March 9, 2022
* Gold & Silver rally on Tuesday…
* Oh, what a tangled web we weave…
Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! What a gorgeous day here yesterday, a real Chamber of Commerce Day, for sure! I sat outside, with the sun shining, and a beautiful breeze blowing to keep the heat from the sun from getting too hot. I love these days, down here, and there are times I wonder just how lucky a am to have this place, here so that I can enjoy these days… Went to dinner last night with good friends, Webbie and Lisa… I’ve been putting on some weight while down here, and that’s not a good thing! I had lost that weight, and now I’ll have to lose it again! Our Blues played the Senators from Ottawa in St. louis last night, and lost 4-1, not a good game on home ice for the Blues… Jackson Browne greets me this morning with his song that puts tears in my eye every time I hear it.: Late For The Sky…
Well, it was quite a day for Gold yesterday, at one point in the day it had gained $79 to trade at $2,078.80… But that was before either profit taking or price manipulation set in, and Gold fell back to close the day up $54, and an end price of $2,053.60… Silver joined in gaining 70-cents on the day to close at $26.46… Silver was up 70-cents yesterday morning, and then once again either profit taking or price manipulation set in and it fell back by quite a bit before rallying at the end of the day back to 70-cents.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide what you want to call yesterday’s drop in these two metals… But given the history I would be leaning toward price Manipulation… I’m just saying…
The dollar spent a bit of the day struggling to get back to where it was the day before, but in the end it did, and then went further… The BBDXY closed at 1,205.23, up from 1,203.82 from the start of the day. The euro was steady Eddie all day yesterday, and then added to its value at the end of the day. The Russian ruble actually gained on the day, closing at 129.50 after beginning the day at 133.84… I doubt seriously if this is anything more than a brief respite for the beleaguered currency, that received help when it was learned that the EU would not be participating in the U.S.’s ban of Russian Oil… But the question did come to my mind the other day, when talking about how the ruble had gotten beaten like a rented mule, and that is, that I was questioning just how low could the ruble drop? I came to the realization that it could drop even more before they cry “uncle”…
Which is something I doubt we’ll ever hear Putin say… I hope I’m wrong about that!
The price of Oil continued to ratchet higher, and yesterday, I read a report that said that the experts are calling for $200 Oil… Now, that’s scary folks… Can you say $7 gas? I can only imagine the damage to the economy that $7 gas would cause… And suddenly, my spider sense is tingling once again… And the thought that just crossed my mind was that this rise in the price of Oil is a a part of a plot, to ween us off our gas engine cars… You know, make it all too expensive to deal with buying the gas, so you move to electric… Just my conspiracy theories running rampant again! I had forgotten how much fun I used to have with these conspiracy theories, that believe it or don’t, a few of them came to reality theories!
I was made to stop talking about conspiracy theories when I was at my former employer… The Marketing Div. Head, who had the ear of the CEO, would tell him that a bank had no business issuing a newsletter, much less a newsletter that talked about conspiracy theories! Oh, the Horror! Well, now that I’m back on the conspiracy theory horse, you can expect to read more of these in the future!
And you know what was the ironic part of it all? The head of Marketing couldn’t see that the newsletter was marketing!
Circling back, I want to talk about how the Gov’t thought that if they banned Russian exports of Oil to the U.S. that they could make up the difference with the shale Oil producers, you know the ones that the current administration, basically take their rigs and go home? Well… there’s a problem with that thought of ramping up production in the shale Oil…
Here’s the skinny on that: “As oil prices surge to the highest levels since 2008, Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub said U.S. producers cannot increase output right away.”
Production in the oil-rich Permian Basin is back around its pre-pandemic peak, according to Hollub, who noted the region faces significant challenges in boosting output. It’s the only shale basin in the U.S. that can increase production, she said.”
Oh, the tangled web weave, eh? Things are very sticky right now, with Oil, and Oil production, and who we’re importing oil from (Venezuela and Iran), as if they’re much better than Russia… Think about that one for a minute…
In the overnight markets last night… Well, I was wondering when it was going to happen, and I’m getting it shown to me right now… What am I talking about? An organized takedown of Gold & Silver… Gold is down $38 in the early trading today, and Silver is down 32-cents… No rhyme nor reason for this drop, and it’s sure not profit taking!
The dollar got sold in the overnight markets last night, and the BBDXY begins the day today at 1,200.52… That’s down more than 4 index points to start today! So, let me get this straight in my mind… the dollar rallies, and Gold rallies, the dollar gets sold, and so does Gold… Now those two are strange bed partners if you ask me, and this partnership doesn’t have a leg to stand on. So, at some point in the future, we’ll see the spit/ divorce of these two partners… Then we’ll be left with the question: Who gets the yacht…
The price of Oil slipped overnight and trades this morning with a $120 handle… Bonds continued to get sold and the 10-year’s yield is 1.89% today… The Treasury market has got to be one tangled mess right now, as traders want to sell bonds, to get the yield up, but they’re waiting for the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel to come back in to buy bonds again, which would bring the yield down once again… Or, maybe, just maybe, cause you never know, the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel might not be back to buy bonds….
So… yesterday I talked briefly about the rally in the price of Nickel… Nickel reached $100,000 per ton, and once that happened trading in the commodity was suspended… And Craig Hemke at Sprott Money Management.com had this to say about the news that trading had been suspended in Nickel… “The London Metals Exchange’s decision today to suspend trading in nickel to puncture a short squeeze may explode the entire racket of commodity futures markets, including gold and silver price suppression. Hemke writes: “Once the global investment community figures out that it’s all a scam — that there are as many as 100 digital/pretend ounces for every physical ounce backing the pricing scheme — confidence will rapidly collapse. There will be a run on physical precious metal, and only those who hold it nearby will be determined to be the actual owner.”
You tell ‘em Craig! But wouldn’t it be nice if that scenario really happened? I’m not here to say that it will or won’t… I’m just saying that it would be nice…
Yesterday’s Non Sequitur had a very funny cartoon… It was a picture of a magician on a stage, with his advertising board on display, and it read: The GREAT CONFOUNDO…. Master of Illusion…
Then the magician says to the audience: “Now, for the Grand Finale, I will get Crypto Currency to make sense to you!”
OK… onto other things… The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday, had the Small Business Index, which actually rose a tick or two in February… Still, mind boggling to me…
Today’s Data Cupboard has the Job Openings and Job Quits for Feb…. I would think that the Job Openings would show an increase, and the Job Quits would also show an increase… I guess, we’ll see in a bit, eh?
To recap… Gold & Silver had good days yesterday, but not as great as they could have been without price adjustments… The dollar drifted during the day, and finished the day up a bit… In the overnight markets, the dollar got sold, and so did Gold & Silver… Chuck thinks this strange partnership is due for a divorce, let’s hope he’s proven right, and soon! Chuck’s spider sense is tingling again, you’ll want to have read about that! So, go on, go back and reread it all! HA!
For What It’s Worth… We’ve talked about this before, that is, how many homes live from paycheck to paycheck, which if it’s the best they can do, then there’s nothing wrong with it, other than what do they do when costs go higher? That’s what this article is about, and it can be found here: As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck (cnbc.com)
Or, here’s your snippet: “As daily life gets more expensive, workers are having a harder time making ends meet.
While wage growth is high by historical standards, it isn’t keeping up with the increased cost of living, which is growing at the fastest annual pace in about four decades.
“Wages are up 5.1% over the past year, which is trailing the pace of inflation,” said Bankrate.com senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. “Indeed, surging prices are stealing the show on the minds of consumers.”
When wages rise at a slower pace than inflation, those paychecks won’t go as far at the grocery store and at the gas pump — two areas of the budget that are getting particularly squeezed.
At the start of 2022, 64% of the U.S. population was living paycheck to paycheck, up from 61% in December and just shy of the high of 65% in 2020, according to a LendingClub report.
“We are all seeing the cost of everything shooting up,” said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer. However, paying more for gas and groceries is hitting households particularly hard, he said.
“You’ve got to eat, you’ve got to commute; these are not discretionary expenses.”
Chuck again… The article goes on to say that inflation isn’t just hurting those who live from paycheck to paycheck, saying that: “Even among those earning six figures, 48% said they are now living paycheck to paycheck, up from 42% in December, the survey of more than 2,600 adults found.”
Market Prices 3/9/2022: American Style: A$ .7330, kiwi .6846, C$ .7978, euro 1.0962, sterling 1.3166, Swiss $1.0779, European Style: rand 15.1905, krone 8.9351, SEK 9.8227, forint 348.69, zloty 4.3994, koruna 23.1483, RUB 135.98, yen 115.88, sing 1.3618, HKD 7.8203, INR 76.58, China 6.3156, peso 21.21, BRL 5.0640, BBDXY 1,200.52, Dollar Index 98.63, Oil $120.99, 10-year 1.89%, Silver $26.14, Platinum $1,150.00, Palladium $3,160.00, Copper $4.63, and Gold… $1,2015.40
That’s it for today… Well, it’s going to be a “beach day” today, as I try to get down to enjoy the beach every now and then, and this will be the second time in the last week! I look ridiculous on the beach, with my black compression wraps that are on my legs between my knee and ankle. But It is what it is, and I just roll with the punches or inquisitive looks from passersby… Good friend, Rick, arrives tomorrow, for a week down here, that was supposed to center around spring training games… Good for him to say he was still coming! So, there will be more “beach days” ahead! And plenty of happy hours on the deck! And then at the end of next week, Daughter Dawn, Jerry, and grandkids, Delaney Grace, and Everett arrive for a week of their spring break, which for the second time in two years, they’ll arrive and there’ll be no baseball… Bob Dylan takes us to the finish line today with his hit song: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday, and Please Be Good To Yourself! Be Positive, Test Negative!
Chuck Butler