- the dollar gains on Wednesday but gives it back overnight
- Alaska quotes the Constitution!
Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! Our run of very nice days continues here in the Middle of the Country… These are days that remind of January in S. Florida! So, I sit outside and read… Yeah, I’m THAT boring! The Allman Brothers greet me this morning with their great song: Blue Sky…
The dollar gained an index point yesterday in the BBDXY, and closed at 1,203… War Tensions increased during the day, and that brought dollar traders to buy more dollars… I know that I have many longtime readers of the Pfennig, and with that I wonder if they recall when buying safe havens meant that the euro, yen and Swiss franc would be in rally mode… But not any longer… Too sad, too bad for me, for I can’t see the dollar as a safe haven, given all the chinks in their armor… But, it is what it is, so we have to adjust to this new way of thinking…
Gold and Silver saw more SPT trading yesterday, and Gold lost $33 and Silver lost $1.67, with Gold closing at the end of the day at $4,436 and Silver at 72.87… One of these days the SPTs are going to get raked over the coals and then we’ll see them whine!
The price of Oil remained trading with a $95 handle, although it went high in that $95 handle… And the 10-year Treasury saw no Fed/Cabal/Cartel interference yesterday and so, the 10-year’s yield ended the day with a 4.48% yield..
In the overnight markets last night… Well, there were some words last night from the POTUS that calmed the markets, and that led to the dollar getting sold, and Gold & Silver rallying… I can’t believe that the markets are wound so tight around his pinky… But, in essence they are, so we have to deal with them… This time, however, has been centered around “Peace” and that’s good for Gold and bad for the dollar… So, we have that! Gold is up $58 and Silver $1.41 to start the day…
The price of Oil slipped $3 overnight and trades this morning with a $92 handle (Peace thoughts here too) and the 10-year’s yield slipped a bit overnight and trades this morning at 4.46% yield…
Do you remember when the ECB raised rates some time ago, and I said that they would rue the day they did that, as in my eye, inflation was growing… Well, fast forward to now, and Euro Area inflation topped 3% for the first time since September 2023, further cementing expectations for a rate hike when the ECB meets next week.
Consumer prices rose 3.2% from a year ago in May, and were up 3.0% in April… So, this is NOT a one and done for inflation here… And that should prompt the ECB to hike rates next week… I’m just saying…
Soon the rest of the Central Banks will see that not only is inflation sticky, but it’s also rising, and that they need to deal with it soon…
And with the new way of thinking (opposites) higher inflation means that the Central Bank will hike rates and that hiking of rates has more pull on the currency than higher inflation… I know, I know, this is a ridiculous thought process, but it is what it is…
Regarding Copper… HSBC’s note comes after Goldman analysts led by Aurelia Waltham told clients Monday that the core issue with copper markets right now is supply…
What, wait… they are just now coming around to noticing that there is a supply deficit to demand in Copper? And they are supposed to market gurus… I’ve been pointing this scenario out on Copper for a couple of years now, but Copper couldn’t gain a bid… But now it is…. Should I say more?
Alaska enacted a bill that removes local sales taxes from purchases of gold and silver and reaffirms that the metals are constitutional money recognized by the state. This marks the 45th state to ratify this state amendment… The folks in Alaska also made it point to point out that “Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which says “No state shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”
Chuck again… but that’s just that dusty old constitution, right? NOT! I’m a full believer of the Constitution and to think that Alaska quoted a piece from it, gave me the willies… I’m just saying…
So, kudos to Alaska… Hip, hip, Hooray!
Getting back and circling the wagons on inflation… The Fed/ Cabal/Cartel’s Beige Book printed yesterday, and the regional Fed Heads all reported that employment growth is good, but inflation is rising… It’s too bad that this report gets shoved to the back of the room instead of being front and center in the markets’ eyes…
The U.S. Data Cupboard had the ADP Employment Report for April and it showed that 122,000 jobs were added in April, much better than forecast (110,000) We also saw April Factory Orders which were strong at + 4.8%, far better than forecast too!
Today’s Data Cupboard just has the usual Thursday fare of Initial Weekly Jobless Claims and then the stupid Productivity for the 1st QTR,,, This data is so ridiculous that it’s not only that, but it’s so far behind… what good does reporting that we weren’t very productive in the 1st QTR when we just finished the 2nd QTR?
And don’t forget that tomorrow we’ll see the Jobs Jamboree… THAT should be a doozy!
To recap… The war tensions were higher yesterday, and with that the dollar got bought… Gold & Silver saw the SPTs really take a pound of flesh from their values… And there was no F/C/C interference in the Treasuries and the 10-year’s yield rose…
And the fighting was the tensest it had been since April… The POTUS had this to say: “Iran has agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon, while saying talks are still ongoing. Tells NYP he believes the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz will “resolve itself fairly quickly.”
Hmmm… Makes you think that you’ve heard that before somewhere… Doesn’t it?
For What It’s Worth…Not much in the hopper today for FWIW’s articles, so I had to resort to a report on the 10-year Treasury from yesterday, and it can be found here: Treasury Yields Rise; Trading Shows Hawkish Fed Meeting Read – WSJ
Or, here’s your snippet: ” A bear flattening pushes up U.S. Treasury yields as traders respond to Middle East developments and infer a hawkish read from this week’s Fed meeting. The recent selloff has pushed the two-year cash Treasury yield up to the upper bound of the fed funds target range for the first time since March 2023, FHN Financial’s Will Compernolle notes, a sign that traders are skeptical further cuts are incoming. Still, “the market’s conviction of what happens next for Fed policy is almost as low as the Fed’s,” Compernolle warns. Major attacks on Middle East energy infrastructure, and an unexpectedly hawkish Bank of England meeting, also helped lift Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year yield has climbed 11 of the past 14 trading days and ends at 4.281%, versus 4.201% Wednesday. The 2-year yield reaches its highest level since July 2025 at 3.83%, versus 3.669% Wednesday.
Shorter-Term Treasury Yields Extend Gains
Shorter-term Treasury yields are still climbing, lifted by investors’ worries that the Iran war is boosting inflation and lowering the chances of interest-rate cuts any time soon. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which often rises and falls with investors’ expectations for rates set by the Federal Reserve, recently traded 3.839%, according to Tradeweb, up from 3.669% on Tuesday and on track for its highest close since the end of July. Shorter-term yields, which rise when bond prices fall, have climbed worldwide in recent sessions. Futures bets show a roughly 75% chance that U.S. rates remain at their current level through December, according to CME Group data, up from a roughly 5% chance a month ago.”
Chuck Again… Well, it had to do, right? Besides, it never hurts to get another pundit’s viewpoint on what’s moving bonds…
Market Prices 6/4/2026: American Style: A$ .7142, kiwi .5882, C$ .7195, euro 1.1640, sterling 1.3459, Swiss $1.2698, European Style: rand 16.2377, krone 9.3182, SEK 9.3472, forint 304.46, zloty 3.6398, koruna 20.8045, RUB 74.03, yen 159.83, sing 1.2827, HKD 7.8336, INR 95.79, China 6.7721, peso 17.28, BRL 5.0645, BBDXY 1,202, Dollar Index 99.22, Oil $92.39, 10-year 4.46%, Silver $74.28, Platinum $1,902.00, Palladium $1,348, Copper $6.52, and Gold… $4.493
That’s it for today and this week… My beloved Cardinals found a way to win one of the 3 with the Rangers last night… I was sitting outside watching it, until the frogs and all their noise caused me to go back inside to watch the end… At one point, I yelled out, “Hey, keep it down” but it did no good… And now the team that I dislike the most, the Reds come to town… Go Cards beat them to a pulp! Blind Melon takes us to the finish line today with their song: No Rain… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today and Please Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler