For the second straight Friday, stocks were rescued from deep declines by dip buyers appearing from the shadows of the market to keep alive the positive vibes.
It's become almost routine for markets to perform in this manner, but it is disturbing and tiresome to witness the same plunge protection scheme over and over and over again, while precious metals are resolutely sold off at the same time. These supporters of stocks might somehow be eventually recompensed, but it is more likely that there will be money lost, integrity absent.
It's perfectly natural for this kind of behavior to occur, when the owners behind the fascist oligarchy control currency that can be created at the drop of a hat in a wink of an eye. In the end, it will be disastrous for some, a rounding error for the high and mighty. In the end, reckoning takes place. In between then and now, fraud, deception, and chaos run amok.
It's a loathsome task to have to report on the decline of Western civilization while the ultra-wealthy skim at their leisure and the captured media promotes "feel-good America" stories. The circle is amoral, without virtue. Corporations donate to campaigns of politicians who write legislation favorable to their business interests. Stocks go up, legislators and insiders profit. Everybody wins. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's a nice game if one can get into the loop, which isn't easy. It would be preferable to praise the upper crust of Americans for their wisdom and virtue, but none can be found.
The bigger picture peers beyond the facade of stocks, bonds, crypto assets, and derivatives. The value of the dollar has fallen precipitously since the pandemic scare. Food, rents, and the mundane pleasures of living in an import economy aren't more expensive. The amount of depreciating currency needed to buy the same as last month, or last year, is increasing. As the dollar - and the euro, yen, pound, etc. - approaches the status of confetti, strains on the public continue to grow, even as the political circus becomes a bizarre comedy of errors.
In the end, the currency fails, the empire is stripped bare, the world turns. The saving grace is that total debasing of fiat currency doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, decades, actually, but time, as seen in the growth of BRICS and aligned countries and the continued gains in precious metals, seems to be growing short, along with patience, trust and a trove of other treasures that used to be part and parcel of American and European civility.
Don't expect life in the United States to improve, though stocks may rally - or not - despite your personal pessimism. At this stage of the game, virtually anything is possible. Preparation - and not necessarily "Preparation H", though it may be at some point advisable - is a paramount function for transition to the post-apocalypse wonderland.
Stocks
As mentioned above, another rough week was averted by the latest in a long series of Friday rallies.
The S&P and NASDAQ closed out the week cozied down to their respective 50-day moving averages. The Dow is hanging just above its own. There's a wager that breaking lower in the week ahead could cause some cascading, though one would have to be entirely convinced that the insider rigging is over to play it. The most skeptical market observers - you know who you are - won't play the downside until there's confirmation, though the handful of still-breathing Dow Theorists take note that stocks are still in a primary bearish trend and that recent highs were sugar-coating, based on accounting trickery, stock buybacks, blind faith, and trillion in soft money needing a place to reside.
Stocks have been the choice, will likely remain the choice, and have equal potential to gain or decline in the near term, though it's becoming increasingly difficult to look past the recent foibles and failures: the government shutdown fiasco, the One Big, Beautiful Bill and its $2 trillion deficit, political infighting, bitcoin's collapse just as the government ramps up its love affair with crypto and stablecoins.
Late in the week, the White House blurted out that the government would not be releasing data on October Non-farm payrolls and CPI (implying that October PPI will go missing as well) due to the government shutdown. Taking that failure at face value would likely be a mistake. The more attuned perception sees the "lost" information more as a cover or cover-up for disastrous information, as in, inflation up, jobs down. White House Press Secretary said that the Fed would be "flying blind," which begs the question, "when were they not?"
The week ahead offers few corporate earnings reports, including the biggie, Nvidia (NVDA), after the close Wednesday, plus a handful of big box retailers.
Third quarter earning announcements of note:
Monday, November 17: (before open) VerifyMe (VRME), Freightos (CRGO); (after close) Gladstone Capital (GLAD), Trip.com (TCOM), HP (HP)
Tuesday, November 18: (before open) Bidu (BIDU), Klarna (KLAR), Home Depot (HD); (after close) Dolby (DLB), LazyBoy (LZB)
Wednesday, November 19: (before open) Target (TGT), TJX (TJX), Lowe's (LOW), Williams-Sonoma (WSM), Viking Cruise Lines (VIK); (after close) Nvidia (NVDA), Palo Alto Industries (PANW), Jack-in-the-Box (JACK)
Thursday, November 20: (before open) Walmart (WMT), Warner Music Group (WMG), Shoe Carnival (SCVL); (after close) Gap Inc. (GAP), Copart (CPRT), Intuit (INTU), Webull (BULL), Ross Stores (ROST)
Friday, November 21: (before open) BJ's Wholesale (BJ), Frontline (FRO)
Treasury Yield Curve Rates
| Date | 1 Mo | 1.5 mo | 2 Mo | 3 Mo | 4 Mo | 6 Mo | 1 Yr |
| 10/10/2025 | 4.19 | 4.16 | 4.10 | 4.02 | 3.96 | 3.81 | 3.60 |
| 10/17/2025 | 4.18 | 4.15 | 4.08 | 4.00 | 3.95 | 3.79 | 3.56 |
| 10/24/2025 | 4.11 | 4.06 | 4.02 | 3.93 | 3.89 | 3.76 | 3.58 |
| 10/31/2025 | 4.06 | 4.02 | 4.04 | 3.89 | 3.87 | 3.79 | 3.70 |
| 11/07/2025 | 4.01 | 3.96 | 3.98 | 3.92 | 3.83 | 3.76 | 3.63 |
| 11/14/2025 | 4.04 | 4.02 | 4.01 | 3.95 | 3.88 | 3.80 | 3.70 |
| Date | 2 Yr | 3 Yr | 5 Yr | 7 Yr | 10 Yr | 20 Yr | 30 Yr |
| 10/10/2025 | 3.52 | 3.52 | 3.65 | 3.83 | 4.05 | 4.60 | 4.63 |
| 10/17/2025 | 3.46 | 3.47 | 3.59 | 3.78 | 4.02 | 4.58 | 4.60 |
| 10/24/2025 | 3.48 | 3.49 | 3.61 | 3.79 | 4.02 | 4.56 | 4.59 |
| 10/31/2025 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 3.71 | 3.89 | 4.11 | 4.65 | 4.67 |
| 11/07/2025 | 3.55 | 3.57 | 3.67 | 3.87 | 4.11 | 4.68 | 4.70 |
| 11/14/2025 | 3.62 | 3.61 | 3.74 | 3.92 | 4.14 | 4.73 | 4.74 |
There is compression in the middle of the curve, with all yields rising over the past week. It's probably difficult for anybody to make money on spreads so thin, within a percentage point of the funding and lending rates, which is why mortgage rates remain stubbornly high and credit card and auto loan interest rates have gotten to the point of just plain stupid. Nobody should be borrowing at 20-25% or higher, but, since the banks lobbied hard enough to have usury laws eradicated decades ago, that is where we are.
Under present conditions, borrowing is strained. Lending is a last resort. A four percent natural rate, if that's really where it is, aligns with the general inflation, making for a zero-sum game. The U.S. government has to borrow and in the long run, the Fed buys most of the paper, i.e., prints money. That's not zero-sum. That's a road to perdition. Proof is the mountains of debt. $38 trillion on the government end. Even more for business and consumers.
The next wave of stimulus will be soon, but it will manifest in various shapes and forms, first, with government handing money to individuals with which to purchase health care, rather than extend the ridiculous construct of Obamacare subsidies because the cost of "keeping your doctor" is escalating premiums, fattening the coffers of the insurance providers. Talk is already growing toward direct payments to consumers, a shot directly into the arm of the economy to placate millions at the expense of millions more.
After that, $2,000 tariff "stimmies" for taxpayers at the outset, until the cries of "unfair" overwhelm the narrative and everybody gets a check.
In the past week, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem endeared herself to 47,000 airport fondlers otherwise known as TSA, air traffic controllers and other department employers by promising $10,000 bonuses to all who stayed on the job during the shutdown. That's nearly half a billion bucks to people who mostly stand around and when they're busy, are generally in the business of abusing people who frequent the "friendly skies." Ordinary people outside the Beltway and government largesse, in private businesses, never stoped working for a second and get $2,000 and higher prices.
The full spectrum 30-days-to-30-years spread hit a new high of +70, which is likely to be eclipsed within six months, as the Fed cuts rates (December rate cut odds are about 50/50 for a 25 basis point cut) once Jerome Powell is replaced with a more dovish Chairman. Borrowing will be at the short end, with the 30-year rising beyond 5.00%, as long-dated maturities are increasingly shunned by foreigners.
Spreads:
2s-10s
2025
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
6/27: +56
7/3: +47
7/11: +53
7/18: +56
7/25: +49
8/1: +54
8/8: +51
8/15: +58
8/22: +58
8/29: +64
9/5: +59
9/12: +50
9/19: +57
9/26: +57
10/3: +45
10/10: +53
10/17: +56
10/24: +54
10/31: +51
11/7: +56
11/14: +52
Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years)
2025
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
6/27: +66
7/3: +51
7/11: +59
7/18: +65
7/25: +55
8/1: +32
8/8: +37
8/15: +44
8/22: +41
8/29: +51
9/5: +49
9/12: +40
9/19: +54
9/26: +55
10/3: +47
10/10: +43
10/17: +42
10/24: +48
10/31: +61
11/7: +69
11/14: +70
Oil/Gas
WTI crude closed out the week at $59.81, an imperceptible move last Friday's close of $59.84. Futures zig-zagged across $60/barrel for WTI until finally settling on the under at week's end. There's still too much oil to support weakening Western economies. Prices need to fall further. Short term noise on the COMEX is speculation and gaming the system. $50 a barrel is a more rational level that may become real during the winter.
The U.S. national average for gas at the pump remained the same as last week, $3.07, according to Gasbuddy.com. Gas prices should continue to decline over the near term and through winter.
California remains the priciest, at $4.66 per gallon, down five cents, followed by Washington ($4.16), lower by another eight cents on the week. Oregon ($3.73), was also down eight cents. The lowest prices remain in the Southeast, with Oklahoma checking in with the lowest price in about a year, $2.43. Mississippi is next at $2.56. Louisiana ($2.57), Arkansas ($2.58) and Texas ($2.59) follow. The remaining Southeast states are all below $2.80 with the exception of Florida ($2.91).
In the Northeast, prices were higher. All except New Hampshire ($2.91( and Rhode Island ($2.99) were above $3.00, with Pennsylvania ($3.29) easily the highest. Maryland ($3.11) and New York ($3.12) were the next-highest.
In the midwest region, Illinois ($3.23) was joined in the $3.00+ club by West Virginia ($3.01), Indiana ($3.03), Ohio ($3.07), and Michigan ($3.00). At the low end were Nebraska ($2.68) and Kansas ($2.69).
Sub-$3.00 gas was reported in 26 states, a drop of two from last week.
Bitcoin
This week: $95,387.89
Last week: $103,678.70
2 weeks ago: $110,406.10
6 months ago: $103,298.00
One year ago: $90,318.17
Five years ago: $18,697.88
Anybody who can't see the problem with bitcoin and crypto in general needs to wipe the grime from the past month off their rose-colored glasses or maybe take them off and actually smell the stench of dead roses, because that's what bitcoin and crypto are becoming, wilted flowers from a romance gone bad. The "hodlers" have been filing divorce papers via ETFs and elsewhere, with record-setting outflows since the beginning of October and this week, the granddaddy of crypto, Satoshi's own love child, bitcoin, dipped to lows not seen in six months. Notably, the price is only $5,000 higher than it was a year ago. Other than a brief period from the end of February through the beginning of May, bitcoin has been above $95,000 and mostly over $100,000, with everybody from Michael Saylor to Max Keiser predicting new highs of $200,000, $400,000 or more, just as the crypto world began to crater.
This is how Ponzi schemes and other scams end, badly, with recent investors selling out, maybe a few dollars to the good, most taking losses. If you had a bitcoin, it was worth upwards of $124,000 on October 7. Today it's just above $95,000.
Here are some questions and (answers) for anybody who hasn't yet sold their bitcoins or other cryptos (which have performed even worse):
Is there a chance that bitcoin will go back up? (NO)
Is bitcoin a store of value? (NO)
Is anybody using bitcoin to buy essentials? (NO)
Are bitcoin and other cryptos widely adopted in developed countries? (NO)
Is bitcoin still legal tender in El Salvador? (NO)
Should I keep the faith and do like Michael Saylor says, HODL? (Hell NO).
Bitcoin will eventually decline until it gets close to its intrinsic value, which is ZERO, and it may happen rather suddenly. Other "coins" will simply disappear, along with investor money, lots of it. There's already been $1 trillion dilution. More to come.
Precious Metals
Gold:Silver Ratio: 80.79; last week: 82.76
Futures, per COMEX continuous contracts:
Gold price 10/17: $4,267.90
Gold price 10/24: $4,126.90
Gold price 10/31: $4,013.40
Gold price 11/7: $4,007.80
Gold price 11/14: $4,084.40
Silver price 10/17: $50.63
Silver price 10/24: $48.41
Silver price 10/31: $48.25
Silver price 11/7: $48.22
Silver price 11/14: $50.40
SPOT:
(stockcharts.com)
Gold 10/17: $4250.59
Gold 10/24: $4110.63
Gold 10/31: $3997.10
Gold 11/7: $3999.89
Gold 11/14: $4,080.00
Silver 10/17: $51.88
Silver 10/24: $48.59
Silver 10/31: $48.65
Silver 11/7: $48.33
Silver 11/14: $50.50
Gold and silver spent most of the week ramping higher, with silver making a double top at a record price around $54.50. Gold hit a high of $4,245 on Wednesday, but, since stocks were nose-diving, the riggers at the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), saw to it that precious metals were taken out of favor, because, of course, when risk assets fall, non-risk assets should too. Sarcasm aside, the rulers of the currency rathole in the West can't stomach much higher prices for gold and silver, which they've suppressed for decades.
This tampering with the machinery of economics and global finance is not going to end well for the U.S. and its cohorts. Every central bank in the world has been buying gold for the last three years and longer, except the Federal Reserve of the United States and some of the Commonwealth and EU nations. That speaks volumes about the direction of global finance, money, and credit. It's now too late for the West. China, Russia, India, and many other countries are increasing their wealth while the U.S. and Europe continues its moronic sanction regime.
Keep stacking is the advice offered by those most in the know. Sounds like good advice.
Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (free shipping included, numismatics excluded):
| Item/Price | Low | High | Average | Median |
| 1 oz silver coin: | 53.00 | 64.00 | 56.98 | 56.00 |
| 1 oz silver bar: | 51.00 | 68.95 | 58.73 | 58.46 |
| 1 oz gold coin: | 4,260.97 | 4,625.16 | 4,406.34 | 4,404.65 |
| 1 oz gold bar: | 4,200.00 | 4,362.71 | 4,303.79 | 4,304.91 |
The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) gained positive ground over the week, to $57.54, a gain of 88 cents from the November 9 price of $56.66 per troy ounce. The small-denomination, physical market continues to add premia to, and depart from, spot.
WEEKEND WRAP
Good luck. After next week comes Thanksgiving and Black Friday, then onwards into the holidays. The claims of the ruling class about affordability and the strength of the economy will not be drowned out by the Salvation Army bells seeking charity. The narrative is about to go into overdrive, just in time for Christmas!
At the Close, Friday, November 14, 2025:
Dow: 47,147.48, -309.74 (-0.65%)
NASDAQ: 22,900.59, +30.23 (+0.13%)
S&P 500: 6,734.11, -3.38 (-0.050%)
NYSE Composite: 21,470.26, -64.14 (-0.30%)
For the Week:
Dow: +160.38 (+0.34%)
NASDAQ: -103.95 (-0.45%)
S&P 500: +5.31 (+0.08%)
NYSE Composite: +61.70 (+0.29%)
Dow Transports: -136.66 (-0.84%)
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.
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