BoJ begins two-day meeting, get the board games out

• Gold & Silver get taken down once again on Monday.

• What did LBJ say in 1965?

Good Day... And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, let me get this out front and center this morning, so I don't forget to mention it... No Pfennig tomorrow... It's a travel day for yours truly, as I head back to my home in my little river town... My beloved Cardinals traded away a fan favorite yesterday, Tommy Edman... Maybe the GM, Mo, read the Pfennig yesterday! HA! As If! And... The Cardinals lost their game with Texas last night... Home field advantage isn't what it used to be in baseball, that's for sure! I continue to feel better each day, and after visiting the GI doctor's office yesterday, they reminded me hat I was so low on blood, that it would take me some time to recover my strength... The band, Spirit, greets me this morning with their song, that I take personally, as it relates to me and my cancer discovery: It's Nature's Way... 

The dollar continued to gain yesterday, after Friday's brief drop that looked to be at the time a deeper selloff than it proved to be, the dollar hasn't looked back... The BBDXY gained 3 index points total yesterday, and thus pushed the currencies deeper into a funk... Like I said the other day, it's time to batten down the hatches, until there's a break in the dollar buying, and then and only then should you look to buy more currencies at cheaper prices... I've been reading articles, that I'm sure you've probably have at least seen the headlines to, that talk about how a Trump presidency would bring about a weaker dollar, and stronger Gold price... The point to his economic policies... Now, I'm not one to get into politics in this letter, so I'll leave that as it may... I only brought it up because of the dollar implications... 

The price of Gold, which started the week up $4 yesterday morning saw that gain fade and then go into the red even deeper on the day... .in the end, Gold lost $7.10 on the day to close at 2,384.70... Silver had also started the week on a positive note, only to see that gain be wiped out and Silver ended the day in the red by 8-cents to close at $27.92...  I came across an article about Silver manipulation that I took a snippet from... Here you go...

"The roots of silver market manipulation may go deeper than JPMorgan Chase. The U.S. government has been implicated in controlling silver prices since 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Coinage Act, removing silver from U.S. coinage. Johnson explicitly warned against hoarding silver, asserting the Treasury would maintain control over its price. Despite this, silver coins were hoarded, and their value soared with inflation.

“If anybody has any idea of hoarding our silver coins, let me say this. Treasury has a lot of silver on hand, and it can be, and it will be used to keep the price of silver in line with its value in our present silver coin. There will be no profit in holding them out of circulation for the value of their silver content.” 

President Lyndon Johnson, 23rd July, 1965.

Chuck again... Recall, if you will, in the past, when I named the U.S. Gov't behind the manipulation of Silver and Gold... Well, if this little comment by President Johnson in 1965 doesn't seal the fate of that accusation, then I don't know what does... I'm just saying... 

The price of Oil fell another buck yesterday and closed the day trading with a $75 handle... And the 10-year's yield, closed the day yesterday with 4.18% yield, up 2 basis points from Friday's close... 

In the overnight markets last night... There was little to no movement in the dollar, so the BBDXY start the day today at $1,260... And elevated level for the dollar, given the winds of change (Scorpions) that the dollar faces every day... Gold is up $7 to start the day today, but what good is that with the short paper traders showing that they are not finished with their takedown of the metals... Silver is up a nickel to start the day...

The price of Oil is still trading with a $75 handle this morning, and the 10-year's yield is steady at 4.17%...

What I saw in the markets yesterday, and last night, and so far this morning, is "tentativeness"... And with theses unknowns of what the 3 Big Central Banks will do this week, traders are tentative in their trading right now... Oil can't find a bid, the 10-year's yield is range bound, Gold & Silver can't get past the short paper traders, and so forth... I hope we can get through this week without chaos in the markets... But it's there, and all pent up, and ready to be released... I'm just saying

The Bank of Japan begins their two-day meeting today... I have to think that they are just like their brothers here in the FOMC, in that in these two-day meetings they get so bored that they have to get the board games out and play to pass the time...  Since Japan is so far ahead of us in time of day, we'll know what the BOJ did tomorrow morning, but since I won't be writing tomorrow, you'll have to come back on our Tub Thumpin' Thursday to read what I have to say about everything so far, because the FOMC meets tomorrow, so their result will also be known... Crazy (Patsy Cline) eh?

I received some good health news yesterday, while visiting the GI doc that tended to me while I was in the hospital last week... He told me that the samples of the Ulcer in my stomach were void of any virus, or cancer or any other dastardly thing that could cause me a lifetime of problems... So, there's that... Just wanted to share that with you... 

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday was bare, and today's cupboard has just the Case/Shiller Home Price Index (HPI) for May (I know this data is always so stale) and I expect the HPI to show a drop in home prices... And to me that's a good thing for the economy, as long as the drops are not HUGE!  The other piece of data today is the STUPID Consumer Confidence for this month... This report is nothing more than a taking of the pulse of the stock market, and since stocks haven't had their best month of the year in July, we should see some weakness in the report...

Since I won't be writing tomorrow, let's go through the Data Cupboard's items for tomorrow... First there will the ADP Employment Report for July... If I've said this once, I've said it at least 25 times, and that is I believe the ADP should be the real employment report that the markets use instead of the hedonically adjusted BLS report... We will also the first quarter Employment Cost Index... A little late, but still an interesting data print... Have wages increased? I guess we'll see... And then the FOMC meeting will take place and their rate decision will be announced, along with a press conference with Head Fed Head, Jerome Powell... 

To recap... The dollar continues to push higher, and thus pushing the currencies down... There are two currencies that continue to fight the dollar, and they are the Russian ruble, and British pound sterling... The rest of the currencies just succumb to the dollar's pressure... 3 of the 4 Big Central Banks will meet this week to discuss rates... the BOJ is the questionable Central Bank in Chuck's mind... And Chuck shows us something from 1965, that proves the Gov't is behind the manipulation of the metals... What? You missed that? you had better go back and reread today's letter! HA!

For What It's Worth... Well, longtime readers will recognize the article's author, as someone that I've quoted for years now... He once went under a different name, Koos Jansen... 

Here's your snippet: "This article is an analysis of how the Chinese central bank (PBoC) buys gold in London from Western bullion banks. Because the bullion banks take care of the gold transport for the PBoC, the shipments from London to Beijing are disclosed in UK customs data. The customs data reveals that the PBoC continued to buy gold in May—when it communicated to the market it discontinued buying—at a rate of 53 tonnes. The PBoC stated it stopped buying to dampen the gold price so it could acquire more gold.

Several months ago, I discovered that supply in the Chinese gold market was outstripping demand. During my investigation of this anomaly, I found circumstantial evidence that led me to conclude the surplus is imported in 400-ounce bars from the United Kingdom, and surreptitiously procured by the PBoC.

Let’s go through some of the mechanics of the global gold market before we can stitch it all together.

PBoC Gold Buying Hidden in Plain Sight

In global customs data—officially called International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS)—all gold disclosed is “non-monetary,” meaning not owned by a monetary authority such as a central bank. In the United Nations IMTS rulebook it reads that customs data excludes monetary gold:

Since monetary gold is treated as a financial asset rather than a good, transactions pertaining to it should be excluded from international merchandise trade statistics.

Though, someone familiar with the matter but who prefers to stay anonymous, shared with me that gold import and export data can relate to monetary gold. Commonly, central banks will buy gold from Western bullion banks that arrange transportation and insurance of the metal. The moment these banks ship the gold from the UK it is thus non-monetary bullion, but when it arrives in China it is monetized (changes ownership) and brought to vaults of the central bank, supposedly in Beijing."

Chuck again... This is a very long article, so if you want to know more, click on the link above... Before I head to the Big Finish today, I wanted to point out something regarding Central Bank Gold buying... I've said this before, and that is that if Central Banks are lining up to buy physical Gold, what does that tell you about how nervous they are about the future?  I'm just saying...

Market Prices 7/30/2024: American Style: A$.6542, kiwi .5893, C$.7222, euro 1.0834, sterling 1.2858, Swiss $1.1290, European Style: rand 18.3145, krone 10.9620, SEK 10.7962, forint 364.62, zloty 3.9523, koruna 23.4575, RUB 86.49, yen 154.77, sing 1.3439, HKD 7.8115, INR 83.72, China 7.2510, peso 18.62, BRL 5.660, BBDXY 1,260.67, Dollar Index 104.54, Oil $75.73, 10-year 4.17%, Silver $27.91, Platinum $957.00, Palladium $908.00, Copper $4.05, and Gold.... $2,391.95.

That's it for today... And tomorrow, but I'll be back in the saddle on Thursday morning, as long as the Creek don't rise... And in this case, I do mean the creek, and not the Indians... The creek behind my property and near to my house, rises very quickly when we get lots of rain... And with the reports I've received from home about rainy days lately, I'm suspecting the creek to be at a high level upon my return... That's not a Big Deal to me, as long as it stays in its bed, and doesn't flood... We've had such beautiful days down here this trip... And the ocean has been quite calm, which is always a delight to the swimmers... I still have a lump in my elbow area where an IV was inserted almost two weeks ago... And the lump is quite sensitive to touch... UGH! At least all the bruising around the area has abated... The Stylistics take us to the finish line today with their one hit wonder song: Betcha By Golly Wow... A real slow dancing song... I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and a Wonderful Wednesday tomorrow, and will continue to Be Good To Yourself!