WEEKEND WRAP: Bitcoin Up 269.84% in 2020, Followed by NASDAQ (+37.95%), Silver (+32.87)

With Christmas just 12 days away, let's just forget everything bad that the year 2020 has wrought and focus on the good things happening in the United States of America. It's probably a good barometer for much of the rest of the world, as the Us is still the leading economy with one of the highest standards of living.

We're waiting...

More than 99% of the population that started 2020 alive and breathing, still are. The annual number of deaths in the US is right around 2.8 million with a death rate of roughly 850 deaths per 100,000 population. That's less than one percent, meaning that if you were alive on January 1, 2020, chances are very good you still are. With life expectancy in the US in 2020 at 78.93 years, a 0.08% increase from 2019, chances are you'll survive 2021 as well. People under the age of 60 have extraordinarily good odds and they increase the younger you are.

Huzzah!

Unemployment, as measured by the Labor Department, is currently 6.7%, which is probably not very accurate, but, for those enamored of cheery government numbers, it means that more than 93% of the people in the labor force are working and taking home a paycheck.

Yippie!

The price of oil held pretty steady at about $40/barrel of WTI crude, keeping gas prices in much of the United States under $2.00 per gallon, which is great news for anybody who has to drive anywhere, for any reason.

Hoorah!

Inflation has been low for years and was up just slightly in 2020. There are still bargains galore in all manner of consumer products if one knows where to look.

As far as investments are concerned, just about everything is up for 2020.

Here are numbers for the major indices, gold, silver, and bitcoin, and how much a $10,000 investment in each, made on December 31, 2019, would be worth today.

Item: 12/31/19 / 12/13/19 / % +/- / Per $10k

Dow: 28,538.44 / 30,046.37 / +5.28% / $10,528
NASDAQ: 8,972.60 / 12,377.87 / +37.95% / $13,795
S&P 500: 3,230.78 / 3,663.46 / +13.39% / $11,339
NYSE: 13,913.03 / 14,355.29 / +1.03% / $10,103
Gold (oz): 1,574.30 / 1,843.60 / +17.11 / $11,711
Silver (oz): 18.13 / 24.09 / +32.87 / $13,287
Bitcoin (US$): 7,165.62 / 19,335.94 / +269.84 / $36,984

Not a bad showing for some of the major assets, but the trend is clearly towards alternatives, with Bitcoin, silver, and gold holding the #1, #3, and #4 spots out of seven. NASDAQ's 37.95% gain is also a nod toward the future, as that index is loaded with speculative tech issues.

For the week, stocks were uniformly lower, with each of the major indices registering a loss. For the NYSE Composite, the decline broke a streak of five straight weeks on the plus side. The other major averages were up four of the prior five weeks before this week's minor washout.

Treasury yields were lower at the long end, with the 10-year note shedding seven basis points, from 0.97 to 0.90%, and the 30-year bond slipping 10 basis points from 1.73 to 1.63%.

Crude oil remained at an elevated level, with WTI crude advancing slightly, from $46.26 a barrel to $46.56 at Friday's close.

Precious metals were volatile but ended mostly flat, with gold ending the week of December 4 at $1840.00, and this Friday at $1843.60. In between, it hit a high of $1874.90. Silver closed at $24.25 on 12/4, advanced as high as $24.79, closing at $24.09.

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

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 28.00 / 39.00 / 33.07 / 32.53
1 oz silver bar: 29.95 / 37.50 / 33.94 / 33.65
1 oz gold coin: 1,928.95 / 2,011.14 / 1,972.40 / 1,982.94
1 oz gold bar: 1,935.18 / 1,959.94 / 1,947.09 / 1,946.52

Happy Holidays!

At the Close, Friday, December 11, 2020:
Dow: 30,046.37, +47.11 (+0.16%)
NASDAQ: 12,377.87, -27.94 (-0.23%)
S&P 500: 3,663.46, -4.64 (-0.13%)
NYSE: 14,355.29, -39.05 (-0.27%)

For the Week:
Dow: -171.89 (-0.57%)
NASDAQ: -86.36 (-0.69%)
S&P 500: -4.64 (-0.13%)
NYSE: -62.04 (-0.43%)

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris Time Magazine People of the Year; Markets Befuddled As Texas Lawsuit Proceeds At Supreme Court

Would it not be the irony of all ironies if the freshly-appointed Time magazine People of the Year (POTY), Joe Biden and Kamala Harris turned out not to be president and VP "elect" after all?

It might make the print edition something of a collector's item, notably bestowing a prestigious award on people who never get to see the inside of the White House other than on a tourist pass. It could easily happen that Texas prevails in the Supreme Court, and the presidency is rightfully awarded to President Trump for a second term of office.

On Thursday, six states - Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Utah - petitioned the court to join the suit as plaintiffs after 18 states filed amicus (friends of the court) briefs supporting the claims that Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia violated federal election laws and committed fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Additionally, 106 Republican members of the House of Representatives signed onto another amicus brief in support of the Texas suit which the mainstream media variously is describing as a "long shot," "outrageous last ditch effort," "lame," and other predictably negative characterizations.

The media is "all in" on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, even though the evidence - hundreds of affidavits and sworn testimony by poll watchers, whistleblowers, statisticians, and campaign workers - points to a concerted effort to defraud the American people, primarily through the use of mail-in ballots which were counted unsupervised, not required to have signature matches, and sometimes pre-printed with Biden as the selection, primarily in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Detroit, all Democrat strongholds which swung President Trump's commanding leads into defeat after halting their vote counting on the evening of November 3rd.

By November 4th, all of Trump's leads had vanished and Biden was ahead in each of the states named as defendants in the suit. The Supreme Court is hearing the case and has taken responses from the defendant states. A ruling could come at any time, but could possibly be issued over the weekend.

Coincidentally, President Trump will be attending the annual Army-Navy game at West Point, marking the first time the game has been held at either of the service academies since 1943. All of the top military brass will also be in attendance along with thousands of Navy midshipmen and Army cadets. Whether or not the game's location is significant or not will soon be known.

Naming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the people of the year is another attempt by the corrupt mainstream media of TV networks, the Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times and other "owned" and controlled news outlets to further their false narrative over how the election was won. Many more than 70 million Americans disagree, believing that the election was stolen.

On that ominous note, markets went into suspended animation on Thursday, vaccillating across the unchanged line in a fairly tight, unconvincing range. It appears as though investors were not pleased with the 853,000 initial unemployment claims filed the previous week and announced Thursday pre-open, the highest number since September.

Stock junkies are also focused on congress' failure to deliver another stimulus bill any time soon, the precarious nature of Brexit negotiations, and mixed signals from the FDA on the vaccine front.

With stocks in Asia and Europe (DAX down 1.5%, EuroStoxx 50 down over one percent) trending lower and US futures in the tank (Dow Futs -187, NASDAQ Futs -84), the set-up for Friday is less-than-encouraging and holiday shopping - being mostly online this season - looks to be a big negative as 2020 draws to a close.

There's no guarantee of anything substantive coming out of the Supreme Court or in the Brexit negotiations within a short time frame, but there's certainty that this week will end with more questions than answers.

At the Close, Thursday, December 11, 2020:
Dow: 29,999.26, -69.55 (-0.23%)
NASDAQ: 12,405.81, +66.86 (+0.54%)
S&P 500: 3,668.10, -4.72 (-0.13%)
NYSE: 14,394.34, +20.26 (+0.14%)

Facebook In Anti-Trust Crosshairs, Tech Stocks Dumped; Initial Jobless Numbers Jump: 853,000

Editor's Note: Near-total burnout from the fake news, real news, fake pandemic, fake election results, consistent badgering by leftists. Sorry for the short post and little commentary. Need some rest.

Another 853,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week as the SCAM-demic response crushes the economy.

Facebook faces anti-trust lawsuit. Tech stocks pummeled.

Texas sues Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia in Supreme Court. 18 States file amicus briefs. Defendants response due Thursday, Dec. 10 by 3:00 pm ET.

Hunter Biden the focus of criminal investigation of tax fraud, money laundering, connection to China.

President to attend Army-Navy game at West Point.

It's all related.

At the Close, Wednesday, December 9, 2020:
Dow: 30,068.81, -105.07 (-0.35%)
NASDAQ: 12,338.95, -243.82 (-1.94%)
S&P 500: 3,672.82, -29.43 (-0.79%)
NYSE: 14,374.08, -28.09 (-0.20%)

COVID Vaccines Are Unnecessary; Ivermectin Is A Wonder Drug According to Milwaukee Doctor, Studies

The mainstream media will continue to lie to the American people and the world until people stand up to them and call them out.

They've been pushing the COVID-19 pandemic for 10 months and are now spouting off about the "second wave" rolling through the country. What the media and NIH (National Institutes of Health) do not want people to know is that there are preventive treatments that will render the COVID-19 virus null and void.

At a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, Dr. Pierre Kory, a respected physician at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, told committee members in no uncertain terms:

"Mountains of data have emerged from many centers and countries around the world, showing the miraculous effectiveness of Ivermection. It basically obliterates transmission of this virus. If you take it, you will not get sick."

The truth cannot be told any more clearly than that. Stop the madness of lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, curfews, and economy-killing resolutions by power-mad governors. There are safe and effective methods of treating and preventing COVID-19 that fall well short of mass vaccination with vaccine medicines that are untested and of which the long-term effects are unknown.

Turn off the mainstream TV news, take off the masks of stupidity and slavery, and free yourself from the tyranny of controlled propaganda.

Who are you going to believe, this front line doctor who actually treats COVID patients and has done the research or the politically compromised Dr. Anthony Fauci who flaunts the use of masks and social distancing (which don't work, obviously) and untested vaccines?

At the Close, Tuesday, December 8, 2020:
Dow: 30,173.88, +104.09 (+0.35%)
NASDAQ: 12,582.77, +62.83 (+0.50%)
S&P 500: 3,702.25, +10.29 (+0.28%)
NYSE: 14,402.17, +47.20 (+0.33%)

Markets Concerned With Lockdowns, Cryptocurrencies, Solvency, Government Funding, Stimulus, NDAA, Election Fraud In Focus

Signs are emerging that something big is about to happen in politics, markets, and society. Things could get very shaky in coming days.

Stocks haven't been able to move productively past recent highs, though the NASDAQ seems to know no bounds. It was up on Monday as the other indices were lower. As the coronavirus hoax continues to spread, according to the fake TV media, many states have imposed or re-imposed lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and other restrictions on movement, congregation and commerce that have the public at-large angry and anxious.

No place is more restrictive than California, where 52 of 58 counties - 99.2% of the state's population - is under the strictest lockdown orders from Governor Newsom, but residents are protesting and some law enforcement agencies are ignoring the orders, choosing not to enforce them. The entire state is being thrown into chaos, more by the restrictions on the population than by the virus. Meanwhile, the state's economy has crumbled, as the rest of the United States is about to collapse along with its most populous state.

The mainstream media continues to harp on breathlessly about the spread of this CV-19 virus that generally only affects people over the age of 60 with other pre-existing medical conditions, but that hasn't stopped them from reiterating the need to lock down certain businesses, wear masks and stay away from each other (social distancing). No economy can exist for long with businesses shut down, doors closed, people out of work, schools closed, and governors acting more like tin-pot dictators than public servants.

In Washington, DC, Democrats and Republicans are desperately trying to piece together a stop-gap spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, just in time for Christmas, right in the middle of a pandemic (Managed to jam two of the media's favorite cliches into one sentence, bravo!).

The current strategy by the assembled morons on Capitol Hill is for a one-week spending bill by Friday, December 11. That would keep the federal government operating until the following Friday, December 18. Nobody should be surprised by the ineptness and dramatic flourish of the elected class. Congress mismanages everything they get their hands on, which is just about everything that matters in public and private lives.

While the House and Senate try to figure out how much money they'll need to get through a week of doing little to nothing of any good, they're also "negotiating" on a COVID relief bill that's been delayed since July. The current $908 billion proposal would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits but not another round of $1,200 stimulus checks. A framework for that package, including $160 billion for state and local governments, was rolled out last week, and legislative text was expected early this week. Prospects for passage are good, but that's a line the American people have heard all too many times.

Without a provision for aid to individuals generally, the relief bill may be dead on arrival. Besides, President Trump has long been opposed to bailing out cities and states, which is a major focus of this bill. He may decide to veto it, along with an expected veto on the proposed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The House is set to vote on the defense bill Tuesday, and the Senate will likely vote Thursday. The bill has bipartisan support. Legislators are hoping to produce a two-thirds majority on the bill, which would be enough to override a presidential veto. President Trump had threatened to veto the NDAA if it contained a provision to rename military bases and facilities that honor Confederate leaders. The current agreement does.

More recently, Trump said the bill would need to include a repeal Big Tech's Section 230 liability protections. The compromise does not. The administration is on a collision course with the congress over this and other issues.

Elsewhere, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was out Monday with a warning that the ongoing global financial crisis is moving from a liquidity stage to a solvency stage, wherein more companies would seek bankruptcy protections and smaller firms would be completely wiped out.

Adding to the noise and confusion is a report on a conference call between G7 finance ministers focused on their growing concerns over the regulation of alternative currencies like Bitcoin and Facebook's recently-renamed Diem stablecoin (formerly "Libra").

Germany’s Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, noted that regulators “must do everything possible” to make sure the currency monopoly remains in the “hands of states.”

As if that wasn't enough to roil markets, evidence of massive fraud occurring in the 2020 election continues to grow.

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Is the hammer about to drop on the election "riggers?"

Pay attention to the wording of Executive Order 13848 (see link below), which specifically says the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which is John Ratcliffe, must deliver a report to the president no later than 45 days after election day. That date would be December 17. Just days ago (December 3), the president was asked if he had confiidence in Attorney General William Barr, to which he answered, "“Ask me that in a number of weeks from now," again indicating that investigations and lawsuits are continuing.

Epoch Times: Director of National Intelligence: Election ‘Issues’ Need to Be Resolved Before Winner Declared

Did President Trump 'Go Nuclear' in 46-Minute Video?
Related: Executive Order 13848

Infowars: Deep State Threat? Gov. Kemp Daughter’s Boyfriend Killed In Fiery, Explosive Wreck

Georgia Video: Ruby Freeman says she needs a lawyer

hereistheevidence.com - Crowdsourcing tool for aggregating publicly available items of evidence that would be admissible in court.

Newsmax: Rudy Guiliani says Georgia, Michigan, Arizona could change electoral college voters

More

Running compendium of fraud charges in 2020 Election - realclearinvestigations.com

Coverage of election irregularities and challenges - Epoch Times

2020 Election Litigation Tracker - SCOTUSblog, Election Law at Ohio State

A Guide to 2020 Election Laws and Lawsuits - ProPublica

At the Close, Monday, December 7, 2020:
Dow: 30,069.79, -148.47 (-0.49%)
NASDAQ: 12,519.95, +55.71 (+0.45%)
S&P 500: 3,691.96, -7.16 (-0.19%)
NYSE: 14,354.97, -62.36 (-0.43%)