WEEKEND WRAP: Elon Musk, SNL, BIS, Gold, Retail Silver, Gas

This week's edition of the world famous WEEKEND WRAP CAN BE READ IN ITS ENTIRETY at Downtown Magazine's Money Daily site. Still FREE, as always, just without Google peering over everybody's shoulders, finally ;-)

April Jobs Come in at 266,000, Missing Expectation of 1 Million; Futures Down, Gold, Silver Surge

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high on Thrusday with the S&P 500 falling just 10 points shy of its own record (4,211.47, April 29) and the NASDAQ finally back with a positive close after losing 500 points over the past four sessions.

The NYSE Composite also closed at a record level, surpassing its previous high of 16,376.00 from April 29.

New all-time highs have become rather routine over the past three, five, ten years. Stocks just seem to have a magical levitational ability that sets them apart from other asset classes, except maybe some cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the newest darling, Dogecoin. Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset over the past 10 years, easily beating everything else.

Meanwhile, precious metals have languished. While gold made a fresh all-time high back in August, it has since fallen from over $2000 an ounce to under $1700, but recently has bounced off those levels and on Thursday headed back above $1800. Silver never even got to $30 an ounce, not even close to its record price of $48.70 from 2011, the anniversary of the all-time high having just passed last week (April 30, 2011).

On Thursday, silver managed to close in New York above $27 an ounce for the first time since January. Speculators, dealers, miners, stackers and just about anybody who keeps tabs on silver appreciated the move. Silver is undeniably the most undervalued asset on the planet. Everything else is going up, up, up, like lumber, food, used cars, except for silver, which, truth be told, is actual money even though it also has industrial uses.

It's well known that central bankers and bullion banks have to keep a lid on gold and they've done well with that. They've exceeded all expectations in their efforts to keep silver prices depressed. It's been said in previous notes of Money Daily that central bankers hate (and fear) silver more than gold. That's not going to change. But their grip on the price seems to be slipping, little by little, as more and more individuals appreciate its fineness, durability, and, eventually, its use as a measurement of exchange, i.e., money.

Whether the price of gold's kissing cousin ever does rise to levels compatible with the runaway inflation in everything else remains to be seen. It's not like the bullion banks, central banks, LBMA, and futures riggers are going to abandon their pricing scheme any time soon. Market forces, however, are putting pressure on the retail end of things. Supply shortages at retail have occurred twice in the past year. First, in the initial stage of the virus scare back in March of 2010, dealers ran dry of supply, forcing higher premiums and shipping delays. The reddit-inspired silver squeeze in January of this year caused supplies to dry up again and they have persisted. Premiums are still high, though supply seems to be in a sweet spot for dealers. Most, if not all, online dealers are capable of delivering in timely manners.

Though the price of silver hasn't really moved much of late, it may not be a bad idea to pick some up at the current relatively bargain prices. If anything, the price is stable, which is more than can be said about any other asset, all of which seem to be going up these days. There are biases among goldbugs and crypto adherents, but, having a diverse mix of alternative assets is usually a good idea and silver should be included, keeping in mind that the alternatives are not supposed to be investment vehicles, per se, but rather, stores of value.

Moving on, futures for Friday were higher in anticipation of the April non-farm payroll report, which was supposed to deliver blockbuster results of more than a million new jobs created over the course of the month.

The number came out moments ago at 266,000, missing expectations by a country mile and a half. March's non-farm payroll gain was also revised sharply lower, showing a gain of 770,000 versus the 916,000 previously reported.

Maybe all the stimulus and enhanced unemployment benefits are keeping people from returning to work? Dow futures fell from +95 to -50 on the jobs announcement. Gold and silver moved sharply higher. Keep an eye out today on 10 and 30-year treasury yields. Yields below 1.50% and 2.20%, respectively, could be in the cards.

Stocks look to close out the week with a bang of some kind, though possibly not the kind expected.

Happy trading. Look for Money Daily's regular WEEKEND WRAP around 10:00 am ET, Sunday morning. Weather permitting (j/k).

At the Close, Thursday, May 6, 2021:
Dow: 34,548.53, +318.19 (+0.93%)
NASDAQ: 13,632.84, +50.42 (+0.37%)
S&P 500: 4,201.62, +34.03 (+0.82%)
NYSE: 16,459.60, +111.19 (+0.68%)

Hundreds of US Banks To Offer Bitcoin To Customers This Year: Multiple Reports; #Bitcoin Will Moon

In what may be the biggest news in finance this year, multiple news outlets are reporting that NYDIG, a subsidiary of $10 billion New York-based asset manager Stone Ridge, and it has partnered with fintech giant Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) to enable U.S. banks to offer Bitcoin (BTC) in the coming months, according to the two firms. According to Crypto Gazette, hundereds of banks are already enrolled in the program. Originally reported by financial news network, CNBC, customers of some U.S. banks will soon be able to buy, hold and sell bitcoin through their existing accounts. The move into cryptocurrency is more about competition and timliness than anything else, as banks see their customers sending dollars to Coinbase and other crypto exchanges, according to Yan Zhao, president of NYDIG. The story is making its way through the crypto world with great enthusiasm though tempered by the understanding that anonymity, originally hailed as one of Bitcoin's strongest features, will be lost as all bank transactions are recorded and regulated. That does not seem to be much of a concern, however, as Bitcoin and other cryptos - especially Etherium (ETH) and, lately, Dogecoin - have made headlines over the past ten years as superlative investments, with returns far outstripping those of competing asset classes such as stocks or precious metals. If the reports turn out to be true - and there's little reason to believe they're not - this development could skyrocket Bitcoin to new heights. While other cryptos were not mentioned in the original report, as has been observed in opening up new avenues to Bitcoin, such as with PayPal or Square, the others eventually follow. By the end of 2021, depositors in US banks may see their accounts enhanced with the ability to buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin and to use it for transactions. It appears that the promise of Bitcoin going mainstream is about to materialize in an astounding manner, to the benefit of millions of new users. Though there may still be regualtory roadblocks ahead, it appears that the banks sorely want to be in on the action, collecting fees on Bitcoin purchases, sales, and transactions. With the heft of the banking industry behind it, any red tape will likely be easily overcome. The federal government may be welcoming the development as well, because any Bitcoin gains are financial events, subject to capital gains taxes, which might help explain why Joe Biden wants to see capital gains increased from 20% to 39.5%. Government never has enough of other people's money and the crypto market looks like a tax honeypot. If all goes according to plan, using Bitcoin may soon become as easy as swiping a credit card and buying or selling the granddaddy of cryptocurrencies as easy as buying shares of stock online. Mass adoption is on the way. There is no stopping it now. Bitcoin is going to moon. For more, see the following articles: FX Street: Hundreds of US banks to offer Bitcoin trading as deposits into crypto exchanges skyrocket Cointelegraph: Bitcoin back above $57K as 'hundreds' of US banks prepare to HODL for clients pymnts.com: FIS Teams With NYDIG To Allow Bitcoin Purchases From Bank Accounts Forbes: The Coming Bank-Bitcoin Boom: Americans Want Cryptocurrency From Their Banks At the Close, Wednesday, May 5, 2021: Dow: 34,230.34, +97.34 (+0.29%) NASDAQ: 13,582.42, -51.08 (-0.37%) S&P 500: 4,167.59, +2.93 (+0.07%) NYSE: 16,348.41, +59.11 (+0.36%)

Janet Yellen Needs To Be Retired; Comments Spark Mass Selloff

To read this post, visit Money Daily at Downtown Magazine.

Post 3030: Nikkei 225, Dow 30 Send Bearish Signals

Post 3030. Read it here. Or, on Substack, here. Editor's Note: This blog is moving off the blogspot platform due to ongoing search-related and revenue issues. Complete posts will no longer be displayed here, but links will be provided to the full Money Daily articles. Sorry for the inconvenience. Your continued patronage is appreciated. --FR