Bonds. No Bonds.

Could it be over?

Could the fiat currency system be finally at an end?

Even if the fiat currency does survive until August, the 50th anniversary of President Richard M. Nixon's repudiation of the Bretton Woods agreement that US dollars could be redeemed in gold is tragically ironic for central bankers.

But, probably not. The majority of people still want to be paid in $US dollars, at least in the United States. And what may be the only thing standing in the way of a complete currency revaluation, or reset, is normalcy bias, the acceptance of what is commonplace today.

For now.

The future is usually murky, but it can be predictable, as in the case of the longevity of your run-of-the-mill fiat currency, which is about 37.5 years. The fiat $US dollar will turn 50 in August, along with every other currency it trades against. All of them. At some point, nobody will want to hold $US dollars or hold assets in $US dollars, or euros, pounds, looneys, yen, yuan, francs. It is at that point that the currency becomes not only worthless, but a burden upon the citizenry of the nation so cursed as to have, as a national basis, the devalued, debased currency, or, in a global meltdown, currencies.

It is at that point that the currency or currencies collapses and ceases, for all intents and purposes, to exist. We are not there yet.

But, we're getting closer.

The change will be sudden.

The charges of the world, the lackeys of the central banking cartel and government wonks will come up with some solution suitable to themselves, primarily, but their days are over. The world does not belong to Janet Yellen, Jerome Powell, Jamie Dimon, Christine Lagarde, Joe Biden. The true thought leaders in economics are Max Keiser, Mike Maloney, James Rickards, Willem Middelkoop, Michael Saylor, Elon Musk, the people working behind the scenes at PayPal, Stripe, and their ilk. Their day is arriving, if not now, then very shortly.

It's likely that the old guard will announce some new scheme incorporating the dollar, the yuan, yen, oil, gold, the World Bank's SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) wrapped into a cryptocurrency-like apparatus, to which many people of the world will respond, "sorry, we're going with gold, silver, and bitcoin." Many will have no choice, or believe they have no choice but to accept the government-sponsored currency. Having no choice and believing one has no choice are one and the same thing. Those people will be poor forever. Those enlightened to a new currency revolution will have choices and better lives.

Then, life will become so much more interesting, engaging, appealing. When people shake off the yoke of financial repression and control and begin to make strides for self-determination in economic fortune, then the world will turn in many positive ways.

The only alternatives to a debasing dollar for anybody trying to preserve asset value or purchasing power are precious metals and cryptocurrencies. Those have been explosive market segments of late, though the metals have been severely suppressed by global interests while Bitcoin remains unassailable, seemingly immune to the vicious verbal attacks from the likes of Janet Yellen and Christine Lagarde.

Which brings us to bonds, and why you should hold NONE in your portfolio. ZERO.

It's simple, really. Bonds are what finance everything in the fiat realm, from corporate stock buybacks to mortgages, car loans and money for the government. The Federal government is overspending at an astonishing pace. Last year's federal deficit was $3.1 trillion. This year's will be larger. Joe Biden and his Democrat pals in congress are hell-bent on spending $1.9 trillion that they don't have on a COVID relief package. The federal deficit is already $3.1 trillion, according to the US debt clock, but that may not be accurate. It’s probably closer to $700 billion, but we’re not even half way through the current fiscal year, which started October 1, 2020, and ends on September 30, 2021.

What is accurate is that the federal debt (government) grows by $2.7 million every minute. That's $162 million an hour, $3.888 billion a day. The total federal debt is currently $27.894 trillion. Another $106 billion in debt will move it past $28 trillion. That will occur in 27 days, or right around March 9 or 10, or right about the time congress approves another $1.9 trillion in a “relief” package, so, there's a very real chance that before the April 15 income tax filing deadline, the federal government's debt will be over $30 trillion.

Were American citizens to pay back that debt via taxes, it would amount to roughly $85,000 per person. If the government balanced its books and incurred no more debt, first, the economy would collapse, that's a given, but, in such an event, if every citizen paid back an additional $5,000 in taxes earmarked for the debt, it would take 17 years to pay it all off. Obviously, none of this is ever going to happen. It's as close to an impossibility as the moon crashing into the earth. There's probably a better probability of an asteroid hitting Washington, DC directly (wishful thinking).

Therefore, why would anybody hold a bond of any kind, when the return on even the safest, most reliable, is two percent (2.0%) and inflation is close to eight percent (8.0%) if not beyond that. A bond with a 2.0% yield would lose 6.0% in purchasing power every year and even more if inflation heats up further (it will). Over the course of 30 years, your total return becomes a worthless footnote in the pantheon of failed economic ideas.

Meanwhile, stocks are growing at 10-20-30% or more every year. Bitcoin tripled in the past three months. Silver is going to skyrocket over $100 within two years (market price already benchmarked at $41.22). Gold should be closer to $10,000 than $2,000 an ounce.

The only reason to hold a bond of any kind is if you want or need to lose purchasing power, and there's very few people who are so desirous. They are also likely to be delerious.

So, bonds? No. No bonds.

The federal debt is never going to be repaid. That's obvious. Likewise, many student loans are going to be either forgiven or left unpaid, defaulted upon. Mortgages, equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, car loans, personal loans, payday loans and anything that has the word "loan" attached to it are going to go unpaid. Many people will go bust. The federal government is broke. Most banks are, if not already bankrupt, illiquid and close to insolvent.

The coming financial crisis is going to be like nothing anyone has ever seen before. There is going to be suffering on a scale unknown in human history. It's baked in, given the reckless policies of the federal government and the central bank, the Federal Reserve over the past 50 years. It's been a long time coming - since 1971, when the world abandoned what was left of the gold standard - but it's arriving sooner than most people can imagine.

Already there are signs of desperation. Covid (scam). Vaccines (extra scam). Lockdowns (unconstitutional). Lines at food banks. Fake president. Censorship. Currency direct from government to citizens for doing nothing. It cannot last much longer or the world will become enslaved to debt and central banks for generations.

The fiat era is nearly over, and as soon as the bond bust is realized, it will be apparent to just about everybody. The 10-year note currently yields about 1.15%. Figure the 10-year note at 1.65% to be the breaking point. That would put the 30-year at about 2.40-2.60%. When the 10-year note yields 1.25%, look out. If it continues past 1.40%, the end is near. After that, if you don't own bitcoin, gold, silver, real estate or some hard assets, you will be toast.

A currency revolution is the only answer. The revolutionary currency will be not one created by the people who promoted the crisis in the first place - the usual government and financial suspects - but a currency or currencies outside the banking system: crypto, gold, silver, barter.

The revolution has already begun. Join it.

On the cusp of a central banking beakdown, here's Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert nailing it as usual, along with a segment with Mike Maloney, who calls out the Fed for counterfeiting (which, in fact, is at the heart of central bank monetary policy).

At the Close, Tuesday, February 10, 2021:
Dow: 31,375.83, -9.97 (-0.03%)
NASDAQ: 14,007.70, +20.06 (+0.14%)
S&P 500: 3,911.23, -4.36 (-0.11%)
NYSE: 15,244.40, +17.80 (+0.12%)

Dow, NASDAQ, S&P 500, NYSE, Bitcoin All Rally To New All-Time Highs

Tom Brady showed the world a champion's mantle on Sunday, as he led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the highly-overrated Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV (55).

In celebration of Brady's magnificence, stocks rallied Monday to new all-time highs.

While it might be suspected that stocks responding to the NFL's season-ending championship is just a wee bit of hyperbole, but any explanation for the rise in the price of stock indices must be taken with sufficient grains of salt.

Stocks are rising because the US dollar is nearly worthless. The Federal Reserve has conjured up so much fresh capital over the past year that it must seek a home in assets. The dollar's preferred place of residence these days is in stocks, and to a large extent, real estate, especially of the residential kind.

According to the Fed's own data, M1 money supply* increased by 66.5% in the 12 Months from December 2019 to December. 2020, and most of it was borrowed, or, in Fed-speak: borrowings from the discount window's primary, secondary, and seasonal credit programs and other borrowings from emergency lending facilities.

Non-seasonally-adjusted money in circulation (M1) rose from $4.04 trillion in December 2019 to $6.76 trillion in December 2020.

Why the big increase? Simple, because it was declining, and the Fed can't have a decline in he amount of currency out there lest it risk a stock market crash, defaltion, and additional purchasing power for the world's reserve currency. Rather, the Fed is hell-bent and committed to ever-rising levels of its currency in the world, all of it debt-based. Every dollar borrowed by the government, business, and individuals is owed to the Fed, and they want more. Certainly they are not done.

The catalyst for the most recent surge in money (currency) supply was, of course, the coronavirus crisis, which shuttered businesses, disrupted supply chains, shunted consumer spending and generally caused the economy to generally slow down. From December 2019 to February 2020, M1 shrank by more than $100 billion, making the timing of COVID-19 somewhat miraculous. The panic allowed to Fed to open the currency spigot full bore, spilling out all manner of lending facilities, thus creating a boom in stocks.

Everybody knows what happened. After stocks crashed in March, the money flow was so grandiose that the Dow gained (through Monday) 70% off the lows, the S&P, 75%, and the NASDAQ rocketed higher by 104%, and the Fed is not nearly through, continuing to borrow - adding to the balance sheet - $120 billion a month, of which $80 billion is in treasuries and $40 in mortgage-backed securities. They've committed to those levels of borrowing for the rest of the year, and, another thing everybody knows, they can't ever stop, or the economy would slow down and eventually collapse.

So, stocks are up not because companies are doing well (some are, many more aren't), but because there's too much currency chasing a limited amount of assets. Speaking of limited supply, median new home sales hit another new record in January of $330,225, up 10% from the same time a year ago. Nothing says stupid like buying a new home built with $6 2x4s and $40/sheet OSB (plywood).

Other things are going up in price as well, like Bitcoin, which advanced from $39,155 at 7:30 Monday morning to $48,200 by 2:00 am Tuesday all because it was revealed that Elon Musk's company, Tesla (TSLA), bought 1.5 billion worth of the world's leading cryptocurrency.

But, that's another story for another day. Let's just say it's more about value than price right now.

* M1 consists of (1) currency outside the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve Banks, and the vaults of depository institutions; (2) demand deposits at commercial banks (excluding those amounts held by depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign banks and official institutions) less cash items in the process of collection and Federal Reserve float; and (3) other checkable deposits (OCDs), consisting of negotiable order of withdrawal, or NOW, and automatic transfer service, or ATS, accounts at depository institutions, credit union share draft accounts, and demand deposits at thrift institutions. Seasonally adjusted M1 is constructed by summing currency, demand deposits, and OCDs, each seasonally adjusted separately.

At the Close, Monday, February 8, 2021:
Dow: 31,385.76, +237.52 (+0.76%)
NASDAQ: 13,987.64, +131.34 (+0.95%)
S&P 500: 3,915.59, +28.76 (+0.74%)
NYSE: 15,226.61, +157.01 (+1.04%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Reddit's #Silver Squeeze Silver Rush Strikes at the Heart of Gold and Central Banking

Before venturing into the main thrust of this edition of the WEEKEND WRAP, a rief recap of other financial developments over the course of the past week:

Equities, following the worst-performing week since October, staged a massive comeback, with the NASDAQ and S&P 500 closing on Friday at record highs and the Dow and NYSE Composite finishing within one percent of all-time levels.

Lagging the insatiable desire for paper holdings was the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which added a stunning 1,165 points on the week, but was up a mere 3.89%, a pittance compared to the six percent gain on the NASDAQ, which was rocketed higher by 785 points.

It was the best week of the new year, by far, suggesting that stock markets are either overheating or preparing to blast off into unknown territory once again. Considering that the US congress is knee-deep in negotiations over a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that includes payments of $1400 to millions of individuals, Wall Street's rampage to higher ground seems to be etched in stone, for now.

Despite the general slowdown from COVID-19 restrictions in a handful of states, companies - particularly those in the tech arena - posted solid, if not outstanding, fourth quarter and year-end reports. With the coronavirus crisis abating - cases are down more than 40% in some states - stocks are likely to maintain strong momentum while the market fosters more madcap episodes like those seen in GameStop (GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC), and others.

Speculation largely drives stock prices higher, and speculation with free money from the Fed (banks, brokerages) and the federal government (individuals) should keep the rally alive and well through Winter and into Spring, which is a mere six weeks hence.

Fixed income markets were less enthusiastic. The Treasury complex saw a steepening fo the yield curve, as yield on short-dated maturities collapsed and the long end sold off, producing yields on the 10-year note, 20-year, and 30-year bonds at 12-month highs.

Yields on 1-month, 2-month, and 3-month bills fell to 0.02%, 0.03%, and 0.03%, respectively, while the benchmark 10-year note yielded 1.19% at week's end. The 20-year yield was 1.79%, while the 30-year yielded 1.97%, both the highest since 2/20/2020. The 10-year was at it's highest yield since February 27, 2020, an indication that the wholesale global debt binge is well underway.

From an investor's perspective, oil had another banner week, with WTI crude rising to $57.07 in the current futures contract. However, oil futures are in backwardation, with subsequent futures contracts bid at lower prices than the up front contract. For instance, the July '21 contract is priced at $55.69 and so forth. This is almost certainly a condition caused by the recent spate of chilling and stormy weather cascading across large swaths of the continental United States, spiking demand for heating fuel.

While cold weather brings out the highest prices for fuel oil, it is essentially a short-term dynamic as expressed by the futures trading. Gas at the pump barely budged over the course of the week, particularly in the southern states, where demand is still sluggish and supply is steady.

Here's an excellent short video explaining the conditions of contango and backwardation.

Cryptocurrencies were solid, with Bitcoin getting a major boost on Friday into Saturday morning, with price topping out at $41,000 at around 11:00 am ET before taking a dip down to $38,000. As of this writing, it's recovered to the mid-$39,000 level.

Etherium made a new all-time high at $1,720 on Saturday and has since leveled off in the $1,600 range.

At last, the crux of last week's trading highlights, with the focus on the Reddit group r/wallstreetbets and its foray into the silver market.

When the redditers at r/wallstreetbets launched their assault on the silver market (remember, this is a group seven million strong, with untold number of followers), the price of silver on the COMEX was $25.26 per troy ounce. That was at the close on Wednesday, January 27. The following day, the rush was on, sending silver to $26.52 and following through with another huge gain to $27.71 on Friday. Over the two days, silver had advanced $2.45 (+9.7%).

On Monday, February 1, the COMEX price was bid as high as $29.38, with the ask at $30.38, the spread widened due to liquidity issues and also to discourage buyers. Though the efforts of the redditers was focused on ETFs, SLV and PSLV, and in the physical market, COMEX and the LBMA could hardly ignore the flows of physical metal leaving shelves of online dealers and local coin shops, but, by the end of Monday's trading in New York, they had managed to keep the price at a somwhat unreasonable (to them) $28.99.

Overnight, in the thinly traded Asian markets, the riggers went to work in earnest, pushing the price below $28 by the time trading opened Tuesday in Europe and then, the Americas. Their payback was vicious and unmistakable, crushing the price to $26.73 at the close in New York. A small bounce to $26.91, with the spread down to $0.50 from $1.00, ended trading Wednesday, but again on Thursday, they took a knife to silver, sending it to the low of the week, $26.53. Friday's bounce back to $26.90 by the close left COMEX silver down 81 cents for the week.

Gold was likewise shunted, though the affect was less profound initially. As of Monday morning, gold was priced at $1874.00. On Monday, it was struck down to $1860.00, even as silver was higher, but the riggers at the COMEX were just getting started. By Tuesday, gold was down to $1837.90, then $1833.85 Wednesday, and finally, the crushing blow to $1794.00 on Thursday. A bit of a reprive was granted on Friday, leaving gold priced at $1810.80 for the weekend.

Through the entire episode - resembling a skirmish in a larger war - both parties may have been satisfied with the immediate results but left with lingering longer term doubts. For the Reddit Rebels, the price of physical silver had gone out of control from the COMEX. Dealers were left with empty shelves and severe shipping delays on the few products they could source. Unsure about future supply, online dealers had shed the cloak of the COMEX and left prices at levels not seen since 2011, when silver and gold had reached record highs and nearly broken the COMEX/LBMA cabal.

For the bullion banks, the COMEX, LBMA, and central bankers from the Federal Reserve to the ECB, BOJ, and the Bank of England they should have realized that the horde of commoners had nearly overwhelmed their long-standing position on the high ground of institutionalized fiat currency. Talk of hearings into the operations of the Reddit Rebels (not the COMEX, hedge funds, or brokerages) were bandied about the halls of congress.

Newwly confirmed Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, convened a meeting with the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Thursday, coming to a conclusion that the stock market hasd shown resilience through the GameStop frenzy and calling on the CFTC and SEC to examine the events more closely and establish a timeline for how the market mayhem unfolded.

Yellen sought and received permission from ethics lawyers before calling the meeting, along with clearance to engage on wide-ranging issues in the financial services industry.

Yellen's decision to seek the waiver followed a report by Reuters that because of speaking fees she was paid by a key player in the GameStop saga, hedge fund Citadel LLC, she would need permission to deal with matters involving the firm. That's how badly shaken was the financial services industry. Even their top regulators and overseers have been involved in deals with market participants. Yellen received hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from various firms and groups in the industry after her stint as head of the Federal Reserve (February 3, 2014 – February 3, 2018) and prior to her appointment as Treasury Secretary by illegitimate president Joe Biden.

Yellen was nominated to chair the Federal Reserve by former president Barack Hussein Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2014 and confirmed again for Treasury Secretary just weeks ago. President Donald J. Trump removed Yellen in 2018, replacing her with Jerome Powell, the current Chairman.

Thus, Washington's elites have been shaken to their core by the commoners. The COMEX and LBMA will continue to conspire against the hopes for honest money. By keeping prices at elevated levels, precious metals dealers have registered their resistance to the onerous control that has plagued the market for decades. The redditers have neither conceded nor surrendered. The war will rage on from here, pitting hedge funds, the financial services industry, and regulators against the commons.

A full discussion on the workings and intermingling of central banks, industrial banks, commercial banks, miners, smelters, brokers, and dealers in the metals markets would take more time and space than afforded here. Interested readers can familiarize themselves with such intricate relationships by perusing this explanatory article at Bullion Star, "Bullion Banking Mechanics"

According to Blanchard and Company, a large retailer in rare coins, the six "clearing banks" that handle gold bullion transactions are: "Barclays Bank PLC, ScotiaMocatta, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank and UBS AG."

In this extensive analysis on bullion banking mechanics by Bullion Star, many more - as many as 35 - banks are cited as "bullion banks" that handle gold, and likely, silver. Almost all of thse banking interests are members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).

In a notable development, Canadian Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) decided last year to exit the metals market. Their announced departure was to be completed sometime in early 2021.

Back in 2017, Scotiabank tried to sell ScotiaMocatta, the world’s oldest gold trader owned by Scotiabank.

Unable to finalize the sale, however, Scotiabank ended up keeping its precious metals trading business but downsized it at the beginning of 2018. ScotiaMocatta’s history goes all the way back to 1600s when Moses Mocatta partnered with the East India Co. to ship gold to India. The operations were set up in London in 1684. In 1997, Scotiabank acquired Mocatta Bullion by purchasing it from Standard Chartered.

At the end of all the mayhem lies gold, central banks, and debt-based fiat currencies which dominate life in the 21st century. What the redditers have accomplished, first, through their dealings in the stock market, and, secondly, via their assault on the price of silver, is open wounds into the central banking facade of infallability.

The physical (market) price of silver has now decoupled from the spot price established by the LBMA and traded upon the COMEX. Gold is also moving towards a similar disconnect or decoupling. What have commonly been referred to as "premiums" over spot, have, thanks to r/wallstreetbets, are now so far apart as to engender the need for dual prices, one for the 5,000-ounce contracts traded on the COMEX (spot) and one for physical, finished products (market).

The war, and the story of the century, will continue.

As has become customary every Sunday, here are the most recent prices for common gold and silver one-ounce coins and bars sold on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping - often free - included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 33.00 / 53.49 / 41.76 / 40.48
1 oz silver bar: 30.00 / 54.95 / 42.15 / 40.50
1 oz gold coin: 1,906.00 / 2,033.34 / 1,990.27 / 2,000.44
1 oz gold bar: 1,897.00 / 1,992.98 / 1,956.07 / 1,955.63

Last week, Money Daily unveiled a benchmark market pricing mechanism for physical silver, based on our weekly surveys and strict methodology. See the current Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB), set this Sunday morning at $41.22.

There was no shortage of market commentary from the usual (and unusual) sources; so many of them in fact, that only links can be provided in this space.

Here's two by Jake Ducey, from I Love Prosperity, the first with noted analyst, Alidair Macleod of goldmoney.com:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQwQoMnCq8c

The second with David Morgan from themorganreport.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT1QIsULi6U

Here's Max Keiser and Stacey Herbert explaining how Fed policies contribute to the racial wealth gap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9iSeJa996I

Best-selling author of the Big Reset Willem Middelkoop tells Daniela Cambone how the silver squeeze may affect the gold market and central banking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeY1n67LUOg&feature=push-fr&attr_tag=5DPdjODOrXZa21UD%3A6

At last, we defer to the genius of Ted Butler in a deep dive into the silver market, via an interview with Pallisades Radio (47 minutes):

There are many more opinion pieces and videos out there. Readers are advised to do their own due diligence.

At the Close, Friday, February 5, 2021:
Dow: 31,148.24, +92.38 (+0.30%)
NASDAQ: 13,856.30, +78.55 (+0.57%)
S&P 500: 3,886.83, +15.09 (+0.39%)
NYSE: 15,069.60, +94.17 (+0.63%)

For the Week:
Dow: +1165.62 (+3.89%)
NASDAQ: +785.60 (+6.01%)
S&P 500: +172.59 (+4.65%)
NYSE: +672.40 (+4.67%)

Big Fail: US Non-Farm Payroll Adds 49,000 Jobs in January; December Revised To -227,000

The US economy is in really (fill in blank with appropriate reality) shape.

According to the stock market, things could not be better. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ each closed at new all-time highs, while the Dow Industrials and the NYSE Composite are each within one percent of breaking out to record heights, surpassing those made just a couple of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, back in the alternate universe some people call the "real world," the Labor Department released the jobs data from February, which had non-farm payrolls up just 49,000 versus +105,000 expected and a revised -227,000 for December, from the reported -140,000 in the original report. Somehow, it seems the irrational exuberance in the stock market has slipped over to the "real world" side as the unemployment rate fell to 6.3% versus 6.7% expected and 6.7% in December.

Astonishing developments!

While this blog and most of the world was focused on the antics of the Reddit crew from r/wallstreetbets, the price of GameStop (GME) stock and the divergence in the price of physical silver from the COMEX and LBMA spot price, there were other developments elsewhere in the world of finance.

We've heard that Google and Amazon and most of the Big Tech giants posted knockout fourth quarter 2020 results. There's also been significant, perhaps troubling developments in the bond market.

The 10-year note is quoted this morning with a yield of 1.17%. The 30-year note closed Thursday at 1.93%. That's a 12-month high yield for the 30, (1.97%, 2/20/20) and an 11-month high for the 10-year (1.18%, 3/18/20).

All of that leads into what looks to be a boffo opening for the stock market, with futures modestly higher. There's a big football game this weekend also, featuring the main participants being some old guy (Tom Brady) against a flashy kid (Patrick Mahomes). Maybe that's what's keeping the world spinning.

Being Friday, the staff left early (8:00 am ET?), so check back here Sunday morning for the WEEKEND WRAP and the SOSMPB (Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark), which looks to be higher than the initial reading last Sunday of $37.60.

See you then...

At the Close, Thursday, February 4, 2021:
Dow: 31,055.86, +332.26 (+1.08%)
NASDAQ: 13,777.74, +167.20 (+1.23%)
S&P 500: 3,871.74, +41.57 (+1.09%)
NYSE: 14,975.43, +136.38 (+0.92%)

Silver Spot, Market Price Decoupled Thanks to Reddters r/wallstreetbets, Overwhelming Demand, Supply Delays

Silver is mispriced.

It doesn't matter whether you are buying or selling in the futures market on the COMEX, through an online retailer or on eBay. The price you are buying or selling for is wrong. And it is wrong because of decades of intervention and suppression by the financial industry, international banks, central banks, bullion banks, their agents, and sympathizers in the media.

The recent foray into the silver complex by the Reddit group r/wallstreetbets accomplished one great thing. Forget about exposing the short sellers in the COMEX, the incestuous nature of the LBMA daily price fix, the inflows to ETFs like SLV and PSLV, the wild gyrations in the futures market. None of these matter in comparison to the successful decoupling of the two prices for silver, spot and market.

Since the so-called "Reddit Raiders" call to action, supply of physical silver in the form of finished products - coins, bars, jewelry - has vanished from the shelves of internet retailers and local coin shops. Most are now either out of stock or down to bare bones in denominations of 1, 2, 5, and 10 troy ounce items withe shipping delays ranging from eight days to a month or more, reminiscent of prevailing conditions in March, April and May of last year as the pandemic spread worldwide.

The difference is that in 2020, the price for physical silver items at retail plummeted. In 2021, they skyrocketed. The dealers apparently have awakened to the cruel, corrupt scam being played at the wholesale end by the COMEX players and members of the LBMA. In 2020, they played along. In 2021, they decided to revolt. what began as a plot to disrupt the COMEX market and do damage to big money participants - as wallstreetbanks group did in the stock market with GME - resulted in a demand imperative for precious metals retailers.

It seemed to be their only choice.

Silver on the COMEX rose close to $30 an ounce on Monday. By Tuesday's New York close, the price was $26.48. Wednesday's close was $26.65. Meanwhile, if any could be found, silver eagles, maple leafs and other one ounce coins and bars were selling for $37, $40, $45, and higher with delivery delays of up to 30 days. One reliable place to find silver items for immediate delivery is on eBay, where independent sellers are quick to ship, demonstrating the marvel of efficient modern markets. Current supply is slim. Competition in auctions is fierce.

The prices have decoupled. Spot or Futures price: $26.65. Market or Retail price: $37.60 (as of the Sunday Money Daily SOS Market Price BENCHMARK) to $45 or higher.

Neither price is correct and they will remain uncorrected until position limits are imposed and enforced on futures contracts and are settled in physical metal rather than paper currency, which is the routine practice on the exchanges. It's known as "force majeure" (unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract) and is employed not in extraordinary circumstances as intended, but as standard practice.

Until there are honest markets populated by honest players rather than the criminal cartel currently - and for many years prior to this - in control, price discovery will be difficult, if not impossible. The price of silver will be whatever one is willing to pay at whatever price sellers are willing to sell. With the spot and market prices interoperable, criss-crossing each other at various nexus points, expect to experience wild price volatility, which can be localized or widespread, dependent on conditions, participants, volume, availability, market forces and other variables.

It's the Wild West all over again. Enjoy the show.

Silver futures were flat on Wednesday, along with stocks.

Etherium, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, posted a new high at $1,699. Bitcoin continues to trend higher, topping out at $38,769 overnight, chasing the all-time high of $41,986.37 from January 8 of this year.

Stock futures are modestly higher with less than an hour to the opening bell. The Labor Departed reported 779,000 initial unemployment claims for the prior week, less than the 830,000 expected by mainstream media's paid shills.

As an added off-topic-on-target bonus, here's the Robin Hood of Wall Street, Gregory Mannarino, with the Mouth that Roared, Alex Jones, discussing the global financial system, exposing the establishment's assault on the people of the world and offering some solutions.

At the Close, Thursday, February 4, 2021:
Dow: 30,723.60, +36.12 (+0.12%)
NASDAQ: 13,610.54, -2.24 (-0.02%)
S&P 500: 3,830.17, +3.86 (+0.10%)
NYSE: 14,839.06, +70.48 (+0.48%)