WEEKEND WRAP: Year-end Prices, New Year Projections, Great Reset?

Well, 2020 is finally over. If you're reading this, you've survived. Now, the focus shifts away from getting through the "pandemic", which is totally fake and contrived just to enslave people and take away their rights, their incomes, their savings, and their humanity and towards either a recovery, a relapse or a reset.

If you don't agree with this, you can just stop reading now. There's no intention to make this blog a sounding board for the status quo, the "conspiracy theory" finger pointers or the President Elect Biden crowd. That's all going down within weeks. In case January 20 comes along and somehow, the most criminal lying traitor to the constitution ever to run for president is inaugurated, everything changes. Nothing goes back to normal. Democracy is dead. Those and other, more serious, severe realities will unfold if the stolen election is allowed to stand.

For purposes of this blog and posts over the coming days and weeks, the next 12 months of living on planet Earth, especially in the USA, Canada and Europe, must be based upon the re-election of Donald J. Trump as the reality. Otherwise, every financial and economic action of consequence will be distorted, but, it is on good information that many Senators and members of the House of Representatives will challenge the electoral slates presented to them by Vice-President Mike Pence on January 6, and a positive resolution for the patriots that have stood up and will not stand down is expected.

With that said, a hop-scotch through the end-of-year market activity, followed by some food for thought going forward can commence.

As the year 2020 came to a close, just about everybody was doing the social distancing and mask-wearing that is either mandated or become social convention. That will wear out in 2021. People have had enough, but, with widespread cancellation of New Year celebrations, it appears that the media/government/medicine deep state cabal still has a pretty good grip on the general population through COVID-19 propaganda.

Stocks just kind of meandered to new highs without much fanfare or catalyst. Indeed, it was almost as though stocks were just supposed to go higher all by themselves, whether the companies behind the securities were faring well or ill. It didn't matter the last few weeks of 2020 and obviously wasn't much of a concern from mid-March forward as the general economy cratered under the weight of lockdowns and civil unrest, stay-at-home orders, and fake science.

For whatever its worth, here's how the various major indices and other assets did in 2020:

Index: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
Dow: 28,538.44 / 30,606.48 / 2,068.04 / +7.25%
NASDAQ: 8,972.60 / 12,888.28 / 3,915.68 / +43.64%
S&P 500: 3,230.78 / 3,756.07 / 525.29 / +16.26%
NYSE: 13,913.03 / 14,524.80 / 611.77 / +4.40%

Commodities:
Item: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
Gold: 1517.25 / 1895.10 / 377.85 / +24.90%
Silver: 18.01 / 26.46 / 8.45 / +46.92%
Copper: 6,076 / 7,749 / 1,673 / +27.53%
Nickel: 13,736 / 16,540 / 2,804 / +20.41%
Zinc: 2,283 / 2,729 / 446 / +19.54%
WTI Crude Oil: 63.05 / 48.42 / (14.63) / (23.21%)
Corn: 3.88 / 4.86 / 0.98 / +25.26%
Soybeans: 9.31 / 13.14 / 3.83 / +41.14%
Wheat: 188.50 / 213.50 / 15 / +13.26%

Crypto:
Item: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
Bitcoin: 7,360.97 / 29,004.26 / 21,643.29 / 394.03%
Etherium: 135.39 / 737.85 / 602.46 / 544.98%

Treasuries:
Item: Close 12/31/19 / Close 12/31/20 / Gain (Loss) / % Gain (Loss)
3-month yield: 1.55 / 0.09 / (1.46) / (94.20%)
10-year yield: 1.92 / 0.93 / (1.01) / (51.56%)
30-year yield 2.39 / 1.65 / (0.74) / (30.96%)

Finally, here are recent prices for commonly-purchased gold and silver items on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping - often free - included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median
1 oz silver coin: 31.13 / 42.50 / 35.72 / 34.98
1 oz silver bar: 29.99 / 40.00 / 35.32 / 36.00
1 oz gold coin: 1,975.00 / 2,196.96 / 2,034.16 / 2,012.32
1 oz gold bar: 1,862.00 / 2,071.30 / 1,994.66 / 1,998.54

The dollar index fell from 96.84 to 89.93 over the course of the year 2020, a decline of 7.14% against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies: euro, Swiss Franc, Japanese Yen, Canadian dollar, British pound, and Swedish Krona. Meanwhile, those currencies are have been or are devaluing against each other as they are all fiats, backed by nothing more than promises, as is the US dollar, the world's reserve currency.

So, with all this knowledge in hand on prices, generally rising, other than the obvious declines in treasury yields, what does this portend for 2021 (we knew you'd ask)?

It's important to value everything in something, usually currencies. Valuing oil in terms of gold or corn in terms of zinc may be instructive, but most people are going to view the economic world through a prism of currency, and that usually means the US dollar.

With almost everything higher against the US dollar, is that due to a decline in the dollar itself or are these items (gold, silver, oil) actually more valuable to hold as savings that are not currencies? In a nutshell, an ounce of gold, or silver, or a bushel of corn or some shares of stock did not suddenly become more valuable. What's changed is the purchasing power of the US dollar, and, to varying degrees, that of other currencies. Because faith in fiat currencies and the governments which back them is waning, how people value their cash is eroding, forcing many to flee to hard assets, especially in the case of precious metals and cryptocurrencies, the latter being a special case in that they are babes in the woods. Bitcoin was only birthed in 2009, but, having all of the characteristics of a store of value and a currency, these marvels of block-chain technology have caught on with a fury.

As adoption of cryptocurrencies goes mainstream, holders of Bitcoin (known as HODLers, for Hold On for Dear Life) are creating a virtuous cycle, pushing out the bad money ($$) with good (BTC), replacing central bank debt-based currency with distributed peer-based currency that cannot be inflated away with the striking of a keyboard. Other hard assets such as gold, silver, oil, agricultural land and crops, machinery, equipment, art, collectibles, and business assets found new life and new investors in 2020, a trend that has been growing since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-09.

Now, as hard assets threaten to become a crowded trade due to inflation (too much money in circulation), the trend only seems to be accelerating. The advance of copper, zinc, other metals, and agricultural commodities (corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.) are notably pointing toward a massive bull run off of historic lows. The more the Fed and their central bank cohorts continue injecting fresh currency into the system, the more a dozen eggs, a pound of butter, a liter of cola is going to cost. Food is the last thing to experience inflationary pressure because input costs are not uniformly passed along to consumers, and because it is the final hurdle between civil society and disruptive anarchy. A nation's stomachs must be at least partially full to keep the populace from protesting, revolting, rising up and overthrowing the governing class. We're not quite there yet, but, especially if food prices continue rising, social unrest could begin to spread coast to coast and everywhere in between.

This digression into lawlessness can be stopped, but only by consensus of the disenfranchised, which currently are those citizens who voted for Donald J. Trump in the presidential race and feel cheated. Unless and until those people are satisfied, there isn't going to be any kind of peace and harmony in America. That is why making predictions on the future of trading, holding, buying, and selling of assets of all classes so difficult and confounding. The immediate future is not just cloudy, it is downright dense, like a steel wall nobody can break through, see through, or climb over.

Also weighing heavily on future outcomes is the continuation of the COVID conspiracy. The longer the public is led along by fake science and locked down by oppressive governments at the state and local levels, the worse becomes the anger, frustration and outrage, which leads nowhere good.

When these two important elements are finally resolved, then decisions based on real world circumstances can be made.

Outside of anything else, non-dollar assets appear to be on a trajectory straight up, as dollar hegemony has been declining for years, is accelerating, and is unlikely to halt or reverse. The global fiat currency system has been shattered and there's no coming back from currency collapse and solvency crises. The era of centralization and globalization is dying, kicking a screaming all the way towards a new paradigm of decentralized finance and localized commerce. That is an undeniable trend.

Finally, as we enter a new year full of hope, think about this:

Central banks (FED, ECB, BOJ, PBOC, BOE, etc.) create currency with a few keystrokes on a computer. It's the essence of counterfeiting.

With that counterfeit, what are they buying? Corporate debt, mortgages, government debt (treasuries), gold, other assets, maybe even Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

How is this even possible? It is because there isn't much attention paid to, nor knowledge of the global currency creation system.

Central banks are buying up the greatest assets of the world with currency that has no basis, no backing, other than the outstanding debt by which it was sprung into existence. It's like playing a game of monopoly where the bank not only gets to play, but is able to give itself - and only itself - as much money as it needs to win, i.e., controlling the best assets on the board and making everybody else pay rent until they're broke and eliminated from the game.

There are ways out of this mess, but they all involve some degree of pain and destruction. Alternative currencies are one good answer. Owning assets paid for with currencies outside the control of the central banks crimps their monopolistic tendencies, thus the meteoric rise of Bitcoin over the past six months.

Lastly, in case you're interested in what was formerly called a conspiracy theory but is now a conspiracy fact, follow the link for a FREE PDF of COVID-19: The Great Reset authored by World Economic Forum (WEF) founder and director, Klaus Schwaub, and Thierry Malleret.

2020 is finally WRAPPED. Happy New Year!

At the Close, Thursday, December 31, 2020:
Dow: 30,606.48, +196.92 (+0.65%)
NASDAQ: 12,888.28, +18.28 (+0.14%)
S&P 500: 3,756.07, +24.03 (+0.64%)
NYSE: 14,524.80, +47.33 (+0.33%)

For the Week:
Dow: +406.61 (+1.35%)
NASDAQ: +83.65 (+0.65%)
S&P 500: +53.01 (+1.43%)
NYSE: +143.20 (+1.99%)

Some Considerations for Surviving, Maintaining, and Prospering in 2021

Heading into 2021, there's almost universal certainty that the year will offer a multitude of challenges to Americans, be they emotional, financial, or safety-related. The main threats to freedom-loving people come not from they mystery virus, but from corrupt politicians with rapacious taxation schemes and illicit mandates, an out-of-control medical community, or lies and falsehoods from the mainstream media propaganda machine.

The following are suggestions that would apply even in the best of times. Being prepared is just good common sense. Most people aren't capable of handling a crisis without panicking, so avoiding crisis conditions in the first place is recommended. Living conditions can go sideways in a hurry, by natural or man-made forces, so being informed and suitably prepared are primary concerns under circumstances that may well become beyond the control of individuals and families, as many have learned from the various CV-19 restrictions, rules, lockdowns and subsequent reactions.

If your intention is to survive the coming depression that - by all appearances - will arrive and intensify in 2021, the very first thing you have to do is put together a personal or family budget and determine if your income is sufficient and secure enough to afford your current lifestyle and reasonably expected expenses.

The next thing is to make adjustments. Personal preferences may be in favor of a luscious lifestyle in the face of increasingly difficult circumstances or austerity to cope with what may become a stressful situation. In either case, it behooves the prudent to ensure that all life-supporting essentials are in good repair and working order, including everything from checking your roof, windows, doors, and basement for damage or potential failures to keeping your vehicles and appliances in good operating condition. Nothing can be more threatening to safe survival than a car that won't start, a roof that leaks, or a refrigerator or furnace that fails when most needed.

Health is going to be a primary concern, so it's a good idea to stock up on basic first aid materials like aspirin, bandages, antiseptics, and immune-boosting vitamins, especially, C, D3, Zinc, Quercetin, and a good stock of multi-vitamins.

If your pantry isn't already overflowing with canned goods, flour, rice, bottled water, and other basic foodstuffs, the time to stock up in now. Nothing harms the human spirit more than an empty stomach, and, with "food insecurity" rampant in the new American experience, keeping a supply of survival-type items on hand is not just a good idea, it's an essential one.

An even better solution to storing food is to grow some of your own. In case you've never planted a seed or grown some tomatoes, peppers, or lettuce, the time to start learning how was yesterday. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, most families had little garden plots in their back yards so they were at least partially self-sufficient. A 10 x 10 garden can produce quite a few edibles. Bigger is better of course. Even though it's the dead of winter, gathering information and checking on seed supplies right now may be a prudent endeavor. Gardening and farming is not easy. It's time-consuming, but can be fun, and the rewards of fresh produce are without equal.

Mental health may become a greater concern as conditions change. Normalcy bias dictates a certain intellectual comfort level that can be badly challenged when things just aren't going to be the same as they used to be. Developing some flexibility in your mental and emotional outlook may be the most important thing you can do to deal with changing conditions in your life and those around you.

Keep lines of communication open. News you get from television is likely to be distorted and overly pessimistic. Sourcing information off the internet will likely be a viable alternative to mainstream propaganda. Radio is another good source for reasonably good information, though much of it is biased toward either conservative or liberal audiences, so listen with a jaundiced ear.

Get to know your neighbors and their views. You may find that many of them aren't very well-prepared and it may be up to you to get them up to speed on important issues. Banding together on a local basis may become a necessity.

If you're fortunate enough to already have a good source of backup power in case of natural disaster, make sure it will function properly when needed. If you don't have backup power or energy sources, getting your hands on a working gas generator, some solar panels, a converter, and batteries should be a priority.

Keep cash on hand and as little as necessary in the bank. In the case of a national banking emergency, the money in your bank may not be readily accessible. That's been the case in the past and it's sure to be somewhat the same in the future.

Lastly, but obviously not the least of concerns is personal safety and that, for most people, means having guns and ammo at your disposal in case things really get out of control. Owning a gun is great, but better yet is knowing how to use one and keep it in working condition. Some shooting practice makes sense, and understanding how you will react under stressful conditions is also an important consideration. Hitting targets is fine, but what you're likely to be shooting at will be on the move. At the very least, a handgun, shotgun or rifle will give you the upper hand in many situations, whether you choose to use it as deadly force or employ it as a threat to keep dangerous matters under control.

Overall, 2021 isn't guaranteed to be anything. Probably, some of it will be good, some bad. Whether you choose to carry on with life as you always have or develop a hunker down in a bunker mentality is entirely up to you. At least taking the time to assess your personal situation and that of the world around you may offer some advantage toward staying alive, staying safe, and maybe even prospering during disruptive times.

There will be opportunities. There always are for people prepared to discover them. Your garden may feed half the neighborhood. Your skills may be in demand. You may discover things about yourself you never imagined that can be marketed profitably. There will certainly be opportunities to make money in stocks, currencies, commodities and other financial products. Stay aware and on the lookout for ways to make money or improve your net worth.

Here's to a Happy and Healthy New Year in 2021 and hope that conditions improve rather than deteriorate further.

At the Close, Wednesday, December 30, 2020:
Dow: 30,409.56, +73.89 (+0.24%)
NASDAQ: 12,870.00, +19.78 (+0.15%)
S&P 500: 3,732.04, +5.00 (+0.13%)
NYSE: 14,477.48, +79.55 (+0.55%)

Stocks Falter As 2020 Trudges To A Close; 2021 Likely To Be Worse

As capital markets go, there was a disturbance in the farce on Tuesday, as European stocks took off and US stocks stalled out. After making all-time highs on Monday, the three main indices (Dow, NASDAQ, S&P) retreated slightly, expressing at least a little bit of pessimism that economic recovery from the CV-19 pandemic of 2020 was not going as smoothly as anticipated.

A "V-shaped recovery" was never going to materialize while small businesses were shuttered by the thousands, commercial and residential rents were largely deferred until some later date, and residential, government-backed mortgages were placed on hold, put in abeyance or otherwise not serviced in timely manners, and new unemployment claims continued to pour in at levels not seen since the Great Depression.

The only people who believed in such nonsense were the clinically insane, mentally-challenged, and just plain gullible sheep-people who populated most of urban America.

When you have people like Klaus Schwaub, founder and director of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling for a Great Reset, well-informed people will quickly come to the realization that "reset" and "recovery" are nearly diametrically-opposed conceptual constructs which cannot, in the real world, be reconciled in an orderly manner.

Taking an analogy of a sick patient, a doctor seeing recovery would find the patient's blood counts improved, breathing more relaxed and natural, color gradually returning to cheeks, and generally better overall mood and bodily function. In the case of a reset, the patient, in a prone position on a hospital bed, wheezes all night, heart rate slows, bodily functions cease functioning until put on life support, pumped with experimental drugs and blood transfusions until reaching a level of functional sustainability with the help of more drugs, stimulants, and maybe a catheter to control the effusion of toxins.

The recovered patient would gradually return to pre-existing condition without after-effects. The reset patient would be molded and coaxed into a condition of dependency on medicine or other ambulatory devices dissimilar to the prior, pre-illness condition.

Instead of a recovery to a so-called "new normal," a reset is where the US and global economies are headed. The promise to "Build Back Better" so often flouted by the elite super-structuralists who view globalization, slavish adherence to dictates, and overt population control as panacea for their new world order failed to mention that what they intend to build back will be better for them, but not necessarily so for the 99% of the world that will be forced to live under the thumb of their dominion.

So, it's crystal-ball-gazing time as the world tries to live out the remaining few days of 2020 without succumbing to depression, disease or starvation, all of which will be in-your-face elements of 2021.

In all seriousness, as bad as 2020 was and continues to be, 2021 is likely to be even worse for a majority of people not in the big club of politicians, bankers, and propagandists otherwise known as the mainstream media.

The year of 2021 will be marked by even more scary stories about diseases led by the CV-19 strain mutating into more virulent forms, government non-legal mandates growing exponentially, economic and mental depression, and living conditions unlike anything seen since the 1930s.

Nothing will be "back to normal." Facial coverings, masks, will likely be mandated to even larger swaths of society. Money will become scarce, the government forced to issue more $600, $1200, or $2000 checks to those deemed worthy of a pittance of hope. The stock market will continue going up until some realization of where exactly we are and where we are all headed (hint: gates of hell) becomes accepted and normative. At that point, one of the greatest economic collapses of all time will commence. 2020 was only a prelude to the actual disaster awaiting in 2021.

There will be no recovery so long as individuals are mandated to do as the government wishes and compliance is high, as it is today, clearly expressed by the preponderance of mask-wearers, social-distancers, and bleating, frightened sheep-people clamoring for more more government benefits, bailouts, buyouts, and biscuits.

Government employees at all levels - local, state, federal - will be well-compensated for their strict adherence to mandates and control over the rest of society. Go to a bank, a school, a police precinct, a court, or any government office and the smug, down-looking attitude of the drone-like civil servants will be obsequious and unrelenting.

You will be told endlessly to do things you would otherwise be opposed to: wear a mask, don't touch anything or anybody, get immunized, carry your papers, be searched, stripped of your rights, dehumanized. The planet will be reduced to a global plantation where you are the slave and the government is the master, the exact opposite of life prior to the pandemic.

Not that everybody will willingly accept what the government, the medical community, and the media is thrusting upon society, there will be protesters, civil disturbances, rule-benders, law-breakers, mass shootings, mass incarcerations, arson, robberies, rapes, murders, looting, and destruction of everything, everywhere. It's not going to be pretty and there's no escaping it other than by individual action as there is no organized resistance. And, even if there were, it would be crushed under the boot of the new tyranny in short order.

If you're thinking that 2020 was other-worldly, just wait until you see what's in store for 2021. It will be like traveling into a different dimension, a twilight zone of despondency, despair, and depression. Klaus Schwaub says, “You will own nothing and you will be happy.” Good luck with that as a leading indicator.

Happy New Year? Not just yet. Some rays of hope and streams of instruction tomorrow in the final 2020 post at Money Daily.

At the Close, Tuesday, December 29, 2020:
Dow: 30,335.67, -68.30 (-0.22%)
NASDAQ: 12,850.22, -49.20 (-0.38%)
S&P 500: 3,727.04, -8.32 (-0.22%)
NYSE: 14,397.92, -7.85 (-0.05%)

Trump Signs CR, COVID-19 Relief Bills, Markets Soar To Record Highs

As 2020, the year from hell, grinds to a close, there was no slowing the Santa Claus rally as all of the major US indices closed at record highs, with the exception of the NYSE Composite, which fell short of the 14,516.73 close on December 17.

The indices took differing paths to greatness. The Dow and spiked early and made the high of the day mid-morning, slumping afterwards, while the S&P meandered along a high plain after a boost at the open. NASDAQ stocks were up, then down, eventually turning in strong gains.

Monday's rally was largely the result of President Trump signing the continuing resolution (CR) which congress handed him - and he objected to - over the holiday weekend. The $2.3 trillion measure included a nearly $900 billion COVID relief bill, extending added unemployment insurance, rent and mortgage deferrals, while doling out millions and billions to states, schools, airlines, and assorted government welfare queens.

The president did promise to send congress a redlined copy of the legislation, singling out various items in the CR, notably, most of the foreign aid packages congress uses for bribery and cash payoffs, and other pork-barrel handouts to various federal agencies and special interests. While President Trump will likely make political hay whenever congress decides to ignore his "rescissions" on spending, his objections have no weight of law, becoming effectively just for political purposes.

Democrats "will reject any rescissions" submitted by the president, said Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-NY, in a statement.

Included in the COVID relief legislation are $600 checks to Americans earning less than $75,000, with similar amounts for qualifying dependents. The president and Democrats in the House lobbied for checks of $2000, but Senate and House Republicans were against the larger amount. During its Monday session, the House passed a stand-alone bill approving $2000 checks. The measure goes to the Senate, where passage is seen as slim, though still a possibility if certain Republicans shift their votes away from the usual conservative, austere bloc.

In any case, larger checks in the future seem almost a surety, and no doubt Wall Street is banking on such an outcome. More handouts and free money from the government is net positive for stocks, as it has been for years.

With full sessions Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, only three days remain to square up positions in 2020. Friday is January 1, New Year's Day. All markets will be closed.

Tuesday morning futures are pointing to another higher open, so expect this rally to extend into the year's end and likely beyond when trading resumes Monday, January 4. Stocks generally have been bid up every January, and there seems to be no impediment other than possible objections or other surprises related to the electoral collage vote for president and vice president on January 6.

For now, all appears to be smooth sailing.

Happy Holidays!

At the Close, Monday, December 28, 2020:
Dow: 30,403.97, +204.10 (+0.68%)
NASDAQ: 12,899.42, +94.69 (+0.74%)
S&P 500: 3,735.36, +32.30 (+0.87%)
NYSE: 14,405.77, +23.27 (+0.16%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Crosshairs On Congress; Max Keiser Parses Bitcoin; Keith Neumeyer Nudges Silver Rationing

Merry Christmas.

And here's hoping for a Happy New Year in 2021, because, to put it mildly, 2020 "kinda sucked."

The trouble that continues to build up in the global economy didn't happen overnight and it didn't happen because of CV-19. Problems in the global economy took decades to develop, mostly since the closing of the gold window by then-president Richard M. Nixon in August of 1971. The pandemic narrative that's been foisted upon the world's malleable and naive general population was the catalyst. Quarantines, masks, social distancing, and lockdowns were the manifestation.

More people will be irreparably harmed or killed by what follows CV-19 than the virus itself. That's not speculation. That's a fact that is already being verified. Food lines, shortages, mental disorders, spousal abuse, violent crime, rape, and murder are all rising dramatically as government's over-reaching response is wreaking havoc upon entire nations, down to cities and towns and neighborhoods.

In the end, it is everybody's fault. We elected people we thought were trustworthy, honest, forthright: people who would do the right thing for the general good.

We were wrong.

We were wrong to trust them and their legions of civil public sector zombies to guide us into the future, to make living easier. Instead, they shafted us at every opportunity, through taxation, fees, regulations, and favoring themselves and their supporters - major financial firms, global corporate donors, elite billionaire special interests - over the desires and needs of the general public.

Over the past nearly 50 years the betrayal has been gradually accelerating to the point at which it is nearly complete and that can be seen clearly in the stolen election, the lockdowns which boosted large corporations and public employees (all of whom continue to be paid handsomely) at the expense of private business and the general public. The idleness and willful ignorance of congress in first delaying passage of needed relief legislation, then fumbling of the same at the last minute while trying to tie the CV-19 to the general government appropriations bill (the continuing resolution) was not an accident, and, even if it was, it was unavoidable.

The bickering Democrats and Republicans don't actually have any moral or economic principle guiding them other then their quest to hold onto power. But, President Trump has pushed them to the limit by denying his signature on their bills, forcing the entire congress to miss their planned year-end holiday recess, to remain in Washington, DC, until satisfactory legislation can be achieved. It's very likely that it won't be. Congress is so massively contorted and corrupted that the chances of it passing meaningful, helpful relief and spending bills are practically nil. So consumed by greed, power, and self-absorbed narcissism, this congress may prove to be the one which eventually fails to fund even itself.

With both the House and Senate set to reconvene on Monday to sort things out, their last continuing resolution expiring that night, they're likely to complete work on a very short-term bill, something along the order of two weeks of funding for the federal government, similar to the last. The president should not sign it. He should allow the government to shut down. After all, practically the entire congress has conspired to get rid of him, so he might as well get rid of them. Shut them down. Take away all their perks, their guards, their security, their staffs, their offices, their phones, close the doors to the Capitol and send them packing. We'd all be better off.

As much as millions of Americans would applaud the actions described in the preceding paragraph, we all know it won't happen. Such raucous behavior and dictatorial actions are reserved for tin-pot, third world, banana republics. But, since congress has set us on a course for third-world status and a fruity future, why not just jump-start the process? If only it were that simple.

Congress will pass horrible bills that serve their intersests - like rehabbing the Kennedy Center, gender studies for Pakistan, graft to other foreign nations - and the president will decide whether to sign them or not, or leave them for his chosen successor to sort out, if such a path is the only one left.

On January 6, Vice President Mike Pence will submit certificates of election from all 50 states from the electoral college to a joint session of congress. However, because the results from some states are still disputed due to widespread irregularities and evidence of manipulation and cheating, seven states have submitted contested certificates: ones for Joe Biden, others for President Trump.

Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico have submitted certificates for both candidates, from the governors or secretaries of state and the legislatures, separately. How this plays out is a weighty matter which needs only a few courageous members of congress to object to any states' ballot. Such objection would then trigger debate on the floor and a vote for resolution. The congress could decide for one candidate or neither. If either candidate fails to receive the necessary 270 electoral college votes, the matter would shift to the House and the Congress, where each state's delegation receives one vote, winner take all, the House choosing the president, the senate choosing vice president. It could literally go either way.

With all of that hanging in the balance, the shortened trading week prior to Christmas was rather subdued as concerned stocks and bonds, practically silent for precious metals, as oil gained in price, and Bitcoin went absolutely ballistic before, during and beyond the holy day holiday.

Major US indices were split, with the Dow and NASDAQ gaining, the S&P and NYSE declining, though none significantly, all moving less then one percent in either direction. It was truly a week spent watching and waiting, squaring up or exiting positions and getting out of town for celebratory affairs.

Treasuries were equally unmoved, the short end of the curve stuck to the zero-bound, 10-year and 30-year yields off one and four basis points, to 0.94% and 1.66%, respectively.

Light sweet crude oil fell slightly, whipsawing from the prior Friday (Dec. 18) close of $49.10 per barrel to as low as $47.02, settling out at $48.30. The national average price of gas at the pump was $2.22 as of 12/21, the highest since mid-September. Pressure on oil and gas prices will abate after the holidays, as it almost always does. Demand is low, supply high. Just watch.

Standing out amongst all asset classes was cryptocurrency, specifically, Bitcoin, which has been rallying for months, nearly without exception, as he new money continues to be adopted by consumers and institutional investors alike. Traded continuously without taking breaks for nights, weekends, or holidays, Bitcoin traded in a range above $22,000 and below $24,000 from the 17th to 23rd of December, then accelerated into and post-holiday, breaking above $24,000, $25,000 and eventually, by Sunday morning, above $28,000. Coinbase charts the price as high as $28,387 early Sunday morning beforre backing off into the $27,000 range, making new highs over and over again.

The reserve currency of the crypto universe, as some call it, has been a spectacular performer all of 2020, but just in the past month has rallied from around $16,500 to current record levels.

Gold was static, closing out at $1,883.20, down only slightly from the prior week's close of $1888.90. Likewise, silver was narrowly traded, down pennies, from $26.03 to $25.91.

Finally, here is the survey of most recent prices for commonly-purchased gold and silver items on eBay (numismatics excluded, shipping included):

Item: Low / High / Average / Median

1 oz silver coin: 33.00 / 49.00 / 40.09 / 39.98
1 oz silver bar: 29.87 / 49.95 / 38.05 / 39.00
1 oz gold coin: 1,991.20 / 2,095.00 / 2,032.98 / 2,024.22
1 oz gold bar: 1,904.20 / 2,043.20 / 1,979.75 / 1,980.17

Premiums on gold, and especially on silver, remain extraordinarily high due to supply constraint with some dealers imposing limits on size per month or week. Suppression of the price by bullion banks, naked shorting commercials, and general scurrilous behavior in futures and spot markets continues, but recently has been less ferocious and having shorter effective durations.

Daniela Cambone of Stansberry Research has been conducting interviews with some of the titans of (for lack of a better term) alternative finance, releasing the series on Youtube recently. Together, they constitute some of the best thinking and opinion of the brightest minds outside of the mainstream media, which, by definition, are less conscripted or otherwise compromised.

First, this awesome interview with Max Keiser on the future of bitcoin and the demise of central banks:

And here's Keith Neumeyer espousing the glories of silver:

At the Close, Thursday, December 24, 2020:
Dow: 30,199.87, +70.04 (+0.23%)
NASDAQ: 12,804.73, +33.62 (+0.26%)
S&P 500: 3,703.06, +13.05 (+0.35%)
NYSE: 14,382.50, -16.11 (-0.11%)

For the Week:
Dow: +20.82 (+0.07%)
NASDAQ: +49.10 (+0.38%)
S&P 500: -6.35 (-0.17%)
NYSE: -85.32 (-0.59%)