- Nothing but short paper trades seem to faze Gold & Silver…
- The Cowboy State is full of smart people!
Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, I never made it outside yesterday, you see, I lost a lot of sleep Sunday night with my bad stomach, and so, after hitting send on the Pfennig yesterday, I took my own advice and went back to sleep… Util 2 PM! But then, I was ready to go! But I was running out of sun time! Then the rain came, and went and came and went, before finally going away… Yesterday brought some interesting news, so, let’s get to that… The Rolling Stones greet me this morning with one of my favorite Stones Songs: Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’
Well, let’s start this with a song, that President Trump must have been singing yesterday when he announced he was delaying the Mexican tariffs…. “I was only joking, my dear, Looking for a way to hide my fear
What kind of fool was I? I could never win” Apologies to Rod Stewart!
Yes, showing his hand to the Mexicans, that he really wanted to negotiate with them, (how do you negotiate Immigration?) he pulled their tariffs…. And the dollar gained 2 index points on the day, in the BBDXY… You may recall that yesterday morning the BBDXY was up 8 index points…. So there was no joy in Mudville…. For the tariff hawks…
Gold gained $21 on the day, and closed at $2,816.60… Silver gained 41-cents, and closed at $31.61… It didn’t take long for the metals to climb back on the rally tracks and get to moving toward their next goal… Which would be $3,000 for Gold, and $35 for Silver…
The price of Oil slipped a bit yesterday and ended the day trading with a $73 handle. The U.S. Treasury’s yield bumped higher and ended the day trading with a $4.56% yield….
In the overnight markets last night…. The dollar slipped by 2 index points overnight… I wouldn’t put any markers on the dollar staying there all day…. Gold is up $20 to start our day today, and Silver has gained 20-cents… It appears to be a good day for the currencies and metals today, but we’ll have to be patient and wait until the markets close here later today. The price of Oil has slipped again and has fallen to trade with a $71 handle. When the markets were tense with bad intent, Oil shined, but not that the POTUS has shown his hand… All’s quiet on the Western Front…
Speaking of Gold… Did you hear that the state of Wyoming senate has voted favorably on legislation that would establish a stockpile of gold for the Cowboy State.
Sponsored by sound money champion, Sen. Bob Ide, and backed by Money Metals Exchange and the Sound Money Defense League, Senate File 96 mandates the state treasurer to invest $10 million of state funds in securely stored physical gold and silver. The bill was widely supported, passing out of the chamber with a 25-6 vote.
This will become a regular occurrence with the states making this announcement… For the folks in the states close to Wyoming will call their congress representatives and ask them why they haven’t done that yet! And from there it spreads around the country..
The currencies from Mexico and Canada led the performance charts yesterday, as their tariffs were pulled in a now you see them now you don’t performance from the POTUS! Take your shots while you can you two… For the tariffs war will return….
Hey! And yesterday, Feb.3, was the day the music died…. Don’t know what I’m talking about? On Feb 3, 1959 the plane carrying : Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, crashed, and years later Don McClean sand about that was the day the music died…. A little history for you young folks that had never even heard about that trio of performers… Buddy Holly would have become the symbol of Rock music if he hadn’t won the coil flip on who was going to fly to the next gig in Iowa, and who was going to have to drive the bus through the ice and snow….
That was quite the slip President Trump put to the markets yesterday… Just when you think you have him figured out, he pulls a stunt like that…. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m no fan of tariffs, and his tariffs were going to start a global trade war that flowed into a global depression. But a direction is a direction… And… I was taught that if someone tells you he’s going to do something, expect him to do it, otherwise, you don’t want to deal with him…
Gold & Silver don’t seem to be affected whether the tariffs are implemented or not… To Gold & Silver the boogeyman is the short paper trader and his ilk…. And believe this or don’t… Neither Gold nor Silver are in overbought positions on the RSI right now… And I doubt it would matter if they were….
I failed to mention above that the tariffs were pulled from Canada too… But, so far the 10% tariffs on Chinese imports from the U.S. are still in play.. And now there is word from China that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will likely loosen the grips on the renminbi… In other words.. Allow the markets to take the currency lower… (in value to the dollar)
The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the ISM Manufacturing Index hidden with all the other non-economic data, and there was a surprise… For 27 months the ISM has been below 50, but in December it rose to 51.2%! That was a long time to print negative, eventually it was going to go back above 50… For those you new to class, the 50 figure is the line in the sand that demarcation between expansion (above 50) and Contraction (below 50)
Today, we’ll see Dec. Factory Orders (which will probably be negative) and Job Openings (which will be around 8 Million)
Hey! I’ve got an idea for the BLS, or the King of made-up numbers! Just add those 8 Million job openings to the Jobs created category… Now, they would have to break then up so as to not gain attention to the large number! Why not! That’s about as useful as their made-up numbers now!
OK, you know I’m just kidding my friends… The last thing the BLS needs is another reason to create Jobs out of thin air!
To recap… Trump was only joking about the tariffs…. As he sings along with Rod Stewart this morning. The dollar backed off its early morning gain to only gain 2 index points yesterday. Gold & Silver are on a roll and not affected by any outside noise right now…
For What It’s Worth…. This article is a bit hyperbolic and a bit mostly likely to come… It’s about Lynette Zang CEO of Zang Enterprises sounding off and sounding a lot like Chuck, so with that in mind, you can find it here: Banks are ‘big casinos’: When the system implodes, it’ll take everything with it – Lynette Zang | Kitco News,
Or, here your snippet: “Consumer-driven economies are struggling because incomes are not keeping pace with the cost of living, forcing people to rely on credit cards, Zang explained.
With credit card delinquencies rising, it indicates that “those credit cards have been maxed out,” and consumers cannot take on more debt. This is not just an issue for individuals but also for governments and corporations, though “individuals just have fewer choices than governments.”
Defaults on U.S. credit card loans have surged to their highest levels since 2010, marking a troubling sign for the financial health of many Americans, according to industry data collected by BankRegData. On top of that, credit card lenders have written off $46 billion in delinquent loan balances during the first nine months of 2024 – a staggering 50% increase from the same period last year.
This comes as hopes for significant interest rate cuts in 2025 dampened at the end of 2024 as the Federal Reserve signaled only modest reductions this year. The CME FedWatch Tool forecasts a nearly 100% chance of a hold at this week’s Fed meeting.
The banking system as a ‘big casino’
The banking system has shifted from traditional lending to high-stakes trading. “ Banks make more of their money on trading … The banks have become huge casinos, and those casinos are getting even more risky,” stated Zang.
This increased leverage, or “debt upon debt upon debt,” makes the system vulnerable to collapse. “The leverage inside of the system makes things look great for a minute,” Zang described. “But when it implodes, it takes everything with it. It’s a black hole. That’s what’s going on with the banks.”
The tipping point and hyperinflation
The global economy reached a tipping point in 2008, but the effects are only now becoming apparent, Zang continued. Monetary velocity, or how quickly money changes hands, has spiked, indicating “the start of hyperinflation.” This pattern shift signifies that something has changed in the economy.”
Chuck again… Yes, I’ve said all those things already, but as usual, I think everyone will agree sometimes, someone else has to say it….
Market Prices 2/4/2025: American Style: A$ 6210, kiwi .5605, C$ .6941, euro 1.0352, sterling 1.2417, Swiss $1.1026, European Style: rand 18.7692, krone 11.3534, SEK 11.0569, forint 394.29, zloty 4.0707, koruna, 24.3325, RUB 99.81, yen 155.33, sing 1.3666, HKD 7.7882, INR 87.07, China 7.2446, peso 20.47, BRL 5.8172, BBDXY 1,307.65, Dollar Index 108.54, Oil $71.20, 10-year 4.59%, Silver $31,87, Platinum $971.00, Palladium $992.00, Copper $4.31, and Gold…. $2,835.25
That’s it for today… And this week, until next Tuesday… Last week I said I would be at home to watch the Super Bowl, but I was wrong… Our plane doesn’t leave St. louis until game time… I said to Dennis Miller yesterday, at least I don’t have to watch the Super Bowl halftime Show.. I’ll have to get all packed up today, since we leave tomorrow morning at 5 am… I’ll have to get out the long pants, long sleeved shirt and jacket to wear home, it won’t be that cold at home, but wet and rainy, which makes it feel colder… I felt pretty darn good yesterday after waking up.. I even ate 2 meals, which I hadn’t done very often lately…. But I paid for it last night! Now I get to go and start it up all over again! Van Morrison takes us to the finish line today with his great song: Brown Eyed Girl…. My former colleague, Jen would say when my iPod played that song… That’s my song! (Jen has brown eyes) I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler