Dow, S&P 500, NYSE All Close At Record Highs, The End Not Within Sight Nor Sound

With the S&P 500 sailing well past the 4,000 mark to yet another new record close, the Dow putting 35,000 by year-end within earshot and the NYSE Composite joining the gang of indices setting new all-time highs, only the NASDAQ is lagging due to the improbable negative sentiment toward tech stocks.

That distaste for everything internet, interconnected, artificial-intelligenced and spacey is not likely to persist for long. With the first quarter having closed out last week, it's nearly time to roll out the corporate results. From the looks of things, the Spring earnings season is going to be a blockbuster for bulls and a backbreaker for the long-suffering bears.

The third round of stimulus checks continue to make their ways into the hands of hungry consumers in a nation tired of lockdowns and social-distancing. The near-capacity crowd at Monday's Texas Rangers' home opener in Arlington and crowded beaches in Florida are telling signs that the American public is more than ready to get back to something resembling normal, be it "new" or otherwise. There's never been a better time for the words "pent up demand" to roll off the lips of traders, speculators and investors, with hundreds of millions of Americans eager to get back to work, to school, to play, and to recreate.

It's true that the NASDAQ - usually the leading index - has taken a back seat to other gauges of American business productivity, it's equally true that the stocks largely representative of the newer, greener, technology-driven haven't been down for long and aren't far from records themselves. The NASDAQ made its last record close on February 12, when it settled at 14,095.47. After Monday's blast higher, driven by a blowout March jobs report, the NASDAQ is a little less than 400 points - or 2.8% from setting a new high mark. Earnings of the major tech players aren't due for release for another few weeks, but the overall market will likely drag everything higher as banks and consumer stocks take the lead in reporting.

Whether or not one buys into the recovery narrative, all Wall Street needs are positive earnings and promises of more money doled out by the Fed and the federal government to ramp gains to astronomical levels. While many consider stocks already massively overpriced, they remain the primary vehicle for wealth appreciation. When even the longest-term treasury bond is returning a paltry 2.36%, the appetite for stocks will remain strong and unsatisfied. If indeed stocks are bubbly and about to burst matters little to the investing class. They've made money from vapor before and the current equity environment is ripe for tantalizing expectations of stratospheric stock prices.

The Teslas, Googles, Apples and Amazons of the world will still attract enormous piles of capital regardless of their fundamental, underlying valuations. All the economics books and investing mantras have been throw out of 60-story windows. All that remains of what used to be known as market discipline and due diligence has been cast aside in this extend and pretend environment. Trillions of dollars have been pumped into the economy and the markets and there's not a single sign that the spigot is going to close any time soon. Those who believed the GFC of 2008-09 was the end of the Fed and the American economy failed to check with Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen, and Jerome Powell. They obviously have other plans in mind and as destructive as their radical print and spend policies to the long term health of the country may be, they are in charge and fueling the markets.

Economics is an odd science, maybe more of an art essentially, as theories come and go, some time-tested, others flying by night, but there's no mistaking that the world is caught up in a vortex of fiat money chasing real and imagined assets. Its not likely to end soon unless something equally revolutionary takes the place of non-stop QE, relentless printing, and the bailing out, cancellation or otherwise propping up of everything from major corporations to student debt.

Tradition be damned. This is a new age, and while it may not be "different this time," it sure fells like it is.

Enjoy the ride, but make sure to have an eye on the exit doors and alternative investments.

At the Close, Monday, April 5, 2021:
Dow: 33,527.19, +373.98 (+1.13%)
NASDAQ: 13,705.59, +225.49 (+1.67%)
S&P 500: 4,077.91, +58.04 (+1.44%)
NYSE: 15,870.34, +118.09 (+0.75%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Dull, Short Week Ends with S&P 500 At Record High; Gold, Silver Rebound; Gas Prices Remain Elevated

Other than the NASDAQ, all of the gains for the week were made on Thursday's trade in the Easter Friday-shortened week. Benefitting the most was the S&P 500, which closed at a record high Thursday (4,019.87) mainly in anticipation of March Non-farm Payroll data, which was out Friday morning.

Whispers of a million jobs created in the month of March were nearly matched when the official BLS figures were announced Friday morning. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 916,000 in March, with the unemployment rate edging down from 6.2 to 6.0 percent. The gains were led by leisure and entertainment (+280,000), education (+190,000), and construction (110,000), fueled by the rapid decline of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths over the past two months as states and municipalities rolled back lockdowns and other restrictive measures.

While the March results were somewhat a foregone conclusion, the gains (January and February were revised higher, by 67,000 and 89,000, respectively) left the labor force participation rate at 61.5 percent, 1.8 percentage points lower than February, 2020, prior to pandemic-related forced shutdowns, furloughs, and layoffs, still historically below trend and not showing any signs of returning to more productive and expansive levels above 65%. The last time the participation rate exceeded 65% was in April, 2010 (65.2%). The economy may well be on the mend, but it is nowhere near full recovery.

Still, the good news should keep stocks at or near all-time highs. Stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits are helping fuel stock market gains. With the narrative firmly in the "recovery" camp, any positive news on employment should keep the punch bowl full and the party swinging.

On the long end of the treasury complex, prices continued their slump as rates remained elevated. Higher interest rates on 10-year and 30-year securities have been in a bear market since the beginning of 2021, accelerating in February and March. At the end of January, the 10-year note yielded 1.11% and the 30-year, 1.87. Compare to Friday's closing figures of 1.72% on the 10-year and 2.35% on the 30, the 10-year note up five basis points from a week before and the 30-year down two.

Investors seem to be not particularly keen on anything but stocks as bonds, oil, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies are either in extended slumps or just marking time recently.

Oil spent another week trying to figure out a correct pricing model, weighing OPEC+ production cuts against a return to lockdown conditions in parts of Europe. In North America, business is reopening and Asian countries have largely beaten back the scourge outside of India and Indonesia, two high-population nations. Cases and conditions in those two countries appear to be moving in opposite directions, however. Indonesia's cases are elevated over the past 10 days but still down from the highs of the summer and fall of 2020. Cases in India, however, are still rising.

The price of a barrel of WTI crude oil fell from $61.56 on Monday to a low of $59.16 on Wednesday, only to rally back to $61.24 as of the New York close on Thursday. Oil futures remain in backwardation, with spot higher than future prices.

Prices for gas at the pump remain high across the United States, with far Western states all reporting average prices above $3.00 a gallon in Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, and California, which leads the way at a whopping $3.92 per gallon, according to Triple A. Also joining the $3.00+ brigade is Illinois, at an average price of $3.08. The lowest price is found in Mississippi, at $2.59.

Cryptos crept along during the week, though Etherium continued to lead Bitcoin. Ether ramped to an all-time high of $2145 on Saturday, since then falling back about five percent, to around $2050. Remarkably, Etherium is up more than 30% in the past 30 days. For its part, Bitcoin continues backing off from all-time highs, currently trading around $57,500 after rocketing as high as $61.788 earlier in March. Despite its recent vacillation, it's still up nearly 15% over the past 30 days, a figure the no-coiners fail to appreciate.

During the week, gold was beaten down as low as $1685 per ounce on Tuesday, but strong rallies on Wednesday and Thursday left it at $1729.80. Silver showed a similar pattern, knocked down below $24.00 per ounce on Tuesday, but rallying back to $24.97 as of Thursday. It was still down overall for the week, having closed the prior Friday (3/26) at $25.39.

Futures markets were closed Friday and through the weekend. They will reopen at 6:00 pm ET Sunday.

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

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 34.00 / 49.00 / 42.54 / 42.85
1 oz silver bar: 38.10 / 48.88 / 42.17 / 41.00
1 oz gold coin: 1,840.00 / 1,956.00 / 1,893.83 / 1,877.49
1 oz gold bar: 1,819.15 / 1,847.29 / 1,833.42 / 1,831.95

There was little change over the past week to prices, though overall, our survey found slightly lower prices across the gold spectrum with silver a little on the upside. Rumors of shortages remain rampant, with dealers still commanding significant premiums over spot. Shipping delays of a few days to a few weeks and minimum purchases of $199 or higher to qualify for shipping discounts are commonplace with all online retailers.

Money Daily's proprietary Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) calculates out to $42.14, which is up from the prior two weeks ($41.77, 3/28, and $41.85, 3/21).

This being Easter Sunday, kindness is extended to readers and critics alike, ending commentary here.

Spend some time with friends and family. You've earned it.

Happy Easter.

At the Close, Thursday, April 1, 2021:
Dow: 33,153.21, +171.66 (+0.52%)
NASDAQ: 13,480.11, +233.23 (+1.76%)
S&P 500: 4,019.87, +46.98 (+1.18%)
NYSE: 15,752.24, +150.50 (+0.96%)

For the Week:
Dow: +80.33 (+0.24%)
NASDAQ: +341.38 (+2.60%)
S&P 500: +45.33 (+1.14%)
NYSE: +69.70 (+0.44%)

Big Guy Biden's American Jobs Plan to Finance Congressional Graft, Pork, and Slush Fund over Eight Years

On Wednesday, Joe Biden, as acting president of the United States corporation, a foreign corporation, spoke about the proposed American Jobs Plan (White House Fact Sheet) in Pittsburgh, PA, home to multiple criminal election fraud activities.

Essentially, the "plan" was supposed to be about repairing and upgrading infrastructure on the North American continent, particularly among the 48 states (plus Hawaii and Alaska) which sit upon the land between the nation of Canada to the North, the Atlantic Ocean to the East, the Gulf of Mexico and the nation of Mexico to the South, and the Pacific Ocean to the West.

Conflating infrastructure with jobs (as in American "Jobs" Plan), is the corporation's way of disguising a massive counterfeiting operation via the Federal Reserve, and a farcical debate in Congress (part of the corporation, somewhat like a massive board of directors) over the details of the spending of some $1.844 Trillion, all part of a money-laundering program designed to enrich members of congress and their friends, with 10% earmarked for the "Big Guy."

Money Daily has taken the proposed spending plan and broken it down into four categories. Some of the money will actually go towards fixing things, like roads, bridges, or roads and bridges, or just roads, which is always at the top of the list. The other categories are SLUSH FUND, which is where money is put aside for future laundering, GRAFT, for paying off people, and PORK, which covers direct enrichment of Senators and House Members. They're all crooks, so they all get some. Some just get more than others (bigger crooks).

Breaking down some of the figures leaked to the New York Times prior to Joe Biden's announcement:

In Billions of US$

$180 for research and development - handouts to corporations and universities, ostensibly nothing to do with infrastructure or jobs. Mark this down as SLUSH FUND.

$115 for roads and bridges - There was mention of repairing the 10 most economically important bridges, repair the worst 10,000 smaller bridges, and fix 20,000 miles of roads. The White House fact sheet doesn't mention what these 10 most economically important bridges are, but it's a safe bet most of them are in and around New York City, Detroit, Chicago, and San Francisco. A good guess is that $40 billion will go to those pork projects, leaving $75 billion for the 10,000 smaller bridges and 20,000 miles of roads, or, $2.5 million for each mile of road and each bridge. Who knows? It might work.

$85 for public transit - There's always money thrown at regional or local "transportation authorities" which provide public transportation via busses, trains, subways, and the like. Allocate $40 billion as PORK and $45 billion as GRAFT.

$80 for Amtrak and freight rail - Amtrak is an absolute joke, a money pit. The agency loses money every day it's in operation. The trains are slow, the tracks ancient, but the jobs - especially for top management - pay very well. Upgrading freight rail will help out Warren Buffet and shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. All of this is allocated to GRAFT.

$174 to encourage EVs via tax credits and other incentives to companies that make EV batteries in the US instead of China - All GRAFT, primarily to Elon Musk and his company, Tesla.

$42 for ports and airports - A surprisingly small number for airports, which usually get big money. Let's leave this one alone for now.

$100 for broadband - Well, now, the "fact sheet" says this will bring high-speed broadband internet to the "more than 35 percent of rural Americans who lack access to broadband at minimally acceptable speeds." We're talking fiber here, cable, which can be strung above or below ground. The average cost of running fiber is around $3 a foot. A mile is 5,280 feet, so running fiber for a country mile would cost about $15,840. If all that $100 billion was spent to run fiber out in flyover country, you could run 6,313,131 miles of it, a distance that would stretch from New York to Los Angeles (2,789 miles) 2,263 times. That's an excessive amount of fiber, so this goes down as pure PORK.

$111 for water infrastructure - Since there's already been money allocated to ports, this must be for public water and sewers, which actually are in desperate need of repair. Could actually be money well spent, but, considering the fiefdoms these local water districts have become over the years, $20 billion has to go to GRAFT.

$300 to promote advanced manufacturing - $100 each to GRAFT, PORK, and SLUSH FUND. Whenever the word "promote" is used, it's always 100% corrupt.

$400 spending on in-home care - How having nurses and health care aides visiting the homes of elderly people falls into infrastructure is unknown, so this has to go down as pure SLUSH FUND.

$100 in programs to update and modernize the electric grid - The grid has been a topic of discussion since the first major blackout in the Northeast in 1965, some 56 years ago. If it hasn't been upgraded and modernized by now, $100 billion isn't likely enough to get the job done. At least half of this is PORK, however.

$46 in fed procurement programs for government agencies to buy fleets of EVs - Naked GRAFT.

$35 in R&D programs for cutting-edge, new technologies - Wait, wait, wasn't there already $180 billion for R&D? Yes, why there it is right at the top of the list! More SLUSH FUND here.

$50 in dedicated investments to improve infrastructure resilience - "resilience" is widely recognized in Washington, DC as code for GRAFT.

$16 program intended to help fossil fuel workers transition to new work - Let's teach oil riggers to code, OK? More SLUSH FUND.

$10 for a new "Civilian Climate Corps" - They've saved the best for last. Today's CCC is a throwback to the New Deal era's Civilian Conservation Corps (also CCC), which, along with the WPA, and PWA, and CWA, created jobs for millions of the most destitute during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Throwing a mere $10 billion bone to the climate change freaks must have some of them fuming (watch out, those fumes could trigger global warming). This is GRAFT with a twisted smile.

So, out of the $1.844 trillion, there's:

$731 billion for the SLUSH FUND.

$525 billion allocated for GRAFT.

$295 billion in PORK.

These figures may not be entirely accurate, and it's a near certainty that much of the SLSUH FUND dough will end up as GRAFT or maybe even PORK, but the reality is that of the $1.844 trillion, these three pools account for $1.551 trillion, leaving a mere $293 billion for actual infrastructure repair and rebuilding, which was ostensibly the argument for this plan. The "Big Guy" will get his 10% cut, or $184.4 billion, mostly from the SLUSH FUND and some from GRAFT.

Now wonder Wall Street didn't get very excited about this. The Fed conjures up more than $360 billion every quarter without even a nod from congress. Being that this plan is supposed to spend out over eight years, the $293 that might find its way into the economy is little more than a rounding error in the larger scheme. Eight years is 32 quarters. That's less than $10 billion a quarter. Pikers. Pfft.

What really had the folks in lower Manhattan laughing and back-slapping each other were the proposed ways to "pay" for all of this.

The highlights, again, courtesy the New York Times with Money Daily comments following in italics:

Eliminate tax preferences for fossil fuel companies - Yeah, sure.

Raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% - OK, fine.

Overall taxation of profits earned oversees by US megacorps (including raising minimum tax on global profits and eliminating several provisions that allow companies to reduce US tax liability) - Accountants already all over this.

Ramp up enforcement of large companies avoiding taxes - Enforcement. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Prevent American companies from "inversions" to tax havens - How about reversions, subversions, aversions?

Eliminate loopholes that encourage offshoring - Surely, congress will create new ones to replace the old ones.

Deny expense deductions for companies that are offshoring jobs - Catch them if you can.

There's really nothing specific in these proposals, but the Congressional Budget Office is sure to find these tax proposals more than cover the expense of the grand theft giveaway. Big corporations have big budgets to hire big accounting firms and big law firms to lower their tax burdens. If they can't lower them enough, they pass costs along to consumers or just plain cheat. That's how it goes.

As the signs say: Your Tax Dollars (not) At Work

Markets are closed Friday in observance of Good Friday. And, no, this was not an April Fool's joke.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Happy Easter!

At the Close, Wednesday, March 31, 2021:
Dow: 32,981.55, -85.41 (-0.26%)
NASDAQ: 13,246.87, +201.48 (+1.54%)
S&P 500: 3,972.89, +14.34 (+0.36%)
NYSE: 15,601.74, -24.37 (-0.16%)

Lies, Lies, More Lies, Statistics; Grace Slick, Alan Parsons, and Jesus

This is going to be brief. Well, maybe.

When the truth is found to be lies,
and all the joy within you dies...

-- "Somebody to Love" Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick, lead vocalist.

Government lies have grown out of proportion, to the point that the President of the United States of America is a complete fraud. He wasn't duly elected. The voting, which lasted for weeks before and after the actual election "day" was mostly done by mail or on ballots that were never validated and consequently destroyed. Machines which did the counting were hackable and altered vote counts. All of the evidence of fraud has been destroyed.

THAT IS THE TRUTH.

The virus, which is non-lethal to 99.98% of the adult population, is a complete fraud. The vaccines are a control mechanism, just as are the masking, social-distancing, lockdowns and all the other needless restrictions on lives and businesses, designed to degrade and dehumanize.

Please, take off the stupid masks and stop listening to the hacks posing as journalists on network and cable TV. They're all liars of the lowest order and not to be believed. In fact, one would be better served believing the exact opposite of whatever they report.

The people occupying top positions in federal government are not there for your well-being. They are there for their own well-being. They could care less about you. To them, you are chattel, mules, sheep, slaves, tax donkeys. Ignore them and their laws. They are illegitimate.

START HERE: Joe Biden won the election.

PROCEED TO: Trump incited the Capitol insurrection.

STOP AT: Cases are rising.

It's time to take the lid off and turn the tables on the cheaters, the liars, the occupiers, and deceivers.

Do not comply. Or, would you rather have to show a vaccination passport to eat at a restaurant, attend a baseball game or a concert, or even to shop at your local supermarket?

That's where this is all headed. It was planned and plotted out well in advance. Only truth-seeking Americans and people in other countries can stop it.

So find another fool like before
'Cause I ain't gonna live anymore
Believing
Some of the lies
When all of the signs are deceiving

-- "Eye in the Sky" Alan Parsons Project, 1982, Songwriters: Eric Woolfson, Alan Parsons

Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.

-- Matthew: 21:12

Pfizer Says COVID Jab "100% Effective" On Children Aged 12 To 15

Private employers added back 517,000 jobs in March, missing expectations: ADP

At the Close, Wednesday, March 31, 2021:
Dow: 33,066.96, -104.41 (-0.31%)
NASDAQ: 13,045.39, -14.25 (-0.11%)
S&P 500: 3,958.55, -12.54 (-0.32%)
NYSE: 15,626.11, +14.22 (+0.09%)

Alan Parsons Project: Sirius/Eye In the Sky Live in Columbia (please note all the maskless young people enjoying the music the way it should be)

What To Do With $1400 Stimulus; Stocks, Gold, Silver, Bitcoin, Guns, Golf Clubs, Robot Lawn Mowers?

Many Americans have already received their $1400 government stimulus checks and it appears the vast majority of people are saving at least a portion of it, which is a pretty wise move, considering 40% of Americans can't come up with $500 in an emergency.

There's been lots of talk about what to do with that newfound cash, so Money Daily set about to find the neat things one could buy with the $1400.

Getting the obvious out of the way, $1400 will not purchase a single ounce of gold (around $1700, currently), though, from the looks of things, the central bankers want to make $1400 possible through their endless price bashing on the COMEX.

It will not buy much Bitcoin (around $59,000), though even having 0.02372881 of a bitcoin would put you close to the worldwide average.

Silver, the most undervalued asset on the planet, is currently selling for around $24.30 on the COMEX, but that's a 1000-ounce bar price. If one could acquire silver at that price, $1400 would net just over 57 ounces, a pretty good haul. The reality is that one would more than likely be buying from an online dealer. One of the best around is Scottsdale Mint, and their 10-ounce "Stacker" at roughly $310-320 per piece (depending on payment method) would be a solid choice if one wishes to wait 3-4 weeks for delivery. It's the same at most other online precious metal retailers.

Your $1400 would net you four of those beauties, with some money to spare. Those not wihing to wait could go to eBay, where prices are higher, but delivery is quicker. 10-ounce bars are going for around $330-350, so one might be able to pick up four and have them right away. Bidding is fierce, however. The silver shortage is for real. Money Daily's proprietary Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark came in Sunday at $41.77, so buying single ounce pieces is likely to cost more per ounce.

How about stocks?

$1400 can get you less than three shares of Netflix (NFLX, $513.95), just two shares of Tesla (TSLA, $611.29), or 11 shares of Apple (AAPL, $121.39). If you dream of owning some of Alphabet, parent of Google, you're out of luck (GOOG, $2,055.95). You'll have to settle for five or six shares of Microsoft (MSFT, $235.24).

Getting beyond the investment mode, there are thousands of everyday items for around $1000. Here are a few lists, especially if you're in the gift-giving mode:

Gifts for around $1000
More gifts for around $1000
Even more gifts for around $1000

These run the gamut. Among the ideas are robot vacuum cleaners, headphones, TVs, computers, drones, security systems, full body massage chairs, coffee machines, chronograph watches, vintage sneakers, bikes, necklaces, boots, golf clubs, electric fireplaces, telescopes, digital picture frames, robotic lawn mowers, and much more. Some are more practical than others, but unless one really doesn't need $1000 extra cash, these seem more like splurge items than anything else.

For the money, fixing up the house could be a solid way to go. Adding some nicer features to a kitchen or bathroom goes a long way toward self-satisfaction while improving the resale value of a home.

Others will opt for hunting gear, guns, ammo, and the like. If binge-watching is your thing, a nice TV and a decent couch can easily be found for under $1400.

That amount of money can certainly buy lots of canned goods and other "prepper" items. A water purifier might be handy in a SHTF situation.

While no answer is correct, what to do with $1400 conjures up all kinds of ideas, some more practical, skeptical, or ethical than others.

With more than enough money being printed routinely by the Federal Reserve and Joe Biden talking about the "next" stimulus, this question is more than likely to pop up again soon.

At the Close, Monday, March 29, 2021:
Dow: 33,171.37, +98.49 (+0.30%)
NASDAQ: 13,059.65, -79.08 (-0.60%)
S&P 500: 3,971.09, -3.45 (-0.09%)
NYSE: 15,611.88, -70.66 (-0.45%)