Category: Uncategorized

• the dollar weakens a bit…
• Gold & Silver get whacked again!

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! Well, as in life, baseball seems to return to the mean…  Yesterday, my beloved Cardinals got 6 hits, and 9 walks, and couldn’t score a run… Much like their start of the season… Well, they come home to St. Louis for a game Friday night, let’s hope they rediscover their bats!   I failed miserably at my test yesterday, so I can only hope that today is better! The Marshall Tucker Bank greets me this morning with their great song: 24 Hours At A Time… 

Well, the dollar’s ascent to higher ground hit a roadblock yesterday, and it stalled out with the BBDXY trading all day around 1,256…   That’s down from yesterday morning’s start, but not enough of a downward move to call it a change… So, the dollar is still kicking tail and taking names later, with most of the currencies. 

Gold started the day up $4 but the short paper traders couldn’t let Gold or Silver have a two day rally, so they stepped in with their arms full of short paper trades, and Gold ended up down -$19, and Silver ended up down 28-cents… Gold closed at $2,397.70, and Silver Closed at $28.91… This latest bear raid on Gold & Sliver has been quite damaging, but has it scared investors away from buying the metals in physical form?  The answer is a hard NO!  And if that’s the case, then the memo should be sent to the short paper traders to give it up! 

Oil’s downward plummet finally stopped yesterday, with the price of oil finishing the day with a $77 handle. And the 10-year’s yield rose another inch to 4.26% yesterday… 

In the overnight markets last night… The dollar lost another index point in the BBDXY, thus marking two days of losses, albeit small ones… I read this morning that Bill Dudley, former Fed Head, is calling for a rate cut, and that the U.S. economy is in dire need of one…  That probably has a lot to do with the weaker dollar this morning… 

Gold is getting whacked again this morning, the short paper traders are out in force… And the Dudley comments probably spurred them into action, because a rate cut should propel Gold higher, so they decided to nip that rally in the bud… Gold is down $20 this morning, and  Silver is down more than $1 this is getting ugly folks… Time to back up the truck and load it up with metals that are cheap… I’m just saying… 

The price of Oil has slipped to a $76 handle this morning, and the 10-year’s yield has dropped, thus stopping its recent upward move… Again Dudley’s comments probably had a lot to do with this move… 

I found this brief snippet in Bill Bonner’s letter yesterday that can be found : www.bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com     Here’s Bill: “We are exploring US foreign policy. Not for its own sake… foreign policy is not our beat. But how will America’s confrontational, scaremongering attitudes affect our financial future? In preview, the age-old combination of war and debt are likely to be fatal to the empire… and to US asset values.  

The problems in themselves are easy to understand and solve. Javier Milei in Argentina turned a deep deficit into a surplus in a matter of months. In America, it should be easier. The ‘empire budget’ could be cut in half… or more… just by eliminating the ‘empire’ part. On the other hand, without substantial cuts to the military, there is little chance of preventing a financial catastrophe. Too bad, the firepower industry controls Congress!”

Chuck again… I put that in today’s letter because it was revealed yesterday that 76% of total income tax receipts. Three quarters of every dollar you paid in income tax went to pay interest on the debt in June. I ask this question again… Got Gold?

There was news the past couple of days that India has announced that they were dropping the income tax, on Gold sales… India is one of the largest buyers of physical gold each year, so this could mean that they import even more Gold in the future… 

So, in the past few days, we’ve talked about how the new generation of youngsters are taking to owning physical Gold, and how India is dropping their income tax of Gold… You would think that these two items alone, not even taking into consideration that the World is a tinder box, just waiting for a spark, would be enough to scare off the short paper traders… But these guys are like a bad rash that won’t go away… I’m just saying… 

And one more thing regarding Gold & Silver, yesterday’s ending price was for Gold was $25 off its high on the day, when the short paper traders showed up at the COMEX with arms full of short paper trades…  again, these dastardly dudes got under my skin… 

The Japanese yen rallied VS the dollar overnight, and all eyes on the BOJ for next week’s meeting that I talked about yesterday, and the Russian ruble is still on the rally tracks… I find it very interesting that the price of Oil is so much weaker, but the ruble keeps truckin’ VS the dollar… And the Swiss franc is also on the rally tracks this morning, so that makes abundant sense to me, given the world is in a tinder box right now, waiting for a spark… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday didn’t have much for us to look at, but there was a New Homes Sales report for June that printed and it showed New Home Sales fell in June from May… No biggie here, yet, that is…  Today’s Cupboard has another revision of 2^nd QTR GDP, the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, and June’s Durable Goods Orders…  Tomorrow’s Cupboard has the long and highly anticipated June PCE… I talked about this earlier this week, so I won’t go through it again here… 

To recap… The dollar didn’t budge much all day yesterday, some slippage had occurred, but nothing to write home about… Gold got whacked again, along with Silver, as the short paper traders wouldn’t allow the two metals to own 2 day rallies…  Oil’s downward plummet came to a stop yesterday, but after several whole figures were lost in Oil’s price… And in the overnight markets last night… The dollar slipped a bit more, but Gold & Silver are getting whacked this morning… UGH! 

For What It’s Worth… This is an article from Egon von Greyerz of whom I’ve quoted many times in the past, and it talks about debt, banana republics, and Gold, and can be found here: AVOID THE COMING DEBACLE WITH YOUR PERSONAL GOLD BANK – VON GREYERZ AG

Or, here’s your snippet: “The failure of Western financial structures, including the currency system, is in its final stages.  

Sadly, no one takes any notice – YET!

Global debt has already tripled this century, with the dollar and most currencies having lost 98.5% of their purchasing power since 1971.

Screenshot 2024-07-22 at 08.09.46.png

Experts say the US can never default as they have a printing press. Whatever lies the US and European governments come up with, a 98.5% fall in the value of a nation’s currency is an absolute default. All other explanations are just noise.

With global debt at around $350 trillion and global GDP $100 trillion, the Global Debt to GDP is 350%.

Over 100% Debt to GDP is unsustainable and cannot be financed over the longer term.

And 350% Debt to GDP is bankruptcy – Banca Rotta.

With financial markets distorted and leveraged to the hilt, global risk today is greater than ever.

There is an obvious path that small and big investors can take to minimise this risk.

The best solution is to create your own Gold Bank that will almost entirely eliminate financial risk and provide instant liquidity. In addition, compared to virtually all other asset classes, it will enhance your wealth substantially in the coming years.

US & EUROPE – TERMINAL ILLNESS

We are not just talking about terminal illness for the US, European and probably Japanese, which are all fatally wounded by debt, deficits and decadence with no chance of recovering in the next few hundred years.

We are also talking about China and many emerging markets with debts, as well as demographic and structural problems, which, even though not incurable, will slow down their economies for many years. And yet, not to the same extent as in the West.

So, are the US and Europe now Banana Republics?

Banana Republic can be described as:

A highly stratified, politically unstable socioeconomic structure, with a small ruling class that controls access to wealth and resources.

That definition certainly fits the US and Europe, with a small elite of 1% owning 1/3 of the total wealth in the US. “

Chuck again… Quite a few years ago now, yours truly, and his big boss Frank Trotter were on stage together giving a presentation, and Frank mentioned that the U.S. was now a Banana Republic…   I always knew Frank was the smartest person in any room, but to hear him say that I was shocked… Only to find out he was a head of his time! 

Market Prices 7/25/2024: American Style: A$ .6563, kiwi .5903, C$ .7223, euro 1.0849, sterling 1.2884, Swiss $1.1388, European Style: rand 18.4227, krone 11.1131, SEK 10.8370, forint 362.18, zloty 3.9992, Koruna 23.4050, RUB 84.57, yen 152.46, sing 1.3423, HKD 7.8091, INR 83.70, China 7.2165, peso 18.53BRL 5.6546, BBDXY 1,255.77, Dollar Index 104.18, Oil $76.20, 10-year 4.22%, Silver $27.91, Platinum $936.00, Palladium $910.00, Copper $4.07, and Gold… $2,371.31

That’s it for today… And this week… It’s been a tough row to hoe for me this week, I’ve been very lethargic during the day, and not ready to wake up in the morning… Hopefully, things will get better… The week with oldest son, Andrew his wife, Rachel, and Evie and Braden is coming to a close this weekend… It’s been a blast for me to have them here… Yesterday, I taught little Evie how to play “go fish”, and she beat me in her first game! I then tried to teach her to play “War”, and she grew very short with her patience in that game…  We’re going to go to the Miami Hammerheads game tonight, with the Palm Beach Cardinals out of town, we’re stuck going to a hammerheads game, but… It’s baseball, and to me that’s all that counts! Sugar Ray takes us to the finish line today with their song: Every Morning…  I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• The dollar remains strong…
• Gold & Silver attempt to recover from their lost ground last week…

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, I made it through another day without any bleeding problems, so maybe, just maybe I’m on the road to recovery?  I was completely taken by surprise by this event, and the fact that it had been going on for a few days… Today, is a BIG day for me, so we’ll see how far along the recovery road I’ve gone…  My beloved Cardinals found a way to scratch out a 2-1 win last night… The young kids on the team once again provided the winning margin… John Fogerty greets me this morning with his song: Centerfield… 

That song always gets me going and ready for baseball!  

Ok, no long explanation this morning to start the letter, so, let’s see what happened yesterday and last night, eh?

The dollar continued to push the currencies down on its ascent to higher ground… This move puzzles the hell out of me, but it is what it is, so we deal with it, right? I mean look at the scorecard for the dollar… The election process had a curve thrown to it last week and it’s now unknown who will replace the POTUS for his party. The economic data continues to falter, and show weakness… And all the talk is about the rate cuts that are coming, supposedly…  India and Russia just announced that they will no longer use dollars in their terms of trade, so more de-dollarization is going on…   Now, let’s look at the pros for the dollar… 

The 10-year Treasury bond has a yield of 4.25%…  That’s better than most countries 10-year bonds, and the U.S. stock market is still living on borrowed time… 

Well, it looks to me like the dollar should be losing ground instead of gaining ground, but then, that’s just me… How about you? 

The one currency that has kicked the dollar’s rear end around the room has been the Russian ruble, of course now that I’ve mentioned it, I’ve probably jinxed it… So be careful here.. 

Gold gained $12 yesterday, and Silver gained 10-cents…  I’ll let you read Ed Steer’ thoughts on the goings on in the metals yesterday… Here’s Ed: “I was certainly delighted, as were you I’m sure, to see both gold and silver recover smartly off their low ticks — and close up on the day. But make no mistake about it, the collusive commercial traders were there to ensure that both didn’t run away to the upside, which they would have most assuredly done if left to their own devices.

I must admit that I was surprised that ‘da boyz’ didn’t press their advantage in either London or New York when they had both silver and gold down as much as they did — and why they were even allowed to recover all of their earlier losses, is a mystery. This is certainly not the price action one would see in the usual ‘wash, rinse & spin’ cycle we’ve become accustomed to in the past.”

Chuck again… So Gold & Silver were down at first yesterday, then rallied, and their rallies were cut short by the short paper traders… Ed can be found here: www.edsteergoldsilver.com

In the overnight markets last night, there was little to no movement in the dollar. It has slipped a little, less than 1 index point, but slipped some nonetheless… The BBDXY trades this morning at 1,256.67… It closed yesterday at 1,257.08…  Gold is up $4  to start the day today, and Silver is up 8-cents, so maybe without interference we can have a good day here… 

The price of Oil has really fallen out of bed since I was gone… Apparently, it was all about the supply of Oil building, and the lack of demand, funny how supply and demand comes into play with the price of Oil, but not silver…  The price of Oil gained a bit overnight, as there are now questions about just how much supply there is…  Nevertheless, the price of Oil is down from earlier this month, for sure!

And the 10-year Treasury’s yield is 4.25% this morning, and has been rising inch by inch in recent days, maybe the bond boys are having second thoughts about a coming rate cut? 

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will meet next week, and this is a HUGE meeting for the BOJ and yen… You may recall how I gushed over their first rate hike, and said then that the BOJ needed to follow up that rate hike with another and soon… But they didn’t, and the yen’s path to glory was halted in a NY Minute… Yen has been as low as 160 to the dollar and recently it has rallied a bit, on thoughts that the BOJ was ready to hike rates again…  Imagine how deadly it would be for yen if the BOJ skipped a rate hike next week?   Oh My!  

The Petrol currencies have seen better days for sure, with the only outlier being the Russian ruble… The Norwegian krone, Mexican peso, Canadian loony, have all been sold along with Oil lately…  The British sterling has held its gains VS the dollar in recent trading, so I guess the Russian ruble isn’t the only Petrol Currency with gains. 

The U.S. Data Cupboard doesn’t have much for us today… Just some 3^rd tier economic reports, and then New Home Sales will print for June… Yesterday, Existing Home Sales fell out of bed… And at the same time their prices went up! Maybe the high prices caused the Sales to falter?  

To recap… The dollar is still strong… The price of Gold & Silver is attempting to recover their lost ground… The price of Oil has fallen out of bed… The BOJ will meet next week, a BIG meeting for them… And some of the Petrol Currencies are showing the strains of the price of Oil being so weak… 

For What It’s Worth… OK, for years now I’ve talked about how the Romans ruined the value of their currency the Denarius… And how it was eerily similar to what the U.S. was doing to the dollar…  Well, leave it someone to tell just how that is going, and it can be found here: Going the Way of the Denarius – Doug Casey’s International Man

Or, here’s your snippet: “History repeats. (Or it rhymes, depending on your choice of words.)

Throughout history, there has been an extraordinary tendency for governments (and cultures) to follow similar paths. Even regarding eras thousands of years apart, we see people behaving in much the same way, over and over. This is particularly true in the case of “wrong moves.” Over and over, people and their governments make the same mistakes, seemingly never learning from past errors.

Why should this be? In fact, how is this even possible? Surely, if a government in the 21st century were to make egregiously bad decisions, they are unlikely to be the same bad decisions that were made in, say, Rome, in the 4th century.

The reason, in two simple words, is “human nature.” Human nature remains the same throughout time. Two thousand years ago, governments were typically made up of egotistical, self-centred dictatorial types, who were far more concerned with their own power than in the general welfare of their people. Today, politics remains a magnet for such people. They therefore will revert to type when faced with the very same problems.

Should we cut spending to give the taxpayers a break? No, we should increase taxation and give more to ourselves.

If we spend more than we receive in taxes, should we cut back our expenditures, or should we go into debt? We’ll go into debt, and put the debt on the shoulders of the taxpayers.

If the debt grows to be beyond what can ever be repaid, should we cut back expenditures, or should we allow the economy to collapse? Well, we’re sorry to see the economy collapse, but rather than deny ourselves, get out the fiddle and let Rome burn.

The denarius was the coin of the realm during the centuries when Rome was a republic. Although the gold solidus was used as a storage of wealth, the silver denarius was equal in value to a day’s wages for a common laborer and, as such, was more useful as the primary unit of exchange. During this time, it was a stable currency. However, as Rome turned into an empire, all that conquest in foreign lands became extremely costly and it was decided that one way to offset such costs was to devalue the denarius. Each successive emperor added a bit more base metal than the previous one and, by the time of Diocletian, there was no silver in the coin at all, only bronze.”

Chuck again… This is good long article, that I obviously can’t copy all of it here… So you have to click the link above to read it in its entirety, which I think would behoove you to do…  For it summarizes what I’ve been telling you for over 25 years now… 

Market Prices 7/24/2024: American Style: A$ .6598, kiwi .5895, C$ .7252, euro 1.0841, sterling 1.2904, Swiss $1.1272, European Style: rand 18.3153, krone 11.0394, SEK 10.7898, forint 362.52, zloty 3.9523, Koruna 23.4190, RUB 86.75, yen 154.54, sing 1.3445, HKD 7.8095, INR 83.23, China 7.2772, peso 18.23, BRL 5.5858, BBDXY 1,256.80, Dollar Index 104.39, Oil $77.67, 10-year 4.25%, Silver $29.27, Platinum $960.00, Palladium $940.00, Copper $4.16, and Gold… $2,413.60

That’s it for today… What a 9^th inning rally last night! My beloved Cardinals have 3 wily veterans that have really fallen flat on their faces this year in helping the offense, but the young kids in the lineup keep producing, and I find that to be quite exciting… Like last night, my son Andrew and I both agreed that they needed to get Alec Burleson up to drive in the go ahead run, and they did ,and so did he! I’m sitting here watching the sunrise out of the ocean this morning, it looks like a nice breezy day outside, I can’t wait to get out there!  I’ve had to ask little Evie and brother Braden to quiet down this morning, I’m not used to having anyone awake when I write!  J.D. Souther, takes us to the finish line today with his song: You’re Only Lonely…   I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself! 

Chuck Butler

• the dollar continues to soar…
• And are youngsters finally getting the message?

Good Day… and a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! You won’t believe what happened to me this past weekend, but after all my trials and tribulations through the years, maybe you’ll say… lucky Chuck once again… Van Morrison greets me this morning with his song: Brown Eyed Girl…

Friday night my oldest son , Andrew and his beautiful family arrived… but I was not feeling in tiptop shape… So , I went to bed, and at 4 o’clock a.m., I began this ordeal… 911 was called, the strapped me in and drove me to the hospital ER… I was in dire straits here folks..

After hours in ER I was taken to a room where I continued to have my problem over and over Again. Sunday morning they put an endoscope down me and found that I had a bleeding ulcer, that had been bleeding for a few days… lots of blood loss, so much that it took 3 units of blood just to get me back to the lowest allowable level!   

More bleeding problems all day Sunday and Sunday night, and then early morning, Monday the bleeding stopped. The hospital fed me iron, and another blood transfusion, and suddenly, I could get out of bed, stand up, and walk with a walker… It was a miracle! From not being able to stand without passing out, to be able to amble down the hallway. Soon my latest blood test showed I was good to go home…  Now, that’s a long intro to the Pfennig this morning, but… I thought that you deserved to know why I didn’t write yesterday, when I told you last week that I would…  Another life taken from my cat’s nine lives… 

While I was ailing so much, so were the metals… Gold lost 43.70 on Friday last week and ended the week at $2,400.80… Silver was also bashed last week losing 59-cents on Friday, to close the week at $29.17… The short metals traders were having a field day with Gold & Silver last week, there’s no two ways about that! Why? Because they can, and will continue to do so, whenever they feel the urge or they get the Bat signal from the White House / Treasury… 

Yesterday, Gold lost $2 on the day, and closed below $2,400 at 2,398…  Silver gained 2-cents to close at $29.19… It was a strange day, as the most the markets along with the country, tried to digest the news that the POTUS was not going to run for re-election… So, today, we should get back to business at hand, which is trying to figure out, why in the world the dollar is soaring right now, with all the talk about rate cuts… Tell me, that this makes sense, and I still won’t believe it… And after I went out on a big fat limb and told you that the dollar was in trouble going forward… My thought there hasn’t changed, and I’m not going to change my mind either… If all this rate cut talk doesn’t get the dollar in a world of hurt, then I’m going to give up, mail it in to the good folks at Battle Bank, and tell them I just don’t have it any longer, that they need to find a new writer… Seriously… 

In the overnight markets last night, there was little to no movement in the dollar or metals… Gold is up $11 to start our day today, so that’s a good sign… 

Well, the stronger dollar is really putting the kyboshes on the housing market… This from marketwatch.com , where they tell us that foreign buyers, in the last 12-months through March this year had bought  54,300 homes worth a staggering $42 Billion, but since then the sales to foreigners have fallen out of bed…  Here’s MarketWatch’s view: “Currency shifts attributed to the declining sales to foreign buyers. “The strong U.S. dollar DXY makes international travel cheaper for Americans but makes U.S. homes much more expensive for foreigners,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, said in a statement. “Therefore, it’s not surprising to see a pullback in U.S. home sales from foreign buyers.”

You know, whenever the dollar goes on one of these bull runs, it reminds me of a time on the old EverBank World Markets Trading desk, when colleague, Ty Keough, would tell his customers that when the dollar is strong, is the time to buy more currencies, because they are cheaper…   That’s a good thought right now… I’m just saying… 

In last week’s letter from Dennis Miller of www.milleronthemoney.com  he was discussing the $35 Trillion in current debt and over $200 Trillion in unfunded liabilities and had this to say: “We have two parties here, and only two. One is the evil party, and the other is the stupid party. .… Occasionally, the two parties get together to do something that’s both evil and stupid. That’s called bipartisanship.”

No matter which party reigns, the beat goes on, wasting trillions to foster political power.

The politicos have racked up almost $35 trillion in debt, and are on the hook for another $200+ trillion in “unfunded promises.” Together they broke it, make no reasonable attempt to fix it, and they want voters to believe they can change their spots and right the ship. Fiscal sanity? Impossible – an unnatural act for the ruling class.

When is the mainstream media going to finally admit we are past the point of no return?”

Chuck again… I’ll tell ya Dennis when the media will finally admit we are in deep dookie…  When the walls come crashing down, and they all begin to scream “the sky is falling”… No Chicken Littles are they…  It’ll be too late, to duck for cover, so… Once again I ask… “Got Gold”… 

This will be short-n-sweet this morning, because I’ve been “out of pocket” for 4 days… I didn’t even turn on the TV in the hospital room, as I was so out of it… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard this morning, there’s only some existing home sales data, and the cupboard was bare yesterday, so the the start of the week is data void…  At the end of this week, the markets are looking forward to seeing the latest PCE… (personal consumption expenditures) This is a preferred inflation calc that the Fed Heads use…  Without any interference with funny numbers, massaging figures, and cooking the books, I expect the PCE to be steady, and show no gains in inflation fighting…  I’m just saying…

To recap… The dollar is soaring, and after Chuck said that it was in trouble going forward… Gold & Silver have been bashed and the short paper traders have had a field day all last week… Gold is up $11 this morning, so let’s see if we can get this turned around… 

For What It’s Worth… This comes to us from Reuters, and it’s about how the younger crowd is into buying and holding physical Gold… Strange, eh?  Well, it apparently is true, so you can find it here; Golden rule: Why younger investors are drawn to gold | Reuters

Or, here’s your snippet:  What asset class do millennials and Gen Z investors both want to own?

Here is an answer you may not have guessed: Gold.

Among wealthy investors under the age of 43, 45% own gold as a physical asset, and another 45% are interested in holding it, according to a recent study by Bank of America Private Bank.

Those are far higher percentages than other age groups.

Usually this demographic is not interested in assets like gold, cash or Treasuries, because they are considered to be “boring,” says Liz Young Thomas, head of investment strategy for digital financial services firm SoFi.

“As Treasury yields rise, cash is paying a high interest rate, and gold is rising along with it. We are seeing returns we normally don’t see in such a short period of time,” Thomas says. “Naturally, when assets have strong returns, younger audiences start to perk up.”

This confirms another study by money managers State Street, which finds that millennials have the highest allocation to gold in their portfolios, at 17%, far outpacing both boomers and Gen X at 10%.

So what is going on? Why are younger investors so intrigued by a somewhat stodgy asset that has been around for thousands of years?

Part of gold’s renewed buzz is its healthy spot price, which as of this writing is above $2,400 per ounce.

It is also increasingly on the shelves in popular retail environments, which boosts visibility. Big-box chain Costco started selling 1-oz gold bars last fall and has been doing a brisk trade of up to $200 million monthly, according to Wells Fargo estimates.”

Chuck again… Well, maybe the new youngsters have learned something that the other generations didn’t… And that is Gold is a store of wealth… I’m just saying… 

Market Prices 7/23/2024: American Style: A$ .6626, kiwi .5965, C$ 7266, euro 1.0860, sterling 1.2895, Swiss $1.1224, European Style; rand 18.3582, krone 11.0069, SEK 10.7459, forint 359.30, zloty 3.9392, koruna 23.3564, RUB 86.95, yen 156.05, sing 1.3455, HKD 7.8074, INR 83.69, China 7.2749, peso 17.97, BRL 5.5763, BBDXY 1,254.60, Dollar Index 104.43, Oil $78.17, 10-year 4.23%, Silver $29.04, Platinum $958.00, Palladium $921.00, Copper $4.16, and Gold… $2,407.87

That’s it for today… It was nice to get back to our place on the beach yesterday evening… I then watched my beloved Cardinals lose a game 2-1… Their offense goes hot and cold all year, and yesterday it was cold, and tonight’s game they’ll be ice-cold, in my opinion… I’m still not 100%, but much, much better than when the paramedics strapped me to the gurney, and loaded me into the paramedic’s truck… That’s twice now that the local paramedics have come to get me… I’m not hoping for a third time, for sure! Having little Evie, and brother Braden here is fun, as the tv show used to say, “kids say the darndest things”…  Kathy just loaded them up to go to the donut shop… This will be an interesting day for sure, with those two darling amped up on donut sugar!  Wheee!  The Electric Light Orchestra takes us to the finish line today with their song: Strange Magic… I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• the dollar is still king, but there are some rumblings…
• ECB doing noone any favors…

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday  to you! Please forgive me for not writing to you on Monday this week… I came down with a cold on the last day of my trip, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I slept all day on Monday, and lot of yesterday, but when I awoke, I felt much better, and proclaimed myself ready to travel again yesterday.. Off to my second home in S. Florida, for my annual summer vacation, but this time, I’ll be writing during the vacation because I already took off for my Ireland sojourn.  REO Speedwagon greets me this morning with their song: Golden Country…

Well, this won’t take too long this morning, because I’m lost as to what has really gone on in the last two weeks, since I was traveling around Ireland. So, grab your cup of coffee, and let’s go through this together, eh? 

The dollar continues to be the king of the hill… And everyone on the face of the earth is forecasting a rate cut by the Fed Heads in Sept. That makes the stock jockeys happy… And the bond boys happy…  But it shouldn’t make the dollar bugs happy, and so far it hasn’t had any affect on the dollar, as it trades this morning the dollar keeps on kicking tail and taking names later. 

Gold sure is happy that the thoughts have turned to a rate cut in Sept… Gold reached an all-time high on Tuesday this week, and every day here on out it when it rallies it will reach new all-time highs… We are in uncharted areas here, folks… Silver is still below it’s recent high, but is working feverently to catch up… I’m waiting for the new “Silver guru” to take the departed Ted Butler’s place… Ted had followers called “Ted’s Raptors”… Silver needs a voice behind it to at least scare the short paper traders… 

The euro is trading with a 1.09 handle this morning, and it has been on a run of sorts vs the dollar. The old adage that when “Chucks away the currencies rally” held true this time too, as the euro was trading with a 1.07 handle the last day that I wrote, and two weeks later, it’s trading with a 1.09 handle…  I hear you snickering Mick K… 

In the overnight markets last night… The dollar slipped a little as the rate cut talks probably filtered over to the overseas markets. The BBDXY is trading this morning with a 1,248 handle, and Gold is up $6 to start the day. I’m getting that spider sense again that leads me to believe that the dollar is in trouble right now, and going forward, without interference by the PPT, the dollar could be in for a long period of trouble…   Nothing concrete right now, just my spider sense tingling, once again… 

Yesterday saw the short Gold paper traders hit the Comex with a bang… The day after Gold hit an all-time high, the short paper traders saw to it that Gold didn’t continue to go upward… They whacked and hacked at Gold until it gave in and lost $10 on the day to close at $2,457… And Silver saw the same type of short paper whacking and lost 94-cents to close at $30.24…  I came back to this after talking about the overnight markets because, this really irks me to no end… The short paper traders continue to get under my skin, and I don’t like that at all… In fact, at one point last year, I made the statement that I wasn’t going to let them get to to me any longer… But that lasted as long as a NY Minute, didn’t it?  

The European Central Bank (ECB ) is meeting while my fat fingers type away this morning….  The thought here is that the ECB will keep rates unchanged at this meeting but come out and say that they are looking ahead to cut rates, but not giving any timeline or guidance… That’s pretty lame on their part I would say, but, at least they are listening to me and not cutting rates just yet…   

In China, the Communist Party met and decided to  modernize the country’s industrial complex, expand domestic demand, curb debt and property sector risks, as well as implement financial and fiscal reforms  They didn’t give any thoughts on how they would do these things, but I’m sure they have them tucked away somewhere…. 

The Chinese economy has slipped in recent weeks after soaring in the weeks after their re-opening… This hiccup has led to President Xi to hold special meeting on the economy… Look, I’m of the opinion that the Chinese, which have been doing this economic thing much longer than any other country, will find a way to get the economy back on the rally tracks…  I’m just saying…

The U.S. Cupboard yesterday had the June Retail Sales, and I wasn’t able to tell you about what the Butler Household Index (BHI) told us… But it would have told you that Retail Sales would be disappointing… And that’s what they were, as they printed at 0% gain in June…  Today’s Data Cupboard has the June prints of Industrial Capacity and Capital Utilization, of which I suspect they will be disappointing too…  I have to tell you that if the economic data keeps printing these disappointing numbers, the Fed Heads will be lead to believe that they need to cut interest rates… 

That, in my humble country boy opinion, will be a BIG Mistake… But then hasn’t the Fed’s M.O. Been nothing but mistakes through the years? Now, Chuck that wasn’t very kind to the Fed Heads, and it what cost you you job at EverBank when the TIAA took them over, and TIAA’s CEO was a former Fed Governor… Yeah, but that was then, and this is now! I can say what I want to and not worry about being called on the carpet… 

To recap… Today’s letter is a brief update that’s days late, since Chuck was down with a bad cold a and slept through the days… Today Chuck heads south to his winter home in S. Florida, and will be writing from there the next 3 weeks… The dollar is still the king of the hill, but the euro is showing signs of rebounding… Gold hit an all time high on Tuesday.. Here we go! 

Market prices 7/17/2024: American Style: A$.6733, kiwi .6070, C$ .7309, euro 1.09.34, Sterling 1.2984, Swiss $1.0934, European Style: rand 18.2026, krone 10.7610, SEK 10.5482, forint 356.48, zloty 3.9264, koruna 23.1089, RUB 88.08, yen 156.44, sing 1.3409, HKD 7.8089, INR 83.65, China 7.2577, peso 17.71, BRL 5.5156, BBDXY 1,248.58, Dollar Index 103.85, Oil $82.67, 10-year 4.17%, Silver $30.43, Platinum $999.00, Palladium $952.00, Copper $4.31, and Gold… $2,567.72

For What It’s Worth… Well, as I stated above the Fed Heads historically have errored in their moves over and over again, and this time I think it will be disastrous for us… The article is about how Powell, is ready to cut rates even if the Fed’s 2% target isn’t in reach, and it can be found here:Powell indicates Fed won’t wait until inflation is down to 2% before cutting rates (cnbc.com)

Or, here’s your snippet: ” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that the central bank will not wait until inflation hits 2% to cut interest rates.

Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington D.C., Powell referenced the idea that central bank policy works with “long and variable lags” to explain why the Fed wouldn’t wait for its target to be hit.

“The implication of that is that if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long, because the tightening that you’re doing, or the level of tightness that you have, is still having effects which will probably drive inflation below 2%,” Powell said.

Instead, the Fed is looking for “greater confidence” that inflation will return to the 2% level, Powell said.

“What increases that confidence in that is more good inflation data, and lately here we have been getting some of that,” he said.

Powell also said he thinks a “hard landing” for the U.S. economy was not “a likely scenario.”

Monday was Powell’s first public speaking appearance since the consumer price index report for June showed cooling inflation, with prices actually falling month over month.”

Chuck again… Don’t you just love it when a Fed Head like Powell, uses the latest inflation report that showed a little trace of cooling to come out and pronounce that inflation is going away?  What a Dolt! I’ll say not more!

OH, and this just in… The ECB did in fact leave rates unchanged this morning, more on this next week! 

That’s it for today… Well Baseball’s All-Star Game was played Tuesday night… This game used to be played by players that really wanted to win the game for their league… These days, it’s players that go out and try not to get hurt, and don’t really care about who wins the game… I watched some of the game before heading to bed, for my early wake up call to write this morning before heading out… I apologize again about not writing to you  earlier this week… But I was down for the count, believe me on that… Other than that, The Moody Blues take us to the finish line today with their song: Never Comes The Day… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself?

Chuck Butler

• Currencies & metals get sold on Wednesday
• The dollar buying stops overnight…

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! How about that? In typical fashion, my beloved Cardinals played to the level of their competition and won 2 of 3 from the Braves… And The Pfennig today, is the last one until July 15th… Yes, Chuck’s annual traditional summer vacation comes earlier than usual this year, with my sojourn to Ireland… I got the blessing from my heart doc yesterday, that I’m good to go! So… I’m going! I’m starting to get all excited about this trip, and I’m a little wound up this morning, and the song that greets me this morning, helps in that fashion, as it’s Alvin Lee and Ten Years After singing their song: Choo Choo Mama… 

Well, let’s finish some unfinished business first thing this morning… On Tuesday, this week, I told you about a report that the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel had been hacked… And then there were nothing but crickets….  Last night I read this: “The LockBit ransomware gang claimed it had breached the U.S. Federal Reserve, but it ultimately leaked data belonging to a single bank. On June 23, LockBit listed the U.S. Federal Reserve on its data leak site and claimed to have obtained roughly 33 TB of stolen data.”

So, it was true, it’s true I did see a putty tat! I wonder why no one besides me is reporting this? Could it be they’ve been hushed? And they don’t care about me, I’m just some corny midwestern pundit that no one hears…  I’m just saying…

So… The dollar continued to get bought yesterday, with the BBDXY gaining a total of 5 index points on the day… The euro remained below 1.07, and the rest of the currencies remained in their respective sick beds… Hold on, currencies, for Chuck will be away for 2 weeks, and whenever Chuck is away the currencies rally… So, you just have to hang in there two more days…  Gold couldn’t ever find a bid and the short paper traders were all over Gold & Silver yesterday, so Gold ended the day down $21 from Tuesday, and Silver ended the day down 8-cents… Gold closed the day at $2,299.60, and Silver at $28.82

In the overnight markets last night…  The dollar buying stopped, and the BBDXY has given back 2 index points to start the day today… The euro has responded positively, and has popped back above the 1.07 handle… There was one currency in the last 24 hours that has really out performed all others… I know this currency is not popular with the masses, so I try not to hype it too much, but when the Russian ruble performs like it has, it has to be noted. Remember, folks… It’s an investment, not a statement…  

Gold starts today up $15 in the early trading, and Silver is up 7-cents…  There was a recent poll recently commissioned and a  survey of 525 North American professional investors – a mix of large institutions, consultants and financial advisors – the results from which confirmed a growing trend of gold ownership among this audience. A staggering 85% reported an allocation to some type of gold investment, up from 69% in 2018 and 76% in 2019.

At face value this may seem a surprisingly high percentage. And delving deeper into the data reveals that just over a quarter of respondents hold only very small (<1% AUM) gold allocations. But it was particularly interesting to see that more than half held at least 1% of AUM in gold, with 24% having an allocation of 3% or more. This is important for Gold, folks, because basically here in N. America there has been zero interest in owning Gold by investors, other than those that read the Pfennig!  

I keep my investments, stocks and bonds, with a wealth advisor, and she has never, mentioned Gold to me… Now that may be that she knows me well, and knows that I have Gold already… But I still think that it’s just not a U.S. broker’s call to talk about Gold, yet… 

The price of Oil bumped higher in the $81 handle overnight, and the 10-year added a bit more yield and trades this morning with a 4.33% yield…  I guess the bond boys have finally given up their call that the Fed Heads will cut rates this summer…  Talk about being thick-headed! I’ll say no more on that… 

The poor Japanese yen has been currency traders whipping boy, and no amount of jawboning by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) can stop the yen’s fall… Yen reached 160 two days ago, and the next stop is 170… According to traders who are taking the fight to the BOJ, and proving once again that the markets have deeper pockets than any Central Bank… 

Another currency getting taken to the woodshed these days is the Mexican peso… I read a report this morning about a huge hedge fund that made huge bets on the peso, but now is pulling those bets, giving up on the peso… That’s a high-hurdle for the peso to have to jump at this point… I’m just saying…

It always seems to take a day or two for the Petrol Currencies to react to the price actions in Oil… But Oil’s recent trading range of $80-81 doesn’t really give one a warm and fuzzy that Black Gold, Texas tea was going to move higher any time soon… There are so many folks out there dissing Oil, these days… They have no inkling that Oil is what made this country… When will they ever admit that? They won’t because that wouldn’t make the story they’re selling about how fossil fuels have ruined the climate…  I’m going to stop there before I go down a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down this morning. 

Yesterday, I quoted U.S. Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen, and refused to accept whatever it was that she had to say because of her history…  And good friend, Dennis Miller of www.milleronthemoney.com sent me this: “Will I say there will never, ever be another financial crisis? No, probably that would be going too far. But I do think we’re much safer and I hope that it will not [happen] in our lifetimes and I don’t believe it will.”   –Former Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen
This came at the end of the Obama era as the reins were being turned over to Trump.  No….she is not the least bit political…  She is just a sweet grey haired con artist deluxe.

Chuck again…  Janet, schmellent! That’s what I say about our Treasury Sec. 

OK… The Reserve Bank of New Zealand sent out this communique last night: “The Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua has released its SoI and SPE outlining what it intends to do to enable economic wellbeing and prosperity for all New Zealanders and how it will measure its performance.

The Statement of Intent (SoI) covers the period 2024 to 2028 and the Statement of Performance Expectations (SPE) covers 2024/2025.

We will report every six months to our monitoring agency.”

Chuck again…  Hmmm… Wouldn’t it be nice (Beach Boys) if any Central Bank in the world would just say, “we’ve decided to stop meddling in the economy, for we have no idea how it really works, because we’ve never been a part of the economy”  Man, in an ideal world we would hear every Central Bank say that, but in the real world, that’s not happening! 

And in another case of proving that inflation isn’t going away, and that it’s sticky… Consumer prices rose 4% in May compared to a year earlier, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), surpassing the 3.6% rate recorded in April and most importantly, surpassing economists’ expectations of 3.8%…   C’mon you Aussie’s you really didn’t believe that inflation was going away and that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) was preparing to cut interest rates?  

On a sidebar this morning, I don’t know why I was thinking about this memory, but it’s there in my mind, and like I said the other day, I can’t get it out of my head (ELO)…  The memory was a time in Vancouver at the Agora Wealth Symposium, attended by more 500 people, and there I was on the main stage telling people that the markets were saying that the the dollar was sweet spot… I then said that the dollar reminded me of the old Trini Lopez song… Lemon Tree… I then said, “you all know that song, so let’s sing it” And then 500 people began singing: Lemon tree very pretty, the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat!  I had actually done it! I had gotten 500 wealthy people to sing out loud!   

Back to today… The dollar reminds me of the Lemon Tree song once again… And again, I just don’t see what the dollar bugs are seeing as they buy dollars… But maybe, just maybe because you never know (Joaquin Andujar) when I get back in two weeks, things will be changed… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the New House Sales in May, and the plunged from April’s 698,000 to May’s 619,000… But, as I said yesterday, this is not a market moving piece of data, so we’ll move on from here…

The Data Cupboard today has the usual Thursday fare of Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, which have been above 220,000 for a few weeks now.  May Durable Goods Orders will print today, and I expect them to be negative… And finally, the 2^nd revision of 1^st QTR GDP will print, expect another downward revision, in my opinion… 

To recap… The dollar continued to get bought yesterday with the BBDXY gaining 5 index points, but only 1 of those index points during the U.S. session, so has the buying begun to peter out? Just asking…   The Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel did indeed get hacked yesterday. Does that worry you any? It does me…  Friend, Dennis Miller supplies us with another famous quote of Janet Yellen’s this morning… And the dollar finally stopped getting bought in the overnight markets last night. 

For What It’s Worth… Well, I’ll leave you today with a different FWIW article, that seems more like a PSA… This is about the FBI making a financial warning, and you should read it if you have a Time Share with a lot of interest! I’m just saying… The article can be found here: FBI issues national financial warning – al.com

Or, here’s your snippet: “he Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning over a particular type of financial crime that’s linked to Mexican cartels.

In an announcement, the agency said it has seen a rise in scams targeting timeshare owners. The primary victims are older Americans, particularly wealthy ones looking to recoup some of the money spent on their real estate investment. In the last five years, upwards of 6,000 victims have reported more than $300 million in losses to the agencies, the agency said.

“Timeshare fraudsters aim to suck their victims dry, with devastating consequences to victims’ financial futures, relationships, and physical and emotional health,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul Roberts, who leads FBI New York’s Complex Financial Crimes Branch, said in a blog post.

Roberts said the scams have caught the FBI’s attention because its illicit proceeds are increasingly used to fund violent cartels in Mexico.

“Timeshare fraud has low overhead costs and minimal reinvestment, needing only a rental of small space, telecom setup, and English-speaking employees with access to resort databases,” Roberts said. “There is lower perceived risk of prosecution and extradition for timeshare fraud but easy cash flow that goes directly into the Mexican banking system and obfuscates funds to facilitate money laundering activities.”

Chuck Again… The article goes on to explain how the fraud schemes work…  I read it, thinking that I was amazed at how intricate these frauds were… 

Market prices 6/27/2024: American Style: A$ .6661, kiwi .6102, C$ .7306, euro 1.0702, sterling 1.2653, Swiss $1.1147, European Style: rand 18.3474, krone 10.6487, SEK 10.5889, forint 371.22, zloty 4.0273, koruna 23.3138, RUB 85.98, yen 160.54, sing 1.3565, HKD 7.8084, INR 83.30, China 7.2686, peso 18.30, BRL 5.5210, Oil $81.21, 10-year 4.33%, Silver $28.89, Platinum $1,004.00, Palladium $922.00, Copper $4.36, and Gold… $2,314.77

That’s it for today, and the next two weeks!  Like I said earlier this week, if you miss me, and I know you will, you can get a Chuck fix by going to www.dailypfennig.com and read all the archives your little heart desires! Tomorrow is my little buddy’s birthday… Yes, Alex will be 29 tomorrow (how’d that happen?) It just seems like yesterday that we celebrated his 21^st birthday! And not that long ago it seems, he sat on my lap while I wrote the Pfennig and would add his own *&^%4569(&%  he used to love to be able to add to the Pfennig!  Alex is a Physical Therapist with a doctorate now, and will be tying the knot on Dec. 6^th this year…  Life cycles… I’m going out, and he’s coming on…   So, an early Happy Birthday, Alex! And with that, I’m outta here! The Who takes us to the finish line today with their song: Won’t Get Fooled Again… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and please Be Good To Yourself, today, tomorrow, and the next two weeks! 

Chuck Butler

• currencies & metals get sold on Tuesday…
• The dollar’s share of reserves has fallen a bit…

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you… 3 down, 1 to go… I never thought it would ever get here, but now I’m just days away from my Ireland sojourn…  Cardinals were rained out last night, so as Ernie Banks used to say, “let’s play 2!” Cardinals / Braves will play a double header today… The regularly scheduled game for today, was a day game, so the rained out game will be the 2^nd game… I was watching the 5 o’clock news last night, and there was no  mention of rain interrupting the baseball game… So, it was a surprise rain, that really cooled down the air, that had reached 102 during the day… That tied a record that was set in 1988… I’m not even going to go into what I think about that!  My favorite John Denver song greets me this morning… Back Home Again…

I guess we’ll hear today whether the Fed did actually get held ransom by a hacker… I don’t think you’ll hear Lester Holt, or any of the other National News outlet,  tell you about that… I’m just saying… 

The dollar continued to get bought yesterday, and the BBDXY ended the day up a total of 2 index points to 1,266… The euro held on to the 107 handle, but the rest of the currencies, including the Petrol Currencies, saw their recent levels reduced… Gold ended the day down -$15 and Silver lost 69-cents and fell below $29 again… The short paper traders took Silver below it’s 50-day moving average.  

The short paper traders have gone to a new tactic it seems… They are going to make Gold’s rise bumpy, in an attempt to scare away investors who are used to see things that they buy go straight up… Well, these aren’t the kind of investors I want to see buying Gold, because they will just sell it at the first sign of a good profit… They have no idea why they should be buying Gold, and it’s better than we don’t tell them, for they won’t want to know! 

The price of Oil slipped below the $81 handle yesterday, at $80.89… One would think that with the political gyrations going on around the world, that Gold would be well underpinned, and only moving higher… The short paper traders know that, and so they’ll make things bumpy for Gold & Silver from here on out..  The 10-year’s yield saw some selling yesterday, and it ended the day with a 4.26% yield…  

In the overnight markets last night… Well, the foreign markets finally got the memo about how the U.S. markets were buying dollars, and they acted on it. The BBDXY is up 4 index points to start the day today. The euro fell further in the 1.06 handle, and the rest of the currencies have been sent directly to their respective sick beds, they can’t pass Go, nor can they collect $200. Right to bed!   This dollar strength is way overdone in my opinion, but don’t get caught stepping in front of this speeding bus!   

Gold & Silver are getting sold this morning to start our day… Gold is down $9 and Silver is down pennies… Wait a minute here… Gold & Silver got sold yesterday, isn’t today a Gold & Silver rally day? Hmmm… OK, I don’t really buy into the the buy one day sell the other, as written in stone… 

The price of oil bumped higher overnight and trades, once again with an $81 handle… I read this morning that Oil traders are waiting on the economic data that will print tomorrow, before making any further bets on the direction of Oil…  Well, I guess that’s a prudent thing to do, but supply and demand would be my choice of direction giver!  I’m just saying…  The 10-year’s yield continued to inch higher and trades with a 4.29% yield this morning… 

I read this morning that the bets (in futures) that the Fed Heads will cut rates soon, have been pared a bit, and I’m sure that has something to do withe the recent slide in the 10-year’s yield… 

Ok, all the de-dollarization talk has grown recently, and this is beginning to show in the level of reserves that countries hold in dollars…  Years ago, it ran around 64%, with the euro coming in second… Yesterday it was reported that the dollar’s holding by Central Banks had slipped, here’s the skinny: 58% U.S. dollars and 20% euros

The remaining 22% is divided among yen (6%), sterling (5%), Canadian dollars or CAD (2.5%) And other currencies are each less than 2% (AUD, CNY, CHF).  I pulled that data from www.dailyreckoning.com

I wouldn’t say that the dollar is in trouble just yet regarding the amount of dollars held in reserve by foreign banks… I would say that this shows that the rot is on the vine, and that eventually the rot will take over the whole vine… The main component of the dollar still being used widely is the fact that a ton of Oil contracts are still traded in dollars… But with the Saudi announcement that I talked about here recently, this support for the dollar will fade…  I would say that a fall from 64% to 58% is significant… I’m just saying… 

Well, then isn’t that special (in my best church lady voice!) Janet Yellen, our Treasury Secretary, and former Chief Fed Head, is out telling anyone that will hear her, that all is clear, you can come out now… Here’s the skinny: “Janet Yellen said excessive inflation will be over soon. The U.S. Treasury Secretary thinks the Federal Reserve could hit its 2% inflation target in 2025, with a soft landing for the American economy well in her sight.”

Of course she said that! And of course she is wearing her (I’ll lose my job if the POTUS doesn’t win ) rose colored glasses… Or, maybe, she’s just not privy to the deficit spending plans of the administration… Oh, Chuck, c’mon, she’s not that out of it! OK, so, then it’s all a political posturing then…   She should be put on a slow boat to China, in my opinion, because her politically charged rhetoric doesn’t help you, me and the guy down the street that cuts his grass with his shirt off…    Again, I’m just saying…  

Here’s the bugaboo with deficit spending… If you never reduce it, or taper it, of even stop it, it’ll just continue to grow and grow until it breaks the financial system.  You see, ever since Nixon took us off the Gold backing of the dollar, (it was billed as only temporary!) in August of 1971, the U.S. that was once a credit based nation, because a debt based nation, and once the lawmakers saw that there was no limit to their deficit spending, then they really began to pile up their boondoggles and spending promises for votes, until where we are today… $35 Trillion, in debt, $100 Trillion in unfunded liabilities  (thanks to the Debt Clock.org) … And you can’t stop this without the whole shootin’ match come crumbling down… Which it will do anyway eventually from the weight of the debt, but one comes now, and one comes later… 

The Gov’t’s plans to have inflation melt away some of the debt, is going to come back to haunt them, in my humble country boy opinion… The general public cannot deal with continued inflation, they need to see some relief.. Sort of like the rain that came last night to cool down the temperatures…  The public will blame whomever is in the President’s seat… 

And to that note: This from the Pew Research.com  “Public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has increased modestly since 2023. As of April 2024, 22% of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (21%). Last year, 16% said they trusted the government just about always or most of the time, which was among the lowest measures in nearly seven decades of polling.”

That’s right 7 decades of polling, the lowest measures… And probably going to go much lower… I’m just saying…

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the April Case/ Shiller Home Price Index, and it showed a deterioration of the housing prices across the U.S.  We also saw the STUPID Consumer Confidence for June and it fell from 102 to 100… Big Deal! NOT!  The talking heads talked about how the Consumer Confidence fall wasn’t consequential… Hmmm… Well, for comparison this index was 132 before the plandemic… So there’s that! 

The Data Cupboard today only has new Home Sales for May… Not a market moving data print in any way, so we’ll move along now… 

To recap… The dollar buying message finally got to the foreign traders, and they acted on it, with the dollar being bought up overnight, following up on the dollar getting bought yesterday… It’s all over done per Chuck… Gold & Silver continue to get whacked, and any moving average line you want to use, has been blown out by the short paper traders, and Janet Yellen has some encouraging words for us this morning. (NOT!) And the dollar’s share of reserves has fallen , significantly, according to Chuck… All that and more is in today’s Pfennig! 

For What It’s Worth… I couldn’t believe my eye yesterday, when I read Ed Steer’s letter that can be found here: www.edsteergoldsilver.com and he highlighter a story that was on the Wall Street Journals web site, and the story was asked the question about would excessive debt ruin the U.S. Financial System?   I couldn’t believe that the WSJ would print something like that!  But since they did, it’s my FWIW article today and you’ll have to go to Ed Steer’s letter to read it, or find it on the WSJ web site, because I couldn’t get the link to work… 

Or, here’s your snippet: “America is cruising into an uncharted sea of federal debt, with a public seemingly untroubled by the stark numbers and a government seemingly incapable of turning them around.

In the presidential race, there’s not much partisan difference or advantage on this subject. Donald Trump and President Biden have overseen similar additions to the nation’s accumulated debt—in the range of $7 trillion in each case—during their terms. The national response to both has been, by and large, to look the other way.

History, however, offers some cautionary notes about the consequences of swimming in debt. Over the centuries and across the globe, nations and empires that blithely piled up debt have, sooner or later, met unhappy ends.

Historian Niall Ferguson recently invoked what he calls his own personal law of history: “Any great power that spends more on debt service (interest payments on the national debt) than on defense will not stay great for very long. True of Habsburg Spain, true of ancien régime France, true of the Ottoman Empire, true of the British Empire, this law is about to be put to the test by the U.S. beginning this very year.” Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office projects that, in part because of rising interest rates, the federal government will spend $892 billion during the current fiscal year for interest payments on the accumulated national debt of $28 trillion—meaning that interest payments now surpass the amount spent on defense and nearly match spending on Medicare.

Washington has been adding to the national debt at an alarming pace. Not so long ago—beginning in the late 1990s—the federal government’s budget was actually in surplus, at least for a time. This year, it will be some $1.9 trillion in the red, the Congressional Budget Office forecast just this week.”

Chuck again… Again, I was shocked to see the WSJ print something like that! They usually toe the line, and stay straight and narrow, not ruffling feathers… I’m sorry that the link I tried wouldn’t work for me, so I couldn’t give it to you…  And I in no way am dissing the WSJ… They have been kind enough to print two articles about me in the past… One by Jeff Opdyke, and one by Craig Karmin… Those were long ago, and in a far away place, but still near and dear in my heart! 

Market Prices 6/26/2024: American Style: A$ .6655, kiwi .6095, C$ .7303, euro 1.0683, sterling 1.2646, Swiss $1.1262, European Style: rand 18.1734, krone 10.6574, SEK 10.5885, forint 371.17, zloty 4.0324, koruna 23.3156, RUB 87.37, yen 160.31, sing 1.3577, HKD 7.8083, INR 83.59, China 7.2667, peso 18.24, BRL 5.4313, BBDXY 1,270.08, Dollar Index 105.96, Oil $81.35, 10-year 4.29%, Silver $28.89, Platinum $995.00, Palladium $949.00, Copper $4.37, and Gold… $2,311.42

That’s it for today… Heavens me! What was i thinking yesterday morning, not mentioning the Championships that were won the night before! So… Congrats to the Florida Panthers for their Stanley Cup NHL Championship… And Congrats to Tennessee’s Baseball Team for the NCAA baseball Championship! Well, I finally talked to my heart doctor yesterday, and we mapped out plan to maybe get me ready for my sojourn to Ireland… So, maybe, I can still get to go! I talked to good friend, and former Big Boss, Frank Trotter a week or so ago, and he tells me that he’s waiting for approval from the FDIC to open his bank: Battle Bank… (he’s a really patient man!) I really think that if you’re looking for a better bank, that you should sign his register and when the Bank opens, they will contact you… Simply go to: www.battlebank.com   The Band Missouri takes us to the finish line today with their one hit wonder song: Movin’ On… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and will Be Good To Yourself! 

Chuck Butler

• Currencies and metals rally on Monday
• But get sold in the overnight markets…

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you… Well, my beloved Cardinals found a way to eke out another one-run win last night VS the Braves… Why is that the 9^th inning doesn’t ever seem to be difficult for the other team, but for my Cardinals it’s like pulling teeth? Oh well, a win is a win… ELO greets me this morning with their song: Can’t Get It Out Of My Head…

That describes me in a nutshell… I get something in my head, and I can’t ever get it to leave!  Like why the dollar continues to get bought, when all the dark clouds are forming ahead for the greenback… Nevertheless, dollar buying continues… The dollar was getting sold yesterday morning when the NY traders arrived at their desks, and then the dollar kept getting sold, but not my a huge amount and the BBDXY ended the day at 1,264.50, down a total of 4 index points since Friday… 

The euro trades with a 1.07 handle again today, and the rest of the currencies are pretty much unchanged, except the Petrol Currencies, that include the ruble, real, loon, sterling, krone and peso, whom have gotten a boost from the price of Oil’s rise again… Maybe, the price of Oil can retain its gains this time, and that some egghead figured out the summer driving season is upon us…  

Gold gained $15 on the day, and Silver gained 16-cents… Gold closed at $2,335.40, and Silver closed at $29.61… You know it was just a week or so ago that Silver had crossed the $31 handle… But the short paper traders couldn’t have that, now could they? 

Speaking of short paper traders… The good folks at GATA sent me this article that pretty much says exactly what I’ve been telling you all these years, about how the Gov’t is behind the Gold price suppression. The Chinese know it like that, and here’s the cable from China to the D.C. From Wikileaks… ” cables came from the U.S. embassy in Beijing, were sent to the State Department in Washington, and included English translations of commentaries from Chinese government-controlled news organizations about U.S. gold price suppression policy.

“The U.S. and Europe have always suppressed the rising price of gold. They intend to wea ken gold’s function as an international reserve currency. They don’t want to see other countries turning to gold reserves instead of the U.S. dollar or euro. Therefore, suppressing the price of gold is very beneficial for the U.S. in maintaining the U.S. dollar’s role as the international reserve currency. 

“China’s increased gold reserves will thus act as a model and lead other countries toward reserving more gold. Large gold reserves are also beneficial in promoting the internationalization of the renminbi.”

Chuck again… I know that the main media won’t touch this article, and there won’t be any investigative journalists that take the ball and run with this… So, consider yourself privileged, that at least you knew one day that it would all be proven true, and that you dear reader read it here first… many years ago!  

In the overnight markets last night…  well, the dollar selling stopped… I just don’t get what these traders are doing these days, one day they sell dollars, the next day they buy them… Crazy… (Patsy Cline)…  The BBDXY has gained 1 index point overnight. Before I said my prayers and went off to bed last night, the BBDXY was still getting sold, so something changed the sentiment of the overnight traders…  The Price of Oil remained trading with an $81 handle, and that’s helping the Petrol Currencies fight off this dollar buying to start our day today.. 

Gold is down $6 to start our day, and Silver is down 14-cents… Those are levels that can be quickly turned around easily, so buy early if you’re looking to buy at cheaper prices, because you never know, what could happen today… All those Fed Heads speaking could slip up and mention a rate cut, and then it would be a turnaround Tuesday for sure in the metals…  

The 10-year is trading with a 4.23% handle this morning… Those bond boys just won’t give up the ship will they? 

I read this morning that traders are taking off their bets on the Mexican peso, and the turnaround is something to write home about… In other words, there are a ton of trades betting on a rise in the peso that have been taken off the board… That doesn’t spell any quick turnaround for the peso, folks… 

And the poor Japanese yen is seeing additional selling despite the jawboning by the Bank of Japan (BOJ)…   I read this morning that traders of yen are now eyeing 170… The yen hasn’t even fallen to 160 as yet, but these boys and girls are already eyeing 170…  The weakness of the yen, could be the reason why the dollar traders stopped selling dollars? 

You see, the BBDXY dollar index is made up of the U.S.’s largest trading partners, of which Japan is one those components of the index… 

I’m full of you know what and vinegar today, so say with me here, because this has been something that I’ve talked about for years now, and that is derivatives… Warren Buffett called them “weapons of mass destruction”… So, here is Pam & Russ Martens at www.wallstreetonparade.com   “As the chart published with this report shows, as of December 31, 2023, Goldman Sachs Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Citigroup’s Citibank, and Bank of America held a staggering total of $168.26 trillion in derivatives out of a total of $192.46 trillion at all U.S. banks, savings associations and trust companies. 

That’s four banks holding 87% of all derivatives at all 4,587 federally-insured institutions in the U.S. that existed as of December 31, 2023.

Now it would appear that some market-savvy bank examiner embedded in one of those megabanks has had an epiphany and decided to ask the question: “How is it possible that all four of these megabanks with trillions of dollars in derivatives happened to be on the correct sides of these trades during the fastest and steepest interest rate increases in 40 years?”

Multiple bank counterparties to these trades should be reporting massive loss es and yet all we hear are crickets. …”

Chuck again… Tsk, tsk, tsk… But think about that for a minute… Who’s holding the other side of these derivatives, and why haven’t they been reporting huge losses? I mean just on the bets on interest rates, the holders would be at huge losses… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg…   

It’s like the letter today is nothing but FWIW articles… Well, when they hand you lemons, what do you do? I make lemonade… Hard lemonade at that! 

There’s just not that much out there regarding the markets that you haven’t already read about here in the Pfennig… 

The U.S. Data Cupboard has a surprise for me this morning, in that the Case/Shiller April Home Price report will print… I had missed that one yesterday in reporting the data prints this week… We’ll also see the color of the latest Consumer Confidence I’ll eat my hat if this report shows a gain… Ok, I won’t eat my hat, that’s just an old saying, from an old man!  In addition to the prints today, there will be some Fed Heads speaking… 

To recap… The dollar was getting sold when we started the day yesterday, and continued to get sold, albeit not by a wide margin, but sold nonetheless… Gold gained on the day, and Silver gained too… Wikileaks released a cable from China regarding their view on price suppression, check it out above if you scanned over it… It all plays out just like I first described it many years ago in the Pfennig… The letter today is more or less a day of FWIW articles… Chuck’s busy making hard lemonade! 

For What It’s Worth… Well, this link came to me from the good folks at GATA, and it describes a ransom/ hacking effort on the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel… And it can be found here: Bank Info Could Be at Risk in Possible Russian Hack of Fed (moneymetals.com)

Or, here’s your snippet: “A Russian hacking organization appears to be in the process of blackmailing the Federal Reserve. 

On June 23, 2024, the criminal organization LockBit 3.0, a Russian ransomware cybercriminal group, publicly stated that it hacked the Federal Reserve and implied it would release over “33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing details of Americans’ banking secrets” unless a large ransom is paid.

More specifically, the cyber-terrorist organization says the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government have until tomorrow afternoon, June 25, at 4:27 p.m. EDT to comply with its undisclosed monetary demands.

A LockBit Tweet last night alludes to the hacking group’s displeasure about the Federal Reserve’s response to their demands:

“You better hire another negotiator within 48 hours, and fire this clinical idiot who values Amercans’ bank secrecy at $50,000.”

Chuck again… So far the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel have not issued any information on this hacking attempt…  This is not good folks… I’m just saying… I guess we’ll find out later today if this was for real or not…

Market Prices 6/25/2024: American Style: A$ .6651, kiwi .6121, C% .7315, euro 1.0715, sterling 1.2687, Swiss $1.1185, European Style: rand 18.1667, krone 10.5779, SEK 10.4751, forint 369.85, zloty 4.0126, koruna 23.1719, RUB 87.47, yen 159.47, Sing 1.3555, HKD 7.8075, INR 83.43, China 7.2526, peso 18.06, BRL 5.3910, BBDXY 1,265.16, Dollar Index 105.59, Oil $81.11, 10-year 4.23%, Silver $29.47, Platinum $1,041.00, Palladium $961.00, Copper $4.41, and Gold… $2,329.88

That’s it for today…  Well, 2 down, 2 to go… I didn’t get any resolution on my health problem yesterday, and I’m not a happy camper about that! Maybe that’s why I was so full of you know what and vinegar this morning! Today is my first nephew’s birthday… Happy Birthday, Eddie…  Eddie is a grown man with a family now… I don’t pretend to know all my nieces and nephew’s birthdays, but for some reason this one is etched on my mind (see I can’t get it to leave! HA!) I guess I was never really close them and that’s my fault… I was a working man, and I’ll say no more!  I know my kids birthdays, my wife’s birthday, my grandkids birthdays, and my siblings…  I say that’s enough memory space taken up! OK, Chilliwack takes us to the finish line today with their great song: Fly By Night…  I know my good friend, Rick will like that one! I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and that you will please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• Currencies & metals get sold last Friday…
• Chuck is full of gloom & doom this morning…

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! Well, if all things work out for me this week, this will be my last week before going on my Irish sojourn, which will last two weeks… There will be no Pfennigs on that day, so if you feel like you need a shot of Pfennig, simply go to www,dailypfennig.com and read an archived letter! Chicago greets me this morning with their great song: Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?

That dastardly, no good, rotten to bone, short paper traders were working overtime late last week…  First of all on Thursday last week, Gold gained over $31, and Silver gained over 96-cents… The problem with that day was that these closing prices for Gold & Silver were way below their respective intraday highs… The short paper traders cut short their gains on the day… 

And not being completely satisfied with their work on Thursday, the short paper traders never allowed Gold & Silver to even start to follow through on their Thursday gains… Yet, another engineered takedown was in place on Friday, and Gold lost $39, and Silver lost $1.23… The two metals gave back what they had gained on Thursday, and then some… 

The Dollar gained some momentum late last week, especially after the Swiss National Bank announced another rate cut… The BBDXY ended the week at 1,268… And the euro ended the week below 1.07 at 1.0691… The rest of the currencies all have been sent right back to their sick beds, as they have seen their sickness relapse… 

The price of Oil slipped a bit to close the week with an $80 handle… And the 10-year’s yield ended the week at 4.25%… 

In the overnight markets last night…The dollar was sold overnight, a bit… The BBDXY has given back 3 index points to start our day today… I think the thinking in the foreign markets is that the U.S. dollar bugs are out of their collective minds buying dollars right now… At least that’s what I would be thinking if I were foreign trader!  The currencies don’t look that much better as we start today/ week… So, the BBDXY would have to lose a bunch more points to show up in the euro, sterling, et al…   

The price of Gold is up $6 to start our day/ week….  Silver is up 9-cents this morning too… No sign yet of the short paper traders… But don’t you fret, they’re out there folks… No question about that! I can’t get my head around how dastardly the short paper traders not only stopped Gold & Silver’s rise last week, but sent them reeling once again… I had thought that maybe, just maybe, cause you-never-know (Joaquin Andujar), these short paper traders had learned their lesson, after Gold’s rise this year, that put their short trades in peril… But that thought was incorrect, and I admit that! 

The price of Oil remained just below $81 overnight, and the 10-year’s yield is 4.26% to start the day… 

Well, don’t look now, but the Japanese yen is in a free fall once again, and despite all the jawboning the Bank of Japan (BOJ) spews on the markets, the traders and hedge funds aren’t buying what the BOJ is selling… And so they continue to mark down yen… Remember, when I was quite excited that the BOJ had finally hiked rates, but said, then… “The BOJ had better follow up this rate hike, with another and soon, or else the bloom will be off the rose with yen”   Looks like that has come to fruition, eh? 

The Swiss National Bank (SNB ) cut their internal rate once again last week, and made a very interesting statement afterward, saying, that ” they had to cut rates to spur the economy, and stem the franc’s gains”…  So, did you ever question the thought that the countries of the world, are in the business of “rob thy neighbor”?   Here’s your proof! 

Back here in the U.S. something is going on that’s a little strange, and needs some further investigation into… U.S. Banks are really in trouble folks, and in my opinion, this is the catastrophe that will bring about the digital currencies… I read this morning, that the Big Banks are unloading bad debt, in an opportunity to ready themselves for the coming dark clouds…  Now, who they’re unloading that bad debt on wasn’t talked about, and to me that’s the $64 question this morning, “who’s going to be left holding the bag?” 

Yes, I know in the end it will be you and me… The taxpayers, which leads me to my number one question: Got Gold? 

Well, the U.S. had funding problems ahead… $10 Trillion in debt will come due by year-end… And that $10 Trillion will have to be rolled over, into new higher interest bonds… Good luck with that, especially, if the Fed does the dirty deeds, done dirt cheap (AC/DC)  and cuts rates to help reduce the debt servicing costs of their bonds, the funding problem will become a real road block… I’m just saying folks… It looks like this we’ve been in the eye of the storm, and the back side of the storm is about to hit us, and hit us hard…  

And that thought leads me to my next one: I’ve read the Congressional Budget Office’s notes regarding their forecast for U.S. Debt… The notes are scary folks… But will they ever really get to those levels that the CBO talked about ( U.S. debt to be greater than $56 Trillion in the next 10 years)?   Dust in the Wind… All we are is dust in the wind (Kanas)… We, will have entered a nuclear war by then?  Geesh, I sure hope not! But we can’t dismiss that thought, given the saber rattling going on between Russia and U.S., China and the U.S. and China and Taiwan, So, let’s just continue to spend, spend, until your daddy takes the car keys away! Wait, What? I’m being flippant here, with that last remark about spending… But in reality, isn’t that exactly what is going to happen anyway? 

I’m sorry, but I do read a lot of gloom and doom stuff, and sometimes it takes over my fat fingers and they begin to type away… 

OK, onto something else to wet our whistle this morning! 

The U.S. Data Cupboard this week is pretty barren until we get to Thursday… There’s nothing for us here today, so we’ll move along, for these are not the droids we’re looking for!  Oh, there will be a STUPID Consumer Confidence report before Thursday, as if that’s something that the markets should pay attention to! NOT!    

To recap… The dollar was on a run late last week, but ran into some selling in the overnight markets last night… Not a lot of selling, just some…  The short paper traders made a mess of things again last Friday, and this morning, Gold & Silver attempt to put the pieces of their rallies back together again… Chuck thinks that the Big Banks are telling everyone to head to their bomb shelters… And $10 Trillion of debt come due before year end, at what cost will we have to roll that debt over?   

For What It’s Worth… Matthew Piepenberg is back with another thought provoking article that can be found here: https://vongreyerz.gold/the-next-screwed-generation-deserves-an-apology?utm_source=VON+GREYERZ+AG&utm_campaign=23cd13fac3-MAILCHIMP_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_52b932d501-23cd13fac3-600781075

Or, here’s your snippet: “And when the holder of the world reserve currency runs an annual twin (budget and trade) deficit of $3T and counting, or mis-reports actual inflation to achieve a carefully hidden negative real return on its IOUs to inflate its way out of debt on the backs of the working poor, we should not only be concerned about the bills to pay (and who pays them), but also consider the neutered profile of the “bucks” used to pay them.

But perhaps such concerns feel less immediate to the Baby Boomer et al generation who, knowingly or unknowingly, can (via the help of an increasingly geriatric leadership) simply pass this embarrassing tab on to the next generation?

The Club Baller…

If I, for example, wanted to flaunt my status at the nearest “Popinjay Club” by arriving in the latest fashions and fastest car while indulging in the most elaborate and consistent dinner tabs, polo fees and trendiest wine selections, I suppose I’d have the right to spend as I please and flaunt my “success.”

After all, I am a capitalist, and like all capitalists, who doesn’t prefer first-class over economy seats?

But what if I lived this life for years, smiling through every chucker, wine bottle and sports car only to leave this world in my sleep at ripe ol’ age while leaving the entire invoice to my kids?

That is, what if I enjoyed it all, but then made them pay for it? What if I thrived so that they could suffer?

Seems insane, no? Diabolical? Selfish beyond belief? Absolutely grotesque at the micro level.

But here’s the rub: At the macro level, that is precisely what the older generation of American financial “leadership” is now doing to the younger generation.”

Chuck again… A great article that should be required reading by everyone in the U.S. including, especially that is, U.S. lawmakers… 

Market Prices 6/24/2024: American Style: A$ .6641, kiwi .6117, euro 1.0732, Sterling 1.2668, Swiss $1.1194, European Style: rand 18.1921, krone 10.5800, SEK 10.4885, forint 367.79, zloty 4.0066, koruna 23.1844, RUB 87.57, yen 159.53, sing 1.3521, HKD 7.8074, INR 83.47, China 7.2589, peso 18.07, BRL 5.4207, BBDXY 1,265.80, Dollar Index 105.56, Oil $80.93, 10-year 4.26%, Silver $29.54, Platinum $1,009.00, Palladium $993.00, Copper $4.41, And Gold… $2,326.02

That’s it for today… A lovely time was had by all at Alex and Grace’s engagement party this past weekend, that was held in Little Rock Ark.  That’s where the wedding will take place, even though they will live near me in Missouri… Hmmm… And my beloved Cardinals swept the Giants… I brought my iPad with me to Arkansas, to watch the Cardinals games… It helped pass the time while waiting for things… I’m having some health problems that if they don’t clear up, I won’t be able to get on that plane this coming Sunday… More to follow…  Eric Burdon and the Animals take us to the finish line today with their classic rock song: House Of The Rising Sun…  I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• Currencies & metals were on hiatus yesterday so no movement there
• GDP isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on!

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! Well, my beloved Cardinals couldn’t win the 3-game series with their stablemates in Jupiter, the Marlins only winning 1 game… To a team with a really bad record, the Cardinals played down to their level of competition once again. UGH!  A nationally televised game today on Fox, so you too can share in my frustration with this team! HA! Paul Young greets me this morning with his one-hit wonder song: Every Time She Goes Away  (this song was an original Hall & Oats song) 

There wasn’t much going on in the markets yesterday, with the stock market and bond market both closed to observe the Juneteenth Holiday… So, there’s not much to report on that went on yesterday, because there wasn’t anything!  So, we move along… 

In the overnight markets last night… The dollar is getting bought as we start the day today, and that started in the Asian markets last night. The BBDXY is up 2 index points to start the day today. The euro is falling within the 1.07 handle, and the rest of the currencies are getting sold, and that includes the Russian ruble, which had been on the rally tracks the last week.  I don’t get why traders are buying dollars, folks…  All the stuff that follows this paragraph this morning, tells stories of how the dollar should be getting sold… But, it is what it is, and I can’t change that, so…  Oh! Gold is up $9 to start the day today, and Silver is surging, up 70-cents, the 10-year is getting sold, for once, and its yield has risen to 4.25% to start the day, and the price of oil remains in the $81 handle… 

You know, I’ve discussed how Gov’t Spending supports GDP in the past, and yesterday, Bill Bonner, was talking about the fake GDP that the U.S. boasts about, here’s Bill : “An example… Of 3.5 million veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan two thirds say the wars were not worth fighting. 1.8 million came home with a ‘permanent disability.’ Total veterans’ disability costs will reach as much as $2.5 trillion by 2050. Those disability payments increase GDP.  Do they also increase human happiness? 

The financial cost is a statistic. But what about the real cost… the effect of missing legs and arms on a real person… where is that number? 

Or…US retirees get an inflation adjustment in January. Monthly payments went up 3.2%. GDP went up! “

You can find Bill here: Nonna Sense – by Bill Bonner and Dan Denning (bonnerprivateresearch.com)

The U.S. economy seems to be going along without a hiccup, but is it really? Retail Sales stink, Manufacturing is in contraction, Factory Orders was tepid at best, wages continue to stagnate, GDP has averaged 2% for a decade, and inflation continues to be sticking around… Please don’t listen to the likes of: Janet Yellen, Joe Biden, and the rest of the administration, because they’ll sell you a bill of goods that is trash… I’m just saying… 

Ok, Chuck move along here before everyone begins to yell at the walls, like you do all the time! 

Here’s my friend, Rich Checkan of:Asset Strategies International. Precious Metals and Rare Tangible Assets    “The de-dollarization continues as Russia is forced by sanctions to move to the Chinese Yuan as their benchmark exchange rate. As other countries’ central banks look for alternatives to the U.S. dollar, like gold, it’s another nail in the coffin for the end of its status as the world’s reserve currency. Meanwhile precious metals are up slightly this week.”

Chuck again…..Another sharp mind thinking like me that the BRICS are hell-bent and whiskey bound to dedollarize the rest of the world… And that, my friends is a reason that you should be doing the same… Yes, you need dollar for gas, groceries and giggles, but your investment portfolio should be diversified and not so dollar oriented… Got Gold? 

And this came in from longtime reader, Bob, from zerohedge.com of course, and is being kept on the side of the road, because its Japan, but the eeriness of how similar this is to what’s going on here with banks, is crazy… And it can be found here: The Music Just Stopped: Japan Banking Giant Norinchukin To Liquidate $63 Billion In Treasuries & European Bonds To Plug Massive Unrealized Losses | ZeroHedge

Here’s the snippet: “But if that was the first, and still distant, sign that something was very wrong at one of Japan’s biggest banks (Norinchukin is Japan’s 5th largest bank with $840 billion in assets) today the proverbial canary stepped on a neutron bomb inside the Japanese coalmine, because according to Nikkei, Norinchukin Bank “will sell more than 10 trillion yen ($63 billion) of its holdings of U.S. and European government bonds during the year ending March 2025 as it aims to stem its losses from bets on low-yield foreign bonds, a main cause of its deteriorating balance sheet, and lower the risks associated with holding foreign government bonds.”

Chuck again… Remember when I used to use the song by the Vapors, Turning Japanese, when talking about our adding debt? Well, this example I just presented is a case of the Japanese turning American… HA!

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday was void of any prints due to the holiday… Today’s Data Cupboard has the usual Thursday fare of the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims… And a housing report… Nothing really to get the juices going in traders today… 

To recap… Yesterday was a nothing day in the markets, as the stock and bond markets, and thus the Currency markets and metals markets were not in session due to the Juneteenth holiday. Chuck has a real thoughts for you all to take in this morning, so keep reading! 

For What It’s Worth… My good friend, Dennis Miller of www.milleronthemoney.com sent me this article and said, “This is scary!” And I replied, “Yes, it is!” So, put away the sharp objects and grab a refill on you java this morning and lets see what’s so scary… The article can be found here: Chase Bank Customers Are Reporting a Wave of Wire Fraud in their Accounts; the Bank Won’t Make Good on the Looted Funds (wallstreetonparade.com)

Or, here’s your snippet: “Knowing this bank’s history of felony counts and an unprecedented rap sheet, it occurred to us that these fraudulent wire transfers might not be an isolated event at Chase Bank. We went to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) complaint database and put “Chase Bank wire fraud” in the search box. It brought up 558 responses.

If you consider that possibly one out of 50 Americans know about the CFPB’s complaint database and fewer still would take the time to file a complaint as opposed to going to law enforcement, the 558 complaints involving wire fraud appear to us to be deeply concerning. In addition, the dates of the filing of the complaints show that dozens of the complaints have occurred in the past six months in widely dispersed geographic areas including California, New York, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Ohio, among others.

On April 4 of this year, the CFPB received the following report from a Chase Bank customer in New York: (Redacted information, indicated by Xs, is how the complaint appears on the CFPB website.)

“On XX/XX/2024, a total of {$130000.00} was wired out of my bank accounts with Chase Bank in New York without my authorization. I never send wires for more than a few XXXX dollars. I was not notified or warned by Chase. Usually they send an email advising when a wire transfer is made. This did not happen…To my immense horror, Chase had no interest in pursuing a serious investigation….”

CFPB received this complaint from a Chase Bank customer in Colorado on April 2:

“If you are a JPMorgan Chase customer be aware!!!!!! I was a victim of a non-authorized wire transfer within my JP Morgan Chase banking account. JPMC bank is refusing to help me get my {$9200.00} that was fraudulently stolen from my account because they say there is nothing they can do, that the $ was NOT stolen from them-JPM Chase but from me personally.”

On April 1, a California couple wrote in their CFPB complaint that they had rushed to their local Chase Bank branch to stop a suspected fraudulent wire transfer and a Chase Bank employee indicated that the hacker was cloning an actual Chase Bank phone number to commit the wire fraud. “

Chuck again, and here’s the real scary part… The bank is refusing to reimburse the client’s funds that were stolen using the bank’s wire system…  I shake my head in disgust… 

Market Prices 6/20/2024: American Style: A$ .6666, kiwi .6124, C$ .7291, euro 1.0715, sterling 1.2691, Swiss $1.1224, European Style: rand 18.1053, krone 10.5352, SEK 10.4199, forint 380.82, zloty 4.0314, koruna 23.2246, RUB 86.92, yen 158.40, sing 1.3599, HKD 7.8046, INR 83.64, China 7.2605, peso 18.42, BRL 5.4347, BBDXY 1,266.86, Dollar Index 105.48, Oil $81.74, 10-year 4.25%, Silver $30.34, Platinum $985.00, Palladium $917.00, Copper $4.49, and Gold… $2,339.25

That’s it for today… Yesterday I told you that I was heading to Little Rock Ark, tomorrow… Saturday, Alex’s fiancé’s family is holding an engagement party that will be high flatutin’ … I even had to go out and by a new suit, to fit my slimmer body! Notice I didn’t say “slim body”, I said “slimmer body”, than the ones I had when I used to wear suits to give presentations… I had sticker shock at the price increases in suits since I last bought one… I will refuse to wear a tie, I do know that!  Well, 4 more Pfennigs next week and then I’m on my sojourn to Ireland… I’m getting excited about the trip… Blind Faith takes us to the finish line today with their great song: Can’t Find My Way Home…  (I’ve never been in that condition, and hope I don’t find out what it’s like!) I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and please go out of your way to Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

• Currencies and metals have drifted about the sea since last week
• Printing a 1 Trillion coin to pay for our debt interest?

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! It’s been 5 days since I wrote to you, and I’m itching to get this going this morning! I went through my heart procedure with flying colors, albeit they had to navigate through the blood in my mouth when inserting the beathing tube… But I’m here, and was able to go home the same day, so there’s that! I rested a long time yesterday, don’t know why, but I did, and that’s that! Golden Earring greets me this morning with their great song: Twilight Zone

Well, while I was out of pocket for a few days, the dollar didn’t exactly get bought up like garage sale, deals… It did gain a bit in the BBDXY but the euro, which had briefly slipped below 1.07, rebounded back above the level yesterday. The rest of the currencies sans Russian rubles, all drifted around at sea, for the last week… The ruble is really getting bought up, and this is identical of how the ruble reacted the last time the price of Oil was on the rise… You know, I’ve always said that the ruble was an Oil play, nothing more, nothing less… 

Speaking of Oil, the price of Oil ended yesterday trading with an $81 handle… Gold & Silver have seen the ups and downs one day to the other for the last week.. Gold goes up one day, and down the next… The short paper Traders never get to rest, eh?   For the record, Gold closed yesterday, at $2,330.70, up $10 on the day. And Silver closed yesterday at $29.65 up 15-cens on the day.   I still believe that Gold & Silver especially, are at bargain prices to where I see them going. So there’s that! 

The 10-year Treasury has seen its yield plunge since last week when I last wrote to you. Then its yield was 4.32%, and yesterday the 10-year closed with a 4.22% yield… Somebody believes that a rate cut is coming, and more than one! 

In the overnight markets last night… There was little to no movement in the BBDXY, although it is down about ½ of an index point this morning… The euro is moving higher in the 1.07 handle, and the Russian ruble is kicking some tail and taking names later once again… The metals are flat to down a buck, with Silver down 10-cents, and Gold down $1 to start the day today… Levels that are easily reversed, so what say you, Gold Bugs? 

The price of Oil was steady Eddie overnight with an $81 handle, and the 10-year’s yield remained at 4.22%… So, all-in-all, a nothing event was the overnight markets last night… That’s the way they used to be, with every now and then a wild hair would grow, but these day, it’s always something coming from overseas, so there’s that! 

Speaking of Gold…  Ed Steer had this article in his letter this morning, “More than eight in ten, or 81%, of respondents to the 2024 Central Banks Gold Reserves survey said they expect reserve managers to continue to increase their gold holdings in the next 12 months. This data, released by the World Gold Council, reflects the highest confidence level recorded since the survey began in 2019.”

As always you can find Ed here: www.edsteergoldsilver.com

Remember back in March, when the Fed Heads were talking about making 3 rate cuts before year-end? And I chastised them for saying that because inflation was nowhere near the 2% target for inflation that the Fed heads themselves, instituted! 

Well, fast forward to today, June 19th, more a little more than 3 months later, and The Fed Heads are now talking about 1 rate cut before year end, and the stock jockeys, bond boys, and dollar bugs are all excited as a school girl, and therefore all those asset classes are in rally mode… 

To me, it’s a little of jumping ahead, before the act takes place… There’s still no guarantee that the Fed Heads will cut 1 time before year end… Shoot Rudy, inflation isn’t going anywhere, it’s here to stay, as long as the deficit spending, money supply, and all-out doltness of our elected lawmakers keep going… On, and on, and on, hmmmmmm…..

And last week I told you about how the Saudi’s had ended their agreement with the U.S. to price all their oil contracts with other countries in dollars, and that I saw this as a negative for the dollar… 

But then James Rickards wrote the next day ( I wasn’t aware he was a Pfennig Reader!)  that: “The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are currently in negotiations on a new financial and security arrangement that would supersede the old petrodollar deal. The new agreement will provide that Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel as part of the broader Abraham Accords initiated during the Trump administration.”

Chuck again, well, if James Rickards is a Pfennig Reader, he might want to stop right here: Because it has been Rickards that claimed at least 4 times last year, that the stock market would collapse on a Certain Day…  So, take his note with a grain of salt… I’m just saying… 

I’m not dissing on James Rickards here, I still love to hear what he has to say, and have read all of his books… Just saying what’s true, that’s all… 

There’s a return talk of the U.S. minting a Trillion dollar coin and depositing it at the Fed, to cover this year’s interest expense on it’s debt… That way, the money doesn’t get printed and spent and become inflation… But what’s behind the Trillion dollar coin? The debt is all fake money any way, so why not have a fake coin?   Sometimes I wonder what has taken the eggheads that run this country’s finances so long to figure this out… This way the debt doesn’t rise, unless the knuckleheads in D.C. Overspend on boondoggles and promises… 

More to come on that thought folks… But for now, just know that this is being tossed around in D.C. Right now… 

And then there’s this from Bullionstar.com’ Ronan Manley”When the words ‘Zimbabwe’ and ‘currencies’ are mentioned in the same sentence, many people will bring to mind the chronic hyperinflation period that Zimbabwe experienced from the early 2000s to 2009, and the infamous 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note which Zimbabwe’s central bank issued in a desperate attempt to cope with that hyperinflation.

That hyperinflationary period – which included Zimbabwe’s inflation rate peaking at an astronomical  in November 2008 – was only brought under control when the country abandoned the then Zimbabwean dollar in 2009 and moved to a multi-currency system of officially using the US dollar and other foreign currencies, a move which stabilized Zimbabwe’s inflation rates at more ‘normal’ levels between the years 2010 and 2018.”

Chuck again, but guess what happened, the Gov’t in Zimbabwe abandoned the currency regime, and printed a new Zimbabwean dollar, and inflation returned…   So, there’s a lesson to be learned for the Trillion dollar coin thought makers in D.C. 

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) put out a statement yesterday that talked about how dealing with inflation has been difficult on everyone, but they were bound and determined to continue to fight inflation and get it back below their target rate of 1-3%… (it used to be 2%, but I guess as they got older they expanded it)  That, was the RBNZ’s way of telling the markets that interest rates will remain at present levels…. Good for them! 

Longtime reader, Bob, sent me this link: National debt will exceed $50 trillion by 2034, budget watchdog estimates (msn.com)

And here’s a brief snippet of that message: “The deficit will swell to $1.9 trillion this fiscal year and keep growing until the overall national debt hits $50.7 trillion a decade from now, Congress’s nonpartisan bookkeeper said in its latest report. “

I guess the folks in D.C. Will have to mint a lot of Trillion dollar coins!!!!

I mentioned the Russian ruble above, and there’s more to its recent strength that just the price of Oil rising… The ruble has strengthened sharply since a President Vladimir Putin decree on the mandatory sale of foreign currency for certain exporters was announced last month.  And don’t forget that last fall the Russian Central Bank raised their internal rate to 15%!  If only we weren’t fighting a war against them! 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday, had a few real economic reports for May, and leading off was Retail Sales, which were up just 0.1%… And that’s not good for a strong economy, I’m just saying… Industrial Production, which in April was negative, printed positive in May at 0.9%, and Capacity Utilization stayed steady Eddie at 78.75%.. 

There’s nothing in the data cupboard today, since it’s the Juneteenth holiday today…

To recap… It’s been a back and forth trading event since Chuck last wrote last Thursday… The dollar drifted higher, but not a hot sales item. The price of Gold & Silver gained and lost in alternating days… The price of Oil gained steadily the few days and ended yesterday with an $81 handle… The U.S. is thinking about printing a Trillion dollar coin to pay for its interest expense… Somehow Chuck thinks this is not how it should be done… 

Before we go to the Big Finish today, there are a couple of RIPs to mention… First of all the great say hey kid, Willie Mays, passed away yesterday at the age of 93… And then there was the passing of Ted Butler (no relation that I know of), the Silver guru… I owe just about everything I know about the Silver market to Ted… If you looked up the word Guru, Ted’s picture would appear… RIP Ted, and Willie… 

For What It’s Worth… Well, I found this before I went to the hospital on Monday morning, and it’s about how the BLS is fudging the employment reports, something that I’ve always pointed out, now we have someone new to point out the fake jobs reports, and it can be found here: Powell Admits The Biden Admin Is “Overstating” Jobs | ZeroHedge

Or, here’s your snippet: “Where things got very interesting, however, is when Powell was discussing the demand-side of the labor market: here, he addressed the dropping quits level, the decline in job openings and wages, but more importantly, the rising unemployment rate – from 3.4% to 4.0% which clearly goes against the narrative of red hot payrolls –  all of which the Fed chair summarized as strong job creation, yet caveated by saying that “there is an argument that [payrolls] may be a bit overstated.“

Note: he didn’t say “understated” because the “-stating” always goes in just one direction: the one that makes the resident of the White House look good.

In other words, the jobs – like so many things about this Potemkin economy – are a lie, and while Powell immediately realized what he had said, and tried to couch it by adding that payrolls are “still strong”, suddenly the entire narrative of a strong labor market imploded in front of our eyes, because if the Biden admin will lie about a “bit” of the jobs report, it will lie about any part of it.

And, as we have shown above and every month this year, lie is precisely what the Biden administration has been doing, month after month, year after year.

And the biggest stunner, as Edward Snowden put it so eloquently, is that he’s “not sure I’ve ever seen the chairman of the Federal Reserve publicly accuse the White House of cooking the books on employment numbers, but here we are.”

Chuck again… Don’t get mad at me for using an article that calls the president a liar, the gist of the report is that the BLS is fake, and now Jerome Powell is calling them out… 

Market Prices 6/19/2024: American Style: A$ .6672, kiwi 6135, C$ .7293, euro 1.0750, sterling 1.2733, Swiss $1.1305, European Style: rand 18.0529, krone 10.6557, SEK 10.4200, forint 368.35, koruna 23.1655, RUB 84.17, yen 157.87, sing 1.3505, HKD 7.8064, INE 83.45, China 7.2569, peso 18.43, BRL 5.4357, BBDXY 1,264.22, Dollar Index 105.17, Oil $81.49, 10-year 4.22%, Silver $29.55, Platinum $982.00, Palladium $905.00, Copper $4.49, and Gold… $2,329.73

That’s it for today… I used up another of my nine lives this week… Not a big deal operation, but it did involve my heart… I’m just saying… My good friend, and former Big Boss, Frank Trotter, told me that I should donate my body to science to see how I’ve lived this long with cancer… I think I’ll pass on that suggestion, I somehow think I would be able to feel them cutting me up… I know that’s not possible, but who knows?  My beloved Cardinals tsk, tsk, tsk… They blew a game last night VS the Marlins.. A day game today down in Miami… So, hopefully I don’t sleep all afternoon today! Tomorrow I’ll talk about a trip I will be making to Little Rock, Ark, this weekend… Until then, Procol Harum takes us to the finish line today with their song: Conquistador… I hop you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler