Someone put an end to this bad drama, please

• Currencies & metals had a very long ugly week.

• Debts, defaults, Collapse, what else can go wrong? 

Good Day... And a Marvelous Monday to you! What a fabulous weekend, weather-wise here in the middle of the country! Friday, was rainy and cold, but Sat & Sun were Chamber of Commerce Days... We celebrated grandson, Braden's 12th birthday yesterday... I don't know where the time goes... When I was a young man, days seemed to last forever, and now that I'm old, the days fly by... Last Thursday night, my beloved Cardinals hit 7 home runs in a game! The last time that team did that was 1940! It was a great night for sitting outside and watching them smack one home run after another... Credence Clearwater Revival greets me this morning with their song: I Put A Spell On You... 

I wish someone would put a spell on the debt escalator negotiators to end this Kabuki Theater B.S. and raise the debt ceiling, like we all know they will do in the end... No more drama, no more people fretting that the whole world as we know it will end, if the U.S. defaults, etc. etc. Just do the dirty deed, and get it over with, now! And as far as attaching spending cuts for future years, that too is B.S.... There is no guarantee that those spending cuts ever come to fruition... So, why waste your time coming up with them now?  

Ok... last week was an absolute nightmare for the currencies and metals... The dollar got bought like funnel cakes at a State Fair, and the short paper traders romped and danced in the streets, bringing Gold & Silver down to levels the two had passed months ago, and now will have to get up off the floor and go back to work at moving ahead! The BBDXY started last week at 1,219... And end the week at 1,239... The euro held on to the 108 handle, but its been a real slog for the currencies to retain any semblance of value...  

Gold began last week at $2,024, and ended the week at $1,978... (and that was after a $20 gain on Friday!) Silver really cracked, starting the week at $25.65, and ending the week at $23.93 (and that was after a 34-cent gain on Friday too) So, in those numbers you can see the effect the short paper traders had on the metals... So... what caused the sudden change in the direction in the metals on Friday? 

Well... if you ask me, I'll tell you that I believe the short paper traders had reached the downward level they were looking for, and bowed out of the trading pits on Friday... So, c'mon all you Central Banks, sans the U.S., and step up to buy your physical Gold & Silver now that the price is back down... And don't act like you're surprised to see Gold & Silver so cheap... For it was you that initiated the engineered takedowns last week... Wipe that smirk off your faces! We all know who was behind these takedowns... (at least Chuck and the Pfennig readers know who was behind that trading, as far as the rest of the world, I can't vouch for them, they all seem to be mesmerized by all the selling last week)

Last week I wished for the good witch Glinda to arrive, and I do believe she made an appearance on Friday, telling us it's all ok, that we can come back out now... 

In the overnight markets last night... there was little to no movement in the dollar, currencies, or metals... Gold is down $1 to start the week, while Silver had given up 10-cents, so basically they are flat to start the week. The BBDXY starts the week at 1,237.10, and the price of Oil is steady Eddie with a $71 handle. The 10-year's yield continues to ratchet higher, and it start the week at 3.66%... 

This rise in the 10-year's yield is a reflection of the debt escalator Kabuki Theater going on... You can put yourself in the place of a 10-year Treasury holder and all you hear about on a daily basis, is how the U.S. could default... You'd get in line to sell your U.S. Gov't Bond too... No reason to hold on to something that could be worthless, or worth pennies on the dollar... I'm just saying. 

But like I said above, there's no, nil, nada, zero chances that the U.S. will default, this time that is... And the "x" date that Treasury Sec. Yellen keeps yapping about? It means nothing, folks... I'm sure the Treasury Sec. will find cash stuffed away in couch cushions in the Eccles Bldg. to keep the counry running while the negotiators continue to play out this bad drama... 

Well, haven't I been telling you for some time now that inflation is sticky? Here's Fed/Cabal/Cartel chairman, Jerome Powell last week: "The data have continued to support the FOMC’s view that bringing inflation down will take some time." When asked why there was a difference between the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel's chart that shows no rate cuts this year, and the markets viewpoint that there will be at least two rate cuts this year... Powell, was quick to respond with: “simply a different forecast” where the market expects inflation to come down more quickly, perhaps due to a significant downturn."

That brings me to the question that I would have asked Powell after that last statement... "Chairman, are you suggesting that the Fed Heads are not expecting a significant downturn?"  And if not, why? And if you don't mind me adding, "please don't tell me you thought all along that you could deliver a soft landing!" 

I love being the journalist in the room of these interviews with the dolts that run our country... I read somewhere this past weekend that we had a day recently where we had a record amount of Businesses filing Chaper 11 in a day... Didn't hear that on the evening news, eh? Why would you? the media is so deep down the rabbit hole of protecting the Gov't that they would never report something like that... But shouldn't you, the tax-payer, be the first to know stuff like that? What does that mean? What does it mean for my investments?  

I fear that this record set in one day, will be passed by a wide margin in the coming days, weeks, months, etc. and think about how many individuals are on the brink of filing Chapter 11? They had their rent, car payment, student loan, and refi loan, all put on hold for 18 months, and now the lenders are playing catch up, and these individuals are being hit with a Big Wave of payments that need to be made, that they didn't save for, didn't prepare for, and now what will they do? 

Across the pond, in the Eurozone, things just keep getting worse for the Eurozone economy... Inflation doesn't seem to be softening, and the only thing that has been good for the Eurozone, has been mother nature, in that, the winter never materialized as a dark winter for Eurozone. But just because they dodged that bullet, doesn't mean they'll continue to dodge bullets... They are stuck in the middle of the U.S. waging war using Ukraine to fight Russia... Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you! (Steeler's Wheel) 

And China's reopening hasn't been the stuff that grand openings are made of... Sure there was some economic growth, as GDP was over 4%, but there's been no follow up... And all their attention has been shifted to all the saber rattling with Taiwan... 

So, we have the three major economic regions all reeling, stumbling, fumbling their respective ways toward a huge collapse... A new World Order will then begin, and the whole financial set up will be centered on Gold... So, I'll ask the question once again... Got Gold? 

That's when China comes to the table and passes a note to the U.S. and Eurozone, with their Gold holdings number on it, and the U.S. & Eurozone, faint! Remember what you parents taught you, years ago... He who has the Gold, rules... 

There's little to be excited about in the U.S. Data Cupboard to start the week... And we won't see anything worth a plug nickel until Wednesday, when the FOMC Meeting Minutes are printed... And then on Thursday, the second reading of first QTR GDP will print... for those of you keeping score at home, the first reading was 1.1%... That's tenuous at best folks... that could be turned around to a negative number very easily... And I'll add, it if it weren't for the Gov't spending, the number would already be negative... I'm just saying...

To recap... it was a very long and ugly week for the currencies and metals last week. I do believe we finally saw Glinda the good witch come floating in and tell us that all was clear, and we could come back out now, on Friday, so we'll see if that actually happens as we start the week. Inflation is sticky, and even the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel chairman agrees with Chuck on that! Corp bankruptcies are begininng to add up.. where is is this going to take us? Got Gold? 

For What It's Worth... a few weeks ago, good friend, Dennis Miller, and i were talking on the phone, and discussing the plight of SVB Bank and their collapse... We both decided that if the bank had Capital Reserves that they would have ben able to withstand the run on the bank... Long ago and far away, the leaders of this country decided that Banks didn't need reserve capital any longer... I still believe that even just a 10% reserve would have helped these failed banks... And then I saw this articla on Bloomber.com that talked about this very thing, and it can be found here: Fed’s Kashkari Argues for Much Higher Capital to Bolster Banks - Bloomberg

Or, here's your snippet: "Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said bank capital requirements should be lifted significantly to help backstop financial institutions against distress.

“Having significantly higher levels of capital is our only chance to build real resilience in our financial system,” Kashkari said in an essay published Monday on the Minneapolis Fed’s website. “I urge us to have the courage to take the hard path and address the underlying fragility of the banking sector.”

The push for higher capital requirements come amid US banking-sector strains that saw the collapse of several regional lenders this spring, including that of Silicon Valley Bank in March.

Fed officials have said they are watching to see by how much banks tighten lending conditions following the episodes, though Kashkari made no explicit comments about monetary policy in his essay."

Chuck again... This Neil Kashkari is a loose lug nut on most things, but he's bang on with this... 

Market Prices 5/22/ 2023: American Style: A$ .6641, kiwi .6289, C$ .7406, euro 1.0823, sterling 1.2455, Swiss $1.1168, European Style: rand 19.3272, krone 10.8911, SEK 10.5150, forint 346.29, zloty 4.1741, koruna 21.8774, RUB 80.7, yen 137.97, sing 1.3449, HKD 7.8249, INR 82.84, China 7.0284, peso 17.87, BRL 4.9884, BBDXY 1,237.10, Dollar Index 103.09, Oil $71.58, 10-year 3.66%, Silver $23.83, Platinum $1,078.00, Palladium $1,519.00, Copper $3.70, and Gold... $1,977.13.

That's it for today... RIP Jim Brown... the greatest running back I ever say play football... Well, the light switch for my beloved Cardinals just have been found and finally turned on, because they are playing baseball like I thought they would coming out of Spring Training... Their last 4 series, the took 2 of 3 from Cubs, 3 of 3 from Bosox, 2 of 3 from Brewers and 3 of 4 from Dodgers... They are still 7 games under .500, but if they can keep this momentum going, that should be their next goal... Ok, so no Pfennig tomorrow, I'll be on a plane at zero dark thirty... my new chemo has me being quite tired easily, and sleeping alot.. I figure if that's all I have to deal with, then so be it! Now, as long as it works! Our STL City SC soccer team won Saturday night 4-0! I went from the Baseball game to the soccer match on watching them on TV... Emerson, Lake and Palmer take us to the finish line today with thier song: Still You Turn Me On... I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!