- the dollar drifts on Wednesday, but rallies in the overnight markets
- Doug Casey joins us for the FWIW article today…
Good Day.. And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! After Tuesday’s wipe out day, when I slept most of the day, Yesterday went great! No bleeding, no need for an afternoon nap, and kept all food down… All-in-all, a pretty good day for yours truly… I sat outside reading gathering up all the Vitamin D I’ve missed out on while the skies were cloudy! Tommy James and the Shondells greeted me this morning with their great song: Crystal Blue Persuasion…
Well… I’m not going to go into a rant first thing this morning, so stay with me here, I’m back to regular programming… The dollar didn’t move much in the U.S. session yesterday, after losing 3 index points the previous night, the BBDXY remained at 1,241 all day… Gold lost $2 in yesterday’s trading, and Silver lost 1-cents, so basically flat as a pancake (Head East)… The price of Oil bumped higher into the $73 handle, and believe it or don’t, the market makers absorbed the Treasury’s record breaking $42 Billion 10-year Treasury note… The yield that was offered on the new 10-year was 4.09%… That is somewhat lower than the level I thought the treasury would have to offer the bonds… So, surprise, surprise, surprise… Now, we’ll have to wait-n-see the information that tells us who the buyers were… Don’t be surprised if you see a Gov’t agency aka The Fed/ cabal/ Cartel listed as a buyer…
The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday, had Consumer Credit (read debt), and in the 4th QTR, Consumers added $50 Billion to the debit side of their personal financial balances… As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel also issued a report that showed Americans’ credit card balances climbed to a new record high $1.13 Trillion, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And didn’t I just highlight in a FWIW article that was about how U.S. Consumers and their Credit Card balances are delinquent? So… doesn’t this spell for a major upheaval? But what would you expect U.S. Consumers to do, the Gov’t does it… Digs a hole with debt, and then just keeps digging… The difference here is that The Gov’t can print money, you can’t…
Well, at least legally, you can’t print money!
In the overnight markets last night…. Well… I’m just tired of this back and forth in the dollar.. .After spending yesterday’s U.S. session, drifting, the dollar got bought in the overnight markets last night, with the BBDXY gaining 3 index points… Gold starts today down $6… And Silver is up for once, 14-cents… I had a conversation with someone yesterday about Gold & Silver, and he asked me which one to buy? I told him that I like Gold, but everything I read talks about how Silver will outperform Gold this year… So, in the end, I didn’t tell him what he wanted to know… A typical politician, eh?
The price of Oil has bumped higher again and trades this morning with a $74 handle… the gauntlet known as the Red Sea, is till a factor in pricing of Oil… The 10-yr’s yield bumped higher overnight and trades this morning with a 4.13% yield.. .So, all those $42 Billion in 10-year Treasuries that were bought yesterday with a 4.09% yield, already show a loss this morning… I’m just saying…
Well… this news came to me yesterday, no surprise, as I’ve been talking about this happening for over a decade now, and that is countries going away from using the dollar in the terms of transactions. The latest to go away from using the dollar is Iran… here’s the skinny: Iraq is moving in tandem with the BRICS philosophy as it banned eight banks from initiating transactions in the U.S. dollar. The Middle Eastern country is cracking down on the U.S. dollar months after it banned all cash withdrawals in the currency. Eight local banks are banned from accessing the daily U.S. dollar auction conducted by Iraq’s Central Bank. The local banks will no longer have access to the U.S. dollar reserves the country’s Central Bank holds. The move plays straight into the BRICS playbook where the alliance aims to stall the growth of the U.S. dollar…
I recall when I first reported the formation of the BRICS… Back then South Africa hadn’t joined.. .it was Brazil, Russia, India, and China… The S came from South Africa… I also recall a reader responding to my making a Big Deal out of the formation of the BRICS, telling me that it wouldn’t last, and I shouldn’t be getting people all excited about something that won’t happen…. Well, guess who was right? ME!
Remember when I told you that I believed that the problems with banks wasn’t going away? And then yesterday, friend, Rich Checkin, did a video on his thoughts about coming bank problems… And finally, the folks at www.wallstreetonparade.com had this yesterday: “New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) closed out 2023 with a share price of $10.23. At the closing bell yesterday, its share price was $4.20 – a year-to-date decline of 59 percent. More pain is expected today as the credit rating agency, Moody’s, cut the regional bank’s credit rating two notches to junk after the market closed yesterday.
Moody’s noted in its downgrade that a third of the bank’s deposits lack FDIC insurance. Uninsured deposits were a key factor in the rapid meltdown of Silicon Valley Bank in March of last year as $146 billion in deposits attempted to exit the bank in the span of 48 hours, leading to the FDIC being forced to take the bank into receivership.”
Chuck again… Uh-Oh! I’ll be sure to keep an eye on this developing story…
The other thing that’s going to come back to haunt NYC banks, and other banks in large cities, is the Commercial Real Estate dark clouds that are hovering over these banks. This is all a result of two things… 1. Covid… the offices went empty for a long time, and have never recovered, and 2. the large debt positions of these institutions…
U.S. Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen, told lawmakers Tuesday that she had concerns about the exposure of some banks to commercial real estate. “I believe it’s manageable, although there may be some institutions that are quite stressed by this problem,” she said.
Chuck again… well we all know that Janet Yellen looks at the U.S. financial picture, economy, etc. with rose colored glasses… I’m just saying…
Well, the Chinese New Year begins on Saturday… The year of the Dragon… Puff the magic Dragon lived by the sea, and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Hoanh lee… Every time I’ve heard the Chinese new year being called the year of the Dragon, that silly song pops into my head, and begin singing it! UGH!
Next week will be Shrove Tuesday… Feb. 13th… which also happens to be my good friend, Duane’s birthday! I went to the grocery store yesterday to buy some frozen pancakes to have next Tuesday… We had some “gluten free” pancakes here for Delaney Grace, so I didn’t want to eat up her pancakes… .Shrove comes from the phrase “shotten down” or something like that, and in Ireland, they eat up pancakes to use up the lard, butter, etc used to make the Pancakes…. These are traditions, folks… And longtime readers know my love of Traditions!
The U.S. Data Cupboard today, as the usual Tub Thumpin’ Thursday fare of the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims… I’ve read a lot of articles this week about different companies announcing layoffs, and labor cuts… I wonder when those will begin to show up in these numbers?
To recap… The dollar drifted throughout the day on Wednesday, after losing some ground the previous night, and then saw some buying overnight… C’mon dollar bugs, pick a lane! UGH! The all-time record size Auction of Treasury Notes went off without a hitch yesterday, which was surprising to Chuck… A NYC bank is in trouble, and teetering on collapse…
For What It’s Worth… Remember when I wrote about how the FBI had walked into a safe depository, and confiscated what was in each safe deposit box, even those boxed belonging to someone not wanted for anything? And then a year or so later I followed it up with a note about a couple who claimed that when their belongings were returned to them, they were short thousands of dollars? Well, here’s Doug Casey with his thoughts on this raid, and seizure of safe deposit boxes, and it can be found here: service@internationalman.com
Or, here’s your snippet: “International Man: Recently, the FBI raided 700 safe deposit boxes in Beverly Hills.
They opened and searched through the content of every single box, regardless of whether there was any probable cause that individual box owners had committed any crime.
The FBI then attempted to confiscate anything worth more than $5,000 through civil asset forfeiture proceedings. Again, this was regardless of whether there was any evidence of wrongdoing by the individual box owners.
What do you make of this story?
Doug Casey: This is another of many indications that the FBI is totally corrupt and out of control. There’s no indication the agent-in-charge was even reprimanded, much less fired. It’s just one agency, but the fifteen other Praetorian agencies are no better.
An even bigger problem is that the rule of law itself is dead. At this point, almost any federal agency can do whatever they want. If you don’t like it and want to fight them, it’s going to cost a ton of legal fees.
The federal government is now controlled by actual Jacobins. They’re inclined to engage in lawfare against citizens—especially those who don’t share their views.
What’s in it for them? When they perform a civil asset forfeiture, a certain percentage goes to the agency that does it.
That money can buy cop toys and training to pad their resumes. That gives them a personal incentive to do things that are, in fact, criminal. It’s a very serious matter. It’s only going to get worse when CBDCs are initiated—they’ll make civil asset forfeitures, fines, and asset freezes much easier when all your money is visible and available at the central bank. It’s one more reason to own gold—but not store it in a US safe deposit box”
Chuck again… yes, going to a digital currency will allow the Gov’t to confiscate your bank account, without question…
Market Prices 2/8/2024: American Style: A$ .6521, kiwi .6101, C$ .7418, euro 1.0761, sterling 1.2602, Swiss $1.1440, European Style: rand 18.9743, krone 10.6227, SEK 10.4879, forint 360.15, zloty 4.0353, koruna 23.1333, RUB 91.38, yen 149.19, sing 1.3466, HKD 7.8208, INR 82.95, China 7.1966, peso 17.08, BRL 4.9772, BBDXY 1,243.38, Dollar Index 104.22, Oil $74.55, 10-year 4.13%, Silver $22.39, Platinum $888.00, Palladium $904.00, Copper $3.78, and Gold… $2,027.60
That’s it for today… Well, we’re down to 6 more days till pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training… The Cardinals packed up their gear, and the trucks headed south earlier this week, so it’s getting close…. I can feel it… The start of Spring Training games, the start of the regular season, and Christmas all get me as excited as a kid in a candy store! So… Hey! The St. Louis U. Billikens finally won a game last night.. Their losing streak was beginning to get on my nerves! My beloved Mizzou Tigers lost again at home last night to Texas A&M… UGH! It’s been a very baaaadddd basketball season for these two teams, for sure! Our Blues are on the All-Star Game break, and don’t get back on the ice until Saturday night. I got to watch the Mizzou game on the iPad last night… reminds me of my grandparents tv screen… Small… Well, the Super Bowl is this Sunday… I’m not going to talk about who I think will win the game, because I don’t want to jinx them! HA! Go Chiefs! My second favorite Chicago song takes us to the finish line today with their song: Beginnings… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and a Fantastico Friday tomorrow… And please remember to Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler