The Island of gold has been found

• Currencies & metals rally on Friday.

• Gold trades over $1,800 this morning.

Good Day… And a Marvelous Monday to you! What a storm that blew through here last night… The house lights went off a couple of times, but came back on within a minute… I was knee deep into a series on Apple TV, and I know I’m a year behind, but I really got into the Ted Lasso series… While I’m on it… I don’t get into to paid TV… I don’t subscribe to HBO, SHO, any of them, but my wife bought a new phone and got 3 months free of Apple TV, and so….I watched Apple TV all night! Our Blues are off to a great start to the season… And they’re scoring lots of goals… Love it! The Elvin Bishop Band greets me this morning with their song: Fooled Around And Fell In Love.

Well, we saw another take down of Gold On Friday,.. So, you tell me… Gold did end up $8.90 on the day, but…. That was more than $23 off of its high for the day… Doesn’t that seem a little fishy? Doesn’t it seem as though someone just stole your best girl? I mean Gold had a good end to last week going… going, gone… For the week Gold was up $25, which isn’t anything to turn your nose up at… But then when we take the manipulation downward on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we could have seen Gold up by more than $50… Every time it shows an inkling to go above $1,800, it gets smacked right back down below it… So, what’s it going to take to get the price manipulators to allow Gold to rise above $1,800? I wish a curse on them… Maybe that’ll do the trick! HA!

So, not only were the boys in the band taking down Gold & Silver on Friday, the PPT, funded by the ESF (exchange stabilization fund) were doing their best to keep the dollar from falling off a cliff once again… The BBDXY ended the week at 1,154.36, and it hqd started the week at 1,161.87… But the downward movement was slowed on Friday, by the PPT… Because, Like I’ve said many times before the Gov’t doesn’t mind seeing the dollar lose ground, it just can’t have it losing BIG Chunks so that people lose faith in it, so they keep the selling to a minimum, and allow slow, steady downward movements are their cup-o-tea.

The currencies on Friday last week found some buying, and dollar selling , but not as much as one would think it could have suffered, given the weak data that printed on Friday… For those of you wondering what that data might have been… It was the Markit version of the manufacturing index, called the ISM… (it used to be called the PMI) And that index fell below 60 for the first time in a while… it’s still above the line in the sand that points out expansion VS contraction, which is 50… But to see it fall below 60, was quite the scene for the currency traders, and they sold dollars hand over fist, until the PPI showed up.

Gold Closed the week at $1,793.00, and Silver Closed the week at $24.40… Both are still behind in keeping up with inflation, but they’re doing their best to play catch-up.

In the overnight markets last night… The foreign traders are buying dollars again… The dollar got bought overnight with the BBDXY rising from the close on Friday of 1,154.56 to 1,156.16 this morning… The euro has slumped and is barely above the 1.16 level… The two currencies that have been ratcheting higher and higher are the Chinese renminbi, and the Russian ruble… I find this quite interesting in that these are the two countries that have been quite vocal about reducing dollars… Gold is up $9.90 in the early trading, and Silver is up 6-cents… So, the boys in the band just got to their desks… I wonder how long they will allow Gold to hold it’s $9.90 early gain today, since that gain has taken Gold back over the $1.800 level.

The price of Oil is surging higher once again and this morning it’s trading with a $84 handle, and looking like it will trade with a $85 handle by the end of the day… Can you believe that a little over a year ago the price of Oil went negative for a day, and now it appears it’s heading to $100.

There are so many things I’d like to talk to you about this morning, but… most of them are not about the markets, so…. I’ll have to keep them to myself, because the Good Lord knows that some people don’t like it when I stray too far from my lane.

So, a my long time friend, and former boss, Frank Trotter, always said… Onward and Upward… That usually followed the Jedi mind tricks he used on us… No Jedi Mind tricks from me that’s for sure! Just plain old talk that has logic, and makes sense.

I came across this bit of information this weekend… “In a release out Thursday, the CFTC said it had issued a monstrous $200 million whistleblower award to someone whose "specific, credible, and timely original information significantly contributed to an already open investigation and led to a successful enforcement action, as well as to the success of two related actions, by a U.S. federal regulator and a foreign regulator."

It marks the largest payout ever by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Information provided by the whistleblower "led the CFTC to important, direct evidence of wrongdoing," the release stated. It continued:

"In order to qualify for an award, a whistleblower who significantly contributed to the success of an enforcement action must demonstrate that there is a “meaningful nexus” between the information provided and the CFTC’s ability to successfully complete its investigation, and to either obtain a settlement or prevail in a litigated proceeding.”

Chuck again… Well, what I would have added to the article was this:” The CFTC can’t find their rear end from a hole in the ground, and so it doesn’t surprise me one bit that it took a whistleblower to bring this blatant price manipulation to their attention.” But... $200 Million for whistleblowing? 

OK, onward and upward… About 10 days ago, I told you that the Bank of England (BOE) had signaled that inflation was rising an that a rate hike would soon follow… Then late last week the BOE Finance Minister reported that inflation is likely going to be north of 5%, and that the November BOE meeting “was live”…   To Which, I’m thinking that he’s saying that the November meeting will have a rate hike… For short term traders, know this, is like manna from heaven, for they can buy sterling ahead of the rate hike…  I’m not a short term trader, never have been, never will be, but I don’t mind pointing out these things to people who are short term traders.

Inflation here in the U.S. is really ramping up quickly.. Did you know that when we turned the calendar on 2021, inflation was just 1.7%, and at the last reading it had risen to 5.4%... And that 5.4% is hedonically adjusted downward!  Oooh, I can only imagine what 2022’s inflation will bring us.

Ok, I can’t hold this one inside of me much longer without exploding! I saw a tweet this past week telling us Americans, that we needed to lower our expectations….. Wait, What? Ok, someone on Twitter had mentioned and posted a picture of empty shelves in a grocery store… And the nimwit replied that Americans needed to lower their expectations.

What? That we live in the largest food producing country in the world, and we expect to see grocery stores will full shelves, those aren’t lofty expectations, those are norms… We expect norms.

Well, that feels better…  OK, how about an upbeat story? This came to me from the good folks at GATA… “The site of a fabled Indonesian kingdom renowned for its golden treasures may finally have been discovered on Sumatra, known as the Island of Gold.

For the past five years, fishermen exploring the crocodile-infested Musi River, near Palembang, have hauled a staggering treasure trove from the depths -- including gemstones, gold ceremonial rings, coins, and bronze monks' bells.

One of the most incredible finds so far is a jewel-encrusted life-size statue of Buddha from the 8th century, which is worth millions of pounds.”

Now I may be way off here, but I would think that all young kids, especially boys, dreamed of discovering a treasure map and being able to follow it to a treasure chest full of Gold, Silver, Rubies, etc. I don’t know how many times I got in trouble for digging in the back yard for Gold, as a young boy… So, this article from GATA really reminded me of when I was a young boy, trying to find the island of Gold… Chuck The Pirate... I've always had a fondness of the Pirates of yore.

The U.S. Data Cupboard today is empty… No data prints today, and that usually is a good thing for the dollar, given all the rot on the economy’s vine these days, no news is good news for the dollar. But tomorrow we begin to get some real economic prints, with the Case/Shiller Home price index, and on Wednesday with Durable & Capital Goods Orders… We’ll also see Consumer Confidence tomorrow, which to me is a useless piece of data… The week ends with a bang as Personal Income and Spending will get printed, and Core Inflation… So, it’s a day of respite for the dollar today, but the rest of the week the dollar will have to be dodging the bullets from the data prints… At least that’s how I see it going.

To recap… Last week should have been a great week for Gold & Silver, but instead it was a Meh week… The boys in the band really took it to Gold’s gains on Friday, with the shiny metals closing at a price that was $23 less than its high for the day… Chuck reminisces about his days as a pirate this morning, and the data cupboard is empty today, but gets restocked the rest of the week for sure.

For What It’s Worth…  On Friday of last week, I was going through my emails, and found this one from my local paper, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, written by their Business writer, David Nicklaus, of whom I’ve quote before, as he seems to know what he’s talking about most of the time… This article is about how with potential workers choosing not to work these days, it’s going to take higher wages to lure them back into the workforce.

Here’s your snippet:” Edward Carrette wasn’t looking to change jobs until he started getting calls from recruiters.

Carrette, who worked in public relations for Fleishman-Hillard, didn’t take the offers they were dangling, but he noticed friends and colleagues job-hopping. He realized he could make more money while working from wherever he chose to live.

Carrette recently became part of what’s being called the Great Resignation, a phenomenon that finds Americans quitting their jobs at a record pace. He moved to Albuquerque, drawn by New Mexico’s climate and outdoor recreation opportunities, and works remotely for a New York PR firm.

The pandemic has created other reasons to resign: child-care issues, sick family members, fear of infection or unwillingness to comply with a vaccine mandate. An estimated 2 million Americans have retired earlier than expected, helped by a booming stock market and soaring house prices.

Plus, as Carrette discovered, wages are escalating in some industries. Even in low-wage sectors such as retail and fast food, Target, Starbucks and others raised their base pay to $15 an hour. Amazon starts warehouse workers at $18 an hour, putting pressure on smaller employers.

“There’s so much press coverage about the $15 minimums, some workers may have adjusted their reservation wage, or the lowest wage they are willing to take,” said Chris Varvares, co-head of U.S. economics for IHS Markit. “When people making $12 an hour hear about $15, they are going to be looking, and that leads to people quitting.”

In fact, the quit rate is rising fastest among workers without a college degree. For college-educated workers, the quit rate remains slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

Some people also are giving up second or third jobs. The number of multiple-job holders has fallen by more than 1 million since the pandemic began”.

Chuck again… Good article, and one that should go one step further in talking about how wages rising will filter through to wage inflation… But maybe that’s going to be in a follow up article.

Market prices 10/25/2021: American Style: A$ .7487, kiwi .7151, C$ .8090, euro 1.1603, sterling 1.3757, Swiss $1.0878, European Style: rand 15.1857, krone 8.3629, SEK 8.6174, forint 315.13, zloty 3.9785, koruna 22.1640, RUB 70.25, yen 113.82, sing 1.3472, HKD 7.7728, INR 75.13, China 6.3839, peso 20.20, BRL 5.6482, BBDXY 1,156.16, Dollar Index 93.85, Oil $84.88, 10-year 1.66&, Silver $24.47, Platinum $1,047.00, Palladium $2,130.00, Copper $4.51, and Gold… $1,802.90.

That’s it for today… This will be a short week for me this week, as I have my monthly visit to the hospital to see my oncologist on Thursday bright and early… My recent scans showed no new cancer, and that was good… The hematoma that I have on my left torso, was mentioned as “having developed into a more chronic form”… So, I guess that will be the topic of discussion on Thursday… I also have some lingering effects to my lungs from the pneumonia I had… It’s called ground glass opacity… But should clear as time goes by… Well, I’m late this morning with the letter… I just couldn’t wake up this morning… I think it’s going to be one of those days, where I sleep all day… We’ll see… Little Evie and brother Braden were here on Saturday morning, and Kathy had made Evie’s Halloween costume, and had her try on her Glinda the Good Witch costume, of which Evie was not too fond of… She wouldn’t let me take a picture of her… funny… But she looked so darn cute! The Beatles take us to the finish line today with their love song: And I Love Her…. I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!