If You're Long, You're Wrong; Trump Orders Blockade of Venezuela, Designates Maduro & Co. Terrorist Organization; Gold, Silver Ramping Higher

Today's distraction - and likely for the foreseeable future - will be the military blockade of Venezuela, as President Trump, "the peace president", has designated the Maduro regime a terrorist organization and that the Venezuelan leader and cohorts have stolen oil, land, and other assets from the United States.

Here's the actual TruthSocial post:

For people still capable of rubbing together a few brain cells, there are problems with this. First, designation of a terrorist organization is a function of the State department and is a pretty serious matter. State had designated Maduro's supposed "Cartel de los Soles" (completely made up) on November 24. Since Trump took office, his administration has designated two dozen organizations "terrorist." Better check here to see if you or your organization is one of them. Given time, and the need to fund its own criminal enterprise, this list is likely to grow because seizing assets from terrorist groups doesn't require much in the way of court orders, laws, etc. Eventually, groups such as "people who own gold or silver", "individuals whose last name starts with the letters D, E, F, G, or H", or maybe even "Registered Democrats" could be designated terrorists, their assets frozen, then stolen. That seems to be the general direction.

Second, if the president or somebody in his administration would kindly point out exactly what "oil, land, and other assets" the Maduro gang stole from the U.S., it would be greatly appreciated. Seems the oil comes from beneath Venezuelan soil, and as far as land is concerned, parts of Texas? Miami? New Orleans? The Gulf of Mexico America? It's confusing.

The United States has now officially transitioned to a very large, belligerent banana republic, with, of course, heavy tariffs on imported bananas. This is insanity.

Wall Street style distractions are subdued after Tuesday's slew of economic reports, but they'll find something to keep the public from noticing how weak stocks appear over the past couple of days.

Also this morning and overnight, the COMEX/ESF/LBMA Cartel (not an officially-designated terrorist organization) appears to have lost control of their gold and silver suppression mechanisms. Silver spiked as high as $66.55 overnight on the spot and is holding around $65.85, while spot gold is bid at $4,337.30, less than $20 short of its all-time high.

Now for today's commentary:

Back during the Biden years (2021-2024), "woke" was the new mantra for the hip generation that embraced tattoos, nose rings, LGBTQF+++ transgenderism, green everything, and he rest of the nonsense mainstream media was spilling out to Western populations on a daily basis.

Those who railed against what seemed to be odd, misplaced, and just plain weird saw what was happening and somebody - we're not sure who, but Donald Trump will certainly take credit for it - coined the phrase, "Go Woke, Go Broke," and even stranger things began to occur. The Green New Deal fell apart, trannies started becoming mass murderers, and people heavily adorned with tats and rings couldn't get jobs. The commonality of shared values and normal thinking began to make inroads against the "left", "the Great Reset" and all the globalist ambitions run wild.

Then somebody shot Charlie Kirk.

Whoever was behind that nefarious act should burn in hell Kirk was guilty of nothing more than exercising his right to free speech and allowing others to do so. As far as can be discerned, free speech is not a crime, yet.

Looking at the now-wrecked U.S., U.K., Canadian, Australian, and European (and maybe Japanese and South Korean) economies, there appears to be a common thread running through all of them. They are all fictitious. In the most general terms, Western economies produce little more than endless debt, pain, suffering, tragedy, and the occasional Elon Musk spacecraft.

Americans - speaking from experience - don't own much gold or silver, and that's a shame because in third world countries, emerging nations, and lots of places that Western intellectuals don't like (India, Russia, China) precious metals are making a very rapid, dramatic re-emergence as money. MONEY. You know, that thing that makes the world go 'round.

Hard assets are back, baby. You can tell just by spending a few mintues every day looking at the gold and silver spot price charts over at Kitko. There's an ongoing effort to keep these prices down, but they keep going up. Honestly, economics isn't and shouldn't be as difficult as the purveyors of wealth on Wall Street or the City of London make it out to be. It's pretty simple, actually. Hold what people value. The rest is speculation, vanity, or just plain old stupidity, and there's more than enough of that last commodity going around these days.

Some people continue to cling to the notion that everything is going to be digital, tokenized, fantasized, and otherwise, bastardized. Bitcoin people are the most notorious in this manner. Anthony Scaramucci and Michael Saylor are two prime examples. They're scam artists, telling people to follow them down the yellow brick road to bitcoin nirvana which doesn't even actually exist, nor does the yellow brick road. They are fantasists, con men of the first degree, pitching modern day snake oil to the greedy, unsuspecting public. Many have already been swindled. Many more will be, especially since the president himself has joined the crypto scam and enlisted his two sons, the Treasury Secretary, the commerce Secretary (not naming names here) and soon, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, ostensibly to be named "Kevin." No, not Kevin Hart, though he'd probably be better than what's coming down the pike.

So, the choice is clear. People and institutions can continue to hold paper or more nebulous "assets" like stocks, treasuries, other debt instruments, crypto, GLD or SLV, or they can invest in the real things, like gold, silver, real estate, machinery, art, and collectibles.

Money Daily says, as of today, "If You're Long, You're Wrong."

At the Close, Tuesday, December 16, 2025:
Dow: 48,114.26, -302.30 (-0.62%)
NASDAQ: 23,111.46, +54.05 (+0.23%)
S&P 500: 6,800.26, -16.25 (-0.24%)
NYSE Composite: 21,842.08, -187.93 (-0.85%)

Government Claims 46,000 Job Gains in November; Unemployment Rate at 4.6%; Gold, Silver Continue Higher; Bitcoin Saying Buh-Bye?

The BLS announced this morning the Non-Farm Payroll data for November, delayed from its originally-planned release date of December 5th. The Bureau, always consistently off by 20,000 or more, said that 46,000 jobs were created during the month, but also, in their press release, mentioned that while October non-farm payroll data was, um, out there somewhere, they were certain of a decline of 162,000 government jobs in October, as some federal employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer came off federal payrolls.

Because of the government shutdown from October 1 through November 12, the BLS claims to not have October data, but, by the same excuse, can account fully for November, a questionable claim. Considering the overall record of BLS reporting, these numbers can hardly be trusted. Suffice it to say that general employment in the United States is declining, though by how much is still uncertain.

While the BLS makes comparisons to September data, they do admit that the change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised down by 22,000, from -4,000 to -26,000, and the change for September was revised down by 11,000, from +119,000 to +108,000. This is also somewhat confusing, as the country loses jobs in August and gains over 100,000 in September. Probably the best explanation is teachers going back to work in September.

As far as Wall Street is concerned, a weak or weakening labor market is probably good for some stocks, particularly those who laid off or fired employees as those heavy costs are no longer a burden to profits. That might be good short term, but many times, when businesses shed employees it's not because they were unnecessary or not pulling their weight, but because business was slowing. In the meantime, eagerly awaited is third quarter GDP is still inestimable, until the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) gets its act together. That agency issued the following:

SUITLAND, Md. – The following updates to BEA’s post-shutdown economic release schedule are currently available:

Gross Domestic Product, 3rd Quarter 2025 (Updated Estimate), GDP by Industry, and Corporate Profits (Revised) will be released on Jan. 22, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. This report will be the equivalent of a third estimate of quarterly GDP, replacing Gross Domestic Product, 3rd Quarter 2025 (Third Estimate), GDP by Industry, and Corporate Profits (Revised), originally scheduled for release on Dec. 19.

BEA will release two estimates of third-quarter GDP, instead of the usual three estimates over three months:

The advance estimate of third-quarter GDP, originally scheduled during October, was canceled.

Dec. 23: Initial estimate of third-quarter GDP, including the preliminary estimate of corporate profits (replaces the typical advance and second estimates).

Jan. 22: Updated estimate (replaces the typical third estimate).

GDP (Advance Estimate), 4th Quarter and Year 2025 will be rescheduled. These data were originally scheduled for release on Jan. 29, 2026. Sufficient source data will not be available in time for the original release date.

Gross Domestic Product by State and Personal Income by State, 3rd Quarter 2025 will be released on Jan. 23, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. These data were originally scheduled for release on Dec. 22.

BEA’s economic release schedules for 2025 and early 2026 will continue to be updated as information becomes available.

OK, so, instead of the usual delay of nearly a month after the end of the quarter, the first glimpse offered will be on December 23. The third quarter ended September 30, prior to the shutdown, so the numbers should all be there. Since it's government work, as usual, it takes and extra two months to get all the numbers lined up correctly. This is another report that probably will be off by orders of magnitude. Treasury Secretary Bessent assures everybody that it's going to be close to three percent.

Those analysts making predictions for 2026 are going to have to trust at least some of the government's releases. For sure, most of them will see the S&P gaining about 20% over the course of the year, since that's the easiest of predictions and won't ruffle too many feathers.

As the government flips and flops around, the regularly-scheduled body slams to the price of gold and silver continue, for whatever reasons. Just before the opening bell for stocks, silver was priced at $63.60 and gold at $4,324.70, which is just about $30 short of gold's all-time high. Both precious metals were pushed lower overnight, but have bounced right back. There seems to be considerable pushback against the short-sellers on the COMEX, likely by Asian interests who have had just about enough of physical commodities being priced by derivatives.

In any case, the suppression of gold and silver seems to be not working as well as previously. Both metals are at or near all-time highs. The best the riggers at the COMEX, LBMA, and ESF (Exchange Stabilization Fund) can hope for is to delay the inevitable rise of precious metals or at least slow it down. The whole operation seems rather pointless and has probably become quite expensive. It wouldn't be a surprise to see a bank or two take on heavy losses and maybe even go belly up.

Not to worry, the Fed is buying up treasury bills at $40 billion a month, so they surely have enough fiat to bail out whatever losses the bullion banks may be incurring.

With the stock markets in the U.S. already underway for Tuesday, the major indices are flat-lining. Perhaps the most amusing development is in the crypto universe, where most of the popular coins are suffering continued losses. Bitcoin is the primary sufferer, hitting lows in the mid-$85,000 range overnight. Solidly in a bear market, the near-to-mid-term resting place for bitcoin figures to be around $35,000, give or take $10,000.

That is just how bitcoin rolls (over).

At the Close, Monday, December 15, 2025:
Dow: 48,416.56, -41.49 (-0.09%)
NASDAQ: 23,057.41, -137.76 (-0.59%)
S&P 500: 6,816.51, -10.90 (-0.16%)
NYSE Composite: 22,030.02, +25.67 (+0.12%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Friday Rug-Pull Sends All Asset Classes Into Tailspin; Gold and Silver Survive; Fed Cuts, Yields Gain; Gas Prices at Five Year Lows

There are only eight more trading days until Christmas and 12 more for the year.

Given that NFL football and shopping take precedence over reading boring stuff about investing and money, comments will be limited this week. Money Daily is on December hours, meaning as few as possible without sounding stupid, which, in this environment is all relative, a judgement call. Besides, two weeks from today, Money Daily will shock the world with its 2026 predictions.

Friday, everything got hit. No asset class was spared. It all had something to do with Intel, data center overbuild, profligate spending, AI hallucinations, maybe even piracy in the Caribbean. Stocks, bonds, commodities, bitcoins, alt-coins, (un)stable coins, even pre-1965 90% silver coins were marked down, just in time for Christmas.

Classic rug pull. Certainly, Howard Lutnik and his friends made millions shorting everything American. Works every time.

The global economy, at least the Western part of it, is a complete mockery of macroeconomics. There's no rhyme nor reason to any of it other than gold and silver going to the moon, because, as some people are well aware, gold and silver are money. Everything else is credit or a derivative.

Blah, blah, blah. The current administration and its cohorts in congress continue to bear strong similarities to organized crime families. That's not a simple coincidence. Raiding the treasury and high crimes are the stock in trade of end-of-empire regimes, and this is certainly one of those.

The latest from our lords and ladies in Washington D.C. involves something along the lines of $2,000 tariff stimulus checks (still waiting), seizing oil tankers, what looks to be the largest annual deficit in the nation's history, no end to the drama in Ukraine, and buying up assets of strategic companies, rivaling Fascist Italy from the 1930s and 40s.

Americans don't live in interesting times. They live in thrilling times, which is even worse and nerve-rattling.

Stocks

For the Week:
Dow: +503.06 (+1.05%)
NASDAQ: -382.96 (-1.62%)
S&P 500: -42.99 (-0.63%)
NYSE Composite: +194.28 (+0.89%)
Dow Transports: +321.45 (+1.87%)

Stocks were moving in opposite directions on Friday and throughout the week. While the NASDAQ registered its fourth losing week in the last six, the Dow Transports came within a whisker of its all-time high with a third straight banner week. Unsure why the trannys are raging as such, given the high seas have become dangerous waters for oil tankers and tariffs have slowed trade considerably. Maybe its the general price gouging by UPS, FedEx, and especially the US Postal Service, which raised prices just in time for the holidays and has already announced their usual January price hikes for next year, all at a time in which gasoline prices are nearing a five year low.

Santa Claus will arrive sometime around the 25th, given he's got cheap fuel, though high food costs for Rudolph and has pals are going to cost old Saint Nick a pretty penny. Those reindeer like their steaks rare.

For Wall Street, it cannot get much better. Not only did the FOMC cut interest rates just in time for the holidays, it's been a banner year for traders, and those year-end bonuses are sure to add some fuel to the Santa Claus Rally™.

Bah Humbug say the coiners, silver stackers and goldbugs.

Treasury Yield Curve Rates

Date	1 Mo	1.5 mo	2 Mo	3 Mo	4 Mo	6 Mo	1 Yr
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
11/21/2025	4.03	4.01	4.00	3.90	3.84	3.75	3.62
11/28/2025	4.05	3.97	3.99	3.88	3.86	3.74	3.61
12/05/2025	3.82	3.78	3.77	3.71	3.73	3.68	3.61
12/12/2025	3.76	3.75	3.75	3.63	3.64	3.58	3.54

Date	2 Yr	3 Yr	5 Yr	7 Yr	10 Yr	20 Yr	30 Yr
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
11/21/2025	3.51	3.50	3.62	3.82	4.06	4.67	4.71
11/28/2025	3.47	3.49	3.59	3.78	4.02	4.62	4.67
12/05/2025	3.56	3.59	3.72	3.90	4.14	4.75	4.79
12/12/2025	3.52	3.58	3.75	3.95	4.19	4.82	4.85

Yields rose on Friday, exacerbating an already stretched yield curve. Spreads on 2s-10s and full spectrum are at extremes, both posting numbers not seen since the mid-2000s. With 30-day bills yielding above the fed funds high range and yield on the 30-year bond approaching 5.00%, one has to wonder about the wisdom of cutting rates at a time in which stocks are already approaching all-time highs, employment is still steady, and the federal deficit is soaring.

Regardless, the FOMC did what Wall Street told them to do, despite a split vote, and cut the federal funds target rate to its lowest level in three years. Three percent inflation doesn't seem to both most of the voting members, nor does excessive spending by congress and the White House.

Thankfully, the brain trust at the Fed knows exactly what they're doing. Nobody trusts them at all anymore.

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
11/21: +55
11/28: +55
12/5: +58
12/12: +67

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
11/21: +68
11/28: +62
12/5: +97
12/12: +109

Oil/Gas

WTI crude closed out the week at $57.53, down 4.5% from last Friday's closeout price of 60.14. There's a glut of oil on the market despite U.S. and E.U. sanctions, pirating of oil cargoes and related energy issues. The producers are pumping and storage facilities are filling. Some people are actually buying crude and turning it into useful fuel.

The U.S. national average for gas at the pump fell to $2.89, the lowest price in roughly five years and three cents lower than the prior week, according to Gasbuddy.com. Gas prices should continue to decline over the near term.

California remains the highest in the lower 48 states, at $4.35 per gallon, down 10 cents on the week and 31 cents over the past four weeks, followed by Washington ($4.00), which is about to go under $4 for the first time in two years. Oregon ($3.58), was down 11 cents. The lowest prices remain in the Southeast, with Oklahoma checking in with the lowest price in God knows when, $2.23, another radical drop of seven cents just this week. Colorado ($2.41) and Texas ($2.42) were closest. Arkansas ($2.45) and Mississippi ($2.46) and Louisiana ($2.46) follow, each marginally lower. The remaining Southeast states are all below $2.73 with the exception of Florida ($2.78) down 33 cents in three weeks time.

In the Northeast, prices remain elevated, though joining a general decline. Delaware ($2.78) was the lowest in the region, joined by New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maryland under $3.00, with Pennsylvania ($3.16) stubbornly steady as the highest. Vermont ($3.10) and New York ($3.08) following lower.

In the midwest region, where the price relief has been significant, Illinois ($3.02) was the only state above $3.00. At the low end were Colorado ($2.41) and Iowa ($2.46), the latter down a dime from last week.

Sub-$3.00 gas was reported in fully 36 states, a gain of two from last week and 10 over the past two weeks.

Bitcoin

This week: $89,338.22
Last week: $90,860.37
2 weeks ago: $91,709.19
6 months ago: $105,562.50
One year ago: $102,259.90
Five years ago: $23,841.97

Bitcoin got struck like everything else on Friday, sending the hopes and dreams of 17-year-olds everywhere back to their mom's basements. Good thing they bought in early 2025 and are "hodling", hoping that Tom Lee or Michael Saylor or Anthony Scaramucci is right and bitcoin ends the year at $200,000 or was it $400,000, or $2 million? Yeah, hang in there, Zippy.

Precious Metals

Gold:Silver Ratio: 69.30; last week: 72.01

Futures, per COMEX continuous contracts:

Gold price 11/14: $4,084.40
Gold price 11/21: $4,099.20
Gold price 11/28: $4,256.40
Gold price 12/5: $4,227.70
Gold price 12/12: $4,329.80

Silver price 11/14: $50.40
Silver price 11/21: $50.33
Silver price 11/28: $57.08
Silver price 12/5: $58.80
Silver price 12/12: $62.08

SPOT:
(stockcharts.com)
Gold 11/14: $4,080.00
Gold 11/21: $4,063.98
Gold 11/28: $4216.71
Gold 12/5: $4,196.63
Gold 12/12: $4,297.29

Silver 11/14: $50.50
Silver 11/21: $49.97
Silver 11/28: $56.37
Silver 12/5: $58.28
Silver 12/12: $62.01

Of all the asset classes that were negatively affected by Friday's rug-pull, gold and silver were the least troubled, since they were up so much on the week. Silver was making all-time highs daily and gold was finally getting bid after languishing between $4,100 and $,200 for the better part of the past month.

It can probably safely be assumed that the sudden sharp decline in all asset classes was designed to bring precious metals prices back to earth, at least over the weekend, which would be somewhat funny if not for the reality of a dying U.S. dollar.

So, gold and silver were the best performers for the week, though they could have been shooting stars. The money changers just can't stomach much more stacking and hoarding. (Don't tell anybody, but some of them are secretly buying)

The gold:silver ratio continues to descend. When it hits 50, fiat money will begin to disintegrate more rapidly. By the time it gets back to historic levels of 20:1 or 15:1 or 10:1, fiat currencies will be absolutely worthless, sending the world into an economic depression. Give it a few more years, or months, or maybe weeks.

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:	60.00	74.99	66.34	66.00
1 oz silver bar:	66.00	74.95	70.26	69.98
1 oz gold coin:	4,423.10	4,635.62	4,516.69	4,492.20
1 oz gold bar:	4,472.28	4,562.20	4,502.93	4,495.01

The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) delivered, for the third straight week, a solid gain, to $68.15, up $1.46 from the December 7 price of $66.69 per troy ounce. The small-denomination, physical market continues to add high premia over spot and derivative market pricing, making a mockery of the COMEX price-rigging.

WEEKEND WRAP

Hey, football and Christmas. Go have a beer or three. Be nice.

At the Close, Friday, December 12, 2024:
Dow: 48,458.05, -245.96 (-0.51%)
NASDAQ: 23,195.17, -398.69 (-1.69%)
S&P 500: 6,827.41, -73.59 (-1.07%)
NYSE Composite: 22,004.35, -110.07 (-0.50%)

For the Week:
Dow: +503.06 (+1.05%)
NASDAQ: -382.96 (-1.62%)
S&P 500: -42.99 (-0.63%)
NYSE Composite: +194.28 (+0.89%)
Dow Transports: +321.45 (+1.87%)

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.

Gold, Silver, Honest Money Continue Higher as Dow, S&P 500 Make New All-Time Highs; Vince Lanci is a Tool

Editor's Note: Today, I am writing in first person singular, because I believe that when I criticize somebody, I should do it personally. -- Fearless Rick

If you're one of the many people out there who own gold and/or silver, congratulations. You've also probably heard of a fellow by the name of Vince Lanci. He runs a Substack called GoldFix and also does videos hosted by Arcadia Economics, which is Chris Marcus' baby. I have a great deal of respect for Chris Marcus, but wonder about his judgement in putting Lanci on board, because, simply put, Vince Lanci is a tool.

Some of what Lanci writes or opines about in videos makes plenty of sense, which is where one should stop. As Mark Twain so eloquently opined, "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Lanci, who apparently thinks he has to impress his readers or viewers with how smart, and deep, and possessive of intimate knowledge of the inner workings of economics, usually keeps on going, making a complete ass of himself along the way.

I tempt the ghost of Mark Twain by continuing on here, because another Mark Twain pearl of wisdom states, "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience." Point taken, but I'll shoulder the risk.

What really got me going on Vinci Lanci was his post on ZeroHedge this morning, ""Why You Don't Sell Your Physical Gold & Silver." I thought he might point out that you don't sell your precious metals because they're HONEST MONEY in the truest sense of that word, without counterparty risk, or that you can use gold and silver coins and bullion as collateral, but no, Vince, always the sage, wants everybody to hold their gold and silver because it strengthens nations, and the nation in which you live counts your personal wealth as part of theirs.

Complete bunk.

Vince says, "In quiet conversations between nations, they don’t just look at official reserves. They look at total national wealth, which includes what citizens hold," and, "If the government ever faces a real emergency, private balance sheets become part of the national picture instantly."

I wanted to stop reading right there, but my inner journalist has some kind of perverse desire to see people make complete fools of themselves, and Vince was headed in the right direction.

Vince, who usually pens his garf using the regal "we" when it comes to identifying the author, and also spends time with loudmouth nonsense-spouting babblers like Tom Luongo, began inserting random quotes without attribution, as if they were godly proclamations that were undeniable truths. Like,

“The result is a two-layer reserve structure in which central bank holdings and household metal form a single strategic perimeter.”

or,

“States are responding by building deeper metallic buffers inside their borders.”

and,

“Although ownership remains private, the metal becomes visible, recognizable, and potentially mobilizable.”

...whatever that means.

Now, see here, when I use anonymous quotes in the "Toast of the Town" on the Daily Idler and in the usual summaries every month, I do so because the quotes are vitriolic, or funny, or thought-provoking and the original speaker is somebody on an internet chat room, on X, or it was spoken by some passer-by on the street. This is a tradition I started back in 1982, with my first publication of Downtown, the Unbound Magazine. If the speaker, or “quotee” desires attribution, I am only so happy to provide it. In 43 years of doing this, nobody has ever asked. If it's an historical quote by somebody famous, infamous, or otherwise noteworthy, I give proper attribution.

What Lanci has done is essentially hyperventilation of his own theses, which are deeply flawed, and, to be honest, downright stupid.

A couple of commenters agree:

Premium subscriber and obviously a genius, FKALLIBS got eight likes for this critique: "This is probably the dumbest article I've ever read on ZH."

SmallerGovNow2 said, "While I hold and believe in gold/silver, this post is a whole lot of horse shit..." (13 likes)

Lanci has to sound smart because he's on substack, and some people actually pay for his deepest, innermost thoughts on gold and silver. Most of us in the gold and silver accumulation business don't need a daily reminder of why gold and silver this or that. We know it has value and we know that fiat currencies are failing. Trying to sound all in the know about macroeconomic trends and international finnance, like Lanci does all too often (like twie a day) adds nothing to the conversation.

The other reason I think Vince is a tool is because I once offered (try reaching him; it's nearly impossible) to trade advertising on my sites in exchange for his premium substack subscription. After waiting three weeks for a reply, I messaged again, complaining that he could at least acknowledge the message and that his work was crackpot rehashing of other people's ideas. Lo and behold, Lanci then responded with a firm, impolite, "f--- you," informing me that I had no idea how busy he was. Well, darn. it takes less than a minute to respond to a DM, which he proved by responding to my insult. Tool. Utter, cast iron, dead weight TOOL. I'm glad we never made a deal with Lanci. I don't fancy associations with arrogant, self-absorbed bumpkins. WOuld make me look bad. Besides, I would hardly read his stuff, so much of it being reconstituted, partially-plagiarized vomit.

OK, now I know that I write quite a bit, so I probably shouldn’t be criticizing a fellow voice on alternate media, but, when you're wrong, you're wrong, and Lanci is the type who will never admit it. Yes, I make mistakes. Most recently, I stumbled on some math, mistaking $1.972 billion for $1.972 trillion. Sorry, lack of sleep, maybe. I'm usually dead-on, math-wise.

So, if Vince reads this, he'll likely consider me to be beneath him somehow and my criticisms may engender a nasty comment or email. Always good to hear from my betters, I guess. Who cares? I stand uncorrected.

•. •. •. •.

Entering the final session of the week, stocks have risen to new all-time highs on the Dow and S&P. The NASDAQ lags, weighed down by AI skepticism, about 265 points short of its all-time high. On the week, through Thursday's close, the Dow is at a new high, up 749 points; the NASDAQ has gained a mere 15 points, and the S&P, also closing at a record high Thursday, is up 30 points.

With the opening ball 30 minutes ahead, stock futures are split, with the Dow up 92, the NASDAQ down 133 and the S&P off 6 points.

Gold and silver are raging higher. Spot silver reached $64.62 overnight and is holding at $64.16. Gold is rocking, at $$4,339.60, heading towards its all-time high of $4,355.18. Bitcoin ($92,325.51) can't shake the losses.

I'm waiting for somebody like Mike Maloney or maybe even Chris Marcus to do a spoof ad, "Got Metal?" Maybe I'll meme it.

See you on Sunday for the WEEKEND WRAP.

At the Close, Thursday, December 11, 2025:
DOW: 48,704.01, +646.26 (+1.34%)
NASDAQ: 23,593.86, -60.30 (-0.25%)
S&P 500: 6,901.00, +14.32 (+0.21%)
NYSE Composite: 22,114.42, +181.11 (+0.83%)

Crossing Out Pandemic Era Prices; Fed Cuts FF Rate, Re-Starts QE, Buying Bills; Oracle Reports, Stock Tanks

In horse racing handicapping, the most astute observers of form, pace, and condition will often take an unusually poor performance by an otherwise dependable steed and "put a line through it," withdrawing a bad race from the overall past performance presentation.

That approach would probably fit well within the scope of long-term investors as it pertains to the pandemic or "covid" era from February, 2020 and - depending on the particular asset - anywhere from June, 2020 to March, 2021. Taking a "before and after" snapshot of the period in between given dates, eliminates the aberrant period in which asset values were whipsawed lower and then back higher, producing a continuity in pricing that is at once more realistic and more reliable for assessing true valuations.

While it may be futile to point this out to the horde of momentum-chasing droids that populate the current investor class since few bother to look back five years, much less five weeks, when performing due diligence, if they bother with that at all. Nonetheless, smoothing out bumps and grinds along the pathways of stocks, bonds, commodities and their varied derivatives is part of the rigor of value investing. It's why moving averages are important.

For those not desirous of a deep look at the past, it's useful to note that most five year charts now, at long last, do not cover the pandemic era at all. By December, 2020, most of the financial horrors had already been relegated to a fresh dustbin of history, though effects on the human psyche and physical health persisted longer, some even to this day. One cannot easily draw a line through personal tragedy or long term illness and death has its own black line, drawn with a permanent marker.

The passage of time and the wisdom of charts has done some of the work for investors by taking out some of the bad experience, but, five years of past performances may be suitable for a seven-year-old racehorse, it's a little short on the history of companies, especially those like Dow stocks that have been around for decades. Well, some of them, at least.

Those bearing recency bias may want to perform a similar line-out on the tariff tantrum from April through July of 2025. It was also an aberration that should not be included in 52-week high or low measurements. All assets, classes, and stocks are different, so employing sound judgement on such matters is a requirement.

Looking at more recent developments, the FOMC did what everybody expected and cut the federal funds target rate 0.25%, to 3.50-3.75%, the lowest in three years. The Fed also restarted QE, announcing that they would begin buying $40 billion worth of short-dated treasury bills immediately at Chairman Powell's press conference following the policy statement. Claiming that the purchase of short-term bills is "not QE", this latest liquidity push is not explicit in the official statements, but rather referenced in the implementation note, directing the Open Market Desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to:

Increase the System Open Market Account holdings of securities through purchases of Treasury bills and, if needed, other Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 3 years or less to maintain an ample level of reserves.

Roll over at auction all principal payments from the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities. Reinvest all principal payments from the Federal Reserve's holdings of agency securities into Treasury bills.

Thus, there are no reins on the NY Fed. They are free to purchase T-bills and roll over expiring bills, notes, and bonds into exclusively bills.

This indicates, as none other than "Big Short" Michael Burry opines that such a move shows that the banking sector is stressed, not "stable" as many pundits would like to reference its current condition. (Editor's Note: Oddly enough, after clicking the link to the story above, Money Daily was prompted to log into its msn account, with the message, "since you are accessing sensitive information..." How about that? Now, financial information concerning Michael Burry is now sensitive?)

The next FOMC meetings are scheduled for January 27-28 and March 17-18. The Fed made no reference toward cutting rates any further.

All of this just helped silver bump a lttle higher. With the U.S. stock markets open in half an hour, silver continues to make new all-time highs, Silver hit a high of $62.93 overnight and is holding above $62 currently. Gold is steady at $4,219, and looking to advance.

Stock futures are lower, with Dow futures right at breakeven, NASDAQ futures off 147 points and S&P futures down 25.

Oracle (ORCL) reported before the open. The stock is tanking in the pre-market, down more than 13%. Not to worry, the U.S. government owns 10% of the company. Yeah, how's that working out?

Trouble's brewing. Hurry, Santa! We've all been nice this year!

At the Close, Wednesday, December 10, 2025:
Dow: 48,057.75, +497.46 (+1.05%)
NASDAQ: 23,654.16, +77.67 (+0.33%)
S&P 500: 6,886.68, +46.17 (+0.67%)
NYSE Composite: 21,933.31, +278.52 (+1.29%)