February 9, 2021
* Currencies & Metals rally a 2nd Consecutive day
* What are investors thinking buying negative yielding bonds?
Good Day.. And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! I was watching the news yesterday morning, with Robin Meade, when a story came across that talked about all the Super Bowl get togethers in Tampa had doctors fearing it could be a super spreader… And that got me thinking, didn’t they say the same thing about Christmas? I do believe that the numbers show that there was no such thing after Christmas… So, I thought to myself… Why do they keep wanting to keep us in fear? Oh, well, I’m not a doctor, and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I’ll duck out of this discussion while I’m still talking about what I know! The Blues played their 4th consecutive game VS the Coyotes last night… And the blew the game as the Coyotes scored a goal to tie the game with 0.5 seconds left in regulation! They they lost the stupid shoot out… Let’s Go Blues! Supertramp greets me this morning with their very appropriate song: Even In The Quietest Moments…
Monday was day two of the healing and rebound in the currencies and metals… Ever since the Jobs number came out last Friday, things have gone awry for the dollar bugs. And since there will be no real economic data this week, other than a couple more Cartel speakers, I doubt that this current two-day rally has much to stop it… That is as long as the PPT stays away…
The euro pushed higher in the 1.20 handle, and the Aussie dollar (A$) gained almost 2/3rds of a cent… While the dollar bugs were scrambling across the floor to get out of the spotlight, Gold added another $15 to their $21 gain on Friday… Gold closed at $1,831.40 and Silver which was up 49-cents, closed at $27.33… And don’t look now, but the price of Oil added more girth to its price and is trading with a $58 handle this morning. The Dollar Index traded yesterday morning at 91.16, and closed the day at 90.87, and is trading at 90.58 this morning. So, it’s in a free fall again…
In the overnight markets, there was more dollar selling, and the euro has pushed through the 1.21 handle once again… Gold is up $12, and Silver is up 35-cents in the early trading… So, as I said the sentiment toward the dollar has changed once again… The Safe Haven currencies of euros, yen and francs are all on the rally tracks, and Gold is moving higher, while Treasuries are getting bought, reducing the yield, and the only stickler this morning is the price of Oil, which lost the $58 handle it briefly held yesterday…
So, recall last Monday, when it seemed Pandora’s box of short Silver secrets were about to be laid bare? The Wall Street Bets (WSB) folks, after causing 2 hedge funds to close that were short GameStop, had switched their attention to the Silver Shorts… I had said that day that this will be a bigger nut to crack, and now the dirty deeds done dirt cheap are out of the bag… Last week, the Big Bullion Banks added more new shorts in the reporting week ended Tuesday than in any other week (save one) in the last few years. The four big silver shorts added an astounding 6,672 new shorts (33.4 million ounces). And needless to say, the attempt to cause a short squeeze had failed to get off the ground. But there’s still hope for them, and that is why supply of Silver coins is dwindling and what’s left has had a huge markup on placed on them over spot… So, demand is still strong, and that the WSB folks can be proud of… Full disclosure here, I pulled some of the numbers above from an email that the GATA folks sent me yesterday…
So, the short squeeze enthusiasts were headed off at the pass, by the Bullion Banks… I don’t know… But maybe these folks attempted to put a short squeeze on Silver might not want to advertise what they are doing ahead of time, so that the Bullion Banks can’t head them off at the pass?
Alrighty then, let’s talk about something else… You know, I’m very amazed at how strong the British pound sterling is these days, and how just about every day, it moves higher VS the dollar. The reason I’m thinking that this rally is suspect, is that The Bank of England (BOE) has made no qualms about thinking that the U.K. economy needs negative rates… And while negative rates don’t necessissarily point to currency weakness, it certainly isn’t a reason to buy the currency! The euro, yen, and francs have done OK, VS the dollar, with their negative rates. But they’re versions of negative rates have been in place for some time now, and the markets have gotten used to them… The BOE’s journey into negative rates I don’t think will be met with more sterling buying… So Be Careful out there!
Oh, and there’s something like $19 Trillion in Gov’t bonds with negative yields on the global markets… What a few Trillion more? And if they counted “real yield”, where you subtract inflation from the yield, to get the real yield, then the U.S.’s stable full of Treasures would be added to the mix… And people buy these negative yielding bonds? Instead of getting paid for safety, you’re paying for it! What on earth are these people thinking?
The U.S. Data Cupboard is still searching for something, anything in the form of a data report to print, and today it will find nothing! The only thing on the economic calendar is a scheduled speech by St. Louis Cartel President, James Bullard… Who is a dove, but has really disappointed the doves in recent times. Bullard used to be known as someone who said what was on his mind, and not what was on the minds of the inner circle of Cartel heads… I’m just saying…
What on earth is going on with this country’s leadership? I read a report yesterday, that Congress is thinking of proposing and playing the Universal Basic Income (UNI) card, very soon… See? Didn’t I tell you that this was next on the agenda? The country has gone to the stimmy checks three times now (the 3rd time is coming) and each time as soon as the checks were out the door, there was clamoring for more, just like I said would happen right after the 1st stimmy check was approved.
I just don’t get it folks… Back in the day when I ran The Everbank World Currency Desk, I used to have a saying to get people back on track, that would be: “doesn’t anyone want to work any longer?” Which had the same effect on them as when I was a kid and my dad would just hang his belt on the door knob to let us know to settle down… but that question takes on new meaning, with UBI for if you’re giving people money for nothing and the chicks are free (dire straits) what incentive do they have to work? I’m just saying that someone with some gray matter should think of the collateral damage of UBI…
To recap… Monday marked two consecutive days of rallies by the currencies and metals. Ever since the Jobs Numbers last week were woeful at best, trader sentiment has changed once again, and they are now thinking that owning dollars going forward are not a good idea… And in the overnight markets it appears that we’re headed for a 3rd consecutive day of dollar selling… Chuck points out that the Bullion Banks added millions of ounces of short Silver paper trades to head the short squeeze folks off at the pass… And Chuck points out that the pound sterling’s recent rally doesn’t really have two strong legs to stand on… And what on earth is Congress thinking of now?
For What It’s Worth… Well when will this “tell on your neighbor” stop? Until neighbors are at each other’s throats? This wasn’t a neighbor so to speak, but we have this from blacklisted news that talks about the call for a boycott of Bank of America, and it can be found here; Calls for Bank of America boycott grow after data given to FBI (blacklistednews.com)
Or, here’s your snippet:” Customers are calling for a boycott of Bank of America, after a report that the bank handed over the account information of hundreds of innocent people in connection with the Jan. 6 deadly riots at the Capitol.
At the request of the FBI, the country’s second-largest bank allegedly snooped through information of anyone making certain purchases in and around Washington before and after the riots, and handed over the information of 211 people, according to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.
Only one of those 211 people was brought in for questioning, and none of them were arrested, according to Fox’s report.
Federal investigators reportedly asked Bank of America for information on customers who made debit or credit card purchases in DC, reserved hotels and Airbnbs in and around the capital, patronized weapons store and made airline reservations within the timeframe surrounding the attacks.
Now, customers and non-customers alike are calling those reported actions an overreach, and taking to Twitter to announce they are canceling their accounts and calling on others to do the same.
“‘Bye bye, Bank of America’: Outraged customers boycott firm as it’s revealed the bank snooped through HUNDREDS of innocent people’s accounts looking for Capitol rioters – so who else is doing it?,” one user posted.
“Time to get out of Bank of America. Boycott them,” wrote another.
“The customer should SUE @BankofAmerica unless there was a subpoena involved!,” another user commented.
Bank of America released a statement Friday about the claims: “We don’t comment on our communications with law enforcement. All banks have responsibilities under federal law to cooperate with law enforcement inquiries in full compliance with the law.”
Chuck Again… We The People will rise up and take back our civil rights and privacy! Well, at least we’ll try. I say that because BOA is a HUGE conglomerate of Banking… But I will say good for those raising concerns with BOA…
Market Prices 2/9/2021: American Style: A$ .7715, kiwi .7225, C$ .7855, euro 1.2105, sterling 1.3772, Swiss $1.1189, European Style: rand 14.7859, krone 8.4719, SEK 8.3548, forint 296.39, zloty 3.6983, koruna 21.2496, RUB 74.41, yen 104.68, sing 1.3277, HKD 7.7515, INR 72.91, China 6.4527, peso 20.05, BRL 5.3662, Dollar Index 90.58, Oil $57.92, 10-year 1.15%, Silver $27.68, Platinum $1,186.00, Palladium $2,396.00, Copper $3.65, and Gold… $1,843.60
That’s it for today… I stayed up to watch the hockey game last night, which is two late nights in a row for me, on school nights, no less! I’ve got to say that the $40 I spent on a device that takes what is on my iPad and converts it to my TV, has been some of the best $40 dollars I’ve ever spent! Hey! Great news for my beloved Cardinals, as they announced that catcher Yadi Molina is signed for another year, which would probably be his last year, that is unless father time decides to bless him with young legs! It’s been a good offseason, albeit later than usual, for the Cardinals, and now they are set to begin Spring Training! The sunrise over the ocean this morning was simply beautiful… I like sunsets too… But since this is where I am, I get the sunrise, and truly enjoy it! The Righteous Brothers take us to the finish line today with their love song: Unchained Melody… “Woah, my love, my darling, I’ve hungered for your touch” And with that, I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday, and Please Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck Butler