Author: admin

• currencies & metals eke out gains on Friday’
• Trump’s tariffs go into effect

Good day… And a Marvelous Monday to you!  And Welcome to February! This is going to take me extra time to type this letter out this morning, as my fingers aren’t exactly cooperating… Do you ever have days like that? No football yesterday after having weeks of being inundated with games… Well, no football as long as you don’t count the silly Pro Bowl… It was a beautiful weekend down in S. Florida, and I took well advantage of the brightly shining Sun… I go back to St Louis on Wednesday this week for my next infusion…. Could be my last we’ll have to wait-n-see. Chris Stapleton greets me this morning with his song: Tennessee Whiskey

Well, yesterday was Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil has forecast 6 more weeks of winter this year….  Sorry, everyone up north…. There was a woman years and years ago, that worked for me, that adored Groundhog Day, and would hold a big party on that day…   

OK enough of all that silliness… The Trump tariffs went into effect on Saturday… And the markets went loco over them with the dollar bugs winning the day, and the BBDXY gaining over 9 index points! The euro, which a couple of days ago was trading in the 1.05 area, has fallen to a 1.02 handle. The Canadian dollar fell 2 -cents to trade with a 67-cent handle, and the peso, which I had begun to think it was stuck at 20 something, an would never move, was trading with a 21 handle…And the Chinese renminbi weakened to 7.24 from 7.22….  Yes, al the currencies came under intense fire from the dollar, but these are the ones targeted by the tariffs right now, that is…. 

Gold spent a good part of the day on Friday trading above $2,800… And from here I’m going to let Ed Steer tell you his thoughts on what happened to Gold & Silver: “there was no way the collusive short traders were going to let Gold close above $2,800″… 

Chuck again, but to me this was a mere pittance to what happened overnight!  , And we’ll go there in just a minute, but first… Gold closed Friday up 50cents, to close the week at $2,975.90, and Silver lost 35-cents to close at $31.22… The price of Oil bumped higher to a $73 handle, and the 10-year closed the week at 4.51% yield…

OK now, in the overnight markets last night, but wait, do you really want to know? You do?  OK, but you’re not going to like it… The dollar has gained 15 index points to 1,,322… The currencies are in shambles, and Gold is down $26, at this point and Silver is down 50-centsalso to this point…now, did I really have to go through all of that? 

Will this engineered takedown of Gold & Silver ruin Gold’s strong demand and start to the new year?  I doubt it, if past engineered takedowns indicate anything, Gold & Silver had come back slow at first and then suddenly, and then move past its previous high… 

HOLD THE Phone! The markets turned around in the middle of the night! Gold is up $16 and not down $26, and is trading above the $2,800 figure again…  Silver is up 15-cents, and is trading above $31…  The BBDXY is up just $8 and not 23 index points… I’m sorry about that! Before I retired last night, I made some notes about the goings on in the dollar and metals… I won’t get caught doing that again!  the price of Oil trades with a $74 handle… 

Everything is a mess this morning folks, so go back to bed if you can or go get another cup of coffee at the office and try to get through the day.  I was beside myself this morning when I read what the hell was going on…  Something needs to be done about all this market manipulation… I’m serious.. 

I’ll begin by writing a letter to the SEC, and my congressman…. I doubt it’ll get past their aide, but I’ve got to do something! And I encourage you to join me…

The short paper traders, and the PPT, and the Fed Heads are responsible for these market manipulations… They are enemy #1

Ok, didn’t I tell you that this was going to happen? What? The countries that we placed tariffs on are going to retaliate with tariffs to the U.S. Mexico and Canada have already announced retaliation news, Canada said they will place a 25% tariff on exports to the U.S., Canada hasn’t yet announced their retaliation amount…  can you say, “Global Trade War” or “Global Depression”… If not, you’ll need to learn to say then for they will become a daily used phrase in the near future… 

Last Friday’s U.S. Data Cupboard had the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) that is the Fed Heads pet inflation calculator printed for Dec, and while one group (the naysayers) called report bang on, the other group (they question at all costs) saw the print and said see! Inflation isn’t going anywhere while the Fed Heads are cutting rates… The PCE year on year, was 2.8%.  I don’t have to tell you that I’m a founding member of the 2^nd group, and I would have said, inflation is still strong! 

This week’s Data Cupboard has Dec. Factory Orders tomorrow… Wednesday we get the ADP Employment Report and Friday we get the Jobs Jamboree… Ooh Boy! I wonder what the BLS has cooked up for us this month?

To recap, Gold spent most of the day on Friday t… trading above $2,800, only to run into short paper trading to bring it back below $2,800, and then at first last night it was sinking faster than the Titanic only to turn around in the middle of the night and trade over $2,800 this morning.. 

For What It’s Worth… Well, a long time ago, I told you dear reader that anytime I saw something that David Rosenberg had done for free, I would use it! And so it is with piece  as David goes through the tariffs… And it can be found here:Trump’s tariff gamble: Economic fallout, market chaos, and gold’s record surge – David Rosenberg | Kitco News

Or, here’s your snippet: “President Donald Trump is moving forward with his plan to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting Saturday, the White House confirmed, rejecting earlier reports that the deadline might be pushed back to March 1. The move threatens to disrupt nearly $1.6 trillion in annual trade, impacting businesses, consumers, and financial markets as uncertainty spreads.

Economist David Rosenberg, Chief Strategist at Rosenberg Research, warns that Trump’s aggressive trade policy could lead to severe economic consequences. However, there is still a chance Trump could “wiggle out” of the tariffs.

While Trump insists the tariffs are aimed at pressuring Canada and Mexico to curb illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, Rosenberg believes there’s more at play. “It’s always hard to know with Donald Trump what’s going to happen in the end—he’s so unpredictable.”

The tariff threats have already hit the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD briefly surging past 1.45 before reports of a possible delay sent it lower. Rosenberg pointed out a simple trade opportunity if Trump backs off: “If the threat was fully alleviated, we’d probably rally back to 1.40—right where the loonie was before Trump first mentioned tariffs back in November.”

While inflation has moderated in recent months, Rosenberg emphasized that tariffs could complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy stance. “Inflation is a process, not a one-time event. If oil is hit with a tariff, you get a price shock, but that’s not necessarily inflationary unless it feeds into wages. That’s what the Fed will be watching.”

Gold’s Surge and the Trade War Hedge

Amid trade tensions, gold has surged past $2,850 an ounce, hitting new all-time highs and looking at its strongest month since March 2024. Rosenberg sees gold’s rally as a direct response to market instability. “Gold is 100% proportionally correlated with uncertainty. And this is the most uncertainty we’ve seen in a long time.”

Chuck again… Someone that I respect fully, in David Rosenberg, so listen to “Rosey”! 

Market Prices 2/3/2024: American Style: A$ 6164, kiwi .5586, C$ .6826, euro 1.0282, sterling 1.2371, Swiss $1.1062, European style: rand 18.7906, krone 11.3881, SEK 11.1686, forint 396.39, zloty 4.1075, koruna 24.5592, RUB 99.83, yen 154.62, sing 1.3650, HKD 7.7737, INR 87.19, China 7.2446, peso 20.91, BRL 58517, BBDXY 1,315.55, Dollar Index 109.21, Oil $74.23, 10-year 4.52%, Silver $31.42, Platinum $981.00, Palladium $1, 044.00, Copper $4.25, and Gold…. $2,813.40

That’s it for today…  Well, we get started on our countdown to a very important data in Feb… And I’m not talking about Valentine’s Day, I’m talking about the day that pitchers and catchers report… Right now, it’s 9 days till we get to Feb 12! Now, regarding Valentine’s Day… You have 11 days to pick out something special for your someone special. And since we’re talking about events… The first week of March will be the week I take my annual spring vacation… March 3 through March 11… Mark your calendars now…. Both my older sisters (now deceased) were born in February, and I was born in Mach, so mom and dad… Oh well, they timed things right… Three Dog Night takes us to the finish line today with my favorite TDN song: Out In The Country… I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, despite the markets’ crazy swings, and please Be Good To Yourself…. 

Chuck Butler

Creator & Editor of:

A Pfennig For Your Thoughts

• Gold & currencies rally in the overnight markets
• The LBM is short physical Gold….

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! I had a better day than the previous day with my stomach yesterday, so I’m very thankful for the little things! I sat outside reading in the warm sun for hours yesterday, my arms are finally showing that I’ve been in Florida! I was not a happy camper about the way the Dems threw inaccurate and inflammatory statements at RFK in his confirmation hearing… But he’s not the first person to face the gauntlet here, so hopefully, he’ll stand up to them and get confirmed… You may not like him, but I do, and this is my letter so there! HA! Yes greets me this morning with their hit song: Owner Of A Lonely Heart… 

Well, most everyone was partially right yesterday regarding their take on the FOMC meeting…  Ged Fed Heads, you know the 12 person FOMC group that decides where rates should be, as if they had a clue…  kept rates unchanged, but then failed to mention when rates might be lowered again this year…  Hey! Way to be Transparent Fed Heads! At first the dollar teetered but then straightened out and kept its level and the dollar to was unchanged for the day, with the BBDY closing at 1,302 (Same level it was when I wrote yesterday morning) 

I guess there were some Gold Bugs who though there was a chance that the Fed Heads could cut rates, and when they didn’t, Gold got sold by $10, as it closed at $2,753, and Silver kept pushing the envelope on its recent rally without Gold, and it gained 51-cents to close at $30.89… 

The price of Oil lost some ground yesterday and ended the day trading with a $72 handle…  And the 10-year Treasury gained 2 bps, and closed yesterday trading with a 4.54% yield…   The manipulation of the bond yields has really picked up lately, and I just don’t see how that’s going to work out for the manipulators… 

In The overnight markets last night… Well, the dollar saw some selling overnight, and into this morning’s open in the U.S. and right now the dollar has lost 4 index points in the BBDXY.  I guess there were more than just a few souls that thought the Fed Heads would cut rates yesterday, and now they are selling to rid themselves of this trade….  Whoa there Partner! What have we here?  Gold is nearing its all-time high this morning, as the congestion at the LBM is really beginning to show up in Gold’s price… Gold is up $31 this morning, and Silver is up 59-cents!  There must be a double helix in the sky tonight, throw out the hardware let’s do this right! (Steely Dan, from Aja) 

The price of Oil remained trading with a $72 handle overnight, and the 10-year saw more manipulation from the Fed Heads as its yield fell to 4.51%… 

I read yesterday that the London Bullion Market has been sending so much physical Gold to the U.S. ahead of any tariffs that might be applied in the future, that they are now short! And have had to borrow physical Gold from the Central Banks that store physical Gold there…  Here’s the skinny from the good folks at GATA: “LONDON — London bullion market players are racing to borrow gold from central banks, which store bullion in London, following a surge in gold deliveries to the United States on speculation of potential import tariffs there, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The minimum waiting time to load gold out of the Bank of England, which stores gold for central banks, has reached four weeks, one of the sources said. In normal times, the release time is a few days or a week.”

What a Bunch of doofuses these people at the LBM will look like, IF, and let me say that again, IF, tariffs never get around to being placed on Gold…. 

And as usual, Ed Steer had something to add to the discussion about the LBM and China and Gold… Here’s Ed: “Despite the obvious physical congestion in gold in both London and New York that has come to a head in recent days — and now in the public domain, the collusive commercial traders of whatever stripe managed to keep the gold price from reflecting that. However they weren’t quite as successful in silver.

How long they can keep this market under control under these circumstances is open for debate. But all the signs under the surface, which are now visible to all, suggests that it could erupt violently higher at any moment if the rush for immediate delivery continues to increase.”

Chuck again… I think what Ed is talking about is already taking place this morning…. 

Circling back to the Fed Heads…  what a bunch of megalomaniacs! They think that by sitting in their ivory tower at the Eccles Bldg., that they know more about how an economy works than the people that work every day and deal with the economy!  They think they know if the economy needs stimulation or austere moves… They think they know that by flipping a switch, they can cause a “soft landing”…   I say, we need to eliminate the Fed ASAP! And Repeal 1913! 

Man, when I get riled up about something, there’s no stopping me! Or what I might say!  The stupid system I use to write keeps trying me to soften my line about a bunch of megalomaniacs…. And I keep telling it NO! 

Ok, The Bank of Canada did cut rates to 3% yesterday, as they really truly believe that they have defeated inflation… They’ve seen nothing yet!  But this Central Bank used to be thought of a Prudent, but no longer! They are the exact opposite of Prudent! Now they are willy nilly, and I’m not talking about those lip-syncing guys from the 90’s or was it the 80’s? Oh, well, who cares?)

The European Central Bank (ECB ) is meeting as I write this morning… Spoiler alert! The ECB will choose to cut rates again, as they too believe that they have defeated inflation…  Did they cut money supply in half? NO! Hmmm… Oh well, dolts do what dolts do….  The euro will see some selling after the rate cut is announced… 

I found this on Ed Steer’s letter yesterday: “Americans’ consumer confidence fell for the second month in a row in January according to The Conference Board, dropping from an upwardly revised 109.5 (how do you revise ‘confidence’?) to 104.1 (vs. 105.7 expected) with expectations and current conditions both falling (from upwardly revised data)

That is a four-month low in consumer confidence… despite most other indications of confidence and animal spirits having surged since Trump’s election…”  you can always find Ed at: edsteergoldsilver.com 

The U.S. Data Cupboard today will see the usual for Thursday, the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, and then the first print of Q4 GDP, which is expected to come in at 2.5% (don’t be surprised if it comes in lower or for that matter come in higher, given the Gov’t spending in the 4^th QTR especially after Trump won the Presidency… I’m just saying… 

To recap…  the FOMC left rates unchanged and then didn’t tell the markets of their plans for rates this year… Transparency… Shamparency!  (spell check doesn’t like that word! )  The Bank of Canada did cut rates , and Chuck had something snide to say about that, and The ECB meets this morning…  Chuck goes the whole 9 yards on the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel…. Don’t feed the bears folks!  

For What It’s Worth… This article came to me from longtime reader, Bob, and I found it quite interesting, and I hope you do too. It can be found here: The U.S. Is Not a Sovereign Nation. Under the Helm of the Globalist Financial Elites. Richard C. Cook – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization

Or, here’s your snippet: “The U.S. is not a sovereign nation. It lost its sovereignty in what I call the “Insurrection of 1913,” when the Federal Reserve Act and the Income Tax Amendment were passed. The Federal Reserve Act was actually written by the Rothschilds of Europe, with the collusion of the Money Trust headed by the Morgan and Rockefeller interests.

The conspiracy was set in motion at Jekyll Island. You can read about this in my book, Our Country, Then and Now.

Since then, the U.S. has served at the pleasure of the globalist financial elite as an instrument in fighting their wars of conquest: against Germany in World Wars I and II, Vietnam and Southeast Asia in the 60s and 70s, Russia and Yugoslavia in the Cold War and the 90s, multiple Muslim nations in the “War on Terror,” and, under President Joe Biden, the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia and Israel’s Gaza War against the Palestinians.

As President Ronald Reagan reportedly said, “He who has the gold rules.” The “gold” in the modern era is the right to print money “out of thin air” via the mechanism of fractional reserve banking combined with usury exacted at compound interest. Through this diabolical mechanism, the global financial elite rule much of humanity, though China, Russia, Iran, and other BRICS nations are breaking away to create a multipolar world.

The headquarters of the globalist financial elite is the City of London, which is now setting up a clearinghouse to market and manipulate U.S. government sovereign debt. The globalist financial elite are the source of money and power for the World Economic Forum, Bilderberg, the WHO, etc.

NATO is another globalist instrument. NATO was actually founded by Britain, with the aim to “keep America in, Russia out, and Germany down.” The latest project of the globalists, with Big Pharma and military collusion, is the worldwide COVID “plandemic” as an instrument of mass genocide. The globalists have announced that more “plandemics” are coming.

We are today in American Civil War II, with President Donald Trump cast by history in the role of Abraham Lincoln. The first Civil War was between free labor and national banking against British globalist banking and chattel slavery. British globalist banking was represented in the U.S. by Rothschild agent August Belmont (born Aaron Schönberg).

Civil War II is being fought on similar grounds. For instance, the globalists have filled the country with terrorist gangs. President Trump is starting to remove them.”

Chuck again… Yes, I do hope he is successful in removing them.

Market Prices 1/30/2025: American Style: A$ .6233, kiwi .5656, C$ .6936, euro 1.0459, sterling 1.2469, Swiss $1.1091, European Style: rand 18.4504, krone 11.2757, SEK 10.9784, forint 389.20, zloty 4.0160, koruna 24.0208, RUB 96.32, yen 154.00, sing 1.3486, HKD 7.7914, INR 86.62, China 7.2446, peso 20.50, BRL 5.9066, BBDXY 1,298, Dollar Index 107.50, Oil $72.37, 10-year 4.51%, Silver $31.48, Platinum $976.00, Palladium $1,016.00, Copper $4.30, and Gold… $2,784.50

That’s it for today, and this week… A friendly Spiderman reminder that next week will only have Monday & Tuesday as days for the Pfennig, as on Wednesday I’ll be heading back to St. Louis for another infusion… OH BOY! NOT! Well, the Super Bowl combatants get a week off and then next Sunday will be the Super Bowl… I’ll be home to watch that! In 2020, I used to have to drive an hour or so north to Port St. Lucie to the wound center twice a week, when I had those large, ugly ulcers on my shins, to be treated… So, every year down here has not been 100% relaxation… But most years have been… The weather has turned to warm days again down south, we had our winter down here, and now spring has sprung!  Hey! Cardinals’ Pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter Fla for Spring Training in 12 days! YAHOO! Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble take us to the finish line today with their song: Pride And Joy… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and please remember to Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• Chuck was all confused yesterday….
• The dollar is back as the fave currency of the tariffs…

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you!  Well right out of the starter’s blocks this morning, what was I thinking calling yesterday a Wonderful Wednesday? Getting ahead of myself I guess, but what a dolt! See? Even I make mistakes.. HAHAHAHAHA! I had a reader send me a note several years ago, and tell me not to use HAHAHAHAHA because it makes me look amateurish… So, as you can see, I didn’t listen to him!  I listen to: my wife, my doctors, and myself…. And some other folks from time to time.. My mother used to tell me that I was just like a hard headed Dutchman!  The band, Jet, greets me this morning with their song: Are You Gonna Be My Girl?

Well, yesterday morning I told you that the dollar was getting bought and the BBDXY was up 5 index points at that point it was 1,302… But it saw some weakness during the day before finally gaining a bit at the end of the day to close at 1,301, thus up 4 index points on the day… 

The dollar was up because the POTUS had renewed talk of large global tariffs…. And… Because the dollar bugs are convinced that the Fed Heads will keep rates unchanged at their FOMC meeting today….  But like I said yesterday, you never know what kind of shenanigans the Fed Heads will pull on us….  Well, I didn’t actually say that exactly, but it’s close to what I said! 

Gold was up $6 yesterday morning, buy as the day went on, it began to ratchet higher and higher until the close when it was up $24 at $2,764.00… Silver started the day down -44-cents, but finished the day at $30.45 up 19-cents… So, nice turnaround on the turnaround Tuesday Silver! 

The price of Oil remained trading with a $73 handle again yesterday, and the 10-year Treasury’s yield saw some buying and therefore it dropped to 4.52%

In the overnight markets last night…. The dollar kept the pressure on, albeit soft pressure, and gained 1 index point in the BBDXY Index. I have an article in the FWIW section today that talks about the strong dollar, so you won’t want to miss that!  Gold starts the day down $4 and Silver starts the day up 17-cents! The Gold / Silver ratio has really spread lately, so this is a welcoming development for Silver holders…  And Gold can easily turn that red ink around today, so get out and buy some Gold to help it turnaround….    

The price of Oil remained trading with a $73 handle overnight, and the 10-year didn’t move for once overnight… And starts the day today at 4.52%… Maybe the Fed Heads have gotten their pound of flesh from the 10-year’s yield, and will sit back now and see what happens.. 

Well, the new POTUS announced yesterday in an Exec. Order: The order bans federal agencies from issuing CBDCs… (Central Bank Digital Currencies) which means the Fed/Cabal/Cartel cannot change our dollar denominated bank accounts overnight into digits…. 

Now this should have been a shot across the cryptocurrency’s bows, but it took a back seat from the announcement made this past weekend about a new Chinese AI called DeepSeek…. That will revolutionize the AI and make the leader in Chips that are used to make AI have to revamp their business… 

The world is changing daily, folks…  But do you know what’s steady Eddie? Got Gold?  

When I had lunch with Frank Trotter the CEO of Battle Bank, he told me of a program that Battle Bank will use, when it opens, and that lending, using Gold as collateral…. How about that?  Does your bank offer that? Battle Bank’s opening is getting closer I can feel it in my bones….  So, have you gone to their website and signed their waitlist?  If you haven’t, go there now! www.battlebank.com

OK, the FOMC meets today, along with the Bank of Canada…  Man was i screwed up yesterday morning, I even titled the Pfennig “It’s a FOMC Day!”  Only a real dolt could do something that bad and still have his job! What, Wait?  I have no job! Except to wake up and write this letter, and anytime someone wants to fire me, just let me know! 

OK one of the folks running for Canadian PM, Christine Freeland, has called for a coordinated retaliatory effort from a group of countries that will have tariffs put on them by Pres. Trump… These countries include: Mexico, Denmark, Panama, EU should respond jointly to be a force to be reckoned with…  I then saw the major items that Canada imports from the U.S. they include: Oranges from Florida, dairy from Wisconsin, and dish washers from Michigan are the some of the items Canada can use to retaliate the U.S. tariffs….  When Trump was just a candidate for President, he first mentioned his tariffs position, and it was then that explained how this would turn into a global retaliation and a global depression… I still stand by that thought… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday saw Durable Goods for Jan, plunge to a -2.2%…  I thought that this data would be negative but not that bad!  For all of you at home wondering what makes up Durable Goods, these are items that will still be in operation in 3 years…  

Today’s Data Cupboard has the FOMC meeting, and nothing else matters…. 

To recap…. The dollar rebounded yesterday and you can blame it on the POTUS talking about large universal tariffs…  The dollar has become the favorite currency to bask in the tariffs, and Chuck thinks that this thought couldn’t be more wrong!  But that’s what Chuck as for you in the FWIW section below… The FOMC meets today… Will they change their minds and cut rates? I doubt it, but hey! Stranger things have happened! 

For What It’s Worth…  I’ve talked about how the markets are thinking the larger and wider distribution tariffs are just what the doctor ordered to keep the dollar strong,… I’ve also talked about how off the track those thoughts are, but I guess we’ll have to wait-n-see… So, this article talks about how the dollar is back in the driver’s seat with the talk of higher tariffs…. And it can be found here: USD: Dollar Climbs as Trump, Bessent Reignite Universal Tariff Threat – Bloomberg

Or, here’s your snippet: “The US dollar is once again showing off how it’s become a popular way to trade tariff threats, rallying after President Donald Trump said he favors imposing “much bigger” levies than had been suggested by one of his top officials.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose as much as 0.5%, the biggest intraday advance in a week, as Trump vowed tariffs bigger than those reportedly under consideration by incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The recent wobble in the stock market tied to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s cheaper model is also driving demand for the world’s reserve currency.

“The dollar stays strong until proven otherwise,” said Kathy Jones, chief fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. “I do think it has room to come down and probably will at some point, but the tariff threat out there will stay as a bargaining chip, if not an actual thing.”

 Trump says he’s considering potential tariffs on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and steel.

Trump’s remarks and appetite for safety sparked a bid for the US currency that rippled through Asian and European markets and continued into the close of trading in New York. The Bloomberg dollar gauge ended the session 0.3% higher as of 4 p.m. New York time.

Investors have piled into bullish dollar positions on bets that Trump’s policies would fuel price pressures and keep US interest rates elevated. If tariffs also reduced imports into the US, it would reduce the flow of dollars oversees, which would also likely bolster the currency.”

Chuck again… So there you have it, and you don’t have to believe that I was making that all up! 

Market Prices 1/29/2025: American Style: A$ .6222, kiwi .5644, C$ .6926, euro 1.0402, Sterling 1.2431, Swiss 1.1021, European Style: rand 18.6467, krone 11.3234, SEK 11.0132, forint 392.89, zloty 4.0632, koruna 24.1565, RUB 96.44, yen 156.40, sing 1.3615, HKD 7.7909, INR 86.58, China 7.2446, peso 20.51, BRL 5.8451, BBDXY 1,302.21, Dollar Index 108.12, Oil $73.46, 10-year 4.52%, Silver $30.52, Platinum $952.00, Palladium $963.00, Copper $4.25, and Gold…. $2,760.50

That’s it for today…   Geez I still can’t believe I did that yesterday! I know I’m getting older, and with all the drugs I take and have taken through this journey through cancer, I could be losing it… Brain power… Sometimes I sing to myself:” I could while away the hours, Conferrin’ with the flowers, Consulting with the rain…. And my head I’d be a Scarchin’, while my thoughts are busy hatchin’ , If I only had a brain! Our SLU Billikens played last night in St. Louis, and the Billikens beat the VCU Rams!….  I used to do the lullaby Guild skit from The Wizard of OZ… That is before , oh you know when… I just know that it brought smiles to the faces of the people that saw me do it…. John Stewart takes us to the finish line today with his appropriately titled song today: Gold….  Well, I do hope you have a real Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar rebounds on Tuesday…
• Gold & Silver are subjected to short paper trading again… UGH!

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, I did what I promised I would do yesterday, I went outside and sat in the sun and read my book and soaked up the Vitamin D… And felt so good afterwards, that we went out for dinner last night! Of course, I picked pretty bland food as to not rile up my stomach… The tabloids are all over the refs for their calls in the Chiefs /Bills game on Saturday, C’MON get a grip! NFL games have had bad and questionable calls for as long as the game has been played. I yell at the TV when I see them, but what good does that do?  Dionne Warwick greets me this morning with a song that I could listen to every morning…. Walk On By…. 

Well, the dollar began the day yesterday, down 1 index point in the BBDXY, but recovered during the day, and ended up gaining 1 index point in the BBDXY… Gold started the week down $14, and ended the day down $29, as the calmness in the markets has seemed to melt away… Gold closed yesterday at $2,740, and Silver ran into the same short paper trading ,and ended the day down 47-cents to close at $30.26. 

The price of Oil lost another buck and ended the day trading with a $73 handle…. And the 10-year Treasury didn’t see any buying, like it did on Friday, and ended the day trading with a 4.55% yield. 

In the overnight markets… Well this is what pushed the dollar higher overnight, this from Bloomberg.com: “The dollar strengthened against every major currency after comments from President Donald Trump and his Treasury Secretary stoked concern that a brief respite from tariff talk was well and truly over.

The moves followed a Financial Times report that Scott Bessent, the new head of the Treasury Department, is backing gradual universal tariffs on US imports starting at 2.5%. Trump added to the sense of foreboding with comments that he was considering tariffs on everything from steel and copper to semiconductor chips. He later told reporters that he wants tariffs “much bigger” than 2.5%.”

Chuck Again…  See this is so familiar to the Smoot / Hawley tariffs that preceded the Great Depression… At first the tariffs were supposed to be on agricultural, but after the dolts in Congress got done with them they included all kinds of goods & Services that caused retaliation from th countries around the world, and the next thing you know… The whole globe is having a depression… 

Bessent wants a universal tariff of 2.5%, but Trump wants something that bites, and my guess is he’ll get it…  And then the fun begins…. NOT!

Ok, onto other things… Like I told you previously, a lot of people don’t believe the global tariffs are bad… These are people who either aren’t very old, or failed at history in school… That’s why they are rewarding the dollar when the talk of global tariffs is talked about.  

Gold starts the day today up $6, and Silver is down 10-cents…  Well, today’s FOMC meeting will go a long way toward giving the metals a new direction, and emphasis, etc. It won’t be the end-all, but will be important cog in the machine… 

The price of Oil remained trading with a $73 handle overnight… And the 10-year Treasury bond’s yield ratcheted up again to 4.57% to start our day today… This is really cat and mouse game between the bond boys and the Fed Heads… The Fed Heads want to put a cap on the yield so that it doesn’t get too high, and bond boys want to show that they have control of the bond market, and their wish to is to get the 10-year’s yield to 5%..  the bond boys don’t believe that inflation was defeated nor that it will be defeated with the knuckleheads in the FOMC, and that’s why they want the yield higher… So, the bond boys get the yield of the 10-year going in their direction (UP) and then the Fed Heads step in and do some major buying to bring the yield back down, and once the Fed Heads are finished with their current buying, the bond boys step right back to the plate and begin banging out singles to all fields…. In other words, ratcheting up the yield once again… 

The FOMC meeting this week, actually tomorrow, is a key meeting… Most observers believe that the Fed Heads will keep rates unchanged… But there is always a chance that the Fed Heads will choose to inflate with more conviction, and cut rates…  The Bank of Canada will also meet tomorrow, and I do believe that they will cut rates again, because they chose to be dolts… And that’s what dolts do! 

And then the European Central Bank will meet on Thursday this week. They too have proven to be dolts, and most likely they will cut rates again….   Gold for us is priced in dollars…. But for each country, Gold is priced in that country’s currency.  So, expect the price of Gold to rise VS loonies, and euros this week… 

Speaking of the euro, it’s visit above the 1.05 figure, was brief yesterday… With the dollar rallying yesterday and overnight, oh, I never did get around to telling how much the dollar rallied overnight above did I? Well, the dollar fought back against the currencies overnight by 3 index points (Sunday night) 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday showed that Durable Goods remained negative @ -.1%, as they were unchanged in December…. The Case /Shiller Home Price Index fell in November by -.3%, after posting a 3.3% gain in Rocktober… 

Today’s Data Cupboard has the FOMC Meeting and some data on inventories…. With the FOMC Meeting the main entree…. And that’s it… The FOMC is the Big Kahuna, and nothing can compete with it on FOMC day..

To recap… The dollar rallied yesterday and overnight, was there PPT interference out there once again? Chuck talks about tariffs, and Central Banks meetings this morning, so something to keep you thinking… And he talks about the cat and mouse game the FOMC and bond boys are playing right now with the 10-year Treasury bond…. 

For What It’s Worth…. Americans are falling behind on their debt… I found this article on X (formerly Twitter) and it’s about how car loans are so delinquent…. And it can be found here: The Kobeissi Letter on X: “BREAKING: US subprime auto loan 60+ day delinquency rates jumped to 6.2% in December, the highest among any December on record. Serious delinquency rates have more than doubled over the last 3 years. The surge accelerated once the Fed began raising rates in March 2022. Now, https://t.co/k94AF9xEJ5” / X

Or, here’s your snippet: “US subprime auto loan 60+ day delinquency rates jumped to 6.2% in December, the highest among any December on record.

Serious delinquency rates have more than doubled over the last 3 years.

The surge accelerated once the Fed began raising rates in March 2022.

Now, delinquency rates have exceeded previous peaks recorded in 1997, the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis, and the 2020 pandemic.

According to Experian, subprime financing accounts for 16.9% of all auto loans as of Q3 2024.

Americans are falling behind on their debt.

Chuck Again….OK car loans are of the same magnitude to the economy as Mortgages…. But still cars are how people get to work, to the grocery store, to church, etc. And when their car is taken away because they are so in arrears in payments, how’s is that going to work for Americans?  And Subprime financing? Geez I thought we put that term to bed in 2009… Never to be awakened again…  I guess the folks that created subprime financing in auto loans should really be proud of themselves, eh?  No, I say we string ’em up!  Just kidding… I don’t want to hurt anyone… 

Market Prices 1/28/2025: American Style: A$ .6241, kiwi .5651, C$ .6936, euro 1.0420, sterlig 1.2425, Swiss $1.1037, European Style: rand 18.7012, krone 11.3060, SEK 11.0168, forint 391.66, zloty 4.0288, koruna 24.0794, RUB 98.48, yen 155.33, sing 1.3516, HKD 7.7910, INR 86.59, China 7.2446, peso 20.67, BRL 5.9122, BBDXY 1,302, Dollar Index 107.97, Oil $73.66, 10-year 4.57%, Silver $30.16, Platinum $943.00, Palladium $963.00, Copper $4.25, and Gold… $2,746.34

That’s it for today… I was so glad to get back in the swing of things yesterday… I was beginning to think back about 10 years ago when I was down here, and so sick from my chemo treatments, that i sat curled up in a big chair and slept most of the days… Those were dark times for me, and I’m glad they are a thing in the past! 10-years ago, I was still employed at EverBank World Markets, and it was before they were bought by tiaa a year or so later… And I was told to retire….  OK, enough of that Chuck!  There will be a Happy Hour on the deck today, and the temperature is supposed to be near 80!  YAHOO!  The Outfield takes us to the finish line today with their good 80’s song: Your Love… (my good friend Rick will like that one!) Geez Louise, I almost signed off without wishing my good friend, Chris Gaffney a Happy Birthday! I hope your day is grand today, Chris! I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please remember to Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• currencies & metals rally on Friday
• Bank of Japan finally hikes rates again…

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you… Glinda the good witch was singing to us S. Floridians on Saturday.. She was singing, come outside, Come outside, it’s all clear, winter is now over….  i was out of it, on Saturday… I slept all day… There’s something that’s not right here, and I’ll have a conversation with my doctor about that, when I see her on 2/6…. Besides sleeping all the time, I feel pretty good, considering…  My stomach is so messed up, that I intentionally don’t eat to give it fuel… I’m one messed up dude, folks… But at least I’m still here! The Allman Brothers greet me this morning with their great song: Whipping Post…  That’s how I feel each and every day…. “Sometimes I feel… Like I’ve been tied to the whipping post”… 

Well, the dollar ran into a buzzsaw last Friday and saw selling throughout the day. The BBDXY lost 7 index points to close the week at 1,295… The beleaguered euro, which a few weeks ago, was heading to its original price, has taken the weakness in the dollar and run with it, like I always say, whatever is going on in the Eurozone, doesn’t really matter when the dollar gets sold like that, the euro, which is the offset to the dollar, benefits…. 

So, why was the dollar sold I hear you asking?  It seems that the markets were anticipating the new POTUS to come out swinging with is tariffs… First, he announced that he would delay the tariffs on China for further discussion, and then last week he announced that he was delaying the tariffs on Canada and Mexico…. I’m not sure that the markets have their heads screwed on correctly, because these tariffs would cause harm to the U.S. economy… And wouldn’t come close to covering the deficit spending in Gov’t 

But “they” always say the markets are always right…. So, we’ll see who’s right when the tariffs finally get implemented… 

Gold had a good day on Friday, but not as good as it could have been if not for the short paper traders… Gold gained $17 on Friday, to close at $2,771, and Silver gained 16-cent to close the week at $30.59… The short paper traders made sure that neither of these two metals trading without interference. Gold ending price was $15 off its high… And Silver’s ending price was a whopping 51-cents off its high…. I still can’t believe that there are those out there that can’t believe that the metals are manipulated….   C”MON do you have to be force fed?   I shake my head and wonder…. 

The price of Oil is slipping almost daily now that the new POTUS in in office and has a mantra of “Drill baby Drill”… The price of Oil lost a buck on Friday and ended the week trading with a $74 handle…  While the 10-year Treasury’s yield slipped a bit and ended the week with a 4.63% yield… Here’s Ed Steer’s thought on the 10-year “The ten-year closed up 17.0 basis points on the week — but about 4 basis points off its mid-week high tick on Thursday morning…thanks to the massive intervention by the Fed once again.” You can find Ed at www.edsteergoldsilver.com 

In the overnight markets last night…. Well, there was a little follow through of Friday selloff of the dollar, as the BBDXY lost 1 index point overnight. The euro is back above 1.05… Swiss francs are back over 1.11, sterling is 1.25 and so on…. The rest of the currencies are not sure whether to test the water or not at this point, but if the dollar selling continues, they’ll join in the party for sure… Gold starts today and this week down $14, and Silver is down 16-cents… No explanation as to why…  so, i believe the short paper traders are getting a head start, on their attempt to keep the metals from soaring….  You see, this week there will be Central Bank meetings in the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday, and the European Central Bank of Thursday… If all three were to cut rates, it would send a message to Gold that these Central Banks have chosen to live with inflation… 

The Fed Heads must have worked overtime in brining the 10-year Treasury’s yield back to 4.53% this morning…. Why can’t these dolts leave markets to fend for themselves?  The price of Oil starts the week trading with a $74 handle. 

I have a couple of numbers that might help explain what I’m saying this morning,…

$900B: The amount Americans spend on goods from Mexico and Canada. 

> 7,325: The number of stores major US retailers closed last year—the highest level since 2020.

Yes… Bankruptcies…  Corporate bankruptcies soared to a 14-year high in 2024, underscoring the Catch-22 facing the Federal Reserve as it wrestles with interest rate policy to battle sticky price inflation.

According to data gathered by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 61 corporate bankruptcy filings were made in December, bringing the total for 2024 to 694. 

I’ve explained this problem for Corporations before but here I go again….. During the decade of loose money, cheap loans, and all the other bad things that went on in our economy, Corporations lined up to take on as much debt as they could at these cheap rates…. But now and last year, and next year and so on when these bonds come due, they will have to be rolled… For the Corprations don’t have the funds to pay them off… And when they see the new lending rates,  they will genuflect… They will wet their pants, and they will fall to their knees begging the lender to give them a break… And after not receiving a break, because there is no break that can be had, the Corporation sees the writing on the wall, an announces bankruptcy…. 

That’s why the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel lowered interest rates by 100 Basis Points since last September…. But I don’t think that’s enough to help the Corporations…  And that’s the Catch-22 I mentioned above…. And as Bill Bonner always says… “Inflate or die”

The Fed Heads can keep cutting rates and allow inflation to soar again, or they could fight inflation and watch the Corporations fall one by one….  

OK… Let’s talk about something else…. 

Well, one of the things I want to talk about this morning is the National debt,,,, It was at $36,401, 870,505,790…. It was only 16 or so weeks ago that we turned to $36 Trillion… We add so much to the daily amount of debt every darn day that the debt clock tells us that if kept going at this pace, we’ll be at $48 Trillion in 4 short years!  I know that many people don’t care about the debt, for they see this as “no problem”… But to me, this is the reason for our economic slow growth, our GDP averaging about 2% for the last decade.

And now the reasons have grown… There’s a chance that the U.S. could default…  Because you see, the Gov’t sells its debt in the form of Treasury Bonds to foreigners (And us) and those foreigners just might begin to see the creditworthiness of the U.S. as not being worth a hill of beans… And any new deficit spending has to be financed with new bonds…. At some point the foreigners that still buy our bonds, will boycott the auction window until the yield on the bonds is ratcheted upward to give them a risk premium…. And…. 

That leads us to the next reason… For 10 years The U.S. Gov’t got away from having to issuing bonds with high interest rates, but those days are over, and when the bonds that were issued with very low yields/ interest rates, will have to rolled into new bonds that will have the higher yields/ interest rates….  and that will require the U.S. Treasury to pay out larger sums of dollars to service the bonds…. Even with some of the bond servicing being done at lower rates, the amount of interest the U.S. had to pay in 2024 was greater than the budget for defense…. Soon it will overtake Social Security and Medicare…. And you know how Elon Musk is supposed to find inefficient debt that he can cut? Well, in few short years, that will all be done for him, as there won’t be any money to pass around after paying the debt servicing!

And… None of this is good for the dollar folks…. It’s a sad state of affairs in this web that we weave, is it not?

On a side bar.. Did you know that every President since Calvin Coolidge has left the U.S. National Debt larger than when he was elected?  

Well, the Bank of Japan finally hike rates last week… 25 basis points to bring their internal rate to .50%… Recall when they first hike rates bringing them out of negative back in July, I had thought that if the BOJ kept hike rates, while the U.S. was cutting rate, that it would be a boon for yen… But then, all we got from the BOJ was crickets….  The BOJ are such odd fellas, they hike rates and then say nothing, nada, nil, zero about future rate hikes or even a clue about their thoughts going forward.. It was like the BOJ threw the markets a bone and left the building….  With the dollar weakness on Friday, and overnight, yen is strutting around like a 20-game winner… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard will be dominated this week by the FOMC meeting on interest rates… That happens on Wednesday, but first, tomorrow we get the Dec. Print on Durable Goods…. And the Case/ Shiller Home Price Index for November….  I’ll talk more about the FOMC meeting tomorrow…. I promise….

To recap… The dollar ran into a buzzsaw on Friday, and got sold like funnel cakes at a State Fair… It could be just a correction, or it could be the start of a weak trend… We’ll have to wait-n-see… Gold & Silver had good days with the short paper traders keeping from having great days! Chuck has some interesting numbers for you this morning, and Chuck also goes into great detail on what’s going to bring the dollar to its knees…. 

For What It’s Worth….  Well, I’ve seen too many false dawns with the thought that the dollar’s bull market was nearing an end, in the past couple of years… But… The boys and girls at Morgan Stanley are willing to step up the plate and call out ,the need to short the dollar… All this and more can be found here: USD: Traders Waiting for Chance to Sell Dollar, Morgan Stanley Says – Bloomberg

Or, here’s your snippet: “Traders looking to sell the world’s reserve currency are far more common than thought even as the dollar’s dominance rips across markets, according to Morgan Stanley.

“While dollar bulls are numerous and perhaps most vocal in expressing their views, there seems to be a more ‘silent’ plurality of investors looking to sell the dollar instead,” strategists including David Adams wrote in a note. “Many have dry powder and are waiting for a sign to enter shorts.”

The catalysts may be near: inflation data leading into March may bolster the chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut, while lengthier fiscal negotiations by Congress could disappoint dollar bulls, the team said. The strategists expect a more benign outcome in trade policy, which could also weigh on the dollar, according to the note.

Morgan Stanley’s forecast for the greenback is one of the most bearish among strategists surveyed by Bloomberg. Adams sees the US Dollar Index sliding to 105 by the end of the first quarter and 101 by year-end, compared with the median forecasts of 108.7 and 106.9.

Investors including hedge funds have piled into bullish dollar positions on views President Donald Trump’s policies would smack peer currencies, fuel price pressures and keep US interest rates elevated. That raises the risk of large market swings should the greenback reverse course. 

“There is quite a lot of dollar-positive risk premium in the market that has scope to unwind,” Adams said in an interview.

He recommends shorting the greenback against the euro, yen and sterling in anticipation of a weaker US currency. Adams forecasts EUR/USD at 1.06, USD/JPY at 140 and GBP/USD at 1.28 by the end of the first quarter.

Yet selling the US currency has consistently proven to be a painful trade across the $7.5 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market in recent months.”

Chuck again…. Don’t you worry one iota I’ll be all over the dollars fate when it comes that time… Just like I was in Jan 2002, when i wrot the White Paper titled: The Demise of the Dollar….. And in Feb, the dollar embarked on a weak dollar trend that lasted 10 years! 

Market Prices 1/27/2025: American Style: A$.6291, kiwi .5692, C$ .6968, euro 1.0510, sterling 1.2504, Swiss 1..1117, 

European Style: rand 18.6849, krone 11.2328, SEK 10.9370, forint 389.09, zloty 4.0146, koruna 23.8818, RUB 97.20, yen 155.51, sing 1.3439, HKD 7.7876, INR 86.23, China 7.2465, peso 20.54, BRL 5.9194, Dollar index 107.15, Oil $74.12, 10-year 4.53%, Silver $30.46, Platinum $943.00, Palladium $976, Copper $4.28, and Gold… $2,767.65

That’s it for today…. Congrats to the Philly Eagles, and the KC Chiefs, who won their respective league championships yesterday, to send them to NOLA to play in the Super Bowl! I came out of my funk on Saturday, to have a good day on Sunday… And tomorrow afternoon is happy hour on the deck with our Condo friends, and others… So, today, I’m going to sit outside, soak up some Vitamin D, and try to let the sun heal me a bit…. Yesterday was my youngest sister’s birthday… Happy Birthday Joanie…. Joanie was what I always called her when I lived at home before getting married. She’s a little old now for everyone to call her that, but she somehow allows me to get away with it…. Thank you, Joanie, I hope your day was grand! My youngest brother’s birthday is/ was this week… I always forget the day, but not the night my mom went to the hospital to have him! I was a freshman in High School and was in the basement where my room was listening to Chicago Transit Authority’s album… OK… The Doobie Brothers take us to the finish line today with their song from the great album The Captain & Me: Ukiah….. I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar inches higher on Wednesday
• Gold & Silver are subjected to another short paper trading raid!

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! Yesterday was a rotten day, weather wise here in the Deep South… Rain and chilly weather took place all day… UGH!  But the silver lining was that Kathy, and I made the trek north to Stuart Fla, where a good friend lives, and we talked about all kinds of stuff for hours! Thank you, Walt, for your excellent hosting!  The Neon Trees greet me this morning with their one-hit wonder song: Everybody Talks… 

Well, the dollar didn’t excite anyone yesterday by moving in either direction, although the BBDXY did manage to eke out a 1 index point gain. I really do believe that the markets are trying to work through the fact that the new POTUS said that he will add tariffs to the imports from Canada and Mexico, but not China at this time…. The euro held onto the 1.04 figure even with the BBDXY Gaining 2 index points that last two trading sessions I forgot to mention yesterday, when talking about the currencies that the Russian Ruble is the best performing currency of the emerging markets sector, gaining 10% in recent trading… It’s still halfway around the world from the price of the ruble when I first started talking about it which was 35… It now trades just below 100… They have a tough row to hoe, to get back to 35! 

The price of Gold started the day, up $10 and ended the day up $13 to close at $2,757.90… And Silver started the day down 11-cents, and ended the day down just 2-cents to close at $30.86… I came across an article on Kitco.com that I’m going to feature in the FWIW section today, so stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel… Don’t touch that dial! 

The price of oil slipped back by a buck yesterday and ended the day trading with a $75 handle. The U.S. Treasury 10-year’s yield rose yesterday to 4.61%… Maybe the Fed Heads got concerned that the public was catching on as to who was buying the large quantities of bonds….. Nah…. They aren’t that smart to figure that out! 

In The Overnight Markets Last Night….  the dollar remained trading at 1,303 in the BBDXY index… The euro remained above 1.04, and the oft forgotten Brazilian real has moved below 6 for the first time in a month full of Sundays….  Remember the real is a European Priced currency, which means the lower the price the better the return VS the dollar.  I don’t feel the dollar bugs have any idea which way the dollar should be going right now… And that’s a problem for the dollar…. We’ll have to wait this one out to see which way the dollar goes, but to me it should be going down, in the face of the already announced Tariffs…. I’m just saying….

Well, I warned everyone that we should have left sleeping dogs asleep…. The short paper traders were bright eyed, and bushy tailed this morning, and began taking down Silver from the get-go…  Gold is getting caught up in the raid on Silver and is down $16 to start the day today, while Silver’s loss is 61-cents!  The folks at Kitco would never bring themselves to call the raid a short paper trading intervention… Instead, they call this sell off a “correction”… I would say that 61-cents is more than a “correction”… 

The price of Oil remained trading with a $75 handle overnight, and the 10-year Treasury saw its yield rise again and begins today trading with a 4.65% yield…. 

This trading in the 10-year (and other bonds) is a prime example of why intervention doesn’t work in the long run… Yes, it does deliver some short-term relief, but in the end the entity spent a ton of money intervening, only to see the prevailing trend come right back after the dust settles…. 

Well, the dolts at the BLS have changed the calculation for the STUPID CPI… Again!  here’s the skinny from zerohedge.com “The FED changed the definition of CPI now to exclude food (groceries), fuel, health insurance, tax, and increased costs of goods and services which are arbitrarily assigned a value.  Has your cost of living only increased by 2.6% per year over the last 5 years as stated by the FED?  Has your cost of health insurance only gone up 2.6% per year?  Have your groceries only gone up 2.6% per year?  How about your rent?  The purchasing power of the U.S Dollar has declined by at least 7.5% compounded per year over the last 5 years.  

 Inflation is the devaluation of your purchasing power, and the CPI is the Ultimate Big Lie.”

Chuck again, you see what I mean about the hedonic adjustments?  This calculation is utterly ridiculous and has been for years, but now it’s even worse! Why on earth would anyone pay attention to this report now?  Excluding groceries? Health Insurance? Fuel?  They must be missing something here, why didn’t they just include everything in their exclusions? 

This article really got me riled up and I need to calm down… SERENITY NOW! 

I don’t have much more for you this morning, The newswires are full of writers opining about what they think will happen with the Trump Tariffs, and others opining about how they see Gold trading at $3,000 this year, and so on….  We’ve talked about all that’s out there right now, and I’m not in the mood to rehash it again! So, as my good friend, and former Big Boss Frank Trotter is known to say: Onward and Upward! 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the leading Indicators and once again they printed negative at -.1%….  I said yesterday that this economic report had printed negative for so long that for it not to print negative would be BIG NEWS!  Today’s Cupboard already printed the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims and they inched higher to 223,000 for the last week… No biggie… 

To recap…. The dollar inched higher again yesterday by 1 index point…  Gold gained $13 yesterday, but has given that back and more this morning as the short paper traders do their “thing”… Silver is down 61-cents as it appears the short paper traders were concentrating on taking down Silver….  The BLS has Chuck all riled up this morning, along with the short paper traders…. He’s exclaiming SERENITY NIOW!

For What It’s Worth…. Well, like I said above this article was on Kitco.com and featured Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. Mr. Melek talks about how the tariffs could affect the metals…. And it can be found here: Trump tariffs could have a massive impact on precious metals prices, but not the way many think – TD Securities’ Melek | Kitco News

Or, here’s your snippet: “Malek believes the tariffs would have a very significant impact on precious metals prices, though not in the way many market experts have suggested, but more in terms of rising demand for the monetary metals to protect against skyrocketing inflation.

“If we do see these broad tariffs against commodities, against manufactured goods, ultimately I equate them to a negative supply shock,” he said. “In essence, aggregate prices take a lift almost immediately. Some get fully paid by the U.S. consumer, some of the incidences of these tariffs get passed on to producers, but overall, prices move higher.”

“Now, it depends… what is the Fed going to do?” Melek emphasized. “If the Federal Reserve accommodates the shock – in essence, it gets worried about the negative impact on employment, and let’s say it lowers the rate a lot at a time when you have inflation from these tariffs – you could have a bit of an early 1980s, [late] 1970s phenomenon where you have a supply shock from tariffs and then you have monetary policy that accommodates it, and then you have an inflation problem, probably not only in the United States, but globally.”

Asked whether TD Securities sees the Trump tariffs as the largest threat facing the global commodities market in 2025, Melek said that may well be the case, but other massive threats were already there.

“We’ll see what happens, [Trump] will apparently have consultation,” he said. “The other big one, of course, is the fairly weak performance of China, and that certainly was the big story right before tariffs and right before Mr. Trump won the election – which I think, for the most part, was unexpected.”

Chuck again…. All that makes sense to me… I’ve said all along that the tariffs would mean higher prices in the U.S., and shortages, which would also negatively impact prices… And inflation?  We could be looking at inflation similar to the late 70’s, early 80’s… Are you ready? OK… Ready, set, go! 

Market Prices 1/23/2025: American Style: A$ .6274, kiwi .5666, C$ .6945, Euro 1.0414, sterling 1.2323, Swiss $1.1020, European Style: rand 18.5467, krone 11.2748, SEK 11.0117, forint 394.14, zloty 4.0494, koruna 24.1409, RUB 99.00, yen 156.28, sing 1.3664, HKD 7.7896, INR 86.46, China 7.2874, peso 20.48, BRL 5.9788, BBDXY 1,303, Dollar Index 108.22, Oil $75.60, 10-year 4.65%, Silver $30.25, Platinum $949.00, Palladium $999.00, Copper $4.28, and Gold…. $2,741.25

That’s it for today… I forgot to question you all who took my advice and read Dennis Miller’s letter last week regarding tariffs?  You can still find it in his archives on his website: www.milleronthemoney.com  So, the NFL’s Divisional Playoffs are this weekend to decide which two teams go to the Super Bowl. Th Final Four for the NFL.. Go Chiefs! And I’ll be rooting for the Redskins to beat the Eagles… Wait, What? They don’t call them the Redskins any longer? They are the Commanders? Who’s lame brain idea was that to change the legendary name?  Coach Allen is turning in his grave… And Coach Gibbs has his walking orders not to talk about it… (I think) The U.S. Men’s Soccer Team won their game last night 3-0, that’s two straight wins under a new coach… Hmmm….  The team actually looked good… I wonder if my former colleague, Ty Keough saw the game like I did.?  Ok… Jonathan Edwards takes us to the finish line today with his song: Shanty… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• The knuckleheads meet in Davos… again!
• The POTUS is making the Chinese sweat…

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, I mentioned yesterday that I hadn’t slept much recently, and then… After my morning routine, I sat in my recliner, leaned back and proceeded to sleep all day, into the evening. I woke up refreshed and thinking that I had finally caught up with my lack of sleep! YAHOO! The doc told me that the drugs that I’m taking could cause tiredness and fatigue…They did! 

Well, the dollar kind of hung in there VS the currencies yesterday, with the BBDXY gaining 1 index point, the euro holding steady Eddie above 1.04, and with Gold kicking tail and taking names later!  Dollar traders were correct with their knee jerk reaction to the POTUS’s call for tariffs, with their selling of dollars.  But… That selloff didn’t have any legs yesterday, and last night… Don’t tell me that the Dollar traders ran out of gas! Oh well, at leas they got it right on Monday… 

The article I have for you in the FWIW section today, talks about how currencies might be in for a rise VS the dollar….  So, we have that going for us today!

The price of Gold took off to higher ground yesterday. Gold closed the day, up $36 to close at $2.744.50, and Silver closed the day up 34-cents, to close at $30.88… I think the buying of physical Gold and Silver is being pushed higher by the thought that the POTUS will implement tariffs on the metals being imported…. This is pushing Gold & Silver to higher levels… Not too fast there metals traders, we don’t want to wake up the short paper traders… Let sleeping dogs lay…. 

The price of Oil slipped another buck yesterday, still reeling from Trump’s phrase: “Drill baby Drill”…. Oil ended the day trading with a $75 handle…. And the Treasury’s 10-year saw its yield at 4.57%… Looks like the Fed Heads are doing a good job of putting a lid on bond yields, eh?

In the overnight markets last night….  The dollar lost that 1 index gain it had yesterday, and the BBDXY starts today at 1,301… Gold is up $10 to start the day today, while Silver is down 11-cents… No biggie and easily turned around for Silver… You know yesterday’s metal’s performance was good, but could have been categorized as great, IF… The short paper trades weren’t doing their best to keep that from happening… UGH!

The price of Oil bumped to $76 where it starts today… And the 10-year Treasury’s yield is at 4.58% to start the day today…  Why can’t the Fed Heads keep their hands out of the cookie jar?  That’s the question I would ask chief Fed Head Jerome Powell at his next press conference! 

Well, it’s that time of year again… You know, when the Swiss town of Davos, gets inundated with knuckleheads… Here’s the real skinny:  Annual World Economic Forum begins in ski resort town of Davos, Switzerland, hosting government leaders, multinational CEOs, and global financiers…  Funny, I never get an invitation to this boondoggle… And that’s fine with me, for I abhor cold weather and snow…. These knuckleheads try to figure out what’s wrong with the world…. I wonder if they will still be harping on Climate Change…. It’s changing alright… To the way it used to be again…. 

The new DOGE duo of Elon Mush and Vivek Ramaswamy received some bad news yesterday, Ramaswamy has handed in his notice that he will drop out of the DOGE and run for Gov. of Ohio…  

OK, so you’ve read this letter for some time, and will recall me saying that Janet Yellen (former Treasury Sec.) was either lying or didn’t really know about the economy, when she would state the economy is strong…. Here is a piece from an article in Zerohedge.com regarding this so-called “Strong economy”: “The narrative that the economy is strong is a false narrative.  The only thing that matters is the median household income.  If 32% of the households can’t afford the roof over their head, then that is the irrefutable proof of the false narrative.   The average homeowner (Mom and Pop) with an income of $80,000 is roughly $9,000 short per year which explains the 50% increase in the default rate on credit cards.

If you believe that 32% of households don’t matter, then consider if they don’t pay their debt, those debts then become transferred to the remaining households, thus a closed loop argument and system failure.  These debts cannot be pushed onto the remaining household.

 For years, the projections of economic growth by the Federal Reserve have consistently overstated the strength of the U.S. economy. But every single time, the mainstream media continues to report that these numbers are “reliable”.  These consistent lies, even out of ignorance, make the mainstream media culpable in deluding the public, even if it is considered wishful thinking it ends up being pure fraud perpetrated on a global scale.”

Chuck again… Well, at least there’s someone else who agrees with me on this so-called: “Strong economy”

And once again, longtime readers will agree that I’ve pointed out how inane the STUPID CPI is each month. Well, there was some news about CPI calculation so with no further ado…. “The FED changed the definition of CPI now to exclude food (groceries), fuel, health insurance, tax, and increased costs of goods and services which are arbitrarily assigned a value.  Has your cost of living only increased by 2.6% per year over the last 5 years as stated by the FED?  Has your cost of health insurance only gone up 2.6% per year?  Have your groceries only gone up 2.6% per year?  How about your rent?  The purchasing power of the U.S Dollar has declined by at least 7.5% compounded per year over the last 5 years.  Inflation is the devaluation of your purchasing power, and the CPI is the Ultimate Big Lie.”

The U.S. Data Cupboard today, finally there will a piece of real economic data and that is: Dec Leading Indicators… I told you yesterday that these indicators have been negative for so long that it would look unnatural for them to be positive! So… Expect another negative print. 

To recap… The dollar got sold big time on Monday, but yesterday there was not any follow through, so I said that the dollar traders got it right on Monday… Gold & Silver went to higher ground yesterday, as the markets are finally getting the message that tariffs = inflation…. The BLS is changing the calculation for the STUPID CPI again, and so long Vivek, we hardly knew ya! 

For What It’s Worth…  This article is about currency manipulation, but fails to mention the PPT/ U.S. Oh well, it can be found here: Currency Manipulation Warning Sparks Debate on Trump’s Plans – Bloomberg

Or, here’s your snippet: “Donald Trump’s first day in office has whipsawed global markets, with traders zeroing in on a warning over currency manipulation which may spark greater volatility ahead.

A fact sheet from the new US administration that is yet to be made public has called for key federal agencies to address foreign-exchange manipulation by other countries, prompting strategists to ponder who will be targeted. Japan, China, Germany and Singapore are already on the US Treasury Department’s “monitoring list” for currency practices.

“That’s a ground-breaking newsworthy item for currencies,” said Richard Franulovich, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Westpac Banking Corp. Trump and Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent may “apply more judgment and discretion, meaning more trading partners are labeled as manipulators.”

Trump’s move comes after high US interest rates and strong growth have kept the dollar elevated against everything from the euro to the yuan, entrenching its dominance across the $7.5 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market. The prospect of further gains in the greenback is likely to put other nations on guard and may fuel another round of intervention to prop up their currencies.

“This fact sheet mentioned by Trump may seem new but is likely similar to the existing one, perhaps with greater emphasis on ‘manipulators’,” said Christopher Wong, strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. “If there is more added to the list, then likely there could be some volatility around it.”

Chuck again… I think the finance ministers of the major countries need to meet again, like they did in 1985, and proclaim that the dollar is too strong!  Now that would be the ticket! 

And regarding tariffs… Pres Trump said that he would implement tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1…  He also said that he would have more discussions regarding the tariffs on China….  Ah that’s an old trade negotiation and let them think and sweat, before coming to the negotiation table… 

Market Prices 1/22/2025: American Style: A$ .6278, kiwi .5672, C$ .6973, euro 1.0433, sterling 1.2349, Swiss $1.1046, European Style: rand 18.4781, krone 11.2572, SEK 10.9832, forint 393.58, zloty 4.0494, koruna 24.0744, RUB 98.86, yen 156.96, sing 1.3432, HKD 7.7878, INR 86.33, China 7.2662, peso 20.57, BRL 6.0029, BBDXY 1301, Dollar Index 107.93, Oil $76.12, 10-year 4.58%, Silver $30.77, Platinum $947.00, Palladium $968.00, Copper $4.31, and Gold… $2, 754.52

That’s it for today… Nothing has changed with the tumor in my mouth… Nothing, absolutely nothing, say it again! I’m beginning to think that the trial I’m on, is not going to work… I’ll know more when I return to St Louis for another infusion in 3 weeks…  How about that snow and ice that northern Florida is receiving? I bet there are people who have never seen the cold stuff! Good thing I’m far enough south of there, to have any effect on us… Although the weather temps aren’t what they normally are. We’ll get rain today, and tomorrow, and then on Friday the temp will only reach 60 degrees before this all turns around. Well, as I always say, “you have to have these days to fully enjoy the sunshine days”… Alice in Chains takes us to the finish line today with their song;” Down In A Hole”… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please be Good To Yourself! 

Chuck Butler

• Currencies and metals rally on Monday
• Chuck is lost…

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, I was able to handle my second infusion better than the first one last week…. I was still hazy on Friday, but that cleared, and I pronounced myself as good to go! The drugs are still having a party in my stomach, but I’m starting to get used to it… Saturday was a good day for some of my teams, with my beloved Mizzou Tigers laying it on Arkansas, The SLU Billikens beating Richmond, The Champs aka The Chiefs are still in the playoffs with a win Saturday, while the Lions were upset… UGH!  We’re getting our second wave of chilly air this week, down South, but it’ll still be much warmer than it is back home! Man, was I happy to get out of that weather! The Moody Blues greet me this morning with their song: Never Comes The Day… 

Wow! That was a long intro, Chuck! Are you beating around the bush at something you don’t want to talk about but have to?  Yes…. I am… You”ll have to twist my arm to make me tell you!  HA!  OK… No twisting required, after rallying on Thursday and Friday last week, the dollar got sold yesterday and sold good! The BBDXY lost 12 index points in one day! And ended the day at 1,301… Now that’s a very large loss in the BBDXY. The euro closed the day yesterday at 1.0405… And the rest of the currencies all fell in line behind the Big Dog euro, to finally get out of their sick beds.  They aren’t moving around the room yet, but they are on their own two feet. 

Gold only gained $1 yesterday to close at $2,708…. Silver had a good day on Monday, gaining 28-cents to close at $30.54… I would think that Gold will join in on the party at some time, because of the threat of global tariffs.  The Potus’s speech yesterday took the wind out of the price of Oil’s sails… And Oil lost $2 on the day. While the 10-year gained a small amount for it’s yields to rise to 4.65%…. 

This recent dollar buying is a result of two items….  1. The high Treasury bond yields, and 2 It is rumored that Trump will implement a global tariff, leaving no one untouched…  These knuckleheads all think that this scenario will be good for the U.S. Well, when a global depression sets in because no one can export without it getting tariffed, and the U.S. is a part of that “Global”… People will look around and say…”How’d that happen?”

The 10-year saw some buying last week… And I’m sure the buying was the Fed / Cabal/ Cartel, because the size of the transactions that it takes to move a bond like that can only come from a Central Bank… The 10-year’s yield dropped to end the week at 4.63%… 

Speaking of Fed Heads bond buying…. I’m of the opinion that before the year is over, that another round of overt bond buying in new round of QE that we never thought we would see again!   

In the overnight markets last night….  After losing a chuck in the BBDXY yesterday, the dollar has gained back 3 index points to start today…. There are all kinds of scenarios for the dollar going forward, so I won’t get into them, but I will say that in my humble country boy opinion, the dollar is in trouble going forward… The new POTUS wants a cheaper dollar, the Chinese could really use a cheaper dollar, and the proposed tariffs will bring about a cheaper dollar… So, as you see, the odds of the dollar continuing to rally are slim, and Slim just left town…. 

The price of Gold starts today up $31 and Silver starts today up 16-cents…   I saw an article over the weekend that talked about how Gold will rise to $3,100 by year end… Well, year-end is a long way away, and a lot of stuff could come down the pike before we get there…. I’m just saying…. 

The 10-year’s yield is seeing some buying again this morning with the 10-year’s yield falling to 4.57%… I’m telling you this now, so maybe you’ll hear me later, that the Fed Heads are doing whatever then can to put up a roadblock to bond yields going higher… So, it’s a fight between the bond boys, and the Fed Heads…  And I’ve always told you, dear readers, that markets have deeper pockets than any Central Bank… So, that would mean that bond yields will continue to rise…. I’m just saying… 

Well, the world will be cutting rates as we go along in 2025, which includes the U.S. it’ll be a race to see who can debase their respective currencies to offset Trump’s global tariffs… So, having currencies in your portfolio is going to be tough to hold on to, but I strongly suggest that you keep your diversified portfolio… Things will turn around at some point… And remember the U.S. will also be debasing their currency, so maybe it’ll all come out in the wash…. And then maybe it won’t… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard today is empty, and yesterday’s was too… (holiday) and the only real piece of economic data to print this week will come tomorrow in the shape of the Leading Indicators, which have been negative for so long now that someone new to watching data might think that’s normal!  

To recap… The dollar got sold yesterday, by a lot…. But has put a tourniquet around the bleeding and is rallying this morning…  Gold is kicking tail and taking names later this morning….  And Silver is at Gold’s side…. I was all confused still yesterday and wrote something and posted it on the website before I realized that it was Monday, and I wasn’t writing that day!  OMG what a dolt I am sometimes! 

For What It’s Worth…. This article is in a roundabout way, talking about the debt and why it will go higher and why that’s a big problem… Nothing that you haven’t already read from reading the Pfennig. But, as I always prefer to do, I give you another person’s take on the subject, because like at home, your kids don’t listen to you, but if someone else, like a coach, teacher, etc. tells them they listen…  I’ve sounded like a broken record in my take on the debt in the U.S., so this is a good one, and it can be found here: Federal Budget Deficit up Nearly 40 Percent Through First Quarter of Fiscal 2025

Or, here’s your snippet: “According to the national debt clock, the current debt level represents 122.84 percent of GDP. Studies have shown a debt-to-GDP ratio of over 90 percent retards economic growth by about 30 percent.

And as the Bipartisan Policy Center points out, the growing national debt and the mounting fiscal irresponsibility undermine the dollar.

“Confidence in U.S. creditworthiness may be undermined by a rapidly deteriorating fiscal situation, an increasing concern with federal debt set to grow substantially in the coming years.”

This could lead to lower economic growth, higher unemployment, and less investment wealth.

Lack of confidence in the U.S. fiscal situation could also lower demand for U.S. debt. This would force interest rates on U.S. Treasuries even higher to attract investors, exacerbating the interest payment problem. As already mentioned, we’ve seen a big spike in Treasury yields despite Fed rate cuts.

Biden has run the debt higher at a dizzying pace, but to be fair, this isn’t just a Biden problem. Every president since Calvin Coolidge has left the U.S. with a bigger national debt than when he took office.  

The debt will likely be one of the biggest problems facing President Trump as he takes the reins of power. With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, there is an opportunity to tackle the spending problem, but whether the GOP has the political will to make substantial cuts remains to be seen.

Trump has at least talked about slashing the size of government, but he’s going to need to do better than he did during his first term.”

Chuck again.. I picked this snippet up in the middle of the article, so if you go to the link, it’ll look different at first until you get to the part where I clipped it…. 

Market Prices 1/20/2025: American Style: .6266, kiwi .5661, C$ .6970, euro 1.0414, sterling 1.2316, Swiss $1.1024, European Style: rand 18.5104, krone 11.3062, SEK 11.0038, forint 395.04, zloty 4.0816, koruna 24.1405, RUB 99.60, yen 155.44, sing 1.3537, HKD 7.7863, INR 86.56, China 7.2672, peso 20.56, BRL 6.0326, BBDXY 1,304.07, Dollar Index 108.08, Oil $76.68, 10-year 4.57%, Silver $30.70, Platinum $ 957.00, Palladium $962.00 Copper $4.33, and Gold…. $2,740.02

That’s it for today…. Sorry for the lack of length in today’s Pfennig… We got here late Sunday night, and I retired almost immediately after the Football game. So, that left me with a blank page to begin writing on today, and I just couldn’t find something to write about that I haven’t already beaten to death…. (no one was hurt here) Well, last night was the National Championship Game between Ohio St. and Notre Dame….  I totally dislike both teams, so I guess I didn’t care who won, although I did kind of lean toward Notre Dame… Congrats to Ohio St. they are the college National Champions! We are now less than a month from the pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training… 23 days to be exact!  I don’t have high expectations for my beloved Cardinals this year, as they will start over with the “young uns” Normally the early games of Spring Training are filled with the prospects, before they get sent down…. But this year, I guess the Prospects are what we’ll see when the team moves north… Oh well… que sera, sera…. Dire Straits take us to the finish line today with their song; Brothers In Arms…. I hope you have Tom Terrific Tuesday today and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar sees some correction on Monday
• Gold & Silver run into the short paper traders….

Good Day…. And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you…. This is the last letter this week, until next Tuesday… So, soak it in…HA! What a beautiful day, weather wise it was yesterday, down here in S. Florida… I went out to the deck to read and actually got hot! Not too hot, but hot, and I love it! Had dinner with friends last night, the temps were great to sit outside and eat!   The St. Louis band, Mama’s Pride greets me this morning with their hit song: Blue Mist… 

Well, the dollar ran into the wall yesterday, and profit taking and cooler heads prevailed, with the BBDXY losing 5 index points to close yesterday at 1,314…. The euro rallied back above the 1.02 figure, and the rest of the currencies all followed, although when you look at the currency roundup below, you won’t see much difference in their values VS the dollar. I say cooler heads, because the rise in the dollar was completely overdone, and needed to be corrected a bit, which it was yesterday. 

We started the day yesterday with Gold getting sold, with the reason being that the markets were playing catchup with the surprising Jobs Jamboree… Gold continued to get sold, but at a slower place the rest of the day and ended up down $27 to close at $2,663, and story was the same for Silver and it ended the day down 69-cents, to close at $29.67….  You have to look at yesterday’s price action, as just a blip…. Because I have a feeling that Gold is going to outperform its 26% gain in 2024, in 2025…. So, look at it as an opportunity to buy at a cheaper level before it heads first to $2700, and then $2800, and so on…. I’m just saying

The price of Oil bumped higher by a buck yesterday and ended the day trading with a $78 handle…. And the 10-year’s yield remained at 4.77%….

In the overnight markets last night…There was no follow through with the dollar selling last night, as the BBDXY saw a 3 index point gain. This puts a scowl on my face this morning, no follow through on the dollar selling…. I had thought yesterday that maybe, just maybe, because you never know (Andujar) that all this dollar buying had been overdone and it was time to see a reversal of it…. But that wasn’t the case, as the dollar rallied overnight. UGH! Gold is up $2 to start the day today, and Silver is flat as a pancake (Head East). The short paper traders really dealt Gold & Silver a devastating blow yesterday, I hope they got their fill yesterday, and will go away today… Sort of like the rain, rain go away, come again another day song. 

The price of Oil bumped higher to trade with a $78 handle overnight… The guys that cover Oil keep harping about how the Russian sanctions are causing this rise in the price of Oil…. There is news this morning that there are hopes that a Gaza ceasefire can be ironed out… That’s one of the things pushing Oil’s price higher, the fighting in the Middle East…  The Treasury’s 10-year bond, took another step higher overnight, with the yield rising to 4.79%… Baby steps it appears for the bond…. And that’s Ok with me… 

Well, good friend, Dennis Miller of www.milleronthemoney.com, sent me a video yesterday of what happened in the Jobs number last Friday… I’ll be the one to give you spoiler alert…. The majority of the jobs gains that the BLS reported to be 256,000, after the ADP reported only 1356,000 jobs in December, were from Gov’t jobs… As the great Harry Cary used to exclaim: Holy Cow! Yesterday I had questioned the BLS number being so far away from the ADP number, and the news that the majority of jobs in the BLS report were Gov’t Jobs, then my question was answered…. Was this the current POTUS doing what he can to inflate Gov’t payrolls for the DOGE team?  I don’t know, and basically don’t care what was the impetus of these jobs, only that so many Gov’t jobs were added and probably not needed…. More deficit spending…. That’s all I see….

Well, the latest rumor going around is that Trump plans to place tariffs on imported metals… I.e. Gold & Silver… That’s got the physical buyers of th metals up in arms, and backing up their trucks to take on as much as they can….  the writer that reported this had the idea that this would put pressure on the short paper traders, unless they had the long metal in their ready for deliver account…. 

I sure hope that this rumor doesn’t become fact…. But, who knows? Only The Shadow Knows!

Well… The Fed Heads led by, Jerome Powell, have been a major disappointment to me, and I guess the bon boys, but for now I’m talking about only my disappointment…. I mean first of all the Fed Heads claimed that they had slayed inflation…. And only now admit that Inflation is sticky… And second, the Fed Heads have now done what they could to ignite higher inflation with their 3 rate cuts into the December meeting….  And third, that the Fed Heads can’t see that they need to be hiking rates instead of sitting on their hands….  I understand that the U.S. economy was looking shaky, and that panicked the Fed Heads into cutting rates… Think that they weren’t panicking back in Sept.? Then why then did they opt to open the rate cutting with a 50 Basis Points (1/2%) rate cut?  

And of course, the POTUS to be, Trump believes that lower rates are needed now, and plenty of them…. Apparently, him and Powell are sparing right now…. This will be interesting to watch from afar…. I’m just saying….

This from www.moneymetals.com ” “The Fed has routinely stated that containing inflation expectations is one of its primary roles,” and it’s “hard to imagine” the central bank will ignore signs of revived price inflation.

They can say that now, but it becomes easier to “imagine” when the economy starts to crack under the weight of high interest rates.

You see, there is a big elephant standing middle of the family room. The Fed already wrecked the economy with well over a decade of easy money. It pumped nearly $9 trillion in new money (inflation) into the economy through quantitative easing alone from the onset of the Great Recession through the pandemic. That’s on top of the inflation it created with nearly a decade of zero percent interest rates.

That monetary malfeasance has consequences. It created a massive debt bubble and all kinds of malinvestments in the economy. The impact hasn’t manifested yet.

When the economy visibly cracks, the Fed will be forced to get even more aggressive in loosening monetary policy – elevated inflation or not. If history is any indication, it will cut rates to zero again, and it will launch more rounds of QE. That means even more inflation.

The worst-case scenario is a protracted period of stagflation.

So, Trump may get his wish.

But that means we also get to pay more for everything.”

Chuck again… A very good summary of the problems I tried to outline above…

U.S. Data Cupboard today, as the Dec. PPI (wholesale Inflation), which the previous month showed an upward move in PPI….  I would say to look for PPI to remain elevated in December. 

To recap… The dollar ran into a roadblock on Monday, and a lot of Friday’s gains were reversed. Chuck really gets into a lot stuff this morning, and Gold & Silver saw selling all day on Monday.

For What It’s Worth…. This article came to me from the good folks at GATA and it’s about how sound money would be the best way to control Gov’t spending than DOGE….  (you know, the Musk, Ramaswamy duo) and it can be found here: Sound Money Would Check Government More Than DOGE Can

Or, here’s your snippet: “Along with the ad hoc working group dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),” there is much discussion about how runaway big government might be stopped. But there hasn’t yet been talk about how to keep it that way.

Making sure future administrations and legislatures can’t undo or erode important reforms needs to be part of the plan.

Laws, unfortunately, aren’t enough. The Founders drafted the U.S. Constitution to put strict limits on the power and size of the federal government. They would be deeply saddened by how faithfully that document has been interpreted and followed.

While the Constitution gets most of the attention, it was not the only mechanism our Founders implemented to limit government. They gave us free and decentralized money and purposely avoided creating a central bank.

In reality, a true sound money system could be the most effective constraint on government growth and power.

For the majority of the nation’s history, gold and silver served as the official money. The Federal Reserve Bank was established in 1913, but the currency it issued was redeemable in gold until President Nixon put a complete end to that in 1971.

It is no accident the period between 1776 to 1913 – and, a lesser extent, 1913 to 1971 – was one of limited government.”

Chuck again… Makes sense to me… I remember telling a bunch of bankers that the U.S. wouldn’t be in such a hole with its deficit if they had maintained the Gold Standard…. At the same time I also acknowledged that we (the bankers and me) wouldn’t be doing so well financially if that had happened.  

Market Prices 1/14/2025: American Style: A$ .6172, kiwi .5591, C$ .6968, euro 1.0250, sterling 1.2160, Swiss $1.0907, European Style: rand 18.4422, krone 11.4389, SEK 11.2238, forint 402.06, zloty 4.1645, koruna 24.6363, RUB 103.04, yen 157.76, sing 1.3702, HKD 7.7864, INR 86.63, China 7.3312, peso 20.80, BRL 6.0617, BBDXY 1317, Dollar Index 109.67, Oil $78.36, 10-year 4.79%, Silver $29.74, Platinum $951.00, Palladium $948.00, Copper $4.53, and Gold…. $2,669.52

That’s it for today, and for the next few days as I head back to St. Louis for my next infusion….  I really want these infusions to work, but from the results of the first one, they won’t…. And that will only leave me with one option and that is to have my right mandible surgically removed…. And leave me with only eating soft foods the rest of my life… But to get this tumor that keeps growing out of my mouth would go a long way toward to me missing eating steak!  So, let’s hope this infusion works some magic, because I feel that I will pull the plug on this treatment, and go with the surgery. It’s very serious surgery folks… So, like I said, let’s hope the infusion works some magic…. Now, on a happier note….  I like the Detroit Lions in the NFC, and the KC Chiefs in the AFC… There are a few more games to play, so this is early…. The Byrds takes us to the finish line today with their song: Eight Miles High….  I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• Gold & Silver rally on Friday
• But get sold on Manic Monday….

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you!  Well, did you get enough NFL football this past weekend? If not, there’s one more playoff game to be played tonight… The weather here is beginning to turn back to normal and will be in the mid 70’s today…. Plenty of sun to get my Vitamin D…. Yesterday, for a while, I sat out on our deck in the sun, with Kathy and friends Lorraine and Jack. But I kept feeling the Bills/ Broncos football game calling my name, and finally I gave up and came inside to watch the last part of the game. This coming weekend, I’ll be back home recuperating from my latest infusion that will take place on Thursday morning. Next Monday morning it’s supposed to be 5 degrees when I get on the plane to come back here! I hate Cold weather! Elvin Bishop greets me this morning with his great song: Travelin’ Shoes… 

Well, the Jobs Jamboree last Friday, really was like throwing a cat among the pigeons…. The BLS said that a total of 256,000 jobs were created in December…. That news set the dollar bugs free to move about the country, and they bought dollars with no fear of a Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel rate cut later this month….   Chief Fed Head, Jerome Powell had to be smiling like the Cheshire Cat, as he realized that now he doesn’t need to cut rates to save the economy….   The BBDXY gained 7 index points on Friday after the jobs report, and the currencies all felt the brunt of the raging dollar… The euro fell all the way to 1.0249….   UGH!  

Gold & Silver shrugged off the jobs report’s numbers and set out to rally…. The short paper traders had to step in an one point in the day, as the two metals looked like they were strapped to a rocket ship to the moon! Gold ended the day/ week with a $19 gain but that was $18 off from where the short paper traders stepped in… And Silver gained 27- cents but that was 63-cents away from where the short paper traders stepped in.  Gold closed the week at $2,690, and Silver at $30.36…. 

Here’s chief Fed Head, Powell… “Inflation is stuck above target and risks are skewered to the upside. We see little reason for additional easing.” 

Well, if Powell had read the Pfennig back a few months when they decided to cut rates when the inflation rate was above their target rate of 2.0%… He would have read me chastising him for cutting rates, as I explained then, inflation is sticky….  And it certainly has proven to be just that! Too bad the Fed Heads are just now realizing that inflation is sticky! 

The 10-year Treasury’s yield jumped on Friday and ended the week at 4.76% And the bond boys were all rejoicing their decision to not get caught up in the “inflation is defeated” talk…. And the price of Oil jumped higher on Friday, and ended the week up $4 to trade with a $77 handle…   It was a strange day indeed… But, the felling in the market now is that the next move for the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel will be a rate hike….  You know, because the economy is so strong…. 

Tell that to all the negative economic reports that have recently printed, and the ISM which remains below 50, and please someone explain to me how the ADP Employment Report showed that only 136,000 jobs had been created in December, but the BLS says that 256,000 were created… I would side with the ADP report; they are the payroll company that every company worth their weight uses…. So, when they say 136,000 jobs had been created, they are the ones to know! 

In the overnight markets last night…. Oh heavens! This is what the Bangles sang about back in the 80’s… It’s a Manic Monday, I wish it were Sunday, that’s my fun day!   The dollar is getting bought as if it was running out… You know like those infomercials where they tell you to “act fast, inventory is running out”…. The BBDXY is up to 1321 this morning… That’s a 12 index point gain from Friday’s close…. Why? Oh, the newswires are full of stories about how the markets are now catching up with the Jobs Jamboree…  really? C’mon I was born, not just yesterday…. But if that’s what everyone is saying, then it must be reality… Although I doubt it…. For the premise, would present a case before you that the markets are slow… mentally. I don’t mean to be mean here, but C’mon, there is something else going on here that will become apparent in the days ahead…  But for now, we live with a dollar that is stronger than a country horse…. Reminds me of the great Jim Croce’s song: about how you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t take the mask of the old Lone Ranger, etc….    That’s the dollar right now… Don’t mess around with the green/ peach back! 

Gold is getting sold this morning and is down $22 at this time. Silver is down 63-cents!  Gold was on a 5-day winning streak and that has been thrown aside this morning. I don’t like it when the attack Gold & Silver like this, it’s as if the two metals hit a technical line that has a ton of resistance, but that’s not the case here… So, the selling all about the mentally slow markets now catching up with the Jobs Jamboree…. 

The price of Oil remains trading with a $77 handle this morning. There was a report on Bloomberg.com this morning that talked about how the sanctions on Russia are causing supply and delivery problems….  The U.S. Treasury 10-year’s yield is pushing the envelope and trades with a 4.77% yield this morning. 

Man, I’m on a roll this morning… Somebody hold me back! 

OK… The good folks at GATA sent me this little ditty: “Eastern physical demand for gold and silver is continuing to overwhelm the Federal Reserve’s effort to cap their prices with derivatives on the New York Commodities Exchange, London metals trader Andrew Maguire tells this week’s edition of Kinesis Money’s “Live from the Vault” program. Maguire adds that the United States soon will need a higher price for gold and thus a higher valuation of its gold reserves to back the dollar.”

The thing to think about here is why is gold rallying in the face of higher yields in the U.S?   I believe it all has to do with save haven buying….  Central Banks around the world will need even higher yields before they participate in a Treasury auction, and in the meantime, they put their money into physical Gold….  Can it really be that simple, Chuck? I do believe it can… 

The next Big Stop for the 10-year’s yield is 5%… Some will tell you that the Federal Gov’t will not allow 5% yield, for that would increase their bond servicing costs (interest payments) by leaps and bounds, and probably bring the U.S. Fed to its knees…. But, the bond boys have proven that they have taken control of the bond market and its yield curve, and so if left to their own devices… The Bond boys will move the 10-year’s yield to 5%… 

And that won’t be good news for not only the Gov’t’s purse strings, but also the stock jockeys…. They are all of the opinion that their market is going to the moon, but as we’ve seen already, stocks are iffy right now with the yield at 4.76%…. 

But in my opinion, which could be wrong, all you have to do is look at the past relationships of stocks and bonds…. And that with rising bond yields, stocks are in trouble….  I’m just saying…. 

Bill Bonner always talks about avoiding the Big Loss…..  And that’s what I’m talking about with rising bond yields and what they will do to stocks…. 

Not that I’m a stock Jockey, or play one on TV… So, don’t think that this letter will become a stock journal… No way! I’m just talking about the historical record of bonds and stocks…. 

The U.S. Data Cupboard last week also told us that annual wage increases were 3.9%…. Well, that doesn’t come close to meeting the inflation rate, which I use www.shadowstats.com for my inflation numbers…. No wonder, I read this last week that U.S. consumers’ credit card balances are all nearing their max level…. UH-OH

The Data Cupboard this week will have the STUPID CPI on Wednesday this week…. 

To recap…. The dollar soared on Friday after the Jobs Jamboree surprised everyone with a 256,000 jobs creation number… Gold & Silver shrugged off the dollar soaring and rallied so strong that the short paper traders had to step in and put a cap on the metals and bring them back down a bit…. The price of Oil jumped $4 to $77, and the 10-year’s yield just keeps climbing… 

For What It’s Worth…. Well, it’s been some time since I’ve used the writings of Russ & Pam Martens here in the FWIW section… But I couldn’t pass up Friday’s post by them, it’s about the Big Financial problems, and it can be found here: Wall Street Watchdog Warns “Clock Is Ticking on a Coming Catastrophic Financial Crash”

Or, here’s your snippet: “The indefatigable Dennis Kelleher, Co-Founder and CEO of the Wall Street watchdog, Better Markets, has just released his organization’s monthly newsletter for January 2025 and it’s a humdinger.

Kelleher warns that the financial deregulators that incoming President Donald Trump has packed into his administration means “that the clock is ticking on a coming catastrophic financial crash that will likely be much worse than 2008.”

Kelleher adds that this “is not hyperbole.” He cites evidence from past financial crashes, writing:

“…there is always a lag after deregulation and the creation of artificial liquidity. That was true for ‘roaring ‘20s’ followed by the crash and Great Depression; the ‘great moderation’ of the early 2000s followed by the crash and Great Recession; the deregulation of the first Trump administration in 2017-2020 that led to the 2023 banking crisis when 3 of the 4 largest bank failures in US history happened. Much worse is likely to happen next time.”

The potential for another great crash might explain why the Vice President for Supervision at the Federal Reserve, Michael Barr, is abandoning the ship and lowering the life raft.

Kelleher has a way with coining a phrase, writing that “Banks don’t neglect their duties, act recklessly, engage in high-risk behavior, or break the law – bankers do” – and he warns that this is going to persist “until individual bankers are meaningfully and personally punished.”

Unfortunately, as Wall Street On Parade has documented time and again, regardless of which political party holds the reins in Washington, Wall Street has been able to draw a no-law zone around its activities with a wink and a nod from the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Chuck Again…. As usual, the Wallstreetonparade.com posting is a long one, so go there to read it all.. 

The market price roundup is ugly this morning, you might want to just skip it today….  But if you enjoy ugliness and Armageddon then here is are the Market prices for today…

Market Prices 1/13/2025: American Style: A$ .6150, kiwi .5555, C$ .6937, euro 1.0197, sterling 1.2112, Swiss $1.0909, European Style: rand 18.1475, krone 11.4834, SEK 11.2933, forint 405.88, zloty 4.0688, koruna 24.7582, RUB 102.81, yen 157.10, sing 1.3737, HKD 7.7867, INR 86.58, China 7.3320, peso 20.76, BRL 6.0899, BBDXY 1321, Dollar Index 109.88, Oil $77.93, 10-year 4.77%, Silver $29.73, Platinum $959.00, Palladium $935.00, Copper $4.30, and Gold… $2,667.66

That’s it for today… Yesterday was my oldest son’s birthday…. Happy Birthday Andrew! Andrew was born during a snowstorm of about 9 inches, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it home that night!  But I did, and the next morning I went to pick up his sister, Dawn, and she was beaming, because she was a Big Sister now! Those are memories that are brought back to me each January when his birthday rolls around….  Ok, last week I told you that there would be no Pfennig this Wed and Thurs but forgot about Mon…  So, Wed, Thurs, Mon…. No Pfennig…. Bill Withers takes us to the finish line today with his song: Lovely Day…. I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler