WEEKEND WRAP: Stocks, Gold, Silver, Bitcoin, Oil Prices, Elections Show Globalists In Complete Control

If the week just past taught us anything, it is that Americans have no control over their own lives, or, at least they're not supposed to, according to the assembled DC bureaucrats, mindful media and the medical establishment.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, point man for the CV-19 propaganda campaign, warned Americans about traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, and fretted - along with anchors and reporters on mainstream media TV outlets - that people ignoring his warnings were likely to make the entire holiday season - Christmas and New Year's - worse in terms of his fake CV-19 "scamdemic."

Stocks had another solid week, with the Dow Industrials, S&P 500, NASDAQ, and NYSE Composite all making new all-time highs, even if interrupted by time off for the "little people," but oil prices were up more than 10 percent, raising gas at the pump, and anything that might offer relief from the tyranny of fiat money, specifically, gold, silver, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, were beaten down like disobedient dogs.

On top of all that, the media continued to shield the public from the truth about the 2020 elections. They were rigged for Joe Biden, as any thinking person who bothers to do a little research can easily ascertain. Making worse in that regard is the corruption of judges at state and federal district levels, who have uniformly ruled in favor of the election cheating perpetrators, denying justice for the people of various states.

Basically, this was a week in which the elitists flexed their muscles a little and showed the world who's really in charge. It's sickening because the world is witnessing the end of democracy as a principal form of governance, as it's being replaced by totalitarian political control which answers only to itself.

Such is the state of the world as 2020 - one of the most regrettably ugly years in the pantheon of human history - lurches into its final month.

Breaking into the details for the week, the recent raises in treasury yields on the long end were tamped down a bit on Friday after rising earlier. At Friday's close of business, the 10-year note yielded 0.84%, the 30-year, 1.57, up one and four basis points, respectively. The short end remained at the zero-bound.

WTI crude oil rose from $42.42 to $45.52 over the course of the week. The rise in oil prices synchronizes nicely with colder weather and holiday travel. Since October 30, the price has risen from 35.79 to it's current level, a gain of 27.2%, which is simply stunning, considering the timing and exigent circumstances from CV-19 with closures, lockdowns and travel warnings.

Cryptocurrency was the most damaged asset class, with Bitcoin getting pounded on fears of government regulation or, more likely, distribution by "whales" cashing in on the recent rise which had the coin less than $10 short of its 2017 all-time high. From early Wednesday morning through early Friday, the price of Bitcoin in US$ fell from 19,500 to a low of 16,490, suffering a 15.4% drop.

Gold and silver, as mentioned above, were simply destroyed as futures traders took down the precious metals as though they were indeed ancient relics of a world forgotten. Gold's decline from $1,872.40 an ounce to its close on Friday at a disturbing $1,783.10 was a 4.8% slap. Showing the ultimate central bank disdain for the metal of gentlemen, silver fell from $24.36 to $22.68 on the week, a drop of 6.9%, leaving the gold:silver ratio at 78.62.

Prices for the metals are well below their summer highs. Gold has zoomed past $2,000 an ounce while silver was testing 8-year highs just short of $30 per ounce.

As is customary, here are the most recent prices for common gold and silver items sold on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping - often free - included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median

1 oz silver coin: 28.90 / 49.00 / 36.62 / 36.10
1 oz silver bar: 29.18 / 49.95 / 37.16 / 36.95
1 oz gold coin: 1,853.00 / 1,993.68 / 1,905.17 / 1,897.62
1 oz gold bar: 1,853.00 / 1,900.98 / 1,883.39 / 1,890.24

Happy Holidays!

At the Close, Friday, November 27, 2020:
Dow: 29,910.37, +37.90 (+0.13%)
NASDAQ: 12,205.85, +111.44 (+0.92%)
S&P 500: 3,638.35, +8.70 (+0.24%)
NYSE: 14,198.50, +6.91 (+0.05%)

For the Week:
Dow: +646.81 (+2.29%)
NASDAQ: +350.88 (+2.96%)
S&P 500: +80.81 (+2.27%)
NYSE: +371.60 (+2.59%)

While You Weren't Watching: Negative Yielding Bonds At Record; Bitcoin's Demise; Silver, Gold Gashed

Focused on the glorious Dow 30,000 meme the past few days, along with post-election foibles and coronavirus circumstances, little notice was paid to a number of developments that may eventually have more to do with a "Great Reset" economy than the rise and fall of old standard stocks and bonds.

Since nobody bothers to keep score on the amount of negative interest rate debt in play throughout the world, Barclay's and Bloomberg try to keep abreast. Via coindesk, a premier purveyor of all news concerning cryptocurrencies, noted on November 16, the amount of negative-yielding debt set a new record, at $17.05 trillion (in US$).

Rising dramatically from around $6 trillion to the prior high mark of $17.04 trillion in 2019, low issuance of new negative debt and the retiring of some older maturities had brought the amount of below-zero interest-bearing debt to less than $8 trillion earlier this year. The global pandemic thrust upon the world stage changed all that as governments scrambled to shore up damaged economies and the amount of new negative-interest debt instruments soared.

Massive emergency funding in the negative space seemed a perfect set-up for investments without counterparty risk, such as gold, silver, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. That theorm held sway early in the pandemic phase, with gold notching a record high, silver and Bitcoin up sharply. Until recently, these alternate investment currencies had held up relatively well, especially Bitcoin, which rocketed within a few dollars of its all-time peak (2017), sailing past the $19,000 mark on Tuesday of this week and hitting a three-year high at 19,488.81 on Wednesday.

It was there that Bitcoin met with distressing news to holders and speculators, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was reported to be considering plans to introduce fresh rules for "self-custody wallets" by the end of his term. Bitcoin bottomed out at $16,270.37 on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day in the United States, but began rallying late Thursday into Friday.

Current speculation sees the impact of the Treasury's rumored regulation overblown and credits the decline more to simple overbought conditions. Bitcoin has rallied sharply, nearly doubling in just October and November. A move beyond $20,000 is still seen as a probability by the end of 2020. Considering the volatility of the crypto space, a record high seems a given and further gains are forecast for 2021 and beyond as fiat currencies continue to deprecate and lose purchasing power while Bitcoin and other major cryptos gain new users and advanced spending capabilities.

Despite efforts by governments (Bitcoin is banned in six countries) to regulate the holding and taxation of cryptocurrencies as investments, the Bitcoin bandwagon appears only to be slowed temporarily by efforts to contain its growth.

Precious metals have painted a similar, if not as spectacular a story. Gold, which had rallied from a low of $1167.10 in the summer of 2018 to an intraday high of $2089.20 in August, 2020, was never able to hold that level, falling below $2000 an ounce later that month, commencing a slow decline that has accelerated in recent days.

The world's recognized greatest store of value was punched down nearly $100 just three weeks ago and knocked lower the past two weeks to just above $1800 per ounce. Silver suffered a similar fate, testing $30 an ounce in August, only to be beaten down to current levels around $23 an ounce.

Cries of foul have been loudly sounded by the goldbug community, since manipulation of the precious metals market has been proven by the criminal convictions against JP Morgan and fines paid by other banks, particularly HSBC and Citigroup, and seems not to have deterred the practices of spoofing and naked shorting in the futures markets to facilitate price suppression.

Until real price discovery is attained via a smashing of the closed loop LMBA and standing for physical delivery on the COMEX, gold and silver will continue to frustrate honest investors, subject to the worst criminal behavior that serves only the interests of the central bank counterfeiters who are openly strip-mining the great economies of the world.

As Captain Bligh in the film Mutiny on the Bounty may have accurately surmised, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

At the Close, Wednesday, November 25, 2020:
Dow: 29,872.47, -173.77 (-0.58%)
NASDAQ: 12,094.40, +57.62 (+0.48%)
S&P 500: 3,629.65, -5.76 (-0.16%)
NYSE: 14,191.58, -57.92 (-0.41%)

Dow Pops, Closes At Record Over 30,000; When Will It Hit 40,000? A History Lesson

Dow Jones Industrial Average (Select dates, Closing prices)
March 29, 1999: 10,006.78
February 3, 2017: 20,071.46
November 24, 2020: 30,046.24

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrials closed over 30,000 for the first time ever. From the numbers above, it's easy to see how fast the 30 select stocks (the makeup of which changes fairly frequently these days) comprising the Average has galloped from one giant number to the next.

On May 26, 1896, two financial reporters, Charles Dow and Edward Jones, first published their average.

It consisted of 12 companies:

American Cotton Oil

American Sugar

American Tobacco

Chicago Gas

Distilling & Cattle Feeding

General Electric

Laclede Gas

National Lead

North American

Tennessee Coal & Iron

U.S. Leather

United States Rubber

...all of which, with the notable exception of General Electric (GE, consequently, not part of the current roster) have been gobbled up, picked apart, merged, liquidated or somehow morphed into some other corporate entity.

So, it took nearly 103 years for the Average to go from the first published value of the Dow Jones, 40.94, which was calculated by taking the average market price for the 12 companies, to 10,000, obviously changing the formula along the way.

Just as a side note, if one were to use the same formula as the originators, simply taking the average price of each of the now 30 component stocks, the number would be - just guessing - somewhere around 120, but that would hardly get anyone excited. Does anybody really want a hat that reads "Dow 100?" Probably not.

Perhaps it's worth taking note of the original calculation of a simple average, but the genius of simplicity is a discussion for another time. Today, we're focused on how fast we can reach the next big number, 40,000.

After bouncing above and below that 10,000 mark for a short time, and, notably dipping below it in 2000 on a number of occasions and then for an extended period of time before and after the tragic events of 9/11/2001, falling as low as 7,286.27 on October 9, 2002, the Dow recovered and was off to the races, well, kind of...

until the sub-prime crisis crashed it all the way down to 6,547.05 on March 9, 2009, the day otherwise known as the "Haines Bottom" after CNBC anchor, Mark Haines (RIP), correctly called the stock market bottom on that very day prior to the open (see video below).

So, then, finally, the Dow was off to the races, crossing again over 10,000 to the upside on October 14, 2009, to eventually reach the legendary level of 20,000 in 2017. Thus, depending on perspective, the Dow took either 19 years (1999-2017) to go from 10 to 20,000, or eight (2009-2017). Either way, it was done in fairly short order, doubling in value.

The next step, from 20,000 to 30,000, took less than four years (3 years, nine months, and 21 days) to complete. While the value of the Average only increased by 50% instead of the 100% in the previous epoch, the move is no less impressive. Mathemeticians may note that at the current trajectory, 40,000 should be within striking distance in about 2 years and 8 months, or roughly speaking, July 17, 2023.

A calculation done on the internet returned a result of 58 years, with this note:

The next number for given series 103,19,4 is 58
General polynomial is 34.5x2-187.5x+256

...whatever that means.

So, for the true pessimists out there, according to at least one website’s calculator, the Average won't hit 40,000 until 2078. The best guess is that it will hit the magic 40,000 mark (and there will be hats available, promise) somewhere between 2023 and 2078. Understand that it is a smaller and smaller percentage gain every 10,000 points. The value of the Dow Average will only gain by 33.3% on a move from 30,000 to 40,000, so doing it in under three years is actually not improbable.

Just to amplify the idea that nothing in the financial world goes up or down in straight lines, as we saw with the bumpy road between 1999 and 2009 (aka, the lost decade), a couple of points:

The bottom in 2009 was actually lower than the one in 2002.

It took 27 years for the Average to recover from the October, 1929 crash, from a high of 381.17 to a low of 41.22 in 1932, and back to a yearly high of 404.39 in 1956.

Back in the world of the real or imagined (take your pick), presumptive president, Joe Biden, has apparently chosen former Chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, as his presumptive Secretary of the Treasury. Yellen, an uber-dove on monetary policy, is likely to empty the treasury with the same abandon she promoted easy money when Fed Chair. The skies will open up and twenties will fall from the heavens.

Oil prices have skyrocketed above $45 per barrel for WTI crude, the highest price since early March of this year. It's probably nothing more than the idea that, opposed to the whole lockdown COVID preaching, many families are traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, so the oil companies want to get an extra piece of pie. It could be more than that, but it's a good bet that oil prices will fluctuate between $40 and $48 until Christmas and then stabilize near or below that range in 2021.

With stocks booming, a little money leaked out of treasuries, with the 10-year note and 30-year bond yields both higher, by two and four basis points, respectively.

Markets are closed on Thursday, and a half-day session (close at 1:00 pm ET) is scheduled for Friday, so Wednesday is the last full trading day of the week, November closing out the month on Monday. With that, the Labor Department moved it's reading on initial unemployment claims to today, noting 778,000 new unemployment claims in the most recent week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

At the Close, Tuesday, November 24, 2020:
Dow: 30,046.24, +454.97 (+1.54%)
NASDAQ: 12,036.79, +156.15 (+1.31%)
S&P 500: 3,635.41, +57.82 (+1.62%)
NYSE: 14,249.50, +251.26 (+1.79%)

Drive-by Posting Because Markets Are All Rigged to Vaccine Algos

Another Monday, another vaccine announcement, making it three weeks in a row that the COVID crisis has managed to goose stocks higher.

This week it was Astra-Zeneca announcing a COVID vaccine that is supposedly 74% effective against a virus that is 97% infectious. Amazingly, most humans are about as good at math as most farm animals.

No comment on the coming of president Biden and the reincarnation of the Obama administration.

We prepare for the worst.

Sorry for the brevity of this post, but there's no need to waste time figuring out what to do in this market. Buy the dips, buy the rises. Everything is wonderful.

At the Close, Monday, November 23, 2020:
Dow: 29,591.27, +327.79 (+1.12%)
NASDAQ: 11,880.63, +25.66 (+0.22%)
S&P 500: 3,577.59, +20.05 (+0.56%)
NYSE: 13,998.24, +171.24 (+1.24%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Precious Metals and Bitcoin Continue to Pose Risk as Alternatives to National, Fiat Currencies

There is every indication that the time when all is rendered into ashes is rapidly approaching. People with fiat, earning fiat, relying on fiat will be impoverished. A currency collapse with no foreign currency to escape into is a cataclysmic event, the like of which we haven’t seen before, not even in Roman times. If it doesn’t buy you food and warmth a million bucks is worthless.

-- Alisdair Macleod, The Global Reset Scam, GoldMoney.com

It's always about money. Every time. Whether it's politics or medicine or sports or any other human endeavor, it always comes down to a matter of money: who's got it, who wants it, who's holding onto it, who's picking it up.

Nothing in the world - at least at this point in time - happens without money, which is why it's becoming incumbent upon everybody - from the lowest beggar to the highest oligarch - to determine which form of money is the right one to hold, the right one with which to transact, the right one to hoard for future use.

Fiat, the yen, euro, dollar, pound, yuan are all dying, albeit a slow death. Fiat currencies backed by nothing more than empty government promises remain dominant. They're completely useful in terms of everyday living, transactions of all manner, for just about anything and everything. That is unlikely to change in the near term.

While these currencies all are collectively being debased by their respective governments and central banks, their purchasing power continues to erode, though one wouldn't be aware of that watching the Forex pairs like $US-Yen, Euro-Pound, Euro-$US, et cetera. They all go up and down against each other, weakening and strengthening on rumor, suspicion, innuendo, sometimes even facts. At the end of the day, however, they'll all buy less than they did did day before, month before, year before. It takes decades to clearly see the debasing of currencies in terms of inflation, but its been ongoing for at least a century, since the creation of the US Federal Reserve in 1913, and probably before that.

And the inflation continues to advance. What one could buy with one dollar in 1940 cannot be had with $20 today.

In 1940 a gallon of gas was 11 cents. In 1940 the average cost of new car was $850. Today, the national average price for a gallon of gas is $2.11, a new car is close to $40,000. It only took 80 years for the purchasing power of the US dollar to decline by roughly 95%. Obviously, fiat money, based on a system of fractional reserve banking reliant on endless debt issuance isn't working for everybody. The top 0.1% of Americans has more accumulated wealth than the bottom 80%. It's working for them, not for nearly everybody else.

When a currency stops being an effective means of preserving wealth for huge swaths of people - at which the fiat currencies have failed miserably - poverty ensues. Lines of cars miles long are now typical at food banks across the country. The mainstream media - reliable purveyors of truth that they are - won't show the poverty and even if they do, they'll blame it on the coronavirus, and eventually on President Trump. That's just how they roll.

The matter of fact is that the US middle class has been strip-mined and hollowed out, plunging millions of people into poverty or week-to-week, even day-to-day scratching out of an existence. They're turning to begging, barter, selling off what few assets they may have, prostitution, crime. By whatever means available, they all need to eat.

Not to belabor the point, but homelessness would be rising even more rapidly than it already is without mandated eviction moratoria and foreclosure forbearance rules imposed by states and the federal government during the "pandemic," many of which are expiring soon. US household debt reached an all-time high in the third quarter, $14.35 trillion. Nearly $10 trillion of that is in mortgages, with new and existing home prices at record highs and interest rates near record lows. Sustainable? Probably not.

When a currency implodes, the usual characteristics are runaway inflation caused by easy money policies, joblessness, credit defaults, bankruptcies, evictions, small business failures, boarded up storefronts, homelessness, general poverty. Sound familiar? We are there.

If all of these problems are the end result of a currency that works to enrich the few at the expense of the many, what do ordinary people do?

Here are a few options: protest, riot, burn, loot, fight, commit crimes, starve, die. Lovely.

For the rest of us lucky enough to have some means to continue making a living or having enough cash and/or liquid assets to survive reasonably well, he time to start looking for alternative currencies was yesterday, last month, last year, last decade, last century. We should have known we were doomed when Nixon closed the gold window in 1971, but most of us weren't economists nearly 50 years ago. Those of us who were even adults at the time were in our teens, 20s and 30s. We were more concerned about making the scene at the newest disco, making headway at work, finding a mate, raising a family. Now we're mostly retired, watching our world collapse right before our eyes.

For the bulk of people born after 1965, the economy of the past 50 years is all they know. They're largely unprepared for what's happening and what's to come. Some of the millennials get it. Generation Z gets it. They don't hold out much hope for the future. Many have turned to Bitcoin while old-timers have turned to gold, silver, and real estate.

As far as land is concerned, it's not the most liquid of assets, but it does serve the purpose of having stability, a place to live, a place from which to run a business. Beyond that, it's sunk money, a long-term necessity.

Gold, silver, and Bitcoin are going to win out over any government issued currency, be it fiat US dollars from the Federal Reserve or a new currency that's 100% digital, or in central banker lingo, CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), which is all the rage in the conference rooms frequented by these preposterous imposters of monetary witchcraft.

Years ago, after the sub-prime crisis of 2007-09 nearly bankrupted all the major banks and destroyed the global economy (it did, it's just been papered over since then), Money Daily posited that the next crisis would be more destructive by degrees and likely the last crisis. We are there. It's just taking longer than anyone expected.

When the US dollar goes poof for good, it's going to be bad for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people, because, as the quote at the top of this article says, "If it doesn’t buy you food and warmth a million bucks is worthless."

*****

Stocks split the difference for the week, the Dow and S&P, after reaching all-time highs, quickly retreated, ending the week on the downside. The NASDAQ and NYSE Composite managed gains. Everything was minimized, amounting to nothing. Everybody's waiting for some resolution to the presidential situation, dealing with COVID-related nonsense, thinking about Thanksgiving or not caring about anything.

Wall Street types continue to be focused on pushing equity prices higher and they've done a swell job in 2020, considering the multiple challenges they faced. Maybe it's time for them to sell, or to tell other people to sell. Maybe not.

Bonds are signaling that all is not well with the system. The 10-year and 30-year treasury yields remain stubbornly high, as they have been now for the past five weeks. Money flowed back into the safety of fixed income over the past week, pushing yields down. The 10-year note dropped six pasis points, from 0.89 to 0.83%, while the 30-year dropped 12, falling from 1.65 to 1.53%. While not indicative of a trend (yet), investors are looking to lock in longer yields that are essentially losing bets with real negative yields as inflation is running at least at two to three percent.

Bond sleuths surmise that it's better to lose a percent or two or three to inflation than 10 to 20 percent in equities. At least with heavy exposure to long-dated maturities, the pain will be somewhat less than that of peers in stocks. While the longest-dated bond yields have taken off, the shorter end of the treasury curve remains flat. Everything prior to a five-year maturity is essentially trading at the zero-bound.

What's spooking the bond market has probably more to do with equity valuations than politics or medical issues. Even the announcement of two COVID vaccines coming to the rescue shortly has not apparently sufficiently allayed fears to any significant extent. With forecasts of holiday retail spending looking pallid and stocks at stretched prices one can hardly blame money managers for seeking shelter. Unemployment, productivity, and industrial production data seems to be pointing more to a prolonged recession rather than a quick, one-off, V-shaped recovery.

Oil prices ended the week at a two-month high ($42.42), putting in a solid gain of over two dollars a barrel from the previous Friday price of $40.13.

Precious metals are just so obviously manipulated by a consortium of banks and dealers at the LBMA and at the futures trading hub, COMEX, it's hard to to laugh, or cry, or puke out one's guts.

Gold ended the week at 1,872.40, down $12.80 from the prior Friday. Silver fell from $24.77 to finish the week at $24.36. The "consolidation" (see spoofing, cheating, naked shorting) in the precious metals over the past two months is nothing short of criminal, as traders at JP Morgan can attest.

The most recent prices for common gold and silver items sold on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping (often free) included) are shown below:

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 32.50 / 55.00 / 39.77 / 36.75
1 oz silver bar: 29.05 / 43.30 / 33.54 / 33.02
1 oz gold coin: 1,890.00 / 2,054.25 / 1,979.26 / 1,984.13
1 oz gold bar: 1,915.00 / 1,990.59 / 1,969.30 / 1,975.25

In the eBay sampling, the presence of more and more numismatics - especially in silver and gold coins - has been prevalent for the past four weeks, while premiums remain high. Sellers are getting extremely good prices on numismatic (proof, high grade, low mintage) coins and bars while prices have declined overall, the desired effect of the controlling hands in the futures and spot markets.

Anecdotally, a good number of gold-focused internet reporting sites mention increased buying of bulk gold tonnage by central banks. Speculation is that banks are bolstering their gold reserves in anticipation of an economic event that will change the financial order significantly. Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary in precious metals. Banks continue to pressure price lower while small, independent buyer demand has skyrocketed, a trend effective over the past nine months and counting.

Finally, Bitcoin continues to march toward all-time levels in price. The price, in US$, of one Bitcoin reached a high of $18,980.00 on November 20 and has retreated from there. As of this writing, the price in US$ is $17968.81. Wild swings in price are nothing new to Bitcoiners. A year ago, the price was $7283.19, a month ago, $12,988.20.

What to make of the recent rise in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? The global dominance of fiat currencies has nearly run its course and alternatives are being sought. The rise of Bitcoin is not by chance. It is fast approaching its all-time high, measured in US$ of $19,891.99 from December 16, 2017. Advocates for the original cryptocurrency believe that further adoption by the general public and widespread use as a means of exchange are within reach, probably two to five years out.

Bitcoin's price is determined by demand, which is increasing. Of 22 million Bitcoins total, 18.6 million have been mined, making the supply now somewhat stable. Bitcoin's market cap of $335.8 billion remains minuscule by comparison to fiat currencies, though it is approaching silver's. Price appreciation is expected as long as central banks continue debasing fiat. The process will likely take longer than most people have the patience for, but holders of alternatives will eventually be winners. All unbacked, fiat currencies have met the same fate - every one - of eventually returning to their intrinsic value of zero.

At the Close, Friday, November 20, 2020:
Dow: 29,263.48, -219.75 (-0.75%)
NASDAQ: 11,854.97, -49.74 (-0.42%)
S&P 500: 3,557.54, -24.33 (-0.68%)
NYSE: 13,827.00, -36.23 (-0.26%)

For the Week:
Dow: -216.33 (-0.73%)
NASDAQ: +25.69 (+0.22%)
S&P 500: -27.61 (0.77%)
NYSE: +65.68 (+0.48%)

Trump Legal Team Presents Evidence, Media Ignores; Nothing Else Matters

"American patriots are fed up with the corruption from the local level to the highest level of our government," she said. "We are not going to be intimidated. We are not going to back down. We are going to clean this mess up now. President Trump won by a landslide. We are going to prove it. And we are going to reclaim the United States of America for the people who vote for freedom."

-Sidney Powell, attorney for President Donald J. Trump

At some point, people have to realize that the stock market doesn't matter, COVID-19 doesn't matter, schools being closed, wearing or not wearing masks, and who you voed for doesn't matter if elections aren't fairly held, transparent, and uncompromized.

What has happened in this country is that the quest for money and power has clouded the collective judgement of politicians and powerful people in the media to a point at which corruption in politics is the norm and the media has failed at every opportunity to present the truth to the American public, whether the public is comfortable with it or not.

This is not a matter of party politics, of Democrats or Republicans, because the corruption has spread so deeply into all levels of government. Greed and avarice This is a matter of national importance. Americans are either going to have a country or they're not. Nothing else matters. One either stands for the rule of law or one doesn't. When Joe Biden claimed this election was "for the soul of the nation" he was, perhaps not accidentally, speaking the truth. America's soul is being tested. President Trump's legal team has made the claim that there was a concerted, organized effort to subvert the honest results of November's elections through illegal means.

Those claims need to be investigated and the media needs to keep the American public informed. Neither of those things are happening. The FBI isn't investigating. The media isn't reporting. If it wasn't for President Trump's dogged determination to seek justice and truth and his legal team's efforts to investigate and litigate, America might very well end up no better than corrupt regimes like Venezuela, Cuba, or communist China.

It's well past time to hold people accountable for their actions and prosecute them for their crimes. Informed Americans who are protesting and begging for answers, for justice, have had enough. They've paid attention, found alternate sources of information, and they do not like what they are seeing.

On it's surface, the idea that Joe Biden, who only captured the Democrat nomination because all the other candidates bowed out, leaving only Biden and leftist independent Bernie Sanders in the bulk of the primaries, chose a vice presidential candidate - Kamala Harris - who never polled greater than five percent in any of the early primaries, who spent the majority of the campaign between August and November sheltered away in his basement, never drawing significant crowds at any of his events, to believe that Biden would receive more votes than any candidate in history stands reality on its head and invites the public to engage in mass delusions.

Only with the aid of the mainstream media has Joe Biden managed to stay out of prison and maintain the stature of a presidential candidate. The media refused to even acknowledge the existence of his son Hunter's laptop, which contained damning evidence of corruption, fraud, bribery and influence peddling even though the original reporting was obtained and revealed by the New York Post, the nation's fourth-largest newspaper in circulation. Social media giants Twitter and Facebook scrubbed mention of the story, censoring it and closing accounts of people and organizations who dared expose the truth.

Joe Biden didn't win the election. He's lucky he hasn't been arrested and thrown in prison. Donald J. Trump won the election. There is no doubt of this. Trump's rallies were attended by tens of thousands of people with more thousands unavailable to gain entry because of the massive crowd size. Trump's supporters were enthusiastic. Biden's supporters - the few that could even be found - were not excited about their selected candidate.

To some, the claims made by Trump's legal team may sound fantastic and unbelievable. To be sure, to think that any group of individuals or collective or organizations would attempt to steal a national election in what's supposed to be the most free and democratic country on the face of the planet, stretches the imagination, but that's what happened.

Democrats, aided and abetted by deep state operatives in the CIA and FBI who either stood down or assisted in corrupt, illegal election practices, helped by the mainstream media which peddalled false stories of corruption and collusion with Russia and Ukraine, supported the phony Mueller investigation, pushed hard for impeachment, have been trying to get rid of Donald J. Trump from the day he announced his candidacy in 2015. They failed to keep him from the Republican nomination. They failed to keep him from winning the presidency in 2016, and they were so afraid they would fail again in 2020, they resorted to cheating and subverting the will of the American people by rigging the vote.

They have failed again and President Trump's legal team are exposing them and the president will eventually prevail. Elections in most, if not all of the states they are contesting - Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and possibly New Mexico and Virginia - will be overturned, either by state or federal circuit courts, or the Supreme Court, or the election will thrown to the congress where the president will prevail.

Until the 2020 elections are resolved, there is no other story that even approaches its importance. It is the duty of every American to stay informed and focused on finding out the truth, not the lame denials and cries of "false claims" or "debunked" by the mainstream media, and to demand the truth, to demand honesty and the rule of law.

If Americans cannot be relied upon to seek justice and truth, then there is no point in elections. eJust tear up the constitution and let the people with the most money, or the most influence, or the most dirt on their opponents, rule the land and bow to the annointed kings, queens, princes, and princesses. That is not what America is about. We cannot allow our constitution to be shredded, our traditions to be bastardized, lamented, destroyed. We cannot allow our country to be taken over by people who seek to enslave and imprison all of us.

Below is the press conference held by President Trump's legal team on Thursday. If you can't devote some time to view at least some of it, at least understand that it was not aired by ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, FOX, CNN, PBS, and the Washington Post, New York Times and Associated Press coverage consisted of an utterly unconvincing, laughably insipid "fact-checking" article that proved nothing other than the media is still aligned against the president.

If the president and his legal team are engaged in some kind of fantasy witch hunt, if they have no evidence as the media continues to falsely claim, then why don't they roll the tape, let it all hang out. After all, they hate President Trump with a passion. Here they have the perfect opportunity to make him look like a fool, a cheat, a liar, a hater, a racist. Why won't they report any of it? Why? Why? Why?

At the Close, Thursday, November 19, 2020:
Dow: 29,483.23, +44.81 (+0.15%)
NASDAQ: 11,904.71, +103.11 (+0.87%)
S&P 500: 3,581.87, +14.08 (+0.39%)
NYSE: 13,863.23, +54.58 (+0.40%)

Presidential Tide Turning Toward Trump; Markets Shaky As Vaccine News Is Overwhelmed

Just to be on point, Money Daily will provide an overview of the continuing contested presidential election in order to offer readers some perspective. The scope of this ongoing conflict is far greater than can be covered adequately by this blog. Readers are advised to seek out credible sources for information. Mainstream media sources, specifically, network television: NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, PBS and FOX; and newspapers such as the New York Times and Washington Post should not be relied upon for accurate, honest information as they have proven repeatedly to be extremely biased against President Trump.

Accurate, unbiased reporting is available on the internet and on some talk radio shows. Money Daily will continue to stay abreast of developments as they occur.

Overnight, Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann filed affidavits to rescind their votes for certification of the county's 2020 election results. Wayne County, Michigan includes the city of Detroit, which voted heavily in favor of Joe Biden for president.

Meanwhile, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmore may be facing impeachment charges shortly over her re-institution of lockdown orders, in violation of Supreme Court orders.

In Georgia's ongoing "retally", some votes have been found in favor of President Trump, but not enough to challenge Biden's 12,000-vote lead.

The audit is not an official recount, which can still happen after the state certifies their election results at the request of a candidate within a .5% margin. That’s why it’s being called a retally or hand count.

The official recount - using the vote tabulation machines - could begin next week. Campaigns will have until Tuesday to make their requests. It is likely that the Trump camp will request an audit as many irregularities have been reported by observers. This story is still developing.

There are ongoing contests and lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona. Wisconsin has approved a request by President Trump for a recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties.

Joe Biden carried Wisconsin by 20,608 votes and he won Dane and Milwaukee counties by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Milwaukee county includes the city of Milwaukee and Dane, the city of Madison. They are the two most populous counties in the state. The process is supposed to be completed by December 1, but both sides agree that whatever the outcome, the matter will end up in court.

At the bottom of the disputed election is whether or not there was coordinated fraud committed by the media-annointed winner, Joe Biden. The Trump team has been filing lawsuits in jurisdictions around the country and gathering evidence of potential fraud, voting irregularities, ballot harvesting and tampering, physical evidence, sworn affidavits, witness accounts, and are pursuing allegations that votes were switched from Trump to Biden on voting machines supplied by Dominion, a Canadian company, via software installed by a company known as Smartmatic.

In December 2019, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Amy Klobuchar and congressman Mark Pocan warned about reports of machines "switching votes," "undisclosed vulnerabilities," and "improbable" results that "threaten the integrity of our elections."

Establishment media are falsely calling presumptive winner, Joe Biden, "president elect," a complete misnomer as a candidate can only be called "president elect" after certification by electors from the 50 states. That has not happened. Certification by the presidential and vice-presidential electors is scheduled for December 14.

What's occurring now behind the scenes is the collection of massive amounts of evidence by Trump's legal team, expecting the case to go to the Supreme Court. In such event, absolute proof, as is necessary in criminal matters, is not needed, as the election dispute is a civil matter. Trump's lawyers only need to reach a bar of "preponderance of evidence" that President Trump was disenfranchised by fraudulent practices to prevail.

Even if the Supreme Court does not reach a verdict in favor of President Trump, the matter could well end up in congress, where a vote would be taken, decided by each state's representation in the House of Representatives with each state getting a single vote. Republicans hold House majorities in 26 states, to 22 Democratic majorities, so, a vote along party lines would swing the election to President Trump. The Senate would likely go to Trump as well. Each Senator casts one vote. The voting would be carried out by the newly-elected (2020) congress.

In financial news, stocks tumbled on Wednesday, with the Dow suffering its worst loss in three months as vaccine news was outflanked by uncertainty over the presidential election outcome and knock-on effects of lockdowns and restrictions in various states reporting increases in cases of CV-19.

As of Thursday morning, stocks in Asian markets were generally lower, and European stocks are down across the board thought the losses are, as of this writing, less than one percent.

The Labor department reported another 742,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims last week. Food banks in Texas report being overwhelmed and other states are reporting record numbers using food banks as poverty spirals out of control.

Equity futures point to a lower US open.

At the Close, Wednesday, November 18, 2020:
Dow: 29,438.42, -344.93 (-1.16%)
NASDAQ: 11,801.60, -97.74 (-0.82%)
S&P 500: 3,567.79: -41.74 (-1.16%)
NYSE: 13,808.65, -140.45 (-1.01%)

The Only Thing Making Any Sense On Planet Earth Is Bitcoin (Now $18,000 and rising)

The mainstream media lies.

Votes are being challenged and overturned in Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona yet CBS This Morning says not a single vote has been changed. The other networks chime in with the same message. Nothing to see here about this corrupted, stolen election. Move along.

Oil goes up. Gold and silver go down.

Large pasts of the country are shutting down again over a virus that kills 0.02% of the people infected. That's two out of 10,000, and it's even lower for people under the age of 60.

We're supposed to get excited over a vaccine - either the one produced by Pfizer or the one done by Moderna (incidentally, a company that has never produced a useful vaccine, ever) - that is supposedly 95% effective in -- we're not sure... stopping the virus? preventing infection? killing the virus?

It doesn't make any sense. why risk getting a vaccine, of which the long-term effects are unknown that will have a positive effect on 9,500 of 10,000 people, when the survival rate without the vaccine is 9,998 out of 10,000?

And why isn't the American public informed about alternative treatments like Vitamin C, D3, Zinc, Quercetin, and especially, Hydroxychloroquine, which is widely used in countries across South America, Africa, and the Far East?

Why hasn't Japan shut down? Indonesia? Vietnam? South Korea? Why is China up and running at nearly full capacity?

The media, the government, the medical community just doesn't want the public to know that the COVID-19 coronavirus isn't even as deadly as the seasonal flu. Could it be because by issuing stay at home edicts, mask mandates, travel restrictions, social distancing requirements, they exercise control over the whole population?

Why?

While millions of Americans are out of work, hundreds of thousands of small businesses shut down permanently, publicly held stocks continue to rise to new all-time highs. What does Wall Street know that everybody else seems to be missing? October retail sales were slow. Year-over-year, US industrial production has fallen for 14 consecutive months, dating back to September of 2019, before the coronavirus was even a thought. October industrial production was down 5.3% in October. Of 6.7% in July, August, September. Prior to that, it declined 4.7% in March, then 16.7% in April, 15.7% in May, 10.7% in June.

What are we missing here?

Movie theaters nationwide are shut down. So are cruise lines. Gyms, barber shops, and beauty salons in many areas are closed. Restaurants, except those that are spawn of massive public corporations which trade on Wall Street and serve GMO garbage without nutritional value, are closed, with more closing every day because of government restrictions and recommendations that aren't even law.

Americans are being told not to celebrate Thanksgiving. Shortly, various state governments will cancel Christmas.

None of it makes any sense.

Except for Bitcoin, which happens to be the one thing that trades outside the control of governments, Wall Street, the media. It cannot be manipulated, controlled, or otherwise compromised. It trades on pure supply and demand. It is the one currency (along with various other cryptocurrencies) that operates freely and cannot be inflated away like the fiat currencies: dollar, yen, euro, pound, yuan.

And, it is soaring in price.

Why?

Because people are dissatisfied with their government, their money, taxes, inflation, expenses, lockdowns, unemployment, the media, suppression of gold and silver, lying politicians who go to Washington as middle class citizens and emerge years later as millionaires. So, people are buying Bitcoin. And, as more people buy in, adopting the currency, the price rises. The purchasing power of bitcoin, compared to any fiat currency and even gold and silver, is increasing. Rapidly.

From October 3rd to today, the price of Bitcoin in US dollars has risen from $10,553 to over $18,000 and it's not slowing down. Just a week ago, it was $15,707. It's going parabolic. While it's unlikely to maintain the current trajectory for an extended period, it will continue to rise as more and more people adopt it, buy into it. And, when 26 million PayPal merchants begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for goods and services in the first quarter of 2021, it's likely to rise at an even faster rate.

The more currency the Federal Reserve conjures out of thin air, the more bonds they buy, the larger their balance sheet, the weaker the US dollar becomes. The same is true of the euro, yen, pound, and yuan. They are all being debased. The only currencies that are not being debased are gold, silver, and Bitcoin.

The gold and silver prices are determined by a crooked futures market which allows naked shorting, imposes margin limits and lets banks, like JP Morgan Chase, which has been found guilty of manipulating the precious metals markets and others repeatedly over the past decade, to engage in spoofing and other trading tactics that keep the price of silver and gold down. They cannot do that with Bitcoin. They can, just like everybody else, buy and sell it at current market prices. That's all. And that's why Bitcoin is soaring and will continue to grow. It will become the one true international currency, outside the control of governments - unless they ban it, which some already have, to their detriment - central banks, the BIS, IMF, World Bank, and other institutions that favor currencies that are nothing more than instruments of debt slavery.

Eventually, as Bitcoin gains acceptance to a degree at which it becomes unmistakably mainstream, the media will start calling it a tool of criminals, a risky proposition, or some other form of evil. Just watch. The mainstream media, in collusion with the government, has already tried. They've shut down some exchanges and stolen the Bitcoin. But, that Bitcoin still exists. It will always be in the system. There's nothing more governments can do except confiscate it, make people pay taxes on gains from it, or otherwise try to diminish its value and appeal until eventually, when millions of people are using it, they'll have to ban it or surrender. And then, after they've already taken your liberty, your job, your business, your sports, your schools, your holidays, your votes, they will try to take away your money. Then, what will you have? Nothing.

Until that day comes, Bitcoin makes much more sense than anything on the planet.

At the Close, Tuesday, November 17, 2020:
Dow: 29,783.35, -167.09 (-0.56%)
NASDAQ: 11,899.34, -24.79 (-0.21%)
S&P 500 3,609.53, -17.38 (-0.48%)
NYSE: 13,949.10, -33.09 (-0.24%)

Dow, S&P Make New Records As Bitcoin Continues Surge Higher, States Impose New Lockdowns

For the second Monday in a row, Wall Street was gifted a fresh vaccine mandate to buy more stocks. Last Monday, it was Pfizer that announced a vaccine they claimed to be 90% effective. They failed to disclose that vials of the vaccine had to be kept stored at -120 degrees Fahrenheit. That small detail didn't derail the massive raly that followed.

This Monday was Moderna's turn. The company that has never produced a vaccine or drug of any significance apparently came up with a miracle vaccine for CV-19 in "warp speed" time that's 95% effective. Whoopie! And it can be stored at regular refrigerated temperatures for 30 days.

Masters of the universe, otherwise known as Wall Street traders and their magic algorithms, bid up equities to levels surpassing previous closing highs on both the S&P 500 (for the second straight trading session) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which soared past its previous closing high of 29,551.42 from February 12 of this year. Shortly, stock enthusiasts will be breaking out their "Dow 30,000" hats, as if that's some milestone that has any relevance to reality in the real world economy.

While gains in the equity indices produced new highs for both the Dow and S&P 500 Index, those were dwarfed by the big winner on the day, Bitcoin. At 4:45 pm ET, Bitcoin (trades continuously) was priced in US dollars at 16,774.12, up 816.98 (+5.12%) (Ed. Note: at 8:00 am, Bitcoin in US dollars: 17,044.70). Not only was Bitcoin the leading asset for Monday, but it has been racking up ridiculous gains since the beginning of October, when it stood momentarily at 10,623.33.

Bitcoin's chart appears about to be going parabolic, and it just might, considering the attention it has recently received. As of last Thursday (November 12), PayPal, the #1 online payments processor in North America, made the buying and selling of Bitcoin available to eligible users in the United States. With more than 330 million users worldwide, the bulk of those (estimates are roughly 70% of all users) being US-based, PayPal will boost demand for Bitcoin and a number of selected cryptocurrencies.

In early 2021, PayPal will allow users to pay for goods and services offered by its 26 miliion merchants. This move will enhance Bitcoin's status as a useable currency, on par with US dollars, euros, yen or any other currency widely available. With more users demand for the currency will rise, pushing up its price. This is what's been happening since PayPal first announced its move into cryptocurrencies in October. Now that it's a reality, the outcome should be positive for price appreciation in the world's original crypto.

As Gresham's Law so eloquently states, "bad money drives out good in circulation," the application to Bitcoin may initially be one in which US dollars or euros or yen (bad money) will be used to purchase Bitcoin (good money), which will be stored or hoarded as it increases in value. The opposite (good money drives out bad) will occur when Bitcoin adoption has reached a critical mass, something possibly on the order of 20 to 30% of transactions being done in Bitcoin rather than the official currency, such as US dollars. When alternatives to the official, government-sanctioned currency are unmistakably taking significant market share, the old currency is doomed as the population rushes into the "better" currency or currencies, perceived as better stores of value.

As the Federal Reserve and central banks globally have been in the process of debasing their currencies for a very long time and recently accelerating, Bitcoin will become the currency of choice, as it is market-based and cannot be manipulated by derivatives (yet) nor printed out of thin air, as are all unbacked, fiat currencies. While the argument that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, neither does any fiat currency, making that a moot point regarding comparisons to popular national currencies. Bitcoin is international, in a class with gold or silver, which do have the advantage of intrinsic value and also have been in use as money, rather than currency, for centuries.

As the purchasing power of fiat currencies continue their long decline to eventual ruination and worthlessness, Bitcoin, along with old standards, gold and silver, will prevail as currencies and money of choice in the 21st century and truly become international money.

Elsewhere on Planet Bizarro, yields on the 10-year note and 30-year treasury bond rose two and one basis points, respectively. As has become customary, gold and silver futures were kicked to the curb prior to the US market open, but both regained momentum and closed near where they began.

States and cities have begun to re-institute lockdowns and mask mandates, the latest in Michigan and Washington state. California re-imposed various orders, closing or restricting bars, restaurants, churches, casual gatherings, while telling residents to pretty much cancel plans for Thanksgiving, being that it's a non-essential holiday and all. Similar orders and advisories are being issued by governors in other states - without authority.

None of what these states are implementing can come to any good. Most of the country was locked down or otherwise closed up for extended periods earlier in the year. Mask-wearing became fashionable and social distancing was widely accepted. Still, the virus spread across the country, giving governors and mayors ample opportunity to impose their wills over the populace. Next they will cancel Christmas, then work, then, your life. It's all part of the globalist, "Build Back Better" new world order plan.

President Trump has still not conceded the election to Joe Biden and the cheating Democrats and non-opposition Republicans in the senate. A few of the more thoughtful assessments on the stolen election of 2020:

National Pulse: The Statistical Case Against a Biden Win by Steve Cortes

Federalist: 5 Historical Trends That Show It’s Utterly Shocking If Trump Lost In 2020

Spectator: A Cautionary Note to Antifa and BLM Thugs Contemplating “Civil War”

At the Close, Monday, November 16, 2020:
Dow: 29,950.44, +470.64 (+1.60%)
NASDAQ: 11,924.13, +94.83 (+0.80%)
S&P 500: 3,626.91, +41.76 (+1.16%)
NYSE: 13,982.19, +220.89 (+1.61%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Market Mayhem Amid Election Dispute, Bonds Racked, Precious Metals Sacked; S&P Reaches New Record

Other than the tech-heavy NASDAQ, stocks had another solid week, especially the NYSE Composite Index, which includes over 1,900 stocks, at least 1,500 of which are U.S. companies, as well as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and tracking stocks.

While the S&P reached a climactic record closing high on Friday, it was out-paced by the NYSE Composite, which added more than 500 points (4.11%), approaching a record high of its own. Closing within 375.66 points of its all time high of 14,136.98 (February 12, 2020), the Composite index is within 2.6% of setting a new mark. Such a move would likely align with gains to record closes on the NASDAQ (12,056.44, 9/2/20) and Dow Jones Industrials (29,551.42, 2/12/20). The Dow closed at a nine-month high Friday, leaving it a mere 71 points from a record.

Keeping in mind that stocks don't trade in a vacuum, astute investors may be viewing the current near-record or at-record valuations a bit rich, considering the challenging political and economic backdrops presently imposed.

Some states have begun to re-implement lockdown measures and other restrictions in response to rising infection rates of COVID-19. At the same time, the makeup of the political leadership is still in doubt, with the senate hanging by two elections in Georgia which will be decided by run-off elections on January 6th, though the larger concern is still over the presidency, which the mainstream media has awarded to Democrat candidate Joe Biden and which President Trump has steadfastly refused to acknowledge, claiming the election was stolen, as evidence, recounts, and lawsuits continue to mount.

Adding in no small measure to the political turmoil was Saturday's "Million MAGA March" or "Stop the Steal" march in Washington DC. Some estimates believe the crowd that walked from Freedom Plaza near the White House to the steps of the Supreme Court building was as large as a million people, a claim that, naturally, was disputed by elements of the mainstream media. Marked by fiery rhetoric from a variety of speakers, including radio talk show host, Alex Jones - who proclaimed November 14, 2020 to be the beginning of a second American revolution - the assemblage of patriots backing Donald Trump was large enough that the mainstream media could not ignore it nor downplay the level of patriotic spirit on display.

While either the Supreme Court or the House of Representatives may end up being the final arbiter of the presidential election, lawsuits filed by the president and other informed entities did not fare well during the past week, with state court judges dismissing a number of actions in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Meanwhile, a Georgia recount (The Associated Press (AP) is calling it an audit) has been rushed, with inspectors only allowed at a 1:10 ratio to recount tables and the results supposedly to be final by Sunday afternoon.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called the exercise "an audit, a recount and a recanvas all at once," futher muddying the electoral waters.

Those are the main elements at this time. However, there is so much news, rumor, and questioning that it's impossible to cover all the ground in one article, or many. A number of links below may provide some direction for those interested in doing a "deep dive" into the post-election malaise.

On the economic front, unemployment remains elevated, and could become considerably worse if states begin to clamp down on public movement and activity, as mentioned above. Currently, Oregon and New Mexico have expanded partial lockdowns, while North Dakota has issued a statewide mask mandate and the city of Chicago is advising its residents to not travel or engage in traditional Thanksgiving holiday gatherings.

The response to CV-19 has put a severe crimp on 2020, and now a second wave is inspiring even more damaging restrictions by governors who believe they are tasked with the ultimate health of each and every citizen. Policy differences have crept into presidential politics as well. The Trump administration believes that CV-19 can be dealt with best without lockdowns, while the presumptive Biden team has proposed a nationwide mask mandate and lockdown of between four to six weeks.

While cases were rising in many locales, the announcement Monday by Pfizer that their vaccine had proven 90% effective (on a small sample) sent stocks soaring, though the euphoria waned noticeably by midweek. Friday's surge in stocks was more the result of a lack of bad news and pre-Black Friday posturing than any solid economic prospects.

Oil spent the week zig-zagging, with WTI crude on the NYMEX procing from $37.14 the prior Friday to close out this week at $40.13, but not before hitting $41.45 per barrel on Wednesday. For all the huffing and puffing the oil giants like OPEC, Russia, the US, and Iran have been doing, the price has remained under pressure and quite stable throughout the global pandemic panic. While most parties would like to see higher prices, the constraints put on the public have kept the price from rising to any meaningful degree. There is, quite simply, a massive oversupply coupled with extremely slack demand. Regardless of whether the CV-19 pandemic is contrived or real, serious or benign, until some kind of global solution becomes normative, the economy and the price of oil are likely to remain moribund.

Low or stable energy prices are surely not helping the Federal Reserve's effort to induce massive inflation. It seems that every time one central bank - particularly the US Fed, ECB, or the BOJ - issues a policy directive, there's an equal and opposite force pushing against it.

With the massive entry into equities that started the week, treasuries gapped from Friday into Monday with the yield on the 10-year note rising from 0.83 to 0.96% and the 30-year yield ripping from 1.60 to 1.73%. As the week wore on, with bond markets closed Wednesday for Veteran's Day, the one-off was largely negated. By Friday, the 10-year yield stood at 0.86, the 30-year at 1.65, hardly a move to inspire much ado about anything.

Gold and silver were battered on Monday, apparently deemed "non-essential" by the equity crowd. Gold fell from $1951.70 on Friday, November 6, to $1854.40 at the New York close Monday, November 9. After yet another beatdown, gold recovered slightly, ending the week at $1881.40. It was an equally-distressing blue Monday for silver stackers, who saw the metal slashed from Friday's close at $25.66 to $23.70 Monday. Silver's bounce-back was better than gold's, ending at $24.76 on the 13th.

Presented below are the most recent prices for common gold and silver items sold on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping - often free - included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 32.00 / 42.02 / 36.22 / 34.59
1 oz silver bar: 30.87 / 43.95 / 35.52 / 33.84
1 oz gold coin: 1,975.00 / 2,038.19 / 2,010.10 / 2,005.06
1 oz gold bar: 1,939.16 / 2,000.27 / 1,984.98 / 1,990.33

It's apparent that silver held up better than gold and that despite Monday's smackdown, premiums remain high. What's also becoming clear is that common (non-numismatic) gold bullion coins have become scarce and more specialized, collectible items have found their ways onto the eBay platform, either from established dealers or individuals looking to trade their precious metal holdings for cash.

Links to relevant election dispute articles:

Incomplete List of Suspected Fraud Issues in 2020 Election Sorted by State with Recommended Actions on How to Address - Extremely large and growing list of articles purporting Democrat-led election fraud (with links).

The Biden-Harris Nationwide Election Fraud Scheme to Steal the Ballot State by State Prohibits Them from Winning the Race - article from State of the Nation outlines how fraud would "vitiate everything."

An impassioned Alex Jones speaks at Saturday’s Million MAGA March:

Finally, here's Trump attorney, Sidney Powell, talking with CNN's Lou Dobbs about suspected vote-switching code in Dominion Voting Systems - used in elections nationwide - promising to "release the Kraken."

At the Close, Friday, November 13, 2020:
Dow: 29,479.81, +399.64 (+1.37%)
NASDAQ: 11,829.29, +119.70 (+1.02%)
S&P 500: 3,585.15, +48.14 (+1.36%)
NYSE: 13,761.32, +209.86 (+1.55%)

For the Week:
Dow: +399.64 (+1.67%)
NASDAQ: -65.94 (-0.55%)
S&P 500: +75.71 (+2.16%)
NYSE: +542.65 (+4.11%)

It's Friday the 13th. Do You Feel Lucky?

Today is Friday the 13th.

The concept that the 13th day of the month falling on a Friday has origins that possibly date back as far as the Last Supper, where Jesus Christ was betrayed by apostle Judas Iscariot, the 13th person at the table.

Such tradition may also have come from the Knights Templar, when, on Friday, October 13th, 1307, King Philip IV of France, in league with Pope Clement V, ordered all Templars to be rounded up and thrown in prison. The Knights were accused of numerous crimes including heresy and treason.

Also known as triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13 has also created traditions such as skipping the 13th floor in buildings in an effort to avoid bad luck.

For the majority of people, it's just another day. And, for people who enjoy trading stock certificates for digital fiat currency, it's an opportunity to cash in prior to the weekend, when markets are closed.

What fell off the table on Thursday might be picked up on Friday. Markets were spooked by rising number of cases of CV-19 popping up all over the place, though most intelligent people have determined that the pandemic fear-mongering is just another ploy by the mainstream media to distract and confuse people, subjugate them the will of some higher order. Judging by the number of people wearing masks these days, it appears the media hype has been quite the success.

Truth be told, CV-19, for what it's worth, is no more deadly than the common cold for 99.98% of the people walking the planet. Sure, it's more lethal in people over 60, 70, and especially those beyond 80 years of age, but the levels to which various municipalities and state governments have gone to prevent its spread has been nothing short of a massive failure. If masks, social distancing, closure of businesses, schools, banning public gatherings and other measures that have been employed over the past eight or nine months were effective, then why are "cases" spiking now?

The most reasonable explanation for the rising case counts is the increase in testing using tests that return many more false positives than actual infections of the virus. The widely-used PCR tests have been noted by experts to be miscalibrated, making them capable of picking up even the most minute traces of any coronavirus, of which there are hundreds, if not thousands, such as common colds and flu.

Meanwhile, the world is supposed to wait for Big Pharma companies to deliver a vaccine that will rid us of this scourge. Buying into the Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum's Great Reset mantra is a recipe for mass hysteria the likes of which the world has seldom, if ever, seen.

So, today, might be a good day to consider one's luck, in the reality that wealthy madmen with a global dominance agenda haven't yet succeeded in convincing everybody that their plans are for the good of humanity. A good place to start understanding the machinations of the Davos crowd of billionaires and policy makers is the book, published in July, COVID-19: The Great Reset authored by Klaus Schaub, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and Thierry Malleret, co-founder and principal author of the Monthly Barometer, an analytical and predictive newsletter on macro issues for high-level decision-makers.

Within the pages of the book, readers can discover what plans these globalists have for the world's "peons." It's almost medieval in its design.

A recent Gallup poll found that a third of respondents in the United States would be unlikely to comply with new lockdown orders should governments re-impose the stringent guidelines that prevailed in the Spring. While that 1/3 of people may have had enough of the entire pandemic scenario that's being forced upon the citizens of the world, that still leaves two-thirds of the population ready and willing to have more of their civil rights and freedoms violated with non-binding guidelines, restrictions, and lately, "recommendations."

At the top of the pandemic food chain of command are people, like Dr. Fauci, who less than a month ago warned that Americans may have to cancel Thanksgiving gatherings because of the threat of CV-19. These kinds of warnings and scare tactics may work on a certain malleable portion of the population, but most people are still going to dine on turkey with gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the fixings of a traditional holiday dinner.

It's likely better for one's mental and physical health to ignore the warnings and droolings from people like Anthony Fauci and other mad pseudo-scientists, who, to a man or woman, have yet to issue guidance about strengthening one's immune system through proper diet, exercise and use of vitamins C, D3, Zinc, and Quercetin. None of these experts have expressed any inclination toward consumption of green tea, honey, elderberry extract or any other known holistic preventatives.

So, this Friday the 13th shouldn't be unlucky for many, though surely any number of bad things could - and likely will - happen. People are just prone to error. Some will stub their toes, others will lose their car keys, some may have bad hair days. Whatever happens today or any other day will happen. There's little anybody can do about the regular ups and downs of human existence.

So, today, as Clint Eastwood, playing Harry Callahan in the 1971 film classic Dirty Harry poses the question, "do you feel lucky?"

At the Close, Thursday, November 12, 2020:
Dow: 29,080.17, -317.46 (-1.08%)
NASDAQ: 11,709.59, -76.84 (-0.65%)
S&P 500: 3,537.01, -35.65 (-1.00%)
NYSE: 13,551.46, -173.32 (-1.26%)

S&P 500, Dow Industrials Fall Short of Record Closing Highs As Political, Economic, Medical Pressures Mount

Wednesday's 27-point rise on the S&P 500 left the broad index just below its record close of 3,580.84, attained on September 2nd of this year, leaving the S&P less than three percent from a record mark.

The index came close to the record intraday, hitting 3,581.16 mid-afternoon, but late day selling prevented a record close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was poised to reach a record closing high, but failed to do so, losing 23 points on the day, seeking a close above 29,551.42, the level it closed at on February 12, just prior to the late winter corona-crash.

Stocks came under pressure late in the session as Monday's rally, spurred by the potential Joe Biden presidential victory and Pfizer's announcement of successful COVID-19 vaccine testing began to fade as President Trump ramped up efforts to overturn unofficial counts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The president was awarded North Carolina and Alaska during the day, pushing his electoral vote count closer to the necessary 270 needed to retain his position as leader of the free world.

Georgia's too-close-to-call presidential tally triggered an automatic recount and Wisconsin is within the one percent threshold for a candidate to request a recount. Outlier counties include Dane and Milwaukee, which include the cities of Madison and Milwaukee, where Joe Biden took 76 and 69% of the vote, respectively. The results appear skewed, as Trump won handily in other Wisconsin cities, Green Bay, Waukesha, Appleton, and Racine. Biden's lead is just over 20,000 statewide.

Just the fact that Trump is calling for recounts and has filed suit in various jurisdictions raises the specter of fraud having been committed by parties loyal to Biden. Election results looked suspicious even the night of the election, after Trump won Florida, Ohio, and Iowa easily. Vote counting was suspended election night in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and elsewhere the night of the election. Democrats and the mainstream media insist that the president has no evidence of widespread voter fraud even though such evidence continues to pile up across the country.

Essentially, the remarkable stance taken by the media to shut down any questioning of a Biden victory simply does not pass the smell test. Biden, despite running a campaign mostly from the comfort of his basement and drawing sparse crowds (while Trump drew tens of thousands to rallies) at events, supposedly won more votes than any candidate in history, including surprassing the record set by Barack Obama in 2008. On the surface, that result stretches reality to a point of unbelievability.

Thus, Biden's media-imposed victory may have to at least wait a while, and the possibility that President Trump will eventually be declared the victor on December 14 when state electors are certified, is growing. With considerable doubt being cast on the election front, investors may take a wait-and-see approach and if it appears that Trump gains an upper hand, markets could reverse in a hurry.

On the vaccine front, following the release of Pfizer's rushed press release Monday, the shine is fading on their story. The vaccine in question has to be isolated and kept at a temperature of -112 Fahrenheit and experts suggest that widespread distribution - considering the logistical issues ahead - may not occur until later in 2021. Additionally, rising numbers of COVID cases are prompting many states to begin issuing renewed restrictions on work, travel and assemblies, a negative for the economy and stocks.

These factors are contributing to a healthy degree of reservation and skepticism on the part of investors, to say nothing of the high valuations currently offered on popular stocks. Adding to the worry wall is the upcoming holiday season, that, with retailers already having been splattered this year, may not be as brisk as some might like due to coronavirus fears and government restrictions, though it will likely be a huge positive for online retailers and delivery services.

Altogether, political turmoil, virus fear, crippling government actions, and slowing retail trade may be too much for an already frail market to handle, possibly resulting in a December like that of 2018, when a meltdown crash was averted by a phone call from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to Fed Chairman Jay Powell and his subsequent reaction.

As they say on the front lines, keep your powder dry.

At the Close, Wednesday, November 11, 2020:
Dow: 29,397.63, -23.29 (-0.08%)
NASDAQ: 11,786.43, +232.58 (+2.01%)
S&P 500: 3,572.66, +27.13 (+0.77%)
NYSE: 13,724.78, +16.79 (+0.12%)

Stocks Look To Extend Gains On Back Of Election Fraud, Sold Out MSM

Joe Biden is about to go down in flames.

The Trump team is filing lawsuits faster than a swarm of bees collects pollen. They're likely to prevail in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, win Georgia, and Arizona. Alaska (8 days? Good grief) and North Carolina were declared for Trump (and senators Tom Tillis, NC, and Dan Sullivan, AK) overnight, so, when the recounts, audits, and court challenges are satisfied, President Trump will have 305 electoral votes, more than enough for another four years in the White House.

Anyone with an inquisitive mind and more than half a brain (qualifications that exclude BLM and ANTIFA protesters, all AOC voters, most pollsters, and a majority of the mainstream media open mouths) can clearly see that election fraud was widespread, not only in battleground states, but nationwide.

(Editor's note: Yes, we've departed from the usual plain facts reporting to today's partisan giddiness. Worry not, this level of creative writing will only last until January 20, 2021, or until President Trump fires Dr. Fauci and tells the American people to take off their stupid masks.)

The pollsters had it all wrong. The mainstream media continues to assert that team Trump's claims of election fraud and interference is either false, unfounded, or "disruptive to fair election practices" all the while damning videos, lawsuits, affidavits, and challenges proliferate. If the judiciary in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan have any sense of propriety and fairness, Trump will win all three states handily.

Possibly the biggest fraud was committed in California, which isn't going to be disputed, though there's ample evidence coming soon that the 64-34% edge - the highest in the country - handed to Joe Biden is only off by about 4 million illegal or somehow illicit votes. Voters in California rejected an affirmative action referendum but voted overwhelmingly for liberal Joe Biden? That’s a tough sell.

Meanwhile, in the la-la land otherwise known as Wall Street, stocks look to move higher as the Dow Jones Industrial Average seeks a new all-time high. The criminally-insane bankers just can't get enough to shield themselves from the coming avalanche of election recounts, audits, lawsuits, and, yes, protesting, looting, and rioting by the left.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average needs to close above 29,551.42 to exceed the all time closing high from February 12 of this year.

Today is Veterans Day. The stock market is open regular hours. The bond market is closed, as are banks, schools, and the USPS (hey, they need a break after delivering all those ballots the past few weeks). Veterans Day is the current name for Armistice day, which was celebrated on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when World War I ended. The holiday’s name was changed to Veteran’s Day in 1954 to honor all veterans, not just those that fought in the first world war.

Act accordingly.

At the Close, Tuesday, November 10, 2020:
Dow: 29,420.92, +262.95 (+0.90%)
NASDAQ: 11,553.86, -159.93 (-1.37%)
S&P 500: 3,545.53, -4.97 (-0.14%)
NYSE: 13,707.99, +96.35 (+0.71%)

Markets Soar on Biden Ascension, Pfizer Miracle Vaccine; Precious Metals Crushed Once Again

Fake news, fake pandemic, fake president, why not a fake stock market rally?

Looks like we have one as stocks soared to new all-time highs on the first trading day since the media coronated Joe Biden as the next US president, kicking Donald J. Trump and his horde of deplorable supporters to the curb like cast off packaging thrown out the car window after a Big Mac meal. No longer needed. Out of the way.

Gold and silver were also discarded, beaten down mercilessly, probably by the same people responsible for more than 600,000 Biden-only ballots found in Pennsylvania.

While the election remains in dispute, the moving pieces and intricacies of post-election investigations - now including the DOJ after Attorney General William Barr sent a memo to prosecutors to investigate instances of fraud - are too many for most blogs and independent journalists to stay abreast of, Money Daily strongly advises interested readers to consult the Epoch Times Election Special, having, hands down, the best coverage of the situation on the planet.

In terms of financial markets' response to the attempted calling of the elected by the mainstream media and "miraculous" news that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine has proven 90% effective in individuals testing the vaccine. Not the least of concerns are the requirements that two shots be given three weeks apart and that the compound must be stored at a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius (-112 F). Achieving and maintaining that temperature seems a long shot for global distribution.

Even with those challenges to a potential vaccine and the challenges to Biden's premature media escalation to president, Wall Street largely didn't care, boosting stock prices at the open, though the euphoria was tempered greatly as details on both the vaccine and election fronts emerged and stock prices declined in the afternoon trade.

Specifically, the NASDAQ, which actually ended the day lower, was up more than 200 points an hour into the session, but ended down more than 180 points. The high point of the session (12,108.07) was an intraday record though it failed to inspire confidence through the session. The all-time high closing mark for the NASDAQ was attained on September 2 of this year when the index ended the day at 12,056.44.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to an intraday record (29,933.83) at the open, only to close nearly 800 points below that though still sporting a nearly three percent gain on the day and settled less than 400 points from the all-time closing high (29,551.42, 2/12/2020).

On the S&P, a similar pattern emerged, with the index reaching a level of 3,645.99, an intraday record, only to close the session at 3550.50, 30 points below the record close from September 2nd of 3,580.84.

Taking into account the absurdly high levels of excitement in the algorithms caused by developing stories, market forces showed declining confidence in the staying power of this rally, which, non-inclusive of the NASDAQ, will eventually be remembered as a loud noise from a dud.

What the internal players of fraud did manage to achieve was yet another blow to the precious metals complex, sending gold down nearly $100 and silver down more than $2.50 on the day. Rigging the price of precious metals continues to plague price discovery mechanisms. Reliance upon the futures prices to set the actual day-to-day prices for gold and silver is akin to allowing options trading to control the price of individual stocks, something some analysts say is already occurring in equity markets.

As pernicious as these beatdowns have become, there is little doubt as to their sources. Almost every major banking operation - from JP Morgan to Deutsche Bank to Societe Generale - has been found guilty of rigging markets as widespread as LIBOR, oil, gold and others. Specifically, JP Morgan was found to be criminally guilty of rigging the metals markets and paid fines in that case and other cases involving spoofing and other market rigging activities.

What the suppression of precious metals does for the fraudsters is lower the public perception of the value of real money while boosting the perceived value of the near-worthless US dollar fiat currency. The entire operation can easily be viewed as a global psy-op, similar to the plandemic and election fraud that has put a criminal - Joe Biden - at the cusp of being elevated to the world's most powerful position.

Thus, as public rage seethes and grows increasingly restless over what appears to be an overt and covert effort to undermine the integrity of the election process and anti-mask, anti-virus sentiment ratchets up in the US and in Europe, covert market participants continue to fan the flames of inequality with soaring stock prices.

What the stock market glory rise and the inverted reaction in precious metals cannot hide is the action in the bond market. Treasury yields absolutely blew out on Monday, with the 10-year note exploding 13 basis points higher, from Friday's close of 0.83% to Monday's 0.96%. The 30-year bond also gained 13 basis points, to 1.73%. Hot currency flowed out of bonds directly into stocks in a well-coordinated, organized financial scheme.

If anything is certain, higher interest rates will crush the economy from the inside out. This is one of the unintended consequences of absurd policy at the Fed and its insistence on buying any and all debt on the market. Being that stock market gains must come from somewhere, when the dam breaks and holders of debt sell, the resultant spikes in bond yields will trigger a massive chain reaction in global financial markets.

The stock market rally that took off in earnest last week appears to have come close to a peak on Monday. Tuesday's futures are mixed and international equity indices are extending gains, though this certainly looks to have all the qualities of a very short-term advance. How big a decline will depend largely upon how the major big money players inside the system want to manipulate public perception when Joe Biden's fake presidential results enter the courts and widespread election fraud is revealed everywhere except the mainstream media.

There's little doubt that public backlash will be extreme, and the media will continue to portray President Trump as a sore loser, bully, and proximate cause of public and market mayhem. In the coming weeks, look for extreme volatility, as Money Daily has previously mentioned.

When the truth is exposed, Monday's "miracle" rally will appear as a tiny blip in the greater picture.

Whenever the phrase "we're all in this together" is spoken or written, think central banking cabal, medical profession collusion, mainstream and social media obfuscation and censorship, government corruption, the BIS, and the Davos' crowd World Economic Forum (WEF). They are all in it together. We, the people, are being left to fend for ourselves in a world of mistrust, anti-trust, fake news, purchasing-power-poorer, phony data-driven information overload.

At the Close, Monday, October 9, 2020:
Dow: 29,157.97, +834.57 (+2.95%)
NASDAQ: 11,713.78, -181.45 (-1.53%)
S&P 500: 3,550.50, +41.06 (1.17%)
NYSE: 13,611.65, +392.97 (+2.97%)

Media Pushes Biden Presidency; Stocks, Bullion Soar; Oil Remains Below Trend As Fed Promotes Inflation

To say that the week of November 1-7 was dominated by politics would be the understatement of the century.

As of this writing, the mainstream media has proclaimed that Joe Biden has defeated Donald J. Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

The publisher, editors and employees of Downtown Magazine and Money Daily reject the legitimacy of this proclamation, claimed under the most dubious of circumstances with vote counting in at least seven states - specifically Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona - proceeding well past election day and every one of these states erasing large leads by President Trump on election night, the vote counts swinging to Joe Biden as mail-in ballots were added to the totals.

In the case of Pennsylvania, the state which pushed Biden past the 270 electoral college votes needed to ascend to the presidency - Trump's lead of more than 600,000 votes vanished from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning.

Besides the compelling evidence that Joe Biden, while Vice President under Barack Hussein Obama, used his prestige and influence to financially enrich himself and members of his family in suspect business deals with Ukraine, Russia, China and other countries, evidence of widespread vote rigging, vote harvesting, destruction of ballots, insufficient security and and identity verification of mail-in ballots, voting machine irregularities, denial by vote counting entities to allow partisan or independent observers, and extensive election interference and censorship by mainstream and social media companies including consistently misleading "polls" throughout the election cycle point to the a massive fraud perpetrated against President Trump and the American people.

The people who masterminded wholesale destruction of the integrity of the election process are not entirely known, though it is the hope of every patriotic American that the corruption be rooted out and the perpetrators dealt with the most severe justice possible. It is unconscionable to think that unelected and elected officials would sink to such levels of skullduggery and deceit in their quest to rid the government of a president that these same people have harassed, harangued, ridiculed, lied about, and created false narratives to finally defeat by rigging a national election, but it appears that is what has happened.

These devious, divisive actions threaten not just the integrity of our voting process, but the legitimacy of institutions and the nation as a whole. President Trump has vowed to challenge the results of the election and root out the criminal connivers who have subverted a cherished institution and used their power to undermine the democratic process. Downtown Magazine and Money Daily fully support the efforts of President Trump and any investigative individuals and agencies assisting in the process.

While the mainstream media wishes to project the appearance of confidence and reliability in naming Joe Biden the 46th president of the United State of America, the truth is wildly divergent from this characterization and will hopefully be revealed. Media collusion with its false narrative was fully on display Saturday when the major networks broke away from scheduled programming - including the middle of the highly-anticipated Clemson-Notre Dame game - to air what can only be described as a "made for TV" acceptance ceremony, complete with socially-distanced honking cars, a sparse crowd of well-wishers, an over-abundance of American flags (wasn't this victory supposedly about denying the impact of America first policies?), fireworks, dancing, an appearance by Hunter Biden, and the vapid Kumala Harris introducing the jarring, shouted message of healing by the imposter-in-chief, Joe Biden.

For now, that is all there is to say from this perspective.

Stocks rode an election euphoria wave to uncanny heights during the week, eviscerating the losses of the previous week - which was the worst performance for the major indices since March - sending stocks screaming toward new highs. With a gain of nine percent, the NASDAQ closed within less than one percent of a new all-time closing high, while the S&P's seven percent gain for the week left it two percent lower than the September 2nd closing high of 3,580.84. Even the lagging Dow and NYSE Composite made extraordinary gains of more then six percent over the five trading days.

What fueled this most recent bout of irrational exuberance was twofold in the main. A Biden victory signaled a continuation and expansion of inflationary, dollar-destructive deficits and fiscal policy by the US government. Adding fuel was Thursday's unanimous Federal Reserve FOMC policy vote which promoted higher inflation at an accelerated rate and further diminution of the dollar's purchasing power through extensively adding to the central bank's balance sheet through asset purchases and quantitative easing.

The key takeaway from the FOMC statement was the following:

The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. With inflation running persistently below this longer-run goal, the Committee will aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time so that inflation averages 2 percent over time and longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2 percent. The Committee expects to maintain an accommodative stance of monetary policy until these outcomes are achieved. The Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and expects it will be appropriate to maintain this target range until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the Committee's assessments of maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2 percent and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time. In addition, over coming months the Federal Reserve will increase its holdings of Treasury securities and agency mortgage-backed securities at least at the current pace to sustain smooth market functioning and help foster accommodative financial conditions, thereby supporting the flow of credit to households and businesses.

What's interesting about the statement is the Fed's openly aggressive policy of price inflation, notably not one of the the Fed's dual or triple mandate of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. Couched in those terms, the Fed has failed on all three fronts. Employment is nowhere near maximum (though under President Trump it had been, prior to the CV-19 pandemic), interest rates well below historical norms have persisted in the 10-year note and 30-year bond for the past two decades and are currently near historic lows, and as far as stable prices are concerned, promoting inlation beyond two percent - or even any inflation at all - will by definition fail to achieve stability in prices. Somehow, the financial wizards on Wall Street believe Fed policies which pointedly decrease the purchasing power of the dollar currency are good for stock market investments.

In the bizarro-world that is the Wall Street economy, a fake currency based entirely upon ever-increasing levels of debt, combined with a newly "elected" fake president and three swings and misses on policy objectives is good enough to drive the stock market to dizzying new heights. Whatever it is that the Wall Street bankers, brokers, and businesses are smoking, they appear to be sharing it with large swaths of willing participants in the media and the public.

With election noise drowning out just about all other news, the dollar was battered to fresh lows along with oil, while competing "safe-haven" currencies such as Bitcoin, gold, and silver took note, proceeding higher.

Long-dated treasury yields were whipsawed from election day (Tuesday) highs to to FOMC announcement (Thursday) lows before settling out at lower levels on Friday. the 10-year yield peaked at 0.90%, the highest since March 20, fell as low as 0.78% before settling out at 0.83%, a decline of five basis points over the week. Yield on the 30-year followed a similar pattern, peaking at 1.66% before declining as low as 1.54% and settling out at 1.60%. The 1.66% level was - with the exception of the October 22 reading of 1.67 - the highest since March 19 (1.78%). The seven month peaks in yield are likely to be benchmarks going forward. While policy directives indicate a desire for higher rates, instability in the underling economy is not likely to produce higher yields. Rather, wholesale dollar destruction is likely to push rates lower, producing, as inflation roars, real negative yields or a complete bust of the treasury complex. No sane person or institution would lend at low interest to an entity bent on massive debt overreach such as the US government is currently. However, with the world upside down due to CV-19 and a willing rush toward a "Great Reset" bond buying is poised to accelerate interest rates into uncharted territories.

The price of crude oil may be the biggest story not reported. On October 30, the price of WTI crude fell to a five-month low of $35.79 per barrel. During the most recent week it gained, though the price rise was slight. Settling out at $37.14, an ongoing global glut is being supported only by China's buying as Europe appears destined for widespread shutdowns which undeniably crimps demand. If the United States - or even large portions of it - re-institute CV-19 lockdowns or restrictions on movement and business, the price of oil will crater back to levels seen during the stock market rout of February and March, into the 20s and possibly the teens.

Cheap oil has traditionally been a harbinger of economic progress and a low price for energy was always seen as sustaining a vibrant economy. However, low energy prices will deflate the price of everything in its path, exactly the opposite of the Fed's intentions to inflate. While the Federal Reserve is certainly good at faking everything, including their power, they eventually cannot control market forces. Lower energy prices based upon supply and demand economics threatens to push against their narrative, producing deflation, lower prices and stagnation if not an outright depression.

With the diminution of the global economy well underway, only a few things would be capable of attaining higher oil prices, one of them, war, may be on the minds of policy leaders.

Bitcoin continued to surge, surpassing $15,000 this week, after rapidly advancing beyond $13,000 the week before.

Precious metals finally caught a bid after months of suppressed prices. Gold rocketed from $1,878.81 to $1,951.35 by week's end, a rise of four percent. Silver, on October 30, was priced at $23.76. A week later, on November 6, silver priced at $25.73. The nearly two-dollar gain was a 8.29% increase.

While prices for precious metals had a solid week, they are still well below the summer highs. This is reflected by the continued sourcing scramble for all manner of minted gold and silver, and by high premiums demanded by dealers. The following are the most recent prices for common gold and silver items on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping - often free - included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median

1 oz silver coin: 30.00 / 49.00 / 40.57 / 39.25
1 oz silver bar: 31.00 / 45.00 / 36.17 / 35.43
1 oz gold coin: 2,050.05 / 2,097.49 / 2,074.24 / 2,070.23
1 oz gold bar: 1,955.00 / 2,450.00 / 2,065.22 / 2,050.27

That's a WRAP!

At the Close, Friday, November 6, 2020:
Dow: 28,323.40, -66.78 (-0.24%)
NASDAQ: 11,895.23, +4.30 (+0.04%)
S&P 500: 3,509.44, -1.01 (-0.03%)
NYSE: 13,218.67, +19.55 (+0.15%)

For the Week:
Dow: +1821.80 (+6.87%)
NASDAQ: +983.64 (+9.01%)
S&P 500: +239.48 (+7.32%)
NYSE: +789.39 (+6.35%)