A Japanese bank, turning American?

• Currencies & metals were on hiatus yesterday so no movement there.

• GDP isn't worth the paper it's printed on!

Good Day... And a Tub Thumpin' Thursday to one and all! Well, my beloved Cardinals couldn't win the 3-game series with their stablemates in Jupiter, the Marlins only winning 1 game... To a team with a really bad record, the Cardinals played down to their level of competition once again. UGH! A nationally televised game today on Fox, so you too can share in my frustration with this team! HA! Paul Young greets me this morning with his one-hit wonder song: Every Time She Goes Away (this song was an original Hall & Oats song).

There wasn't much going on in the markets yesterday, with the stock market and bond market both closed to observe the Juneteenth Holiday... So, there's not much to report on that went on yesterday, because there wasn't anything! So, we move along.

In the overnight markets last night... The dollar is getting bought as we start the day today, and that started in the Asian markets last night. The BBDXY is up 2 index points to start the day today. The euro is falling within the 1.07 handle, and the rest of the currencies are getting sold, and that includes the Russian ruble, which had been on the rally tracks the last week. I don't get why traders are buying dollars, folks... All the stuff that follows this paragraph this morning, tells stories of how the dollar should be getting sold... But, it is what it is, and I can't change that, so... Oh! Gold is up $9 to start the day today, and Silver is surging, up 70-cents, the 10-year is getting sold, for once, and its yield has risen to 4.25% to start the day, and the price of oil remains in the $81 handle.

You know, I've discussed how Gov't Spending supports GDP in the past, and yesterday, Bill Bonner, was talking about the fake GDP that the U.S. boasts about, here's Bill : "An example... Of 3.5 million veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan two thirds say the wars were not worth fighting. 1.8 million came home with a ‘permanent disability.’ Total veterans’ disability costs will reach as much as $2.5 trillion by 2050. Those disability payments increase GDP. Do they also increase human happiness? 

The financial cost is a statistic. But what about the real cost... the effect of missing legs and arms on a real person... where is that number? 

Or...US retirees get an inflation adjustment in January. Monthly payments went up 3.2%. GDP went up! "

The U.S. economy seems to be going along without a hiccup, but is it really? Retail Sales stink, Manufacturing is in contraction, Factory Orders was tepid at best, wages continue to stagnate, GDP has averaged 2% for a decade, and inflation continues to be sticking around... Please don't listen to the likes of: Janet Yellen, Joe Biden, and the rest of the administration, because they'll sell you a bill of goods that is trash... I'm just saying... 

Ok, Chuck move along here before everyone begins to yell at the walls, like you do all the time! 

Here's my friend, Rich Checkan of:Asset Strategies International. Precious Metals and Rare Tangible Assets  "The de-dollarization continues as Russia is forced by sanctions to move to the Chinese Yuan as their benchmark exchange rate. As other countries' central banks look for alternatives to the U.S. dollar, like gold, it's another nail in the coffin for the end of its status as the world's reserve currency. Meanwhile precious metals are up slightly this week."

Chuck again.....Another sharp mind thinking like me that the BRICS are hell-bent and whiskey bound to dedollarize the rest of the world... And that, my friends is a reason that you should be doing the same... Yes, you need dollar for gas, groceries and giggles, but your investment portfolio should be diversified and not so dollar oriented... Got Gold? 

And this came in from longtime reader, Bob, from zerohedge.com of course, and is being kept on the side of the road, because its Japan, but the eeriness of how similar this is to what's going on here with banks, is crazy.

Here's the snippet: "But if that was the first, and still distant, sign that something was very wrong at one of Japan's biggest banks (Norinchukin is Japan's 5th largest bank with $840 billion in assets) today the proverbial canary stepped on a neutron bomb inside the Japanese coalmine, because according to Nikkei, Norinchukin Bank "will sell more than 10 trillion yen ($63 billion) of its holdings of U.S. and European government bonds during the year ending March 2025 as it aims to stem its losses from bets on low-yield foreign bonds, a main cause of its deteriorating balance sheet, and lower the risks associated with holding foreign government bonds."

Chuck again... Remember when I used to use the song by the Vapors, Turning Japanese, when talking about our adding debt? Well, this example I just presented is a case of the Japanese turning American... HA!

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday was void of any prints due to the holiday... Today's Data Cupboard has the usual Thursday fare of the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims... And a housing report... Nothing really to get the juices going in traders today.

To recap... Yesterday was a nothing day in the markets, as the stock and bond markets, and thus the Currency markets and metals markets were not in session due to the Juneteenth holiday. Chuck has a real thoughts for you all to take in this morning, so keep reading! 

For What It's Worth... My good friend, Dennis Miller of www.milleronthemoney.com sent me this article and said, "This is scary!" And I replied, "Yes, it is!" So, put away the sharp objects and grab a refill on you java this morning and lets see what's so scary... The article can be found here: Chase Bank Customers Are Reporting a Wave of Wire Fraud in their Accounts; the Bank Won’t Make Good on the Looted Funds (wallstreetonparade.com).

Here's your snippet: "Knowing this bank’s history of felony counts and an unprecedented rap sheet, it occurred to us that these fraudulent wire transfers might not be an isolated event at Chase Bank. We went to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) complaint database and put “Chase Bank wire fraud” in the search box. It brought up 558 responses.

If you consider that possibly one out of 50 Americans know about the CFPB’s complaint database and fewer still would take the time to file a complaint as opposed to going to law enforcement, the 558 complaints involving wire fraud appear to us to be deeply concerning. In addition, the dates of the filing of the complaints show that dozens of the complaints have occurred in the past six months in widely dispersed geographic areas including California, New York, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Ohio, among others.

On April 4 of this year, the CFPB received the following report from a Chase Bank customer in New York: (Redacted information, indicated by Xs, is how the complaint appears on the CFPB website.)

“On XX/XX/2024, a total of {$130000.00} was wired out of my bank accounts with Chase Bank in New York without my authorization. I never send wires for more than a few XXXX dollars. I was not notified or warned by Chase. Usually they send an email advising when a wire transfer is made. This did not happen…To my immense horror, Chase had no interest in pursuing a serious investigation….”

CFPB received this complaint from a Chase Bank customer in Colorado on April 2:

“If you are a JPMorgan Chase customer be aware!!!!!! I was a victim of a non-authorized wire transfer within my JP Morgan Chase banking account. JPMC bank is refusing to help me get my {$9200.00} that was fraudulently stolen from my account because they say there is nothing they can do, that the $ was NOT stolen from them-JPM Chase but from me personally.”

On April 1, a California couple wrote in their CFPB complaint that they had rushed to their local Chase Bank branch to stop a suspected fraudulent wire transfer and a Chase Bank employee indicated that the hacker was cloning an actual Chase Bank phone number to commit the wire fraud. "

Chuck again, and here's the real scary part... The bank is refusing to reimburse the client's funds that were stolen using the bank's wire system... I shake my head in disgust... 

Market Prices 6/20/2024: American Style: A$ .6666, kiwi .6124, C$ .7291, euro 1.0715, sterling 1.2691, Swiss $1.1224, European Style: rand 18.1053, krone 10.5352, SEK 10.4199, forint 380.82, zloty 4.0314, koruna 23.2246, RUB 86.92, yen 158.40, sing 1.3599, HKD 7.8046, INR 83.64, China 7.2605, peso 18.42, BRL 5.4347, BBDXY 1,266.86, Dollar Index 105.48, Oil $81.74, 10-year 4.25%, Silver $30.34, Platinum $985.00, Palladium $917.00, Copper $4.49, and Gold... $2,339.25.

That's it for today... Yesterday I told you that I was heading to Little Rock Ark, tomorrow... Saturday, Alex's fiancé's family is holding an engagement party that will be high flatutin' ... I even had to go out and by a new suit, to fit my slimmer body! Notice I didn't say "slim body", I said "slimmer body", than the ones I had when I used to wear suits to give presentations... I had sticker shock at the price increases in suits since I last bought one... I will refuse to wear a tie, I do know that! Well, 4 more Pfennigs next week and then I'm on my sojourn to Ireland... I'm getting excited about the trip... Blind Faith takes us to the finish line today with their great song: Can't Find My Way Home... (I've never been in that condition, and hope I don't find out what it's like!) I hope you have a Tub Thumpin' Thursday today, and please go out of your way to Be Good To Yourself!