Fake News, Fake Wars, Fake Markets, Fake Rules-Based Order All The Time

Just about everything that comes out of Washington, D.C. or Wall Street is complete and utter nonsense. All fake, all lies, all the time. Nothing they do benefits the citizens of the United States and hasn't for years, probably decades.

Everything is done to protect the status quo, which consists of - in no particular order - grifting by congress off the bloated federal "budget" (What a joke. The U.S. government hasn't had a proper budget since the 1980s), paying interest to the Federal Reserve, protecting and supporting Israel and Ukraine, lining their pockets with contributions (Washington) and retail investor funds (Wall Street).

In the matter of President Trump's gloating over the recent strikes on Iran, it was all for show, designed to get Israel out of a bad situation. Don't believe me. Do some research. Start with the substack by Simplicious and this ZeroHedge article authored by Pepe Escobar.

As far as Wall Street is concerned, it's all run on algorithms that operate off of mainstream media news headlines with little to no human input. Eventually, Bloomberg, CNBC, and Fox Business will just write headlines that please the algorithms, whether they are true or not. If New York got nuked, Bloomberg might pen a headline like, "Massive redevelopment underway in Manhattan with Russian assistance." That's just how the little midget who thought he might be president some day rolls. Mike Bloomberg is a rich guy who could care less about the country in which he lives and made his fortune.

Anyhow, stocks just keep going up. What's not to like? Maybe the purchasing power of the dollar? Same buck, buys less every day. Those of us in our senior years probably remember our parents or grandparents complaining about the price of a candy bar or some other item. They'd say, "it used to be a penny when I was a kid." We laughed, and thought, oh, these old folks. Now, we're the ones looking at a Fifth Avenue or Baby Ruth at the candy counter, remarking that the 50-cent candy bar used to be a nickel or a dime when we were kids (1950s and 1960s) and, they were BIGGER. We're not delusional, nor senile, yet. Everything was much, much less expensive 50, 60, 70 years ago.

But, that's progress! Yes, if one defines progress as obliterating the middle class through inflation while putting everybody into debt slavery and the U.S. government $37 trillion in debt and paying over A TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR in interest on that ungodly amount of debt.

A new car in the early 1970s cost somewhere between $1500 and $3000. Teenagers were able to buy their first used car for a couple hundred bucks. The median price of an existing home was, well, orders of magnitude cheaper than today, and, back then, homes were built with good lumber, concrete, bricks, etc.

Trump's Big Beuatiful Bill is going to be a train wreck after the Senate gets through with it and sends it back to the Hosue. It's loaded with pork and earmarks and loads of helping hands to big corporations with nothing for small business. Nothing outside the extension of the 2017 tax breaks and maybe the funding for more border control are any good. As it was originally written, it would produce a $2 trillion deficit, so why bother promoting it as some kind of magic pill for Americans?

Trump and others in the MAGA crusade use the term, "America First" to describe their basic intent. What Americans need is a government that supports "Americans First." There's a big difference.

And, what ever happened to the hundreds of billions in waste, fraud, and abuse that Elon Musk and his DOGE team unearthed? Congress has managed to cut that down to about $9.2 billion in savings. Originally, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were supposed to have been working at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) until July 4, 2026.

Well, Ramaswamy left early on to run for governor of Ohio, but Musk carried on and did exceptional work, but it's not even July 4, 2025, and he's already gone (and disgusted with government). So much for fixing the broken federal government. The powers that be, the status quo, aren't interested in fixing anything, besides, well, elections.

If there's any hope at all, maybe the BBB will blow up in congress and the government will shut down on October 1. Don't count on it, though. What's more likely to happen is what always happens, they (the Uniparty) will reach a compromise on another three or six-month continuing resolution and move on to the next crisis.

Under the current leadership, despite Trump's best efforts, thwarted at every turn, America is burnt toast, with Wall Street and Washington requesting theirs be buttered on both sides.

Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy to the Committee on Financial Services in the House on Tuesday. Did anybody even notice? He's scheduled to spew before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the U.S. Senate, Wednesday. Nobody gives a damn what he has to say, mostly because it's all fake or gibberish, or both.

Prepare for more fakery, because, at this point, it's all they've got.

At the Close, Tuesday, June 24, 2025:
Dow: 43,089.02, +507.24 (+1.19%)
NASDAQ: 19,912.53, +281.56 +(1.43%)
S&P 500: 6,092.18, +67.01 (+1.11%)
NYSE Composite: 20,217.34, +209.17 (+1.05%)

B-2 Diplomacy Works Wonders for Stocks; Oil Prices Lower on Iran-Israel Cease Fire; Gold, Silver Under Pressure

“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." - Mao Tse Tung

U.S. foreign policy used to be described as "gunboat diplomacy," wherein the U.S. Navy would sit off the coastline of the opposition and shell them into agreement on any demands the U.S. might be seeking. It wasn't new. Other countries such as France and Great Britain, used the tactic to great success in the 19th century. The U.S. experience was made by presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Nowadays, the U.S. doesn't just use the threat of violence to get what it wants, it actually uses violence - as demonstrated over the weekend by the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities - to achieve its ends. While some tomahawk missile strikes were made from submarines in the Persian Gulf, the bulk of the action was carried out by B-2 Stealth bombers with bunker-busters and other ordnance.

The strike on Iran and Monday's "cease fire" initiated by President Trump to end the conflict between Israel and Iran are being hailed as a big success in the military and political community. Wall Street loves it as well, sending stocks higher Monday with futures soaring Tuesday morning.

With the ability to strike virtually anywhere on the planet, Trump's "B-2 Diplomacy" resonates with Roosevelt's, "walk softly and carry a big stick," foreign policy. As far as the effectiveness of the policy is concerned, that remains to be seen. While the initial objective of crippling Iran's nuclear ambitions seems to have been achieved, the "cease fire" is nothing other than a pause in the Middle East miasma that's been going on for centuries.

Iran isn't going away, nor is Israel. For now, there's a break in the military action. There's no peace agreement, so the conflict will alsmost certainly go hot at some time in the future. Until then, Wall Street can focus on the President's "Big Beautiful Bill" and reaching for all-time highs on the various U.S. indices.

It won't take much to push stocks up, up, and away. Here are the all-tim high targets with their respective dates:
Dow: 45,014.04, 12/4/2024
NASDAQ: 20,173.89, 12/16/2024
S&P 500: 6,114.15, 2/19.2025

Given the MAGA theme and economic data suggesting a muddled business environment, a couple percentage points on the majors shouldn't be a problem. After all, stocks remain in one of the biggest bubbles in the history of the world.

The Shiller PE, closed yesterday at 36.72, short of the recent high from October, 2021, 38.58.

Meanwhile, just because Israel and Iran stopped shelling each other and the "threat" of a nuclear-armed Iran has been softened, gold is no longer as valuable as some might have hoped, at $3,329.00, down $66 this morning. Silver is back below $36.

Money Daily was dead on in the Weekend Wrap this past Sunday, saying:

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is laughable, since all Iranian oil flows through there with China as the destination 90% of the time. Because Iran presumably would not cut off its own revenue stream, oil remains only slightly elevated instead of stupidly high. Fact of the matter is that there's still a global glut and will be until either Russia, Saudi Arabia, or the U.S. is shut off, shut down, or the regular flow somehow curtailed, which is, naturally, very, very unlikely to occur.

Oil got crushed Monday, with WTI crude dropping more than $10, from a high of $75.29 to a low of $64.83.

Buy stocks. Be happy.

At the Close, Monday, June 23, 2025:
Dow: 42,581.78, +374.96 (+0.89%)
NASDAQ: 19,630.97, +183.56 (+0.94%)
S&P 500: 6,025.17, +57.33 (+0.96%)
NYSE Composite: 20,008.18, +139.82 (+0.70%)

WEEKEND WRAP: U.S. Wrecks Iran's Nuclear Ambitions; Gas Prices Higher Across U.S.; "Stupid" Powell to Address Congress After Dull Week, Busy Weekend

Wars are always the province of politicians or bankers, often both. For the most part, Russians, Iranians, Israelis, Ukrainians, and Americans would find common ground and get along just fine without trying to kill each other, steal others' resources, or generally cause havoc. Most of the world is actually peaceful.

Given that people have allowed power-hungry sociopaths to make the rules, people will arm up, kill, or die in the quest for conquest. That seems to be the common cause through most of recorded history, so, here we are again.

Once the conflict in the Middle East gained traction (Thursday, June 12), markets reacted negatively on Friday, the 13th, but then rebounded the following Monday. After that, it's been a downhill grind, even with Juneteenth forcing U.S. markets to take a day off.

Bottom line, most markets are back where they began, almost as though not a single missile was fired, not a single threat made, no bombs dropped, drones exploded. It's like a dreamscape to the money masters.

That was the condition until Saturday, when the U.S. struck three suspected nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, And Esfahan in Iran with bunker-buster bombs dropped from B-2s and Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from submarines. President Trump, in a brief televised statement Saturday evening, announced the successful operations, warning Iranian leadership against any continued aggression. Markets are likely to view this action positively come Monday.

Stocks

The most consequential moves of the week just past were on the NYSE Composite (-112.71, -0.56%) and the Dow Transports (+79.24, +0.54%). Other than those minor movements, pfft! Hardly worth reporting at all.

The week ahead, in the aftermath of the U.S. strikes on Iran, should be more impactful.

Wednesday's FOMC policy decision (no change) was a bomb of another kind, an empty vessel, the Fed. It would serve the planet better if they were dissolved.

Even though the bulk of earnings season is well past, there are a few companies still reporting first quarter or fiscal quarter earnings this week:

Monday: (before open) Factset (FDS); (after close) KB Home (KBH)

Tuesday: (before open) Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL); (after close) FedEx (FDX)

Wednesday: (before open) Paychex (PAYX), Winnebago (WGO), General Mills (GIS); (after close) H.B. Fuller (FUL), Micron (MU)

Thursday: (before open) Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), McCormick (MKC); (after close) Nike (NIKE), American Outdoor Brands (AOUT).

On Monday, May Existing Home Sales will be the key data in focus, along with S&P flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for June.

Fed Chairman will be before both houses of congress this week, giving his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy to the Committee on Financial Services in the House, on Tuesday, and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the U.S. Senate, Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, May New Home Sales.

The third (and final) estimate of first quarter GDP will be released by the BEA on Thursday along with Durable Goods Orders for May. The Personal Consumption Index (PCI) result for May is out Friday before the bell. The Fed will also be releasing the results of its annual big bank stress tests Friday.

Treasury Yield Curve Rates

Date	1 Mo	1.5 mo	2 Mo	3 Mo	4 Mo	6 Mo	1 Yr
05/16/2025	4.37	4.36	4.34	4.37	4.42	4.30	4.13
05/23/2025	4.36	4.34	4.35	4.36	4.43	4.35	4.15
05/30/2025	4.33	4.35	4.35	4.36	4.39	4.36	4.11
06/06/2025	4.28	4.31	4.35	4.43	4.38	4.31	4.14
06/13/2025	4.23	4.32	4.48	4.45	4.40	4.30	4.09
06/20/2025	4.20	4.38	4.55	4.39	4.40	4.29	4.07

Date	2 Yr	3 Yr	5 Yr	7 Yr	10 Yr	20 Yr	30 Yr
05/16/2025	3.98	3.95	4.06	4.24	4.43	4.92	4.89
05/23/2025	4.00	3.96	4.08	4.29	4.51	5.03	5.04
05/30/2025	3.89	3.87	3.96	4.18	4.41	4.93	4.92
06/06/2025	4.04	4.02	4.13	4.31	4.51	4.99	4.97
06/13/2025	3.96	3.90	4.02	4.20	4.41	4.93	4.90
06/20/2025	3.90	3.86	3.96	4.16	4.38	4.90	4.89

Federal Reserve governors, district presidents, et. al. are among the most worthless people alive. They produce a lot of reports, charts, and white papers, make speeches, issue policies, mostly amounting to little more than excess pain imposed upon the general public. While the Bible tells us the root of all evil is the love of money, those who purport to control whatever is used as currency may not necessarily be mendacious or mercenary. More likely, they are simply misguided.

There was an FOMC meeting last week (June 17-18) which amounted to little more than idle speculation, and not much of it at that. The Federal Reserve has become so distant from market realities, its existence should be brought into question. Sadly, there aren't enough politicians to actually challenge their authority, so, as history has proven time and again, individuals will take it upon themselves to find ways out of the monetary morass.

The Fed's dot-plots suggested two rate cuts this week, and, while the EU and many other countries are stimulating their economies by lowering rates, the U.S. position remains unmoved. According to their various voices, Fed officials are waiting to see the effects of tariffs and President Trump's big, beautiful bill, the monstrosity in motion.

Oddly enough, the Fed saw fit to lower interest rates by a full percentage point late last year. Now, they are content to sit upon their tiny hands.

As shown in the table above, rates didn't move much, the largest being six basis points on two-and-five-year notes. Spreads widened further with 2s-10s at +48, up three basis points, and full spectrum at +69, matching the high from two weeks ago.

Spreads:

2s-10s
9/15/2023: -69
9/22/2023: -66
9/29/2023: -44
10/06/2023: -30
10/13/2023: -41
10/20/2023: -14
10/27/2023: -15
11/03/2023: -26
11/10/2023: -43
11/17/2023: -44
11/24/2023: -45
12/01/2023: -34
12/08/2023: -48
12/15/2023: -53
12/22/2023: -41
12/29/2023: -35
1/5/2024: -35
1/12/2024: -18
1/19/2024: -24
1/26/2024: -19
2/2/2024: -33
2/9: -31
2/16: -34
2/23: -41
3/1: -35
3/8: -39
3/15: -41
3/22: -37
3/28: -39
4/5: -34
4/12: -38
4/19: -35
4/26: -29
5/3: -31
5/10: -37
5/17: -39
5/24: -47
5/31: -38
6/7: -44
6/14: -47
6/21: -45
6/28: -35
7/5: -32
7/12: -27
7/19: -24
7/26: -16
8/2: -08
8/9: -11
8/16: -17
8/23: -09
8/30: 00
9/6: +06
9/13: +09
9/20: +18
9/27: +20
10/4: +5
10/11: +13
10/18: +13
10/25: +14
11/1: +16
11/8: +5
11/15: +12
11/22: +4
11/29: +5
12/6: +5
12/13: +15
12/20: +22
12/27: +31
1/3: +32
1/10: +37
1/17: +34
1/24: +36
1/31: +36
2/7: +20
2/14: +21
2/21: +23
2/28: +25
3/7: +33
3/14: +29
3/21: +31
3/28: +38
4/4: +33
4/11: +52
4/17: +53
4/25: +55
5/2: +50
5/9: +49
5/16: +45
5/23: +51
5/30: +52
6/6: +48
6/13: +45
6/20: +48

Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years)
9/15/2023: -109
9/22/2023: -99
9/29/2023: -82
10/06/2023: -64
10/13/2023: -82
10/20/2023: -47
10/27/2023: -54
11/03/2023: -76
11/10/2023: -80
11/17/2023: -93
11/24/2023: -95
12/01/2023: -105
12/08/2023: -123
12/15/2023: -154
12/22/2023: -149
12/29/2023: -157
1/5/2024: -133
1/12/2024: -135
1/19/2024: -118
1/26/2024: -116
2/2/2024: -127
2/9: -117
2/16: -103
2/23: -112
3/1: -121
3/8: -125
3/15: -109
3/22: -112
3/28: -115
4/5: -93
4/12: -87
4/19: -77
4/26: -70
5/3: -85
5/10: -87
5/17: -94
5/24: -99
5/31: -83
6/7: -92
6/14: -113
6/21: -103
6/28: -96
7/5: -101
7/12: -108
7/19: -103
7/26: -104
8/2: -143
8/9: -131
8/16: -138
8/23: -141
8/30: -121
9/6: -125
9/13: -117
9/20: -80
9/27: -80
10/4: -75
10/11: -58
10/18: -54
10/25: -38
11/1: -18
11/8: -23
11/15: -10
11/22: -12
11/29: -40
12/6: -23
12/13: +18
12/20: +29
12/27: +38
1/3: +38
1/10: +54
1/17: +41
1/24: +40
1/31: +36
2/7: +32
2/14: +32
2/21: +31
2/28: +13
3/7: +24
3/14: +25
3/21: +23
3/28: +26
4/4: +5
4/11: +38
4/17: +44
4/25: +40
5/2: +41
5/9: +46
5/16: +52
5/23: +68
5/30: +59
6/6: +69
6/13: +67
6/20: +69

Oil/Gas

$74.04 was the closing price of WTI crude oil in New York on Friday, after closing at $71.53 the prior week (6/13).

Israel and Iran have each attacked energy depots in the opposing country with drones and missiles. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is laughable, since all Iranian oil flows through there with China as the destination 90% of the time. Because Iran presumably would not cut off its own revenue stream, oil remains only slightly elevated instead of stupidly high. Fact of the matter is that there's still a global glut and will be until either Russia, Saudi Arabia, or the U.S. is shut off, shut down, or the regular flow somehow curtailed, which is, naturally, very, very unlikely to occur.

The oil price may take a hit lower after the U.S. strikes, or, if Iran retaliates, it could go higher, though the odds are for a calming in the market.

It didn't take long for gas prices to reflect higher oil prices, largely the result of the Israel-Iran tiff. Merchants and their corporate overlords were reluctant to lower prices when WTI crude was in the $50s, but they wasted little time hiking them as the "travel season" gets underway, just like the good old days, when ExxonMobil and Chevron were raking in excess - often described as "windfall" - profits on the back of OPEC embargoes and squeezes and presidents with the last name Bush or Clinton.

Gasbuddy.com is reporting the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular gas at the pump at $3.21, up a solid nine cents from last week. $3.30-3.45 by the 4th of July is probably not out of the question, maybe even higher, depending on the narrative and extent of blowback after the U.S. assault on Iran.

The highest prices in the country remained California's, at $4.64, up three cents on the week. Mississippi is still the low spot at $2.71, though that is six cents higher than a week ago and up 12 cents over the past two weeks. Every other state in the Southeast is at $2.80 or above as of Sunday morning. Oklahoma is at $2.80, Louisiana at $2.81. Arkansas and Tennessee are both quoted at $2.84, nearly 20 cents higher than the past few weeks. Texas and Alabama are both $2.85, with South Carolina at $2.86 and Georgia and North Carolina both $2.93. Florida jumped 18 cents, from $2.90 to $3.08.

The Northeast continues to be led by Pennsylvania ($3.38), up eighteen cents the past two weeks. All other New England and East coast states are all back above $3,00, ranging from $3.03 (New Hampshire) to $3.18 (Maryland). Prices were higher across the region.

Midwest states are led by Illinois ($3.43), the price even with last week. Kentucky is the lowest in the region, at $2.87, followed by Kansas and Missouri ($2.90). The remainder of the Midwest ranges from $2.95 (North Dakota) to $3.28 in Michigan.

Along with California, Washington was the only state above $4.00 for months, but is now joined by Oregon at $4.02, with Washington up eight cents to $4.43. Nevada ($3.77) was up just three cents. Arizona ($3.27), even though it was up only slightly, is still priced at a premium to neighboring New Mexico, a relative bargain, at $2.91. Idaho jumped nine cents to $3.35, with neighboring Utah up just three, at $3.27.

Sub-$3.00 gas can be found in eight fewer states this week than last, with only 17 under the line. Lower gas prices for American looks to be a fading reality, though calmer conditions in the Middle East might bring gas prices lower. It's all geo-political now.

Bitcoin

This week: $102,703.00
Last week: $105,037.50
2 weeks ago: $105,777.50
6 months ago: $95,786.72
One year ago: $64,407.00
Five years ago: $9,235.73

Bitcoin got as high as $107,602 on Tuesday, and, similarly to stocks, declined for the remainder of the week and into the weekend, dropping below $103,000 on Friday.

Various millionaire morons in the Senate overwhelmingly passed the GENIUS act after voiding any and all amendments which had been holding up a final floor vote. The bill, which supposedly will allow the increasingly worthless U.S. dollar to be used in trade as stablecoin (pegged to the paper fiat currency), now moves to the House and eventually to the President's desk, where it will allegedly be signed into law with a virtual pen.

Meanwhile, President Trump calls Fed Chairman Jerome Powell all kinds of names - including "stupid" - for not lowering interest rates, as if that actually mattered at all. With crypto, nobody needs interest rates or loans or credit. Just whip up the money out of thin air (sounds like a familiar, popular plan).

Precious Metals

Gold:Silver Ratio: 94.14; last week: 94.93

Per COMEX continuous contracts:

Gold price 5/23: $3,357.70
Gold price 5/30: $3,313.10
Gold price 6/6: $3,331.00
Gold price 6/13: $3,452.60
Gold price 6/20: $3,384.40

Silver price 5/23: $33.64
Silver price 5/30: $33.08
Silver price 6/6: $36.13
Silver price 6/13: $36.37
Silver price 5/16: $35.95

Unsurprisingly, there was quite a bit of give-back on the COMEX in both gold and silver futures. Sure enough, with two proxy wars, nothing to worry about. Gold, an ancient relic. Silver, no longer a monetary metal. Just keep believing that as U.S. government debt exceeds $37 trillion. Worldwide, it's much worse. According to the usual, unreliable sources like the UN, IMF, or World Bank, total global debt - public, private, corporate - exceeded either $250 trillion or $300 trillion.

Since it's all fiat (aka FAKE, substitute currencies), does it really matter who owes how much and to whom? Probably not. Keep stacking, especially silver. Even in case the gold:silver ratio (GSR) drops to a still-unreasonable 50, silver would be $67.69, nearly double the current price. Just for kicks, at the oft-quoted historical norm of 16:1, silver would be $211.53 today. Worth considering in the current, ongoing (and getting worse) age of delusion.

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

Item/Price	Low	High	Average	Median
1 oz silver coin:	38.52	50.00	44.04	42.33
1 oz silver bar:	33.00	50.00	41.61	42.00
1 oz gold coin:	3,495.82	3,628.89	3,552.60	3,537.31
1 oz gold bar:	3,514.60	3,607.50	3,547.76	3,543.56

The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) fell for a second straight week, to $42.50, a $1.64 decline from the June 15 price of $44.14 per troy ounce.

Prices in the Sunday eBay survey indicate that buying is still very brisk with premia remaining enhanced. The price of silver apparently still has significant upside ahead and the prospect of a wider war in the Middle East adds to the safe haven value of gold in particular. Buying of finished silver in small denominations above $40 and even $45 per ounce has become commonplace, while gold bars and coins have remained above $3,500.

WEEKEND WRAP

This week on Wall Street put new meaning to the phrase, nothin' doin'. As of Saturday night, that is probably about to change.

At the Close, Friday, June 20, 2025:
Dow: 42,206.82, +35.16 (+0.08%)
NASDAQ: 19,447.41, -98.86 (-0.51%)
S&P 500: 5,967.84, -13.03 (-0.22%)
NYSE Composite: 19,867.80, -33.33 (-0.17%)

For the Week:
Dow: +9.03 (+0.02%)
NASDAQ: +40.58 (+0.21%)
S&P 500: -9.13 (-0.15%)
NYSE Composite: -112.71 (-0.56%)
Dow Transports: +79.24 (+0.54%)

Disclaimer: Information disseminated on this site should not be construed as investment advice. Downtown Magazine Inc., Money Daily and it's owners, affiliates and/or employees are not investment advisors and do not offer specific investment advice. All investments have risk. You should consult a professional investment advisor or stock broker or use your individual judgement when making investment decisions. By viewing this site, you hold harmless Downtown Magazine Inc., Money Daily, its owners, affiliates and employees against any and all liability. Copyright 2025, Downtown Magazine Inc., all rights reserved.

It's Summer: Juneteenth Marks U.S. Government Surpassing $37 Trillion in Debt; Quad-Witching Today Won't Matter; Kinky Apemen Rock

It's the first day of summer and on Thursday, otherwise known as "Juneteenth," U.S. government debt passed the $37 trillion mark and continues higher, Israel and Iran continue trading bombs and missile strikes, the U.S. mulls involvement, Russia continues to advance in the Ukraine, so it must stand to reason that gold and silver are down and stock futures are up.

Honestly, how does anybody besides the shysters and crooks on Wall Street and the political whores in the "district" believe anything is not rigged in what used to be known as "markets?" It's enough to make one want to take the advice of the Ray Davies and the Kinks and live like an apeman.

BTW: Vince Lanci, or VBL, of GoldFix is pretty much a douche-bag and poorly-disguised plagiarist (in the ZeroHedge mold). He lives off revenue from his voluminous and scarcely cogent Substack, which is mostly regurgitated deep state garbled garbage from Bloomberg, or CNBC, or any of the various banks or newsletters to which he himself subscribes. His daily diatribes which are all over the financial map. He has no creed and is lacking in cred.

Me, I don't need the money, especially if it's denominated in increasingly worthless FedBux, so I just say what I mean and mean what I say, so F off. Stack gold and silver and STFU.

New highs? Hell, yeah. Our elected representatives need the money.

Other than the idea that today's quad-witching, end-of-quarter options expiry might cause some additional volatility - probably not, because nobody exercises those options; Wall Street sharpies just cash them - that's all I can say for today. And that's a good thing, because what I might say could scare some people, and we can't have that.

At the Close, Wednesday, June 18, 2025:
Dow: 42,171.66, -44.14 (-0.10%)
NASDAQ: 19,546.27, +25.18 (+0.13%)
S&P 500: 5,980.87, -1.85 (-0.03%)
NYSE Composite: 19,901.13, -17.15 (-0.09%)

MONEY DAILY SPECIAL: U.S. DEBT TO HIT $37 TILLION TONIGHT AROUND 9:00 PM EDT (during NBA Finals Game 6)

UPDATE: 9:07 pm EDT the U.S. hit $37 trillion in debt. Good luck, and good night.

MONEY DAILY has been trying to predict when the U.S. debt would exceed $37 trillion, and, despite being dead wrong about it hitting the mark around the same time as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference Wednesday, perhaps it's fitting that the number will be hit on Juneteenth, the most racist national holiday ever concocted - commemorating the abolition of slavery, presumably in Galveston, Texas, on the 19th of June, 1865, nearly 2 1/2 years after the fact.

Oddly enough, back in the 1860s, there was no internet or high-speed communications, and Texans being Texans, they didn't bother to tell their indentured servants about President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

According to Wikipedia:

Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the midst of the Civil War on September 22, 1862, declaring that if the rebels did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union, all enslaved people in the Confederacy would be freed on the first day of the year. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all enslaved people in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands were freed.

Anyhow, there's some irony that the 19th of June is known in certain circles as "America's Second Independence Day," and that the U.S. government debt will exceed $37 trillion, keeping every American taxpayer in perpetual debt slavery.

The U.S. Debt Clock notes that the debt per citizen is close to $108,000, so, anybody born today will immediately be $108,000 in debt. No wonder President Trump wants the Fed to lower rates. By the time people born this year reach the ripe earning age of 21, the interest alone ought to be enough to keep them under the government's thumb for the rest of their lives.

Besides "37" being a prime number, indivisible by any previous whole digit, another irony is that the vault past $37 trillion will occur around halftime of the NBA Finals. Not to sound racist, but there is some hubris in the fact that it was mainly black people that were freed on Juneteeth, and this particular anniversary will be marked by athletes - many of them of color - making millions of dollars to play basketball. The worst of it is that these multi-millionaire athletes are taxed out the proverbial wazoo, even though the government collecting the loot hasn't been able to balance a budget in 25 years.

So, OK. keep your eyes on the debt clock and the shot clock and do a few shots of your favorite adult beverage, comfortable in the knowledge that Juneteeth may be a fun - and well-deserved - day off, but, the federal government has now set the price of freedom at $37 trillion.. and counting.