- Gold & Silver have good days on Tuesday…
- The dollar drifts on Tuesday, but sees some slippage overnight.
Good Day… and a Wonderful Wednesday to you! The gray clouds finally gave way to sunshine yesterday late afternoon, and I think that the full sun skies will remain for the rest of the week, warming up a little more each day! YAHOO! I passed the foreman here yesterday in the hall, and he was all bundled up, and he asked me how I was doing… I said, ” I didn’t come down here to wear sweatshirts!” And so, I won’t! Day 3 of being all alone here, didn’t turn out too good, as I felt like death warmed over, and slept all afternoon… But today’s a new day! The sun is making an attempt to come out of the ocean this morning, and I feel much better! The Kinks greet me this morning with their song: Sunny Afternoon…
Before I get started on the markets, have you heard what the gov’t is now installing all over to eliminate cash? They are called Reverse ATM’s, and it’s how the gov’t will attempt to confiscate your cash… You put cash into the machine, and it spits out a debit card for the same amount of cash that was deposited… These machines are being installed at the Super Bowl right now! Unsuspecting people, not paying attention to the machine, are going to be in for a surprise… Since there will be no cash exchanged at ballparks all over the country, the debit card will be needed to buy that big foam finger., nachos, or whatever else you want at the ballpark!
To me, this is outrageous, and can’t be stopped, unless someone puts their foot down and says no mas! The digital dollar is coming folks… And as Gandolf the White said, “Understand this. Things are now in motion that cannot be undone.” You know, if I didn’t have kids and grandkids all around me in St. Louis, I would split this country before things get heated, and out of whack… I have this feeling that in 10 years’ time, all my kids will be back home with me, and all our 4 families will live together, scraping through each day to provide food and shelter to the young ones… I know, I know, that’s all tin foil hat stuff, and nothing you want to hear about so early in the morning, but… I’ telling you now, so you’ll listen to me later, these reverse ATMS’s are the beginning of the end, of our financial system as we know it…
Well, it’s a good thing the dollar didn’t do anything yesterday, since I started today’s letter with a rant… Yes, finally, the dollar didn’t get bought on Tuesday, with the BBDXY finishing at 1,244… Same as the previous day. Gold found a way to eke out a $12 gain on the day. I say “eke out” because it was nip and tuck most of the day, with the short paper traders doing their bit to keep a lid on Gold, but finally Gold burst through all the noise, and rallied on the day… Silver was not treated nicely, and ended the day down 3-cents… I saw another outfit claiming that they knew Gold would rise to $2,200 and Silver would outperform Gold in 2024. Well, that’s what they wrote… Hopefully they don’t tell their clients that, they know Gold will rise to $2,200, they could get in some deep dookie doing that!
The price of Oil remained trading with a $73 handle yesterday, and I forgot to talk about bonds yesterday, and it’s a good thing I did forget because, Bonds reversed their trading on Tuesday that brought the 10-year’s yield to 4.16%, only to see it close on Wednesday at 4.09%… Maybe it was just a correction because the 10-year’s yield had jumped from 3.89% to 4.16% in a matter of days…
In the overnight markets last night… Well there was a disturbance in the force… The dollar slipped a bit overnight, not much but the BBDXY is down 3 index points to start our day today… Just those three index points improved the health of the currencies quite a bit! The euro remains below 1.08, but the rest of the currencies have perked up, and don’t look so sad this morning. Gold isn’t smiling to start the day though… Gold is down $2 to start the day, and Silver is down 19-cents… Adrian Day, a financial analyst and writer, and longtime acquaintance, believes that investors will rush back to Gold once the metal reaches $2,100… I like Adrian, and he’s normally bang on with his calls, so what will it take to get Gold to $2,100, from here?
I would point to today’s refunding that the Treasury will have to deal with… The Treasury will auction a record $42 Billion in 10-year bonds today… That’s a HUGE amount of debt that will have to be sold today… Any problems with the auction could light a fuse under Gold, as a safe haven… We’ll have to wait-n-see, eh?
The price of Oil remained in the $73 handle overnight, and there was a small disturbance in bonds, as the 10-year’s yield rose to 4.12% ahead of the auction…
Well, our buddy, NOT!, Neal Kashkari, the President of the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel, Minneapolis, decided to give us his two cents on interest rates yesterday, let’s listen in: “There is no need to quickly lower interest rates because the level is not high enough to push down growth very much, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said Monday.
“The current stance of monetary policy…may not be as tight as we would have assumed, The implication of this is that, I believe, it gives the FOMC time to assess upcoming economic data before starting to lower the federal funds rate, with less risk that too-tight policy is going to derail the economic recovery.”
Chuck again… Sounds to me like he’s been reading the Pfennig!
So… $42 Billion in new 10-year Treasuries… I wonder what the avg yield will be tagged on these bonds? It will certainly be higher than the 10-year bonds that are coming due… Let’s see in Feb 2014, the Fed Funds rate was a paltry .07%, so that puts the 10-year’s yield around 2.66%… This increase in the cost to service the bonds, will just be added to the national debt… We’ll have to borrow more to pay the interest (bond servicing costs)… As Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel President, Jerome Powell, said on Sunday night… “The debt is growing faster than the economy, and that can’t be sustained.”…
But the dollar continues to be the King of the Hill, it’s as if the dollar bugs have blinders on, and have decided that none of the ill winds that are blowing, are noting to worry about… Well, one day they’ll be no PPT to protect the dollar, and the dollar bugs will get their rear ends handed to them… I’m just saying…
Yesterday, I mentioned the Mexican Peso as the one currency that was holding its value VS the dollar, and I had two emails on that… 1. asked me why the peso was so strong, and I explained that with Mexico being an oil exporter, that the price of Oil helps support the peso, but more importantly, the Mexican Interest rates have finally reached a risk premium point that helps the peso… 2. this fellow had a different idea as to why the peso was strong, and here is his thought; “Mexico economy is booming as the government works with the cabals to generate billions on the immigration game.”
Chuck again… Ok, and I thought I was jaded! Whew! I think I’ll stick with my thought on the peso… and let the other idea slide…
The U.S. Data Cupboard today, has the U.S. Trade Deficit for Jan, and it’s expected to be around $62 Billion… With the dollar so strong last month, I would expect the expectation to be weak… I guess we’ll see who’s right! We’ll also see the color of the Jan. Consumer Credit, read debt… yesterday’s Pfennig had me talking about this happening yesterday, but I must have looked at the calendar sideways, or just plain got it wrong! it’s a today data print!
To recap… The dollar didn’t move yesterday, and maybe just maybe because you never know, the all-clear siren will sound today, and the Good Witch Glinda, will be saying, “come out, come out, it’s safe now”… Gold fought through the short paper traders and gained $12 yesterday, while Silver lost 3-cents… Neal Kashkari said that there’ no need to cut rates so soon… Good for him! Inflation is still all around us, and not going anywhere fast for sure! The overnight market saw the dollar get
For What It’s Worth… Speaking of Consumer Debt… This news was troubling to me, and should be to you too… It seems that Consumers are delinquent in paying on the Credit Cards… This article can be found here: Credit card delinquencies surged in 2023, indicating ‘financial stress,’ New York Fed says (cnbc.com)
Or, here’s your snippet: “Credit card delinquencies surged more than 50% in 2023 as total consumer debt swelled to $17.5 trillion, the New York Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
Debt that has transitioned into “serious delinquency,” or 90 days or more past due, increased across multiple categories during the year, but none more so than credit cards.
With a total of $1.13 trillion in debt, credit card debt that moved into serious delinquency amounted to 6.4% in the fourth quarter, a 59% jump from just over 4% at the end of 2022, the New York Fed reported. The quarterly increase at an annualized pace was around 8.5%, New York Fed researchers said.
Delinquencies also rose in mortgages, auto loans and the “other” category. Student loan delinquencies moved lower as did home equity lines of credit. Overall, 1.42% of debt was 90 days or more past due, up from just over 1% at the end of 2022.
“Credit card and auto loan transitions into delinquency are still rising above pre-pandemic levels,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed. “This signals increased financial stress, especially among younger and lower-income households.”
Chuck again… Yeah, but don’t tell Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen, who spouted off again yesterday, saying that the economy was strong, and they had defeated inflation… Yeah, and I’ve got a bridge to sell you Janet…
Market Prices 2/7/2024: American Style: A$ .6522, kiwi .6101, C$ .7416, euro 1.0766, sterling 1.2629, Swiss $1.1463, European Style: rand 18.8987, krone 10.6137, SEK 10.4981, forint 359.90, zloty 4.0407, koruna 23.1819, RUB 91.15, yen 148.09, sing 1.3434, HKD 7.8205, INR 82.97, China 7.1948, peso 17.05, BRL 4.9594, BBDXY 1,241.23, Dollar Index 104.09 Oil $73.74, 10-year 4.12%, Silver $22.28, Platinum $903.00, Palladium $959.00, Copper $3.77, and Gold… $2,033.90
That’s it for today… Well, I heard from Kathy yesterday, and she told me that Evie and she were having a blast at Disneyworld… I wonder how that’s going, because little Evie can be quite bossy for her age, and Kathy is a hardheaded Dutchwoman… Those two butting heads would be a funny site to see! Only 7 days till Pitchers and Catchers report for Spring Training… I have a number of seats at Roger Dean Stadium here in Jupiter, and when the kids are here, that works great, but when they aren’t here, I have to post them for sale… Sales aren’t going as well this year, as they were last year… But some people don’t make plans to come down here until the last minute, so hopefully, I get them sold… Van (the man) Morrison takes us to the finish line today with his great 70’s song: Moondance… ( I love this song!) I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and will you please Be Good To Yourself?
Chuck Butler