance helps give it a broader demand base.

Investment demand is only part of the silver story. Industrial demand remained substantial, with the survey reporting 657.4 million ounces of industrial demand in 2025.

Although that total declined modestly year over year, it still reflects a very large base of real-world use. Silver remains deeply embedded in important industrial and technological applications, and that supports the metal’s long-term relevance beyond cycles of investor enthusiasm.

This is why silver stands apart in a meaningful way. “

Chuck again… great piece boys… as it explains why Silver is so popular right now… 

Market Prices 8/5/2006: American Style: A$ .7044, kiwi .5866, C$ .7118, euro 1.1542, sterling 1.3491, Swiss $1.2359, European Style: rand 16.3917, krone 9.5242, SEK 9.5124, forint 313.14, zloty 3.7314, koruna 20.9611, RUB 81.10, yen 157.68, sing 1.2822, HKD 7.8433, INR 95.18, China 6.7509, peso 17.22, BRL 5.1280, BBDXY 1,204, Dollar Index 99.93, Oil $76.18, 10-year 4.61%, Silver $61.65, Platinum $1,759.00, Palladium $1,395.00, Copper $6.63, and Gold…. $4,170

That’s it for today… I really needed a good night’s sleep last night, but I woke up with a coughing spell and that ruined everything!  So, once again, I’m dragging the line (T. James) this morning… It’s a good thing I made some notes yesterday to use this morning… We’re supposed to get 2 days of rain here, so no going outside to let the sun heal me. UGH! But a clear weekend is in the cards! Uriah Heap takes us to the finish line today with their song: Stealin’    I sure hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• The dollar selling abated yesterday…

• Oil continues to get whipsawed

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! I know I had told you there would be no Pfennig today, but… My cold is keeping me from my oncologist visit/ infusion… So, I’m stuck at home hacking away… Wonderful thought, eh? My Beloved Cardinals turned into the Bronx Bombers last night VS the Yankees and hit 5 Home Runs and beat the Yankees… This display of homers was a thing from left field for the Cardinals, but I’ll take it!  The Righteous Bros greet me this morning with their song: Just Once In My Life…   

That could have been the theme song for the Cardinals last night! But I’ll move on now…&

The dollar stopped getting sold yesterday as traders took a pause for the cause…  The think I was thinking about with regards to the recent dollar selling all came back to me, and the blind man said as he spit into the wind… Instead of traders seeing the U.S. finances as I said yesterday, I feel the selling of the dollar was nothing but a correction, as it had gone upward too far, too fast… And yesterday was the day everyone took a breath, and said, “now we can get back to buying dollars once again”…  They’ll be sorry, I’m telling you now, so maybe you’ll listen to me later, but the long missive I wrote yesterday about Japan’s intervention, is going to play out eventually… Sooner or later all the ducks will be in row for dollar dumping…  I’m just saying..

Gold/Silver ran into the SPTs right after I hit send yesterday… And the SPTs made certain that Gold/Silver’s rally was snuffed immediately…  Gold was flat to up $2 on the day, while Silver gained 33-cents…  Nothing like their early morning trading performances had indicated… Gold ended the day at $4,055, and Silver at $58.30

The price of Oil bounced again yesterday, and it ended the day with a $81 handle… My friend, and 5 Bullets editor, David Gonigam had a great illustration in his letter yesterday, showing how the price of Oil goes around in a circle, rising when there are words war, and selling off when there are words of Peace… 

And the 10-year settled down yesterday with a $4.69% yield… Without the Fed Heads in performing their yield control, this yield would be higher…. Manipulation… it’s everywhere!

In the overnight markets last night….  The dollar trading dried up, and the BBDXY starts today at 1,205… Gold is up $13 to start the day, and Silver is up $1.19… Once again, the metals traders are going to run these two up the flagpole and see if they can take out the lines of defense that the SPTs have set up…  

The price of Oil saw more selling overnight and this morning it starts the day with a $78 handle… And the 10-year’s yield shot up to 4.70%  early this morning, only to see the Fed Heads come in and do some yield control, thus bringing the 10-year’s yield back to 4.65%… UGH!

I wanted to mention the run that the price of Copper is on right now… This morning, Copper is trading at $6.66. Soon it will attempt to take out its previous high of $6.71… Should be no problemo…. 

I was looking at the yields of 10-year Gov’t bonds from around the world yesterday… They sure look a bit healthier than they were a year ago, and that got me thinking… (uh oh here he goes again!) Shoot Rudy, even the Japanese 10-year Gov’t bond is yielding 2.82%…. These higher yields across the board are going to cause each respective country major problems going forward…  As tax receipts will eat up the money used for bond servicing (interest payments) and each country is going to have to be creative in how they obtain the money needed to pay Interest… 

The country with the best plan will come out on top, folks… And this includes the good ole U.S. of A.    I don’t think there’s creative mind in Washington these days, so that means the U.S. will lag other countries eventually… But we knew this already, it’s just a matter of time… I’m just saying… 

I don’t have a lot to talk about today, because I was not prepared to write today… I woke up and decided that I was NOT going to make my doctor’s appointment. And so, with that in mind, I sat down and began to write without any notes from the previous day… UGH!

Well, being the Fed Watcher that I am… I compared FOMC Chairman, Warsh’s press conferences from his first two meetings, to see if there was any change I could note…  To me, it appeared that Warsh wore the same suit and tie in each press conference (6 weeks apart) and his statement was basically the same at each conference…  He reiterated that the FOMC had a 2% inflation target, nothing more, nothing less, and that having inflation above that 2% target for more than 5 years now is not something he’s comfortable with….   Oh, and there were 3 dissenting votes to remain unchanged, but to hike rates instead… So, at least somebody was ready to do something about 5 years of higher inflation than we expect… 

I guess, I want to say that Warsh is tip toeing through his initial FOMC meetings, not wanting to step on anyone’s toes… But to me, this is not what he’s there for… He’s there to push his ideas to front, and see what becomes of them… So, to me, he’s getting started on the wrong foot… 

For now, the Japanese yen has held to its gains from last week’s intervention… I doubt it will hold very long, as intervention rarely gives an asset the gains it needs for too long…  for now, though, currency traders are leery to enter new yen shorts, as there could be a round 2 of intervention…  either way, I wouldn’t touch yen with your ten-foot pole!  

And the Eurozone is having to deal with immigrants once again… it will be interesting to see if they learned anything from the last go-round with an immigrant invasion…  Look, I’m not against immigrants, and I would get on their sides IF they went about become a citizen of the country they go to the right way….   So, don’t get mad at me and say I’m against immigrants… Because I’m NOT!

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the July print of the ISM (Manufacturing) and it surprised everyone rising to 56… Remember that 50 is the line in the sand and any number above 50 means expansion in Manufacturing and vice versa… 

Today, we’ll see the color of July’s Factory Orders, which are expected to be positive. You may recall that June’s print was a negative -1.9%…  And the Trade Balance is supposed to print for July…  This data had been a deficit for so long, until Tariffs began to skew the numbers… 

To recap… The dollar selling abated yesterday and last night… Gold couldn’t hold its early gains yesterday, and the price of Oil continues to get whipsawed up and down. Right now it’s down…  And Chuck’s dissertation on Japanese intervention of the yen, yesterday, still holds true even though the yen is currency holding on to its intervention gains… 

For What It’s Worth… Well, there was someone else looking at Gov’t Bond yields and he wrote an article about them… Alasdair Macleod is the author of this piece and you can find it here: Bond crisis deepens – by Alasdair Macleod

Or, here’s your snippet: “Finally, it appears that bond yields in the U.S. and all other G7 nations are rising above the consolidation zones of the last three years. Higher bond yields will be a catastrophe for both businesses and governments, bankrupting many of the former and making the latter’s bonds uninvestible.

Those who have sought the safety of real, common-law legal money without counterparty risk which is gold and secondly silver are the only people with protection from this looming catastrophe.

The significance of higher bond yields

We have been repeatedly told that the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield is the benchmark for other interest rates and a key indicator for investor sentiment. Well, it’s taking a turn for the worse, as its chart clearly demonstrates…”

Chuck again… I love it when other well-known authors write about something that’s been on my mind… This is a long article and you have to jump through some hoops to read its entirety.. Good luck!

Market Prices 8/4/2026: American Style: A$ .7032, kiwi .5883, C$ .7113, euro 1.1517, sterling 1.3446, Swiss $1.2362, European Style: rand 16.4370, krone 9.5581, SEK 9.5441, forint 314.61, zloty 3.7388, koruna 21.0120, RUB 80.60, yen 157.43, sing 1.2834, HKD 7.8433, INR 95.38, China 6.7523, peso 17.29, BRL 5.0874, BBDXY 1,205, Dollar Index 99.93, Oil $78.22, 10-year 4.65%, Silver $59.49, Platinum $1,710.00, Palladium $1,283.00, Copper $6.66, and Gold… $4,068

That’s it for today… I’ll have more tomorrow, promise… My beloved Cardinals came alive once Trade Deadline came and went… Good thing because they were really becoming boring to watch… Even for me! I live and breathe baseball so, that really had become a problem! This summer cold really has me down… At least it’s not the cyclo-whatever that’s going around… From eating Salad! C’Mon, that’s supposed to be healthy for you! Oh well, we carry on despite our snags… Aliotta Haynes and Jeremiah take us to the finish line this morning with their classic song: Lake Shore Drive… I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler