Universal Basic Income (UBI) On the Table in Washington, DC; Gold, Silver Looking More Enticing

Hop-scotching the financial and political universe:

While the news wants to focus on President Trump and the close proximity of coronavirus to President Trump and Vice President Pence, the figures coming back from states that have re-engaged their economies are intriguing, indicative of increased testing with precautions having been tossed to the roadside in many cases.

Possibly, some states jumped the gun in getting the people at least partially back to work and some stores may have opened prematurely, though it's too early to make a definitive judgement. In some cases, the general public wasn't ready to get back to and kind of routine, be it shopping and strolling, punching a clock or dinner at a restaurant. Elsewhere, people were eager to re-connect.

It's only natural and mathematically predictable that with increased virus testing, the numbers of infected will be rising and the media is poised to pounce all over states that were quick off the line. Thus far, there's no true trend detected. That will take a month or longer, as most states began partial re-openings May 1 and deaths from the virus take a month or longer from infection to expiration.

Look for the media to cherry-pick the state-by-state data and come up with the scariest "second wave" headlines possible within a few weeks, if not sooner. The mainstream is always over-eager when it comes to promoting the pornography of demise, aka, doom porn.

Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Kamala Harris put forward a bill Friday (May 8) that would provide $2000 a month to roughly 175 million American adults - and another $2000 for each family member under the age of 18 - for as long as the crisis exists.

In one form or another, the bill has support among Democrats while Republicans are holding their cards close to their chests, for now. With money out on the table, it's only a matter of time before congress approves a monthly stipend for Americans, especially if partial re-openings in states result in increased incidence of infection from COVID-19.

$2000 a month may seem a bit over the top, but there will be pressure on Republicans to not look like a modern-day Scrooge in the face of the pandemic. Millions are out of work, and the long lines at food banks will be a useful prop for Democrats to push their agenda. While the politicians work out their differences, expect to see some form of monthly universal basic income (UBI) agreed upon by the spendthrifts-at-large, likely in the range of $1200-1500 per adult per month, and $500 for dependent children.

The monthly tab for such a scheme would fall somewhere between $325 and $400 billion a month, and could last as long as six months (November elections), perhaps longer. A total of $2 trillion would be touted as "reasonable" considering the heft already thrown to Wall Street and small businesses. Besides, anything spent past September would be rolled into next year's budget. With the 2020 budget already $4 trillion in the red, anything under $5 trillion over budget in 2021 will be appealing to the vote-buyers in Washington.

It's coming. The political calculus favors the Democrat free-spending plan without much pushback from the opposition. Expect direct deposits or checks in the mail to begin arriving sometime in June at the earliest, July at the latest. The nation's political leaders just can't help themselves when it comes to over-spending and trying to appear meritorious and compassionate.

Many thanks to GATA for supplying a link to Nick Laird's fabulous charts and commentary detailing the recent volatility storm in gold and silver.

Scottsdale Mint continues to advise clients of shipment delays of 20+ days. Other dealers have similar warnings, some demanding minimum order sizes due to an ongoing supply shortage and massive uptick in demand.

Fearless Rick's Commentary

Everybody has some kind of normalcy bias that leads to hoping this corona-demic will subside sooner rather than later. We're all tired of it.

In February, I thought this would all be over in a month. Two weeks hence, I recalculated out to six weeks, which became two months, then three and now, careening into June, having tracked events since late January when the virus began ravaging China and then the world, the crisis appears to be an endless one.

Realistically, whether this event is staged or real doesn't matter. The media, governments, and medical community will lead the vast sheeple population into believing what they want and doing their bidding, right down to idiotic suggestions like baseball games with no fans in the stands (not profitable from an ownership perspective), wearing cloth masks (might as well just wear a Howdy Doody Halloween mask as it will have the same effect), keeping six feet apart from people you live with day-to-day, and other abstract restrictions and recommendations.

I'd like this all to be over and done with, but I know it won't be. I am trying hard to abandon my own normalcy bias and beginning to realize that this "new world dis-order" is going to be with us for a long time. The elites can't resolve anything themselves except to keep the stock market inflated, people distracted or starving or angry, and the planet teetering on self-destruction.

I'm resolved that it's all going to get worse. I'm focused on my garden, my personal well-being, stacking and prepping now for winter, which is inevitable.

A year from now, we'll all still be reading and fretting about the virus, lockdowns, death, etc. without an end date. Best to just carry on with life in as usual a manner as one can command. The government is only going to help for a while and in a limited capacity. Once the elections (which is all anybody in Washington DC cares about) are over and done, a cruel, harsh winter is the most likely outcome. Cold weather seems to bring out the worst in people, and if the federal and state governments don't have a handle on both the economy and the virus by then, they'll be facing an even angrier, colder, more determined populace seeking retribution for what they believe was avoidable.

Try to think at least six months ahead of the herd. That way, you'll be more likely to outrun the stampede.

At the Close, Monday, May 11, 2020:
Dow: 24,221.99, -109.33 (-0.45%)
NASDAQ: 9,192.34, +71.02 (+0.78%)
S&P 500: 2,930.32, +0.52 (+0.02%)
NYSE: 11,281.37, -72.98 (-0.64%)