Author: admin

March 30, 2023

* the currencies & metals trading has slowed… 

* why aren’t the dollar bugs seeing the writing on the wall? 

Good Day.. And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! It’s Opening Day in baseball! YAHOO! I said yesterday that this should be a national holiday, and while it’s not, it doesn’t mean that many workers, and school kids, won’t be sneaking out early to attend an Opening Day ceremonies and game near them! It’s the next best thing to Christmas Day in my book! My beloved Cardinals will play the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon, but before the game begins, we’ll have the coaches, and players brought into the stadium in convertible cars to wave to the fans… Then the Cardinals Hall of Famer Players will meet the current players at home plate, and then, the piece de resistance… The Clydesdales will enter the park and take a route around the ballpark… These are the most magnificent animals on earth, in my opinion… Jackson Browne greets me this morning with his song: These Days… 

That song is the song I quote the line from all the time: These Days I sit on cornerstones, and count the time in quartertones to ten, my friend, don’t confront me with my failures, I , had not, forgotten them…

So, what did the markets do yesterday? The dollar got bought, but not by the bushelful, instead in dribs and drabs that added up eventually to a 2 index point gain in the BBDXY. Gold lost $9.20 on the day, and Silver gained… are you ready for this? Drum roll please…. Ratatatatat.. 1-cent! That’s right I said 1 Abe Lincoln… Pretty crazy that the powers that be couldn’t just round down and have Silver trade flat for the day…  Gold ended the day at $1,965.60, and Silver $23.43…

The price of Oil slipped just a tad, yesterday, but still traded with a $73 handle at the end of the day. And the 10-year Treasury got sold a bit, with its yield rising to 3.57%

In the overnight markets last night… There was little to no movement in the dollar, the BBDXY is trading in the same clothes as yesterday, along with the Dollar Index doing the same. Don’t know what to make of this non-moving market last night… There are no Central Bank meetings to be weary of, there is very little in the U.S. Data Cupboard, and no banks have raised a white flag.  Gold is up $4 in the early trading today, which is a good start to a day that could see the shiny metal reach for the sky… Silver is going gangbusters this morning already up 30-cents!  

The price of Oil slipped a  little in the past 24 hours, but still has a $73 handle… Someone in the Oil trading area, said, “Hey wait! We’re marking the price of Oil higher, but the demand is not there? So, what are we doing here? “  That makes sense to me… while I believe that the price of Oil will eventually move higher, we have to get through this patch of low demand…

The 10-year Treasury at 3.57% is more than 100 basis points lower than the 1-year Treasury at 4.59%.. And inverted yield curve that has remained inverted for some time now, as if to say, “Psst, Hey! Over here! Look at me, I’m inverted, and you know what that means? But still you numbskulls continue to buy stocks like I don’t exist!”

Ok, right out of the starters blocks this morning, I have this from the good folks at GATA: “China and Brazil have reached a deal to trade in their own currencies, ditching the U.S. dollar as an intermediary, the Brazilian government said today, Beijing’s latest salvo against the almighty greenback.

The deal will enable China, the top rival to U.S. economic hegemony, and Brazil, the biggest economy in Latin America, to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions directly, exchanging yuan for reais and vice versa instead of going through the dollar”

Uh-oh! Now China has gotten Saudi Arabia to price their Oil in renminbi, and add to that China has gotten Brazil to turn its back on the U.S.  Chalk that up to another chink in the armor of the dollar!

Did you all hear the story about how while reporter Matt Taibbi was testifying before Congress regarding, regarding Big Tech (particularly Twitter) and its connections with the federal government when it came to suppressing dissident speech, the IRS was visiting his house? The IRS left a note on his door, saying that they would like to talk to him… Coincident? I don’t think so!   See what happens when you tell the truth about the Government?  I guess I had better what my back, eh?

I can’t begin to tell you how upset I was to read about that…  It just makes me sick to my stomach, and I don’t have time to deal with an upset stomach today, not on Opening Day!

I’m on a roll this morning, don’t stop me now!

Well… longtime readers will recall me talking about Japan being a basket case…  Well, they remain one, even with the change in the Bank of Japan Leadership… Mr, Kuroda, who cut interest rates and bought bonds like no man before him, has stepped down, and the new BOJ Chairman, is thought to want to dismantle Kuroda’s, zero interest rate policy, and stop buying bonds…  What that will bring about is a HUGE amount of funds that have been sent overseas by Japanese Investors in search of higher yields… And that could lead to inflation getting a hold of the Japanese economy… Something that hasn’t happened in a generation or two!

And here we go again with Saudi Arabia and China… I told you about how these two countries have agreed to trade Oil in their respective currencies and not use dollars… I told you how China has agreed to build a refinery in Saudi Arabia, and now this, from the good folks at GATA: “Saudi Arabia is joining an anti-Western influence bloc formed by Russia and China, in a sign of Riyadh’s deepening ties with Beijing as the U.S. pivots away from the Middle East.

The kingdom’s cabinet approved a plan to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a “dialogue partner,” a precursor to being granted full membership, state news agency SPA announced today.”

Chuck again… I still can’t believe that dollar traders haven’t seen the writing on the wall here… What’s it going to take to get them to sell dollars the way dollars need to be sold?  This set of news is HUGE, and the dollar traders are just shrugging it off…  I’m just saying…

I had a fellow down here ask me if I thought the dollar was undervalued? You should have seen my expression that was on my face! I was astounded that he thought it was undervalued…  I immediately began to list off the items that should be weighing down on the dollar, and he just sat there and then said, when I had finished, that none of that matters, because the dollar is the reserve currency, and nothing else matters… 

I walked away shaking my head, knowing that no mater what I said, it was going to fall on deaf ears… I then wondered what it was he was doing asking me if it was undervalued? Oh, I did a V-8 head slap, and said, I get it! He just wanted somebody to agree with him!  Well, he picked the wrong partner to dance with that’s for sure! 

I have always been one of those guys that says what’s on his mind, no matter what the odds are in the room… 

For What It’s Worth…  I have a treat for you today… It’s another video from Matthew Piepenberg, of Gold Switzerland…  Here’s the link to the video: Bond Destruction, Banking Waste and the Tilt Toward CBDC – Matterhorn – GoldSwitzerland   in the snippet today, I’ll give you a preview of what to expect in the video, which is 21 minutes long, so if you don’t have the time… here’s the snippet:

Or, here’s your snippet: “In this extensive and now English-translated, interview with Jan Kneist of Investor Talk, Matterhorn Asset Management principal, Matthew Piepenburg, addresses the critical themes of the ongoing banking crisis. In this substantive, 21-minute conversation, Piepenburg squarely addresses the ripple effects and larger implications of the current banking crisis, namely: 1) its bond crisis origins; 2) the ultimate pretext for (and direction toward) political and financial centralization culminating in CBDC; 3) increasing consolidation away from the smaller banks toward larger banks; 4) the nearly inconceivable waste behind the Credit Suisse bailout; 5) the percolating and equally inconceivable dangers within the derivative markets; 6) the collapse of trust in the USD as evidenced by the rise of the BRICS; and, of course, 7) the growing importance and role of gold in a world heading inevitably toward more centralized controls and currencies. As Piepenburg has warned and repeated throughout 2022 and 2023, all debt-soaked systems inevitably resort to desperate measures and greater controls, of which currency debasement and increased centralization, symbolized by the drift toward CBDC, is no surprise or exaggeration”

Chuck again… I behoove you to check out the video when you have the time to devote to it… I try not to miss anything that Matthew Piepenberg puts out there…

Market Prices 3/30/2023: American Style: A$ 6700, kiwi $6236, C$ .7380, euro 1.0865, sterling 1.2343, Swiss $1.0914, European Style: rand 18.0617, krone 10.4294, SEK 10.3969, forint 350.76, zloty 4.3094, koruna 21.6718, RUB 77.21, yen 132.76, sing 1.3287, HKD 7.8499, INR 82.23, China 6.8870, peso 18.07, BRL 5.1353, BBDXY 1,232.00, Dollar Index 102.47, OIL $73.60, 10-year 3.57%, Silver $23.73, Platinum $981.00, Palladium $1,446.00, Copper $4.10, and Gold… $1,969.90

That’s it for today, and this week… I honestly thought that if I think today should be a holiday, then I shouldn’t write! HA!   But here I am…   back home, March came in like a lamb, and is going to go out like a lamb, it was lion in the middle of the month! Just two weeks ago, it was snowing and freezing cold there for the soccer match!  Our Blues get back on the ice tonight in Chicago to face the Blackhawks! These two teams used to be HUGE rivals, but not so much so any longer… But it’s always still nice to beat them! My time down south is winding down, just two more days here before I head back home…  It was a great winter down here… I did have that stroke in January, but besides that I’ve been in good health and getting plenty of vitamin D! (Florida is known for sunshine!) Smokey Robinson takes us to the finish line today with his song: Cruisin’   ( I love this song!) I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and a Fantastico Friday tomorrow, and all that time, please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 29, 2023

* currencies & metals rebound on Tuesday… 

* the price of Oil continues to rebound… 

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Tomorrow is Opening Day in Baseball! I’ve long said that Opening Day should be a national Holiday!  But, I’m a dying breed of Americans that believe that Baseball is our National Pastime, the way for fathers and sons (& daughters) to bond, by playing catch, and going to games and learning how to keep score… I like the new speedup rules in baseball, as long as they don’t impede a player’s ability to get ready to pitch or hit! But that’s tomorrow, Opening Day, that is, and I’ll be like a kid at Christmas… And no team does Opening Day like the St. Louis Cardinals! America greets me this morning with their song: This Is For All The Lonely People…

I figure all the times during the year, that I get left alone, that could be my theme song! HA!

Well, when I left you yesterday, I was wondering if the currency and metals traders and participants would get right back on the horse, an ride it into the sunset, or… would they cower under the weight of the PPT, and paper traders (price manipulators)… Well, it was the former of the two.. .The dollar, which was sold overnight, Sunday night, continued to get sold throughout the day yesterday, bringing its day to show a 6 index point loss in the BBDXY…  And Gold, got back on the rally horse, and gained $17.50 on the day to close at $1,974.90, and Silver gained 26-cents to close at $23.42…

I think the fact that traders and participants went right back to work selling dollars, and buying metals, is proof that the PPT and paper traders were in the markets last week… Not that I needed any proof that they were in on Friday! 

In the overnight markets last night… The dollar selling faded out, but no new dollar buying took its place. The BBDXY is up 1 index point overnight, so no biggie there… Gold, however, is down $8 in the early trading today, probably some profit taking there, so let’s hope that’s all there is to this early morning trading. Silver is down 4-cents this morning,  The price of Oil continues to rally and is within spitting distance of $74 this morning, and the 10-year is stuck in the mud at 3.55% 

Well, leave to The FOMC to makes statements under the cover of radar… Check this out:” Projections released on last Wednesday morning revealed that officials from the Federal Reserve expect a significant rise in the US unemployment rate by the end of this year. While the current unemployment rate is at 3.6 percent, Fed’s officials expect it to reach 4.5 percent, meaning that millions of US citizens could lose their jobs over the next few months as the country’s economy grapples with the consequences of the current banking crisis and interest rate hikes affect the economy.

OMG! I can’t believe they came out with that the day they were to hike rates for the 9^th consecutive time later that day!   But then they do feel like they are Gods… And that they control our future… Well, if they are in charge of our future, I’m just sure I want to be part of it! Oh well, one of these days, someone with far more gray matter than I, will come up with a better hula-hoop for the economy that by passes the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel…  Let’s hope they are in the pipeline, because we need them now!

I read an article this morning that talked about abolishing the Fed… Now that would be something to get behind, wouldn’t it? When I was a young man I used to answer the phone at home by saying “Impeach Nixon”…  If I were still a young man I would change that answer to “Abolish the Fed”… 

Changing gears here… I was talking with a friend the other day, who’s from Canada… She was in agony about the cheap level of the Canadian dollar VS the USD…  I told her that I was actually surprised that the loony had retained its level above 73 cents, given the results from the new Trudeau Budget last week… Spending out of control, and taxation widening…  A bad combination for a currency… I then mentioned that the people of Canada should be rethinking their votes for Trudeau…And I could tell she was getting a little hot under the collar at that last statement from me, so I stopped and said, “Well, a currency is the stock of a country…  And walked away…

OK… remember when I told you that it was not a good thing, when China’s leader, Xi, met with Saudi officials? Well, this last week there was news that China will build a refinery for Saudi Aramco…. Now that’s cooperation, and will lead to Saudi oil being sold to China… and not in dollars! Could this be the beginning of the end to the petrol dollar?  And instead be called the Petrol Renminbi?   I sure hope not, but, China could provide the security to the Saudis, just like the U.S. does… and you don’t see the U.S. over in Saudi Arabia building a refinery… I’m just saying…

Well, as I’ve told you for years now, the euro is the offset currency to the dollar, and when traders go to sell dollars, the main beneficiary of those dollar sales is the euro… And a year ago, the euro was as low as 1.05, since then the dollar has been weaker, especially this year, and the euro has recovered to 1.08 and change… I would expect the euro to return to 1.10 should the dollar selling that’s going on now, continue to reflect dollar weakness…

And one more thing to talk about today and that is the fact that the Fed Heads are performing QE once again, under the cover of darkness… Their balance sheet grew by a large amount earlier this month, so much for reducing their balance sheet, eh? This to me, is the first step by the Fed Heads to put an end to their rate hikes… Remember what I had told you, that the reduction of their Balance Sheet, or QT, was the same as rate hikes? Well, if they stop doing those rate hikes, then the actual physical rate hike stopping won’t be far behind… I’m just saying…

Oh, and that would be a HUGE boost for Gold… Got Gold?

I just watched the sun rise out of the ocean with no clouds or marine layer obstructing it… And orange orb, that peeks over the ocean and then emerges out of it, and lights up the day… Simply beautiful!

The U.S. Data Cupboard doesn’t have anything worth looking at today, and the same holds true tomorrow, we won’t see real economic data until Friday when the Feb reports for Personal Income and Spending are printed, and the PCE (personal Consumption Expenditures) will print…  But I’ll be packing for home on Friday, so I’ll pick it up over the weekend, when I get all hooked up again back home.

To recap… The dollar was getting sold yesterday morning from the overnight markets, and that selling was picked up in the U.S. session and continued throughout the day… The BBDXY lost 6 index points, and Gold rebounded from Friday’s trip to the woodshed with a gain of $17.50, and Silver gained 26-cents!   The FOMC made some nasty forecasts for Employment that you didn’t hear about except from me!

For What It’s Worth… Well, I’ve stated my case against Cryptocurrencies in the past, so I wont’ go down that rabbit hole again today… But what I have for you in the FWIW section today is an article on Bloomberg.com about how Binance crypto firm is in some deep dookie, along with the CFTC (commdoities exchange) and other firms that had dealing with Binance… And it can be found here: Binance Crackdown Threatens US Firms Trading Crypto, Alarming Market – Bloomberg

Or, here’s your snippet: “A top US regulator’s case against Binance Holdings Ltd. is mushrooming well beyond Changpeng Zhao’s company and rattling American firms that officials say worked with the exchange to trade crypto.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s scrutiny of arrangements that three trading firms had with the exchange has already sent chills across an industry, which relies on US licenses to make markets for securities. The firms weren’t identified in the CFTC’s lawsuit.

The stakes are particularly high for American trading firms because even as many have dabbled in crypto, equities and other more traditional assets remain their bread and butter. A serious regulatory misstep could have repercussions on their broader ability to conduct business.

“The risks to US firms are far greater than the risk to Binance,” said Urska Velikonja, a professor at Georgetown Law. “The big risk to them is the ‘lights out’ risk that they lose their license to operate as broker-dealers in the US.”

Chuck again…  I know it seems that I only ever produce articles that are negative toward cyrptos… And that would be correct, because all I ever read is pro-cyrptos, and there needs to be some balance!

Market Prices 3/29/2023: American Style: A$ .6674, kiwi .6234, C$ .7355, euro 1.0854, sterling 1.2347, Swiss $1.0886, European Style: rand 18.1097, krone 10.3982, SEK 10.3902, forint 349.57, zloty 4.3170, koruna 21.7717, RUB 76.09, yen 131.93, sing 1.3291, HKD 7.8499, INR 82.33, China 6.8850, peso 18.16, BRL 5.1667, BBDXY 1,230.50, Dollar Index 102.46, Oil $73.98, 10-year 3.55%, Silver $23.25, Platinum $959.00, Palladium $1,452.00, Copper $4.06, and Gold… $1,966.73

That’s it for today… This sure is a crazy world we’re living in these days… if you went out to dinner at a restaurant, you would look around and think, well, the U.S. economy must be doing well, because this restaurant is packed! But that’s the illusion that’s going on folks… The economy is in the danger zone, and I’m not talking about the song from Top Gun 1…  Crazy, world… Our soccer team, St. Louis City SC… is 5-0, and coming back home for a match this Saturday… Grandson Everett, and dad Jerry, will be going to the game in my seats, which I understand is a misnomer…   Because everyone stands the whole game! UGH! I wonder what it is that paid for? Standing room only, or seats?   The Moody Blues take us to the finish line today with their great song: I’m Just A Singer (in a rock and roll band)…  I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 28, 2023

* Paper Traders put the kyboshes on metals buying

* Paring Down banks to a workable number? 

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, I threatened to not return, but here I am, it’s early morning, the sun hasn’t even rose out of the ocean yet, and I’m back! I’ve been writing the Pfennig for over 31 years now, it’s a part of me, it’s what I do… I guess it will be very difficult for me to walk away from it when I do decide that I’ve had enough!   Well, the Final Four is in place for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and I didn’t pick one of them! YIKES! My beloved Mizzou Tigers got beat by an Ivy League team… UGH!  And the Cardinals finished their spring training at Roger Dean with a win… They head north now, and I’ve always said that when the Cardinals go north, I will too…  Jimi Hendrix greets me this morning with his song: Fire

Well, how was last week without me? Fun, eh? Nobody, telling you the sky is falling, and being a Chicken Little… And asking you if you’ve Got Gold?  Let’s do a quick review of last week, before we get into today,.. Well, the data last week wasn’t what a good strong economy is made of… Durable Goods for Feb followed Jan’s negative result with a negative result of its own… The S&P Flash PMI (manufacturing) remained under 50, which means contraction, and on top of that, the FOMC hiked rates 25 Basis Points…  Thus continuing their battle with inflation with a pea shooter…  No more banks failed last week, but there are a few on the edge of failing… Credit Suisse got taken over by UBS, and Deutsch Bank is reeling.. again!

Gold & Silver were having a wonderful week until they weren’t… I was looking at Twitter one day last week, and a pundit said, “Gold is really performing nicely this week, how far will the paper traders take it down this time?”   It WAS just a matter of time, WASN’T it? Gold had touched $2,000 once again, and then the rug was pulled out from under it… One of these days, Alice! 

And the dollar was getting sold like funnel cakes at a State Fair, until it wasn’t…The PPT had to spend some of that Exchange Stabilization Fund that they have, and proceeded to wrap a tourniquet around the dollar’s bleeding, at least for a day… We’ll, have to see if the non-dollar traders still have the intestinal fortitude (guts) to still short dollars…  I think the currency traders all over the world are seeing what’s going on in the U.S. and don’t’ want any part of owning dollars… But there’s always that pesky PPT that keeps throwing a spanner in their plans…

The BBDXY was 1,252 when I left you on 3/16… Last week, the BBDXY had fallen to 1,228, when the PPT stopped the bleeding…  The euro was nearing 1.10 last week, and this morning it’s trading 1.0825… That’s a drop that probably was needed to clean out the profit takers, but now we’ll see where the euro goes now..  The currencies, as a whole, were all looking much healthier last week, until they weren’t…

So, to tie it all together… Last Friday, Gold lost $21.90 to close the week at $1,957.30, and Silver lost 14-cents to close the week at $23.16… The BBDXY ended the week at 1,235… The Price of Oil had rebounded to $72, and the 10-year was 3.53%…   That was how we ended the week last week…

So, that brings us to the overnight trading last night…  The overnight traders didn’t seem to get the memo from late last week, about not selling the dollar any more, because they sold the dollar overnight!  The BBDXY lost nearly 3 index points overnight, and starts the week at 1,232…  There has bee some saber rattling going on with the U.S. and Iran (again!), and that has furthered the need, as the markets participants see it, for more safe haven buying…

Gold is off by a buck this morning, no biggie… Silver has lost 12-cents to start the day, but remains above $23 as I write…  The saber rattling with IRAN HAS THE PRICE OF Oil on the rebound, and Treasuries are a mess these days. I have more on Treasuries in the FWIW section today, so don’t miss that!

This safe haven buying was behind the big move by Gold last week, and the strong moves higher in euros, sterling, and you won’t believe the next currency I’m going to say is a safe haven… The Japanese yen! As amazing as that is, the yen has seen its level rise VS the dollar, to 130…  This is one thing that has me believing my thought that this is a world of opposites, these days… For yen, which is a basket case at best, to be considered a “safe haven” is beyond my comprehension.. .But it is what it is…And we move along..

So… the dollar was on the run last week away from the dollar sellers… And it appears that it will begin this week on the run once again… It’s about time, but that’s a discussion for another day, right now, let’s talk about what happens if the dollar continues to get sold… Well, a weaker currency has always been to blame for allowing inflation enter its respective borders… And what do we, as a country, not need in any shape or form right now?  More inflation!  

And what do we have for a Central Bank that is supposed to protect the dollar’s value to keep inflation from eating the value away? We have a Central Bank that is going after inflation with a pea shooter… 25 Basis Points rate hike? What was that all about? That’s not going to slow inflation one iota! Our Fed Funds rate is still below the rate of inflation, and that’s even using the watered down inflation rate that the BLS puts out each month that would be funny if it weren’t what they try to get the markets to believe is real inflation.. The BLS should be required to meet John Williams at www.shadowstats.com  now I would love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting!   

I read a piece from Ed Dowd, who explained that all these bank problems will lead to the shrinking of banks all over the country, down to just 6 major banks, and that will make the introduction of digital currencies easier… Hmmm… now there’s some real food for thought there folks…  That would mean that we’ve still got some time before they take away all our folding cash…  Banks defaulting, or getting taken over is not a good thing, folks…

Ok, remember when I wrote that we would see defaults, because of debt to the eyeballs of Corporations, States, Countries, etc. and that the default of these entities would then be the reason for the Gov’t to issue digital currencies?   Well, while I was on vacation, Paul Craig Roberts, wrote this: “There is, of course, the question:  Is this real stupidity or is a plot unfolding to collapse the financial system as we have known it in order to “save” us with the introduction of central bank digital currency?  Are we passing from the remnants of democracy and self-government into total tyranny?”

Chuck again… yes, the loss of the last of our civil liberties, will be the result of the introduction of digital currencies… The Gov’t will then know everything they need to know about you… Does this sound a bit like 1984? The book, that is… By George Orwell…  Now that’s some scary stuff, folks, but it’s what is going to be the result of digital currencies… Mark my words on that… One day, in the future, you’ll tell your grandkids, or great grandkids, that Chuck Butler, warned them and very few listened…. Got Gold?

I read this morning, that $286 Billion has been taken from banks and deposited in money market funds… Uh-Oh… These are not the FDIC insured money market funds, folks, these are the uninsured funds that had to bailed out in the financial meltdown of 2008…  Look, the U.S. was in a pickle in 2008, but the debt they held was no where near the $30 Trillion they’ve racked up since then… So, for the gov’t to think that they will be able to bail out Tom, Dick and Harry, they are sadly mistaken, the financial system will be strained to the end… I’m just saying…

The U.S. Data Cupboard today just has the Case/ Shiller Home Price Index for Feb… I do believe that home sales were still iffy at best in Feb.. We’ll see this morning if that’s right…   The rest of the week is lacking any real economic data, until we get to Friday… So, section of the letter will be a big bore, this week!

To recap.. last week was a good week for the currencies and metals until it wasn’t… The price manipulators and PPT decided enough was enough, and stopped the dollar selling, and metals buying in a heartbeat… Now we begin this week starting over, and see how far we get this time… Banks are still in trouble, folks… and that could lead us to an eventual number of banks that would make introducing digital currencies easier… We’ll see where that goes from here…

For What It’s Worth… Well, while on vacation, I read a piece from Matthew Piepenberg, from Gold Switzerland, and his words, once again are ringing true… This article is about how U.S. Treasuries have lost their shine, and it’s the debt and tons of issuance of the Treasuries that have them getting sold, and not wanted any longer.. the article can be found here: Je T’Accuse: To Bond Killers & Other Villains Destroying Our World – Matterhorn – GoldSwitzerland

Or, here’s your snippet: “As I recently observed, there’s something very unsettling when the most important bond in the global financial system–one for which 1) bank safety and liquidity levels are measured, 2) derivative markets are collateralized and 3) global sovereign nations hold (> $7 trillion) as reserve assets—suddenly loses its shine, trust and credibility.

In short: The UST matters.

Sadly, however, after years of backing unsustainable debt levels and exporting U.S. inflation around the world, no one trusts this critical sovereign bond anymore.

In fact, Uncle Sam’s infamous IOU is less of a promise of “risk-free-return” than it is an objectively corrupted symbol of “return-free-risk.”

Hard to believe?

Well, let’s just look at the unprecedented (and so-oft predicted/warned) volatility in the UST market of recent days.

Last week, for example, liquidity in US Treasuries (and German bunds, btw) sank like a rock, with ripple effects throughout the world.

On Monday, the 2-Year UST saw yields fall in single-day trading to levels not seen since 1987.

By Tuesday and Wednesday, intra-day volatility levels in the UST market surpassed those of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.

But that’s not the real record-breaker. Far from it.

As Bloomberg’s David Ingles confirmed, last-week’s extreme volatility and yield-moves in the 2-Year UST posted 3-sigma moves, something that MIT mathematicians argue should only occur statistically once every 50+ million years.”

Chuck again… As I always say when using a snippet from Matthew Piepenberg, it would behoove one, to click on the link and read the entire article.. .

Market Prices 3/28/2023: American Style: A$ .6673, kiwi .6225, C$ .7316, euro 1.0825, sterling 1.2318, Swiss $1.0896, European Style: rand 18.1969, krone 10.4330, SEK 10.3656, forint 354.56, zloty 4.3260, koruna 21.9099, RUB 76.61, yen 130.79, sing 1.3284, HKD 7.8499, INR 82.19, China 6.8811, peso 18.19, BRL 5.1967, BBDXY 1,232.30, Dollar Index 102.62, Oil $72.92, 10-year 3.54%, Silver $23.02, Platinum $969.00, Palladium $1,411.00, Copper $4.02, and Gold… $1,956.63

That’s it for today… I’m back in the saddle again, Out where a friend is a friend, Where the longhorn cattle feed, On the lowly gypsum weed… Ahhh, Gene Autry, the singing cowboy! Yes, I’m back, and this time for a long time until my annual summer vacation comes along, but that’s not for a few months… my new iWatch tells me that I’ve reached my Activity goal 19 straight days! Woo Hoo! But there’s no more walking to the ball park, etc. so I’ll have to get out and move during the day… UGH!   How about that STL City SC that’s 5-0 to start their inaugural season?  Now that’s exciting!   I sure hope it warms up in St. Louis for my first game which will be 4/15!   I don’t know how I’ll get through a game there, as the fans all stand the entire game!  I can stand about 5 minutes… Uh-Oh!   The late great Marvin Gaye takes us to the finish line today with his song: Mercy, Mercy Me…   I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 16, 2023

* currencies get sold, Gold get bought on Wednesday

* Bond traders think the rate hikes are over? 

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! This being the last Pfennig before my annual spring vacation starts, will hopefully be chock-full-o-stuff that interests you, and prods you into making a decision about your investment portfolio! I say that, because, you can’t project that I will absolutely, with no reservations, return… I’m just saying… OK, on the upbeat note (NOT!) Team USA won their game last night and therefore moved on to the knockout round. I stayed up to watch the game, and am regretting that decision this morning, as I’m dragging the line as the sun rises…  Bob Marley greets me this morning with his great song: Three Little Birds…  You know… “don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing going to be alreight”.. yeah, that song…

The dollar started yesterday roaring, with it up 8 index points to start the day, and then went on to add 3 more index points during the day to end up 11 for the day… But dollar weakness wasn’t the cause for Gold to soar yesterday… Gold was up more than $20 yesterday, before the price manipulators showed up, and pushed the metal down, but Gold still booked a gain of $15 on the day to end at $1,919.40. Silver got bought too, and saw the same price action as Gold, with it rising nicely during the day, only to see ti get whacked later, but hang onto a gain of 6-cents to close at $21.88…

The price of Oil has really lost a lot of ground in the last 2 weeks… In the past 24 hours, the price of Oil has dropped $3 to trade with a $67 handle… That looks strange to me, that $67 handle, but it is what it is, and I move along, for I talked about Oil traders yesterday… Forgot what I said? Well, simply go to the website for the Pfennig, and read it there: www.dailypfennig.com 

In the overnight markets last night, the dollar saw some selling, and the BBDXY lost 2 index points, the shine has been taken from the Mexican peso folks… Well, that was fun while it lasted, eh? With the price of Oil slumping badly, the Petrol Currencies are seeing lots of selling, and the peso has had the best run recently, so it makes sense that profit taking is setting in…  Look what the weak Oil price has done to the Russian ruble… And the Norwegian krone, and Canadian loonie, etc…. 

The best performing currency this week has been the Japanese yen… Yes, I had to recheck that a couple of time (measure twice, cut once) (belt and suspenders) cause that’s the kind of person I am…

Yen performing well, is just as strange as it sounds… But that’s the case, and I can’t deny it… I thought it was just last week that the Bank of Japan, announced more bond buying… But then opposites still rule, so there you go!

I read an article that talked about how bond traders are now betting that the Fed Heads are not going to hike rates any further, and so bonds are getting bought like funnel cakes at a State Fair!   What are these guys/ gals smoking? There has been on indication that the Fed Heads are going to do a knee jerk reaction to two failed banks, so why would you go out on a limb like that and say that the Fed Heads are finished with their rate hikes?  Aye, Aye, Aye….

Well, I saw this on Twitter yesterday… “Moody’s cuts outlook on entire U.S. Banking system to negative from stable, citing a “rapidly deteriorating environment”… 

See? Didn’t I tell you that the two bank failures last week, would lead to more problems for banks? Even Moody’s, the rating agency, that can’t seem to find its rear end with both hands, sees the problems for banks going forward…  It’s not often that I see the ratings agencies, one of the main culprits of the housing bubble in 2008, and I on the same page…  Better write that one down, for all eternity! HA!

I have a serious situation in the For What It’s Worth section today, regarding talking about Bank failures, you’ll want to make sure you read that section today!

But wasn’t that warning from Moody’s sort of like: Too little, too late? Well, yes it was… too late to help anyone that had invested in the Bank… Unless of course, the Gov’t decides to bail out all investors too! I shudder to think what kind of precedence that would set…  Because, the Good Lord, knows how many stock losses I’ve had over the years, and if the Gov’t is going to make reparations for stock losses, can you imagine the problems that would incur?    I shake my head in disgust that we’ve gone this far with bailouts!

Well, Credit Suisse had a good day yesterday… It received a 50 billion Swiss franc credit line with the country’s central bank.  But even that news isn’t stopping the Swiss Federal Council from convening a  special meeting on Thursday (this morning)  to discuss the situation at Credit Suisse Group AG, according to Swiss news service AWP.

The Swiss government usually holds regular meetings on Fridays, and it’s unclear if it will make any immediate decisions, AWP said, citing a report by affiliated news service Keystone SDA. That cited unidentified sources familiar with the matter. 

I got some of that info from Bloomberg.com…  

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday has the Feb Retail Sales, and like the BHI indicated the Retail Sales report was very disappointing, printing a negative -.4%, and that was including the Valentine’s Day sales, that are usually enough to prop up Feb Retail Sales, but not this year… I’ll say it again, and maybe this time it will sink in… Consumers are tapped out… They need more stimmy checks, they need the Gov’ to bail them out of their debt that’s up to their eyeballs, they need to find a genie, and a lamp!

Today’s Data Cupboard has a lot of minor prints, but the usual Tub Thumpin’ Thursday fare is head and shoulders above the minor reports, and that is the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims… Pretty soon, this data is going to show the increase of employees getting laid off…. Maybe this week?

To recap… The dollar fought back yesterday but only gained 2 index points on the day, and in the overnight trading last night it gave back those 2 index points!  Gold soared yesterday for a 1/2 of the day, before the price manipulators took their pound of flesh from Gold, but the shiny metal was able to eke out a gain of $14.90 on the day…Silver saw the same price action… In the early trading today, Silver has climbed back above $22…  The shine is off the peso, and the yen is the best performing currency this week… Yes, I meant to write that!

For What It’s Worth…  And now… first we had censoring of people’s thoughts on Twitter, then YouTUBE, then Facebook, or whatever it is called these days, and so on… Then they censored anyone talking about the Biden laptop fiasco, before the election… And guess what’s on their censoring agenda now?  Well, I’ll let the folks at the Burning Platform tell you what: this article can be found here: https://www.theburningplatform.com/2023/03/15/censoring-social-media-to-prevent-bank-runs/

Or, here’s your snippet: “The people within the system know when a bank is failing, as we saw with SVB’s recent collapse.  Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) asked the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp (FDIC) if it would be possible to censor information that could lead to future bank runs. Kelly is denying the claims despite people on both sides confirming his question.

The government implements bots on social media to support its agenda. Elon Musk exposed Twitter prior to the takeover. Twitter admitted when filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that around 5% of its 300 million users are in fact fake accounts. Once Musk began to crack down on fake accounts, members of the Democratic Party saw sharp declines in followers.

So Kelly’s proposal is not merely a method to avoid bank runs. This is infringing on our Constitutional right to the freedom of speech to control the masses via media. Let us not forget that nearly all social media platforms heavily lean left and support the same message.”

Chuck again… This really ticks me off! What the hell happened to “Freedom of Speech”? Have we become a communist nation overnight? Really… I’m asking a serious question here? Freedom of Speech, is one of the backbone’s of our Free Country! Take it away, and what have you got? 

I’m really upset here folks, you should see me, I’m hammering on the keyboard like the keyboard is to blame for this doltness!   I sure hope that someone with an ounce of gray matter reminds Mr. Kelly that there is this thing called a Constitution….  I’m sure he is unaware of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,  just like most of his colleagues…  

I’m going to keep writing about this banking situation, as long as I can, you can bet your last bottom dollar on that! Well, then you ARE going on vacation, Chuck… Oh, that’s right! Ok, I’ll write about when I get back, because I’m sure there will be more to write about!   

You know, I never talk about my birthday, but this year I am… Next week is my birthday, and one that I’ll appreciate even more, due to my two recent near death episodes… So, Happy Birthday to me, next week… 

Market Prices 3/16/2023: American Style: A$.6648, kiwi .6163, C$ .7273, euro 1.0607, sterling 1.2043, Swiss $1.0765, European Style: rand 18.3820, krone 10.7743, SEK 10.5673, forint 373.89, zloty 4.4293, koruna 22.6086, RUB 76.26, yen 132.79, sing 1.3480, HKD 7.8494, INR 82.73, China 6.8963, peso 19.04, BRL 5.2684, BBDXY 1,252.80, Dollar Index 104.45, Oil $67.57, 10-year 3.45%, Silver $22.02, Platinum $968.00, Palladium $1,456.00, Copper $3.87, and Gold… $1,925.15

That’s it for today…  And for this week, and until March 28…  What the heck happened to our Blues this year? They lost a game last night on home ice, giving up 8 goals! YIKES! After a 2-game road trip, my beloved Cardinals return to Roger Dean Stadium today, and I’ll be there! By myself! It was an ugly day here yesterday, with clouds and rain, and wind… You’ve got to have those kinds of days, to appreciate the beautiful ones even more! I forgot to mention the other day that it was Kathy’s Mom’s Birthday! She turned 87, and is still on the move!  Happy belated Birthday, Kathleen! Or Granny as my kids call her!  The Outlaws take us to the finish line today with their near 10 minute song: Green Grass and High Tides… I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and a Fantastico Friday, St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow! I sure hope someone kisses me since I’m Irish!  I hope you will Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 15, 2023 

* Currencies & metals see profit taking on Tuesday

* Banks in Europe have the same problems… 

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! And Welcome to the Ides of March! The cold front that moved through Monday night, left temps in the high 70’s yesterday, beautiful! Even with the ocean acting up, it has still maintained some beautiful colors in recent days… And the sea breezes have been wonderful too! I love it here, in the winter, and now next week the early spring… I took Kathy to the airport yesterday evening, and now I’m all by myself for a couple of days until. Dawn, Jerry, Delaney, and Everett come to see me on Friday afternoon… Speaking of Friday, it will be St. Patrick’s Day!  Go Green!  Kiss me, I’m Irish, and all of that! I’ll be wearing my special St. Pat’s Day shirt, it’s a real winner! Wild Cherry greets me this morning with their song: Play That Funky Music

Well, I guess when you have two days of major buying of Gold & Silver, and major selling of the dollar, that there was bound to be some profit taking from the short term investors, and that’s what I believe we saw yesterday… This from Kitco: “Gold prices are weaker in midday U.S. trading Tuesday, on a normal downside correction following strong gains posted Monday.”  So… for the record, Gold lost $10.40 for the day, remaining above $1,900, and ending the day at $1,904.30, and Silver lost 12-cents on the day to close at $21.7…   The BBDXY was up for the day in the morning, but gave way to selling in the afternoon, finally ending up down 2 index points at 1,243…  

The Big News yesterday was the stupid CPI remained above 6% on an annual basis in February… Like I’ve said before, inflation is sticky, and it will take all the rate hikes that the Fed Heads can muster/ stomach, to defeat inflation… There are still those cry babies out there in the stock jockey land, that continue to whine and cry about the high interest rates, and that the Fed Heads should pivot…   I really don’t agree with them, because they are only looking out for their own investment portfolios, or their ability to sell more stocks…  

I would warn them that they should be careful what they wish for… In the Bonner Private Research newsletter yesterday, Dan Denning had this to say: “Remember, history shows that recessions and stock market corrections usually begin AFTER the rate hiking cycle, when the Fed CUTS.” 

Chuck again… WOW! Now that’s something that we all should take into account, for I obviously hadn’t researched that previously, so it was news to me!

In the overnight markets last night… the dollar got bought like funnel cakes at a State Fair! The BBDXY gained 8 index points overnight, and has the feeling that currency traders know something that we don’t! And it can’t have anything to do with the solvency of U.S. Banks, because, in my opinion, that’s tenuous at best…  Gold has eked out a gain in the early trading today of $3, and Silver has added 12-cents this morning.  The price of Oil has fallen out of bed, and trades this morning with a $70 handle…

I think the Oil traders are the only asset class traders that see what’s going on in the World, right now with debt up to each country’s ears, inflation rising, and being sticky, and the rot that’s on the vine of each country’s economy, and know that demand for Oil is going to wane in the coming months, and so , they have seen to it that their fears, are expressed in the price of Oil.

I forgot to mention something else that good friend, Dennis Miller and I talked about the other day, and that is the new program that the Fed Heads introduced that will provide funding to banks in trouble… Here’s some more from Bill Bonner’s letter: “The facility will allow banks to take advances from the Fed for up to a year by pledging Treasuries, mortgage-backed bonds and other debt as collateral. By allowing banks to pledge their bonds, they can meet customer withdrawals without having to sell their bonds at a loss, which is what Silicon Valley Bank did last week, sparking a run on the bank.…the Fed won’t look to the market value of the collateral, which in many cases reflect big unrealized losses due to the jump in interest rates.” 

Chuck again… So, isn’t that just another form of QE? Buying bonds to help a bank keep its head above water, no matter what condition the bonds are in?  To me this is just another lame brained idea from the PHD’s at the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel… Screw the people, they are not worthy!   Only the select few among the crowds in the bank that have more than $250,000 on deposit are worthy!

I had better stop there before I go and say something that gets me shut down! I could be labeled a “domestic terrorist”…   Now getting a moniker like that would certainly increase my readership now wouldn’t it! HA!

The banking news from Europe isn’t any rosier than here folks… Yesterday, trading was halted on several banks because of selling pressure. Credit Suisse shares slid 24% after Saudi backer rules out further assistance, and other banks are reeling from the news from Credit Suisse…  You know, the ruling class thinks the rest of us are all walking, talking idiots, dolts, twits, and any other word that describes how they fell about us… They can’t believe that the walking talking dolts, have seen the banks for what they are and are pulling money out of them…

And this has been a major piece of the problems for banks… The Banks were flush with cash that was deposited, thru profits from Companies, and stimmy checks from the walking talking dolts… They had to put the money to work, to make an interest rate spread… Since they weren’t paying much in interest, they’re goals of making an interest rate spread , weren’t that difficult… They looked at the Treasury yield curve, and bought bonds…

Now what have I been warning you all about for over a year now? That buying bonds was a bad idea, as long as the Fed Heads had their interest rate hike hats on… That buying bonds with a low yield, was not a good idea, if the next bond that’s issued has a higher yield, and the next bond has an even higher yield, etc…  I’ve explained that one should wait until the Fed Heads indicate that they are nearing an end of their rate hike adventure, and THAT would be the time to buy bonds…  

Apparently bank CFO’s don’t’ read the Pfennig… Because they did the exact opposite, and bought zero and 1% yielding bonds, that had unrealized losses on the books, that didn’t have to be taken, until… The Banks had to sell the bonds to shore up their capital…  Uh-Oh!   Well, you can’t say that I didn’t warn them, just because they didn’t think it would be worth their precious time to read the Pfennig, doesn’t remove the fact that I warned them!

So… the crybabies are calling for the Fed Heads to pivot and cut rates at the next meeting that will take place on March 21-22… One of those two day meetings where all the board games get brought out for the Fed Heads to play while they wait for their time to announce another rate hike! You know, in the beginning of the rate hike adventure, I really didn’t think that Chairman, Powell, had the  intestinal fortitude to carry out the mission of defeating inflation that they themselves had created…  But, so far, Powell, has carried out his mission like a real trooper… And so, to me, now is NOT the time to pivot, for the Fed Funds rate is still below the inflation rate!  You can’t defeat inflation like that! Rates have to go much higher…

Remember when I told you that we were in a position that the lawmakers, and Treasury, and Fed Heads had backed us into… And that position is to either throw out all the work in fighting inflation (rate hikes), and allow inflation to rise and take over the economy thus brining it to its knees… Or… we can decide to fight inflation with much higher interest rates and bring the economy to its knees that way…  As Bill Bonner has said for some time now… Inflate or Die…

My position on this is that we need to defeat inflation, and worry about the other stuff later, we need to get households back on terra firma, and if that causes a long recession, then so be it… We, as a country, have lived through long recessions before, and even though the Fed Heads have prevented a recession for years now, we’ve lost sight of how to do this… But, we will need to hunker down, spend wisely, and not cause any commotion… The excesses of the previous boom, will be cleaned up, and we’ll start over again, stronger, because inflation isn’t hanging over us like the Sword of Damocles…

Ok, I’ll step down from my soapbox now… I always seem to tick off some readers when I decide to opine on the soap box… But, somebody has to do it, and it might as well be me!

Before I head to the Big Finish today, I wanted to mention that the corporate layoffs had been quiet lately, until this was announced yesterday: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post on Tuesday that the company will “reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired.”

And the economy is so strong, that not only are employees of this company are being axed, but also that the open positions have been erased… deleted…

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the aforementioned stupid CPI… Today’s Data Cupboard has the Feb Retail Sales for us… The Butler Household Index (BHI) indicates that this report will be very disappointing… Consumers are really feeling the pinch of their what is left for disposable income… And this report should show that, but then who knows? The Gov’t bean counters could decide to manipulate this report too… UGH!   We’ll also see Feb PPI (wholesale inflation)… This is a preview of what we will see in consumer inflation in the coming months… Remember, I keep telling you that inflation is sticky…

To recap… Yesterday looked like a normal day of profit taking after two days (Friday & Monday) of huge gains in Gold & Silver, and shorting the dollar… The BBDXY lost 3 more index points on the day, thus signaling that the major selling of the dollar was over… And that was proved to be correct in the overnight markets where the BBDXY gained 8 index points!  Today is the Ides of March… the day that was forecast to be the day that the digital currency was announced… I don’t think that will happen today, so go on, move along for these are not the digital currencies we’re looking for…  HA!   

For What It’s Worth…  well talk about saying oops! That’s what this article is about… The Good folks at GATA sent me this note, and it’s about how the two failed banks last week had just gone through examinations and got a bill of good health, this is a Wall Street Journal article, so you have to have a subscription to read it.. but fear not… I have the particulars in a snippet for you… but it can be found here: KPMG Gave SVB, Signature Bank Clean Bill of Health Weeks Before Collapse – WSJ

Or, here’s your snippet; “Silicon Valley Bank failed just 14 days after KPMG LLP gave the lender a clean bill of health. Signature Bank went down 11 days after the accounting firm signed off on its audit.

What KPMG knew about the two banks’ financial situation and what it missed will likely be the subject of regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits.

KPMG signed the audit report for Silicon Valley Bank’s parent on Feb. 24.

Regulators seized the bank on March 10 after a surge of withdrawals threatened to leave it short of cash.

“Common sense tells you that an auditor issuing a clean report, a clean bill of health, on the 16th-largest bank in the United States that within two weeks fails without any warning, is trouble for the auditor,” said Lynn Turner, who was chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1998 to 2001.

Two crucial facts for determining whether KPMG missed the banks’ problems are when the bank runs began in earnest and when the bank’s management and KPMG’s auditors became aware of the crisis.”

Chuck Again… that reminded me of something I once said to a group of bankers at a meeting… That I would be the best bank examiner there ever was, because I know where the bones are buried… And apparently these auditors didn’t!

Market Prices 3/15/2023: American Style: A$ .6640, kiwi .6200, C$ .7275, euro 1.0626, sterling 1.2086, Swiss $1.0845, European Style: rand 18.3792, krone 10.6880, SEK 10.5637, forint 372.03, zloty 4.4316, koruna 22.5119, RUB 75.91, yen 133.56, sing 1.3459, HKD 7.8478, INR 82.60, China 6.9950, peso 18.86, BRL 5.2538, BBDXY 1,251.56, Dollar Index 104.41, Oil $70.45, 10-year 3.54%, Silver $21.83, Platinum $970.00, Palladium $1,449.00, Copper $3.93, and Gold… $1,907.16

That’s it for today… Whew! I did a quick look at my bank account this morning, and found that it hadn’t been converted  to digits… I still think that when the announcement is made for digital currency, that will be done on a weekend, and we’ll start Monday with digits… Well, have you completed your NCAA Tournament Bracket? I filed mine… I always used to say, “here’s my $20 annual contribution”… Usually by the time the Sweet Sixteen are left, I have torn my bracket up and thrown it away! UGH!  I’m all by myself again… Hello, Pizza Man Pizza? HA!   My darling granddaughter, Delaney Grace, will be here for the St. Pat’s Day celebration here at the Condo… Can you believe that little d, will turn 16 this August? Where did those 16 years go?  Oh well… se la vie…   Jay & The Techniques take us to the finish line today with a song that we used to play in my first band: Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie…  What? Don’t know that one? YOUTUBE it, I think you’ll like the song… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and will continue to Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 14, 2023

* currencies & metals rally on Monday

* Banks are sitting on a mountain of unrealized losses! 

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Another beautiful day here yesterday… We got a brief bit of rain last night, and that’s the only rain we’ve seen in month! But cold front moved in, again… That means the highs for the next couple of days will be in the 70’s…  cold front, he he he…   Whenever there’s a cold front that come through, the ocean gets very angry… Our Blues had won 2 straight games, before falling on the ice again last night, and losing… It has been a lost season for the Blues this year… There’s always next year! I’m excited about the NCAA basketball tournament that will begin tonight with play-in games… My beloved Mizzou Tigers play on Thursday afternoon, while I’m at the baseball game. UGH! Brian Setzer and his orchestra greet me this morning with their version of the song: Sleepwalk…

Well, the fear that’s in the markets from consumers/ investors, has greatened… I really don’t know what else to call it, other than fear…  And when there’s fear, there’s a run to Gold… And that’s exactly what we saw yesterday… Gold gained $45.80 on the day, to end the day at $1,924.70, and Silver outperformed Gold on a percentage basis, gaining $1.28, to end the day at $21.90… The dollar got sold again yesterday, as it followed up the overnight selling. The BBDXY lost over 6 index points from Friday’s close yesterday, and looks to be in trouble right now… The euro climbed back over the 1.07 figure, and all the other currencies followed the Big Dog euro, as it chased the dollar down the street.   But what will the currencies be when they are compared to a digital currency?  Ahhh, that’s the $64 question, folks… Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel!

My longtime friend, and best selling author, Bill Bonner, has maintained that the Fed will continue to hike rates until they break something…  Well, did the breaking of two banks last week, equal a real breaking of something? I doubt it… But it could, be the reason the Gov’t decides to go to digital currency, and not wait any longer…  But I did read an article yesterday where the pundit said that these two bank failures will push the Fed to pivot and cut rates by 100 Basis Points!  Wow, now that was from left field!  But what would happen if the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel did decide to pivot now, after telling everyone that would listen that they are in the rate hike business until inflation is back to 2%?   

It would mean that the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel has decided to hell with all of us suffering from inflation! Changing horses in the middle of the stream is never a good idea, and changing their position in the fight against inflation now, would also be bad idea…  Now, I’m not one to think that people should suffer from a bank failure, but… All of us with deposits in the bank, no matter what bank it is, are adults, and we know that the limit for a join account is $250,000 , FDIC insurance…   Any amount over that figure, is each depositors risk… And when you put funds at risk, you could lose them…  So, for the Gov’t to step in and say that all depositors’ funds will be available to them, is NOT, what should be done here…

I won’t go on and on about the bank’s failure, the regulators’ failure, and the depositor’s failure, to monitor what the heck was going on with these two banks… But in the end, why does the Gov’t need to stop in and cover up all their sins?   

Bank stocks all over the world took a hit yesterday… Here’s Reuters with their call on this: “Shockwaves from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank further pounded global bank stocks despite President Joe Biden’s efforts to reassure markets. Emergency U.S. measures to shore up banks by giving them access to additional funding failed to dispel investor worries.”

In the overnight markets last night…The selling of the dollar came to and end. Apparently, currency traders were satisfied with the drop in the dollar that was associated with the failure of 2 U.S. banks last week. The BBDXY gained 1 index point overnight, and Gold is seeing some selling in the early trading today. Gold is down $11 this morning, and Silver has lost 15-cents to start the day. I had a conversation with a guy on Saturday, and he asked me if I thought the dollar was trading where it should… And I emphatically said no! The dollar is overpriced, and has been for sometime now… He then wanted to know why I thought that, and I reeled off a list of things that would make you wonder if I sat up nights thinking of these things… But, as I explained to the man, just because I think that the dollar is overpriced, doesn’t mean a hill of beans to the markets, for they don’t see it that way…

The price of Oil keeps slipping by the day, with it trading with a $73 handle this morning… The Oil price is really playing heck with Petrol Currencies… The darling Mexican peso has lost its shine, with the weak Oil price, and the Norwegian krone is cheaper than the Swedish krona, and that’s a phenomenon that rarely occurs… The Russian ruble has lost its shine, and Canadian dollar/ loonie, can’t stop stepping on its own feet… 

Well, here’s where I draw the line of being believable or not… Remember when now Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen said that “the U.S. wouldn’t experience another financial crisis”?   Kind of reminded me of when then, Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel chairman, Ben Bernanke, said that there was no housing crisis in 2008?  These public figure heads are there to make sure that the regular folks, don’t panic and sell… When the fit hits the shan, later, they just go hide and you don’t hear from them again…  But the rot on the economy/ markets vine has been exposed, and everyone knows it, but they have forgotten that they were told there was no crisis… But I don’t forget these things… and I find it to be my job to remind everyone!

Well then, thank you Chuck! Wait! What? Don’t be thanking yourself you dolt! Well, my dad taught me long ago that if you don’t toot your own horn, who else is going to do it?  So there! And don’t be calling me a dolt!  Even if sometimes I write like one! HA!

Ok, back to being serious… The good folks at GATA sent me a note on SVB and other banks that took a snippet from, here it is: “Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse last week sent tingles of panic down investors’ spines as it highlighted a larger problem across the banking sector: The widening gap between the value large lenders place on the bonds they hold and what they’re actually worth on the market.

SVB’s downfall was tied, in part, to the plunge in the value of bonds it acquired during boom times, when it had a lot of customer deposits coming in and needed somewhere to park the cash.

But SVB isn’t the only institution with that issue. U.S. banks were sitting on $620 billion in unrealized losses (assets that have decreased in price but haven’t been sold yet) at the end of 2022, according to the FDIC.

What’s happening: Back when interest rates were near zero, U.S. banks scooped up lots of Treasuries and bonds. Now, as the Federal Reserve hikes rates to fight inflation, those bonds have declined in value.”

Chuck again… yes, these are “Unrealized losses”, and they don’t have to be taken… Unless, there’s a run on their deposits like SVB had… And once again, I don’t believe these two bank failures is enough to get the Fed Heads to pivot and reverse their rate hike agenda… So, in that case, interest rates will continue to rise, and thus worsen the unrealized losses of banks…  They’ve got that going for them, eh?

The U.S. Data Cupboard today has the stupid CPI report for Feb.  I really don’t get why the markets still look at the stupid CPI, for it doesn’t properly reflect what the real inflation rate is, and how could it, given all the hedonic adjustments that have been added to the stupid CPI calc over the years… And those hedonic adjustments just keep getting added, there was a change to CPI made just a month or so ago!  As I’ve talked about previously, several times, that is, John Williams at www.shadowstats.com does the calc the way it was done before Clinton and Greenspan began the spiral of hedonic adjustments to CPI, and his calc is the only inflation calc that counts in my book!

To recap… The dollar got sent to the woodshed yesterday, with Gold & Silver being the main beneficiaries of the failure of two U.S. Banks last week.  Chuck doesn’t believe that these two bank failures will be the end of this…  And investors are fearing that there will be more rot on the vine exposed, and therefore the safe haven investments of: Gold, Silver, Swiss francs, and Treasuries have been the end choices of investors… Bank stocks are taking a hit, and well they should!  There has to be many a bank that has the same makeup as SVB out there folks…  And the Unrealized losses of the Banks is going to get worse, as interest rates continue to climb… And the price of Oil keeps slipping, and that has really weighed heavily on the Petrol Currencies…

For What It’s Worth… This came to me from long time reader, Bob, who thought it might be important, and I agree! This is an article about the SVB failure, etc and it can be found here: Ellen Brown: The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami  – scheerpost.com

Or, here’s your snippet: “A fuller report on the collapse of SVB will have to wait on developments that occur over the weekend and soon thereafter.

This column, meanwhile, focuses on derivatives and is a followup to my Feb. 23  column on the “bail in” provisions of the 2010 Dodd Frank Act, which eliminated taxpayer bailouts by requiring insolvent SIFIs to recapitalize themselves with the funds of their creditors. “Creditors” are defined to include depositors, but deposits under $250,000 are protected by FDIC insurance. However, the FDIC fund is sufficient to cover only about 2% of the $9.6 trillion in U.S. insured deposits. A nationwide crisis triggering bank runs across the country, as happened in the early 1930s, would wipe out the fund. Today, some financial pundits are predicting a crisis of that magnitude in the quadrillion dollar-plus derivatives market, due to rapidly rising interest rates. This column looks at how likely that is and what can be done either to prevent it or dodge out of the way.

“Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction”

In 2002, mega-investor Warren Buffett wrote that derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction.” At that time, their total “notional” value (the value of the underlying assets from which the “derivatives” were “derived”) was estimated at $56 trillion. Investopedia reported in May 2022 that the derivatives bubble had reached an estimated $600 trillion according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and that the total is often estimated at over $1 quadrillion.  No one knows for sure, because most of the trades are done privately.

As of the third quarter of 2022, according to the “Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities” of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the federal bank regulator),  a total of 1,211 insured U.S. national and state commercial banks and savings associations held derivatives, but 88.6% of these were concentrated in only four large banks: J.P. Morgan Chase ($54.3 trillion), Goldman Sachs ($51 trillion), Citibank ($46 trillion), Bank of America ($21.6 trillion), followed by Wells Fargo ($12.2 trillion).”

Chuck again… ahhh, those darn derivatives… I’ve been talking about them for years now, and this is coming to a big bottle neck, folks… With interest rates rising, these derivatives, have all accounted on them remaining low, things are sure to go bust… But when? Ahhh, that’s the $64 question… But in the meantime, Got Gold?

Market Prices 3/14/ 2023: American Style: A$ .6668, kiwi .6222, C$ .7291, euro 1.0714, sterling 1.2152, Swiss $1.0975, European Style: rand 18.2590, krone 10.6280, SEK 10.5863, forint 366.40, zloty 4.3731, koruna 22.2091, RUB 75.31, yen 134.40, sing 1.3461, HKD 7.8467, INR 82.49, China 6.8769, peso 18.85, BRL 5.2473, BBDXY 1,246.53, Dollar Index 103.78, Oil $73.20, 10-year 3.60%, Silver $21.68, Platinum $992.00, Palladium $1,468.00, Copper $3.92, and Gold… $1,903.54

That’s it for today… I had a long conversation with good friend Dennis Miller on the phone yesterday, we both were fired up about the SVB failure and the Gov’t’s intervention… If the NSA was listening, they got an earful of thoughts on how this bank failure could have been averted… Team USA took their loss to Mexico out on the Canada team last night, pounding them into submission with a 12-1 victory… These games come on so late for me, I fall asleep in the my chair watching them, and then I wake up and wonder where I am!  My beloved Cardinals get back on the field after a day off, yesterday, but they’ll be on the road until Thursday… Paul McCartney, takes us to the finish line today with his solo song: Every Night… I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

 

March 13, 2023

* currencies & metals rally on Friday

* Will this Wednesday be the end of folding currency? 

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you… Lots of sports for those of us that love sports to watch this past weekend… Tomorrow, Kathy is heading back home again, for a few days, so I’ll be all by myself until darling daughter Dawn and her family arrive Friday night… Thursday, I’ll be at the game by myself, so if you’re in the area, send me a note, I do have an extra ticket! HA! After a few hot days at the ballpark, the last two visits have been downright delightful! Especially, with a Cardinals win in each game! 3 of the Cardinals star players are away playing in the World Baseball Classic, so the young kids are getting their opportunity to shine… Grand Funk Railroad greets me this morning with their song: I’m Your Captain…

Well, Friday was something… Not only did the Gov’t try to pull the wool over our eyes once again with the Jobs Jamboree number, but the Gold traders said, “well, if you want to play that game, we’ll just go ahead and start marking up the price of Gold”… The dollar got sold to the tune of 5 index points in the BBDXY. The euro climbed back over the 1.06 handle, and sterling recovered over the 1.20 handle… Gold gained $37 on Friday, to end the week at $1,869.10… Silver gained 47-cents on Friday to end the week at $20.63…

The price of Oil was steady in the $76 handle, and bonds…  Well, bust my buttons! The 10-year Treasury lost 21 basis Points on Friday, to yield 3.70%…  You’ve got to be kidding me! Bonds do not move like that in huge chunks! But the 10-year did on Friday… The SVB bank failure is really pushing investors into safe haven investments, like Treasuries, and Gold…  One writer for Kitco, said that the sentiment toward Gold has changed and it could return to $1,900 this week!

Here’s what I believe we’re seeing right now… The SVB failure is going to cause a large number of over the FDIC limit, to pull their collective excesses from their bank, and invest them in short Term Treasuries, or Gold… I myself would opt for Gold… But then that’s just me… So, that’s the reason for the HUGE move in bonds & Gold on Friday…  And guess who touted SVB stock just weeks ago?   Well, you know who, so I won’t have to mention J.C.’s name…

I have more details on the SVB failure in the FWIW section today, so if you want to skip ahead, and read it now, feel free to do so, but make sure you circle back for the rest of the letter today!  But before I go on, my good friend, and former Big Boss, Frank Trotter, always on top of things as he is, sent me a PDF from JPM that dove deep into the SVB failure, and here’s a brief snippet: “The irony of SIVB is that most banks have historically failed due to credit risk issues. This is the first major one I recall where the primary issue was a duration mismatch between high quality assets and deposit liabilities. As shown below, being flooded with deposits from fast-money VC firms and other corporate accounts at a time of historically low interest rates might have been more of a curse than a blessing.”

Ahhh… another case of low interest rates being the bane of things…

But shoot Rudy, looky here! Now the FDIC has announced that they will make all deposits available to customers of the bank on Monday…  Here we go…   Oh, and the FDIC also announced the shuttering of another bank on Sunday… Signature Bank…  The FDIC said that by making all deposits available, they have relieved the tension that other banks around the country would have experienced otherwise…   I could be naïve and say that this will work… or… I could be jaded like I am, and say this is just bad money, going out to more bad money…   And that’s all I’ll say about that!

In the overnight markets last night… Well, the FDIC announcing that the depositors of SVB and Signature bank will be made whole, hasn’t stopped the selling of the dollar. The BBDXY has lost 4 more index points overnight, and starts the week at 1,249…   Gold is up $17 in the early trading this morning, and is climbing toward that $1,900 figure. Silver has added 20-cents this morning also.  The markets looked confused as to what to think… on one hand you have the 2^nd largest bank failure, along with a crypto bank failure, which signifies that there’s something seriously wrong with the financial structure of the U.S., but on the other hand you have the fact that all depositors will be made whole, and no tax payer money was used to bail them out…  So… what do you think about all of this?

The government’s intervention here is to be thought of as something that was expected given their past history of bailing out whom they figure is worthy…  I was talking about something similar to all this to a financial person the other day, and told him that at Mark Twain Bank we used to do a Bank CD product that would go out and find the highest rate and place funds into that bank’s CDs… That was all good until there was problems in the U.S. and a slew of banks failed… That was when I had to go out to the banks and  obtain the FDIC claim papers and then deliver them to the clients, who then had to file them to get their principal back, which I was told would take months to recover, because of all the Gov’t red tape…

Where was the Gov’t bail outs then? Oh, that was a different time, Chuck… The Gov’t didn’t bail out anyone, if you failed, you failed, and then we stared over… But somewhere along the way, that all changed, and now we’re in the business of bailing out everyone!   I’m no fan of bailouts, in whatever shape or form they are made… I’m just saying…

The Ides of March… is forever associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar by senators hoping to preserve the Roman Republic. And why am I bringing this up today? Because, James Rickards, who along with me, have been warning people about the coming of digital currencies, says that March 15^th will be the day that the Gov’t announces digital currencies… Thus the Ides Of March, the assassination of the folding currency…  Now, I don’t know if that’s really going to take place this week, but… it’s coming, and soon…  And then what will you do?

Remember that over two years ago, I told you, in the Pfennig, that this day was coming, and it would most likely be associated with defaults…   Silicon Valley Bank going under last week, could be the straw that breaks the folding currency’s back…

The best performer of last week was the Swiss franc… which has historically been a “safe haven” currency, when things look as tenuous as they do now, and has resumed that position apparently… The euro was also a safe haven currency only from being the offset currency to the dollar. I would watch for additional bank problems in the U.S. to confirm that the dollar is in trouble, and that the safe haven currencies are the way to combat that, other than Gold…

The U.S. Data Cupboard on Friday last week, saw the Gov’t try to pull the wool over our eyes once again, with a Jobs Jamboree print of 311,000 jobs created in Feb…  Ahem… Psst… I’ll let you in on a little secret that few people ever really look at… of that 311,000 jobs created, 176.000 of them were added to the surveys by the BLS, because 135,000 jobs created just doesn’t sound like a strong economy, now does it? And here’s another caveat that I figured out…  The Unemployment Rate rose…   yes, Feb’s level was 3.6%, VS 3.4% in Jan…  Now, here’s where the rubber meets the road, folks… The Gov’t wants you to believe that 311,000 jobs were created in Feb, but if that’s the case, then how could the Unemployment Rate rise?  Riddle me that Batman!

This week’s Data Cupboard has a few real economic data reports, but none today… starting tomorrow, we’ll begin to see the stupid CPI, then Retail Sales, and so on… So, it will be a busy week for the bean counters, but… will their data prints go unnoticed because of the Ides Of March?

To recap… The SVB failure last week,  is going to play BIG with investor sentiment, and Gold gained $37 on Friday last week, and the 10-year Treasury got bought hand over fist, as it lost 21 Basis Points of yield. (remember bonds price like this, as the yield goes down, the bond price goes up and vice versa)  James Rickards says that the Ides Of March will be memorable this week, as he believes that’s when the Gov’t will announce digital currencies…   Got Gold?

For What It’s Worth…  I talked briefly about this above this morning, but this story needs more attention than just a brief note!  This is going to be the first of many bank failures, I believe… So, where are you on the $250,000 FDIC limit? The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) IS A BIG STORY folks, and you can read about it all here: “Expect Mass Layoffs…” – The Real-World Impact Of SVB’s Failure | ZeroHedge

Or, here’s your snippet: “For most people in America, the news that a ‘bank in Silicon Valley’ has failed will be forgotten quicker than a story about soaring shoplifting in their local supermarket.

It shouldn’t.

Reality is that the contagion of the shuttering of the 18th largest bank in the US are widespread.

SVB is in fact the second largest (by assets) bank failure in US history after WaMu.

First things first, there is a long line of depositors who are over the $250,000 FDIC insured limit (in fact only somewhere between 3 and 7% of total deposits are insured).

And, investors are out a lot…

Whenever a company stumbles, shareholder lawsuits become pretty common. As Bloomberg reports, already this morning, law firms including Faruqi & Faruqi LLP, Schall Law Firm, Pomerantz LLP and Girard Sharp LLP have put out press releases saying they’re looking into SVB and that investors who’ve suffered losses as the bank’s shares slumped can contact the firms’ attorneys.

Brad Hargreaves explains in a brief thread how SVB’s closure & receivership is going to have a massive impact on the tech ecosystem.

SVB was not just a dominant player in tech but were highly integrated in some nontraditional ways.”

Chuck again… I strongly suggest you click on the link above today, because to see the incomplete list of companies in SVB, it’ll shock you, and then make you wonder, what comes next?  And bank runs are going to become a real problem, folks…   Got Gold?

Market Prices 3/13/2023: American Style: A$ .6635, kiwi .6180, C$ .7250, euro 1.0670, sterling 1.2067, Swiss $1.0925, European Style: rand 18.2161, krone 10.6440, SEK 10.7152, forint 363.10, zloty 4.3997, koruna 22.2275, RUB 75.18, yen 135.40, sing 1.3475, HKD 7.8445, INR 82.76, China 6.8802, peso 18.76, BRL 5.2140, BBDXY 1,249.29, Dollar Index 104.29, Oil $75.50, 10-year 3.55%, Silver $20.83, Platinum $969.00, Palladium $1,401.00, Copper $3.96, and Gold… $1,886.54

That’s it for today… 3 games, 3 wins! Our expansion soccer team, STL City SC, has stared their season and existence, with 3 wings, being only the 2^nd expansion team in the league, to start out 3-0! Team USA got the World Baseball Classic off on a good note, with a win Saturday night. Both games the soccer game, and the baseball game came on late Saturday night, and I fell asleep watching them!   Team USA followed Saturday night’s win with a loss to Mexico! Proving that you can’t win them all, even with an all-star lineup. Both my fave basketball teams lost in their respective conference tournaments on Saturday… The Mizzou Tigers will play in the NCAA Tournament, while the SLU Billikens will have to settle for an invitation from the NIT… Well, this is the last week before I head out on my annual spring vacation, so I have that going for me!  The Allman Brothers take us to the finish line today with their song: Blue Sky…   I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 9, 2023

* Currencies & metals rally in the overnight markets

* Will Solar Panels drive shortages in Silver? 

Good Day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to one and all! Well, yesterday was a different kind of day for me, as we attended a meeting at the town hall, and came back to friends, who then spent the day at the beach, with me included! I truly used to love to be on the beach, but since being somewhat handicapped, it’s not so much fun for me any longer. I usually just hang out on the deck that overlooks the beach. But yesterday, I went out on the beach, and had a good time!  The day was beautiful, and my beloved Cardinals beat the Yankees in Tampa! So, a good day, all-in-all… The Killers greet me this morning with their song: Somebody Told Me…

Well, yesterday, the dollar drifted throughout the day, with no real direction to lead it up or down. The BBDXY lost 1 index point, and the currencies, at the end of the day, looked the same as they did at the beginning of the day… weak…   Gold only gained 50-cents on the day, and Silver lost 2-cents on the day… So, basically a flat day for the metals…  Gold ended the day at $1,814.80, and Silver at $20.13… The price of Oil dropped 50-cents, to trade with a $76 handle, and the 10-year Treasury saw its yield rise a bp or two…  So, as you can see, the things I follow the closest, were stuck in the mud, and brought out the yawns from traders throughout the day yesterday.

In The overnight markets… There was some dollar selling, with the BBDXY losing 3 index points, and starts the day on a down note. The currencies don’t look any better for this loss in the dollar, so it must be very wide in its losses… Gold is up $5 in the early trading today, with Silver flat as a pancake (Head East)… Gold traders have to start over again after the whacking that Gold took on Tuesday. Reestablishing  their position, and erasing the memory of what happened that day…  I read a note the other day about Silver, and how there will be a shortage of Silver in the coming months, due to the demand for Solar Panels… Silver is a major component of the Solar Panels, and therefore, the forecast for a shortage.

That should be good news for Silver, but then there is no amount of good news that can overcome the number of short contracts that are at COMEX in Silver… Right now, Ed Steer tells me that the amount of ounces of Silver that are sold short, would take 137 days of production to cover…  That’s a wake up call for you folks… But there is a Silver lining (pun intended), here and that is that a year ago, the number of days of production to cover the short positions was around 180…  

The price Of Oil was steady overnight and trades this morning with a $76 handle…  Recall that recently the price of Oil rose to $80, but that bump higher was short-lived… The fears of an economic slowdown are weighing heavily on the price of Oil, right now…  And Bonds… Well the 10-year is at 3.98% this morning, still below 4.0%, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why this bond is not yielding more right now… But then I’m not one of the bond boys…  

In a follow up of the story I told you about yesterday, where the Perth Mint was accused of diluting the Gold they sent to China… This too, came from the good folks at GATA; “BEIJING — The Shanghai Gold Exchange today backed Perth Mint in denying that the Australian processor had sold it “doped” gold bars and said it could take action to protect its reputation.

“The relevant media failed to fulfill their responsibility to review the content, resulting in dissemination of inaccurate content on the Internet, causing serious damage to the reputation of the Shanghai Gold Exchange,” the exchange said in a statement on its website.”

Chuck again… Well, that settles it… it was a non-story, or fake news, take it however you wish to do so… But to me, there had to be a reason for the smoke to rise on this, and where there’s smoke… There’s fire, and that’s all I’m going to say about that for now…

Well, decades of dollar dominance in the trading Oil, came to an end recently when India didn’t use dollars in the terms of the transaction for Oil, with China…  India is the world’s #3 importer of Oil, so this is not small potatoes we’re talking about here, folks… This opens the door for other countries to take the dollars out of the terms of transactions with OIL…   Once they see that India did it, without repercussions…  Who will be next in line to buy Oil and not use dollars to pay for it?

I’m sure the boys in the U.S. with their 3 piece suits, and watch pockets weren’t shaking in their boots, when they first heard that not paying for Oil with dollars was even possible… But they should be now! I can all hear the joking and laughing out loud when they first heard the news of the possibility, and now? Well, now they aren’t joking and laughing so loud…  In fact, I bet you can see the sweat dripping off their collective foreheads…

So, the divergence from the dollar is a real thing, and is happening right before our eyes… (my eye, your eyes) Russia and China have stopped buying Treasuries, with Russia having sold all theirs, and China just allowing their Treasury holdings to just mature or run off…  China is in talks to pay for Saudi Oil in renminbi, or maybe even Gold… It won’t take long for this move out of dollars to become really scary for the dollar bugs…

The sooner dollar traders and investors realize this to be the case, that the dollar is no longer going to be held as a reserve currency by nations around the world, the sooner the dollar will begin to lose value, and then lose it some more, and then lose it some more, until the world rids itself of the dollar hegemony… But if you would ask me about this, I would reply, “The US dollar has dominated the global economy since World War II. With the emergence of new challengers, American power is waning, the dollar is weakening and its hegemony is fading away.”

So, how about that? Did that scare you? If so, then what are you going to do about it?  Well, if you ask me, I would say, “you had better get your money out of the bank before the cash gets turned into digital dollars, and I would spend most of it on physical Gold… yes, you’ve still got to have currency for your gas, groceries, and giggles, but that’s it…

You know the guy that has called for the collapse of stocks, now says that Bidenbucks, his name for digital currency could become a reality next week!  Let’s hope not, not this soon…  

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the ADP Employment Report and it showed that businesses increased their employment numbers by 242,000, which was greater than the 205,000 expected… The number of Job Openings fell to 10.8 Million, from 11.2 Million the previous month. So, those two reports play together nicely in the sand box… 

Recall that I told you yesterday that the Consumer Credit Report that was supposed to print on Tuesday, but didn’t, as it wasn’t ready for Prime Time… Well, it did get printed yesterday, and showed a real dampening of the American spirit to spend… The figure was $14.8 Billion…  You may recall that just a few months ago this figure was around $25 Billion…  This report for January was the second in a row to show that consumers are tapped out, and that the higher interest rates are not helping here. December’s figure showed just $10.78 Billion…  

On one hand, this is a good thing that Americans are racking up the debt like they used to, but on the other hand it’s a bad sign for the economy that depends on consumption…  I’m just saying…

To Recap… The markets were a bore yesterday, with not much movement anywhere… But in the overnight markets we’ve seen some dollar selling, not much but some. And Gold is up $5 to start the day today… Chuck points out that Silver which is used in Solar Panels, will be in high demand going forward, which should be a good thing for Silver’s price… If only there weren’t so many short positions weighing down on Silver…  and Chuck talks about Oil… gas.. and digital currencies today…

For What It’s Worth… well, yesterday, I talked a lot about how India had purchased Russian Oil and didn’t use dollars in the terms of transaction, and that it would open the door for other countries to do the same going forward.. And then this article fell into my lap, that talks about that very thing and it can be found here: Russian Oil Gets More Pricey as Pool of Asian Buyers Expands – Bloomberg

Or, here’s your snippet: “China and India have become key outlets for Russian crude after most others shunned its energy due to the war in Ukraine. The pool of buyers willing to import cheap oil from the OPEC+ producer has grown as more players set aside concerns over Western sanctions that had kept them on the sidelines.

More importers are comfortable with methods to reduce their risk exposure by asking sellers to handle shipping and insurance, on top of using non-western banks and making payments in yuan, rupees, dirhams or rubles. This approach has given buyers more confidence to maintain and even increase flows without too much worry about their compliance to the $60-a-barrel price cap that exempts shipments from European sanctions, traders said.

It’s unclear if imports by India and China currently meet the terms of the cap as most cargoes are sold on a delivered basis with opacity around shipping and insurance costs. However, the US says India is complying.

Chuck again… a short snippet today, as it should be!  I think that the markets are missing this story by a wide margin, folks… but you don’t have to miss it, because you read the Pfennig!  These are chinks in the dollar’s armor folks, and those dents are starting to open up and take on water… I’m just saying…

Market Prices 3/9/ 2023: American Style: A$ .6618, kiwi .6137, C$ .7252, euro 1.0573, sterling 1.1890, Swiss $1.0666, European Style: rand 18.5625, krone 10.6478, SEK 10.6914, forint 358.49, zloty 4.4250, koruna 22.3388, RUB 75.86, yen 136.19, sing 1.3515, HKD 7.8500, INR 81.98, China 6.9620, peso 17.91, BRL 5.1428, BBDXY 1,256.32, Dollar Index 105.35, Oil $76.76, 10-year 3.98%, Silver $20.13, Platinum $950.00, Palladium $1,373.00, Copper $4.00, and Gold… $1,819.25

That’s it for today and this week… One more week until my spring vacation!  Tomorrow is the birthday of my very good friend, Rick Baur… Happy Birthday, young man!  I hope you have a Grand Day tomorrow! This weekend back home, will be the St. Pat’s Day Parade, which used to be a fun time for sure, because it signaled the start of spring! The folks down here will have a St. Pat’s Celebration this weekend too, but I would suspect it wont’ be as grand as the St. Louis Celebration!  The Nicaragua World Baseball Classic team will play at Roger Dean today VS my beloved Cardinals… Should be interesting! The weather up north must be unsettling again, because the ocean is really angry this morning, after days of calm… Sammy Hagar takes us to the finish line today with his song: Rock-n-Roll Weekend, which is exactly what it will be in St. Louis!   I hope you have a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

March 8, 2023 

* Currencies and metals get whacked on Tuesday! 

* What’s going on at the Perth Mint? 

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, a successful transfer was made yesterday, as Kathy returned to S. Florida, and my good friends went home from S. Florida…  The place here was “back to normal yesterday afternoon, with Kathy cleaning the place, and me napping! I hadn’t had a nap in over a week, and it was beginning to get to me! Good thing my beloved Cardinals were in Lakeland Fla yesterday to play the Tigers, because they got thumped!  And… I didn’t have to watch that!  My beloved Mizzou Tigers play on Friday this week, their opponent is TBA at this point, as is St. Louis U’s opponent for their game on Thursday…  I’ve gained a few pounds in the past couple of weeks, so I’ve got to watch that, so it doesn’t get out of hand!  Marvin Gaye greets me this morning with his song that could be sung today just like it was sung 50 years ago: What’s Going On?

Well, Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel chairman, Jerome Powell, threw a cat among the pigeons yesterday, with his comments before lawmakers that “interest rates may need to go higher than expected to combat inflation”… Well, shoot Rudy, I could have told him that! And… A long time ago, so that we could have done away with all the middling 25 Basis Points Rate Hikes, and gotten to the meat of the real rate hikes, like 75 Basis Points or 100 Basis Points! The one year anniversary of the first rate hike in this sequence that has reached 7 rate hikes, is coming on St. Pat’s Day next week…  So, doing the quick math… 7 x 100 BPS, would put the Fed Funds rate at 7.0%… And on the way to toward combating inflation…Remember, it is my contention that the interest rate must be greater than the rate of inflation to make a difference…

So, with Powell throwing the cat among the pigeons, the dollar went on a moon shot higher! The BBDXY gained 12 index points on the day!   With the currencies that have lower interest rates than the U.S. getting whacked, the selling in the euro,  yen, and sterling  has been strong…  And before Powell even said a word to the lawmakers yesterday, Gold was getting sold… My good friend, Rick said, “is that because of what Powell is saying?” and I replied… “no, Powell hasn’t even said a word yet, this is more the new short positions being placed to replace all the old stale ones that got covered last week.

Gold lost $33.20 on the day yesterday, and ended the day at $1.814.30… Silver was treated even worse, and lost 99-cents on the day to end the day at $20.15…  I told Rick that these bas…. ds, should all be thrown in jail! And I meant it! 

Ed steer added this message in his daily letter today regarding the short positions/ price manipulators… “As to how much lower the commercial traders can rig precious metal prices will be pretty much determined by their resolve to take out gold’s 200-day moving average, as there’s not much left to get in silver…their No. 1 problem child.  Without doubt, they’ll use continued selling pressure to go after silver as well …along with platinum, their No. 2 problem child.

But make no mistake about it, no matter how hard the Big 4/8 shorts huff & puff, they’ll never be able to cover all of their short positions…ever. This is especially true considering the fact that Ted’s raptors, the commercial traders other than the Big 8 shorts…amongst others…are continuing to add to their long positions in direct competition with short covering efforts of the big shorts.

And, as Ted always says, we won’t know when that bottom is in until the Managed Money traders et al. have sold the last long position that they’re willing to sell — and sold as many short contracts as they dare to. That day, as it always is, won’t be known until it’s in the rearview mirror.”

Chuck again…  As I said above, they all should be rounded up and thrown in jail! 

Speaking of getting whacked! The price of Oil slid $3 yesterday, after hitting $80 to end last week, the price of Oil ended the day with a $77 handle…  Sure, I had just filled up my gas tank the night before! The price of gas down here in S. Florida is higher than back home in Missouri… But that’s the price you pay for living where it’s warm! 

All the buying of bonds last week, went to hell in a hand basket yesterday, as the yield on the 10-year climbed back to 4.0%…   Powell’ words to lawmakers sure did the trick here, eh?

In the overnight markets last night… Well, the whipping the metals and currencies took yesterday, was eased overnight.. The BBDXY gained only 1 index point overnight, and the thought of taking a pause for the cause was the overall feeling.  Gold is up just a buck in the early trading today, and Silver is flat as a pancake (Head East)… The price of Oil is steady with a $77 handle, and the 10-year lost the 4% yield overnight, but this has got to end soon, all this bond buying… The Head Fed, Powell, has said that inflation is still above their 2% target, and that interest rates will have to go higher… that, to me means that bond yields will need to go higher… I’m just saying…

Well, check this out… it seems that the Perth Mint sold diluted Gold to China… Uh-Oh!  The Good Folks at GATA sent this to me: “The historic Perth Mint is facing a potential $9 billion recall of gold bars after selling diluted or “doped” bullion to China and then covering it up, according to a leaked internal report.

ABC’s “Four Corners” program has uncovered documents charting the Western Australian government-owned mint’s decision to begin “doping” its gold in 2018, and then how it withheld evidence from its largest client in an effort to protect its reputation.

While the gold remained above broader industry standards, the report estimated up to 100 tonnes of gold sent to Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) potentially did not comply with the exchange’s strict purity standards for silver content.

One Perth Mint insider, who asked not to be named and risk five years in jail if the insider’s identity is revealed, says it is a “scandal of the highest level.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one this big,” the insider says.

The mint is the largest processor of newly mined gold in the world, one of Perth’s top tourist attractions, and is well known for producing commemorative coins to mark everything from royal weddings to a new James Bond film.”

Chuck again… I know that’s long enough to be a FWIW article, but this is SO BIG a Story, that I thought I had better put it where people will read it, and not skip over it like they do to some of the FWIW articles…

OK… Circling back to the chairman’s claim that interest rates will have to go higher than expected… Leads me to remind everyone that bonds that are issued have current yields/ interest rates that must be paid or have the bond go into default…   With interest rates going higher, they will test the limits of what the tax receipts can cover…  Right now,  those cots represent about ½ of the tax receipts…   Why is this a problem as long as the tax receipts cover the bond interest costs? 

Ahh Grasshopper, come sit, and learn….  If all the tax receipts are being used to pay interest costs, then there’s nothing else to distribute to other programs… Where will these things get the money to pay for them?  They won’t… Unless the Gov’t goes back to printing currency, and then we’re getting right back to where we are with inflation that was caused by currency printing! Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, stimy checks, welfare payments, you name it… it won’t have any receipts to fund them! That includes the Defense of the country… Uh-Oh!  

Oh, we could see tax hikes to improve the coiffures of the country… Oh boy, I can hardly wait for this! NOT!  Rising taxation along high inflation… Where can I get an extra scoop of that? NOT!

So… as longtime pundit and best selling author, Bill Boner says all the time: “Inflate or Die”…

Oh, and keep buying those dollars you dollar bugs… They will be worthless pieces of paper one day, in probably not the far future… 

Got Gold?

Speaking of Gold… Here’s Doug Casey, speaking for the www.internationalman.com site: “The best way to do that is to purchase widely recognized gold bullion coins, like the Canadian Maple Leaf or the American Eagle.

I recommend avoiding numismatic or collectible coins. They are more complicated, can have significant premiums, and present an opportunity for you to get ripped off if you don’t know what you’re doing. Instead, keep it simple and stick to the widely recognized bullion coins.

You should hold your physical gold bullion in your own possession or a private non-bank vault in a wealth-friendly jurisdiction like Singapore, Switzerland, or the Cayman Islands. Never put your gold in a bank’s safe deposit box. They will be among the first targets if and when governments decide to confiscate private wealth.”

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday, had the Powell testimony day one, and today will be day two, to the other side of the Hill… Senate yesterday, House today…    the Consumer Credit (read debt) data didn’t print yesterday, as scheduled… must have not been ready for prime time, wink, wink…

And today’s Data Cupboard will have the ADP Employment Report for Feb, which used to be looked at as a harbinger for Friday’s Jobs Jamboree… more on that tomorrow…  And finally, we’ll see the color of the Job Openings for January…

To recap… It was a bad day at bed rock yesterday for the currencies & metals, as Fed Head Chairman, Powell, threw a cat among the pigeons yesterday, shocking the stock jockeys, bond jockeys, and currency jockeys…. The only thing to gain yesterday was the dollar… The price of Oil slid $3, and bonds got sold with the 10-year’s yield rising back to 4.0%… Chuck goes through what will happen if Powell does keep to his word and continues to hike rates beyond expectations… And Doug Casey tells us how to buy and store physical Gold..  

For What It’s Worth…  I just can’t get my arms around the fact that this country was built and prospered greatly because of Oil and Coal… And now the powers that be, want to eliminate those two energy producers, and replace them with wind mills, and solar panels…  And then add to the electrical demands with electric cars…  Those things just don’t add up…  Nuclear energy would be a good source too, and that’s what this article is about, the fact that the first Nuclear Reactor has been built in decades, and it can be found here: Newest US nuclear plant begins splitting atoms for first time | AP News

Or, here’s your snippet: “A nuclear power plant in Georgia has begun splitting atoms in one of its two new reactors, Georgia Power said Monday, a key step toward reaching commercial operation at the first new nuclear reactors built from scratch in decades in the United States.

The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. said operators reached self-sustaining nuclear fission inside the reactor at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta. That makes the intense heat that will be used to produce steam and spin turbines to generate electricity.

A third and a fourth reactor were approved for construction at Vogtle by the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2009, and the third reactor was supposed to start generating power in 2016. The company now says Unit 3 could begin commercial operation in May or June.

Unit 4 is projected to begin commercial operation sometime between this November and March 2024.

The latest set of delays at Unit 3 included a pipe part of a critical backup cooling system that was vibrating during startup testing. Construction workers had failed to install supports called for on blueprints. The company has also said it had to repair a slowly dripping valve and diagnose a problem involving water flow through reactor coolant pumps.

Georgia Power said Unit 3 would continue startup testing to show that its cooling system and steam supply system will work at the intense heat and pressure that a nuclear reactor creates. After that, operators are supposed to link the reactor to the electrical grid and gradually raise it to full power.

“We remain focused on safely bringing this unit online, fully addressing any issues and getting it right at every level,” Chris Womack, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power, said in a written statement. “Reaching initial criticality is one of the final steps in the startup process and has required tremendous diligence and attention to detail from our teams.”

Chuck again…  Well, good for Georgia for putting these on track to be power sources in the future!

Market Prices 3/8/2023: American Style: A$ .6602, kiwi .6118, C$ .7272, euro 1.0537, sterling 1.1841, Swiss $1.0604, European Style: rand 18.6024, krone 10.6632, SEK 10.7350, forint 360.68, zloty 4.4594, koruna 22.4303, RUB 76.27, yen 137.35, sing 1.3541, HKD 7.8499, INR 82.06, China 6.9625, peso 18.04, BRL 5.1917, BBDXY 1,260.50, Dollar Index 105.72, Oil $77.41, 10-year 3.96%, Silver $20.15, Platinum $946.00, Palladium $1,406.00, Copper $3.98, and Gold… $1,815.30

That’s it for today… Another beautiful day down here in the South yesterday… We’ve had a nice string of beautiful days now that has run long… But the area needs some rain… just not during the day! The weather people say a cold front is coming, and the temps will only be in the 70’s…  They certainly have a different definition of “cold front” down here, than they do up north! Our Blues fell on their faces again last night… UGH!  This is a lost year, for our town’s hockey team, hopefully, all those draft picks they picked up for trading their star players, will work out quickly, like next year!  My beloved Cardinals play the Yankees in a spring game today in Tampa… The Yankees come to Jupiter March 23…  that should be fun! The McCoys take us to the finish line today with their song: Hang On Sloopy… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler

 

March 7, 2023

* currencies & metals get sold on Monday

* What’s a Humphrey Hawkins Act! 

Good Day.. And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, this is the last day down here for my spring training buddies, Duane and Rick, as they fly home today. In their place my wife, Kathy, will return and she’ll be going to games with me here on out…  Lucky for her!  (NOT!) She really just goes to the games to placate me… The Cardinals won their last game yesterday for the boys… It was a truly beautiful day once again, and they have had wonderful weather for their visit down to Jupiter, Fla!  Congrats to Mizzou Tiger, Kobe Brown, who was named 1^st team All SEC! That’s 5th time for a Tiger, since joining the SEC!   Marty Balin greets me this morning with his song: Hearts…  (Marty Balin was the lead singer of the Jefferson Starship, and then went solo… this is from his solo years)

Well, watching the currency markets these days is a lot like, counting flowers on the wall, that doesn’t bother me at all, watching Captain Kangaroo, etc.  In other words, the are down right boring!  But boring isn’t always a bad thing… At least if you are looking to diversify your investment portfolio with currencies, at least they aren’t moving away from you at the speed of fired bullet…

Yesterday, the dollar, drifted around, until finally succumbing to the pressure of the sellers, and the BBDXY lost 1 index point… Again, much like last year, when the only currency that looked perky against the dollar was the Russian ruble, this year it’s the Mexican peso… And we’ve talked about the peso, so much, that I’ll soon be called names again…  (years ago, a reader took exception to my story about singing in a Mexican outdoor mall, and basically accused me of being… oh, never mind, no sense in rehashing it!)

Gold never found a bid yesterday, and saw a lot of new short positions being put on, in place of all those old stale ones that were covered last week. Gold lost $10 yesterday, and ended the day at $1,847.50.. Silver followed Gold’s lead, and saw the same kind of selling… Silver lost 22-cents on the day, and ended at $21.14…  The price of Oil jumped to $80 yesterday…  Memo to the POTUS… You’ve released a good portion of our strategic petroleum reserve, to move the price of Oil down, and look here… the price of Oil is still strong… What a waste! Tsk, tsk, tsk…

There was no “crisis in oil” that would garner a release from the SPR… That leaves us with the only reason the release of the SPR would be made…  Political…

Moving on… In the overnight markets last night, the BDDXY gained back that lost 1 index point, and so we’re right back to where we were yesterday morning… I guess the currency traders are holding back from playing their cards until they see what  top Fed Head, Jerome Powell, shows his hand first… And that opportunity will come first this morning, as Powell, heads to Capitol Hill to give the first of his two testimonies to lawmakers, on the economy…  I see this as Powell’s final attempt to set the world straight, that he’s hell bent and whiskey bound to see inflation defeated, and the economy come to a soft landing… To date, the only markets that have believed him from the get-go, is the currency markets… 

This two-day trek to The Hill, started many years ago, when it was called the Humphrey Hawkins Act, that required the Fed Head Chairman to testify before, the Senate one day, and the House the next day… The actual ACT ended years ago, but… the Fed Heads have continued to honor the ACT, by making the trek to Capitol Hill and testify…

I can’t begin to think that Powell will announce a pivot, or a delay in rate hikes at his testimony… I see Powell, talking about how the economy is proving to be resilient in the face of over 400 Basis Points of rate hikes, and that inflation is still a problem and that it will require additional rate hikes…

Anything else from the Chairman, and I’ll be surprised… 

The price of Oil maintained its handle of $80 overnight, and the 10-year’s yield was unmoved…  Waiting for Jay, I guess…

Well, in a case of saber rattling going on once again… The Chinese are having their annual Communist National Meeting… and according to Reuters this morning this is what occurred… “The United States should change its “distorted” attitude towards China or “conflict and confrontation” will follow, China’s foreign minister said, while defending its stance on the war in Ukraine and its close ties with Russia.”

C’mon, why can’t we all just get along, we all live on the same planet, right?  Remember these are just words, and sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me… Well, sometimes, words can be very hurtful… so that old saying, isn’t really true…  The other thing in play here is the fact that in the past, China doesn’t say things it can’t back up or carry through… I’m just saying…

Ok, before we head to the Big Finish today, I wanted to highlight this snippet I took from the GoldSwitzerland.com site, where the head of the company, Egon von Greyerz, is talking with Chris Waltzek of Gold Seek Radio… let’s listen in: “The conversation opens with a critique of over-valued (bubbled) stock, bond and property markets. Their collective and historical rise has been supported exclusively by central bank (inflationary) money printing. The inevitable and longer-term consequence of this fantasy “solution”/support is a massive race to the bottom of assets and currencies in real terms. With fewer places to hide, gold naturally emerges as insurance against these asset and currency risks. Egon specifically addresses the demise of paper money and reminds that gold doesn’t effectively “go up,” currencies merely fall—a historical reality which only a small minority of investors fully understand today.”

Chuck again.. Yes, one of these days, Alice! Gold will take its place at the top where it belongs, has belonged, and will belong once again!

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday has the Factory Orders from Jan, and they surprised everyone by showing a gain of 1.6%…  I saw that print and immediately thought, “oh no, now the gov’t is cooking these books too!”…   UGH!   Oh well…

Today’s Cupboard is dominated by the Powell Testimony talked about above…  And then we’ll see what Consumer’s have been up to, when Consumer Credit (read debt) prints for January… I suspect that consumers piled on the debt in Jan…

To recap… Chuck is counting flowers on the wall and watching Captain Kangaroo, because the currency markets have gone boring… It could be because the Fed Head Chairman Powell, will speak today on the economy, and the currency traders want him to show his hand first…  Gold & Silver are seeing all the old stale short positions that were covered last week, be put back on… UGH!  And Chuck is still at odds with the POTUS for releasing the SPR…  

For What It’s Worth… This article came to me from longtime reader Bob… and it’s about how JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon is in deep dookie right now, (once again I might add), and you can read about it in its entirety, here: Jamie Dimon Is Fighting a Deposition in a Devastating Lawsuit Charging JPMorgan With Being the Cash Conduit for Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Crimes (blacklistednews.com)

Or, here’s your snippet: “ he Attorney General’s office of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) has filed a First Amended Complaint against JPMorgan Chase that has less redactions than an earlier version. The complaint makes devastating and detailed charges. It charges that the bank sat on a pile of evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was running a child sex trafficking ring as it continued to keep him as a client; accept his lucrative referrals of wealthy clients; and provided him with large sums of cash and wire transfers to pay off victims – one of whom was a “14-year old sex slave.”

Attorneys for the bank are now resisting allowing Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon from being deposed under oath in the matter as to what he knew and when he knew it.

The case is USVI v JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. (22-cv-10904) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. As is becoming a regular occurrence when there is a politically sensitive case involving JPMorgan Chase, Judge Jed Rakoff is the presiding judge. (See Judge Rakoff Signs a Dangerous Protective Order in Whistleblower Case Against 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase.)

The lawsuit includes the following charges against JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States with more than 5,000 local branches serving mom and pop accounts:

“JP Morgan did business with Jeffrey Epstein from as early as 1998 to 2013. In that time, JP Morgan serviced approximately fifty-five Epstein-related accounts collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“…at least 20 individuals paid through JP Morgan accounts were victims of trafficking and sexual assault in Little St. James, New York, and/or other Epstein properties. These women were trafficked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, when Epstein was arrested and jailed, and these women received payments, typically multiple payments, between 2003 and 2013 in excess of $1 million collectively. Epstein also withdrew more than $775,000 in cash over that time frame from JP Morgan accounts, especially significant as Epstein was known to pay for ‘massages,’ or sexual encounters, in cash. Financial information also reflects payments drawn from JP Morgan accounts of nearly $1.5 million to known recruiters, including to the MC2 modeling agency, and another $150,000 to a private investigative firm.”

Chuck again… I just don’t know how the leader of an organization that has been accused of RICO crimes, been fined for manipulating markets, a few times, I might add, and then this, is not going to jail…  But then that’s the way things used to work… You broke the law, you went to jail…  These days, it’s more like: you broke the law, you get a bonus!

Market Prices 3/7/2023: American Style: A$ .6667, kiwi .6196, C$ .7338, euro 1.0669, sterling 1.2008, Swiss $1.0722, European Style: rand 18.3582, krone 10.4789, SEK 10.4978, forint 354.24, zloty 4.3944, koruna 22.0083, RUB 75.47, yen 135.90, sing 1.3460, HKD 7.8499, INR 81.92, China 6.9324, peso 17.97, BRL 5.1584, BBDXY 1,248.87, Dollar Index 104.40, Oil $80.10, 10-year 3.92%, Silver $20.95, Platinum $966.00, Palladium $1,433.00, Copper $3.99, and Gold… $1,842.11

That’s it for today…  Well the World Baseball Classic starts play tonight, with pool play in Taiwan, Tokyo, Miami, and Phoenix…  USA, USA, USA!  So, this will be a week chock-full-o-sports, with the WBC going on, and the college conference championships going on..  Today is the birthday of one my good friends… Gus! Gus is my Greek friend, that lives on Long Island, and owns the Candy Kitchen restaurant…  Happy Birthday, my friend, I raise a martini to you!  I was up very late last night playing dominoes with friends, and didn’t realize the time had gone by!   It’s time to hit send, so Neil Young takes us to the finish line today with his song: After The Gold Rush…  I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and will Be Good To Yourself!

Chuck Butler