Where's my safe deposit box?

• Metals have a banner day on Wednesday.
• But in the overnight markets they see selling.

Good Day... And a Tub Thumpin' Thursday to one and all! I have another very long FWIW for you today, so same-o, same-o stuff for the Pfennig today and then the FWIW article... I don't like to have the FWIW article have so much of the letter, but these last two days, they've been at the top of my mind, and ergo, the longer than usual FWIW articles... I'll return next week with normal Pfennigs, and a lot of Chuck speak, so get ready for that! Uriah Heep greets me this morning with their great song: Stealin'.

Well, the dollar didn't gain again yesterday and instead gave back 1 index point in the BBDXY to 1,210. The Data yesterday indicates that the Fed Heads might have to cool the economy a bit this year with rate hikes... The November Retail Sales came in at +.6% yesterday... Yes, Nov. Was the beginning of the Christmas Sales so there's that! Housing Starts were up too 5.1%, and the PPI (wholesale inflation) was up 3% year on year in Nov. I'm not saying that the economy is roaring, what I'm saying is that the economy is good in parts and not good in other parts with more other parts being the key here... And when I say the Fed Heads might need to apply the brakes later this year, I'm really addressing those parts that are going good.

Gold & Silver took off for the moon yesterday, with Silver outperforming Gold once again. Silver gained $5.93 to close at $93.35, and Gold gained $50 to close at $4,627... Pretty amazing what these metals have done in the last year and less than a month... The thing that caught my attention is that it seemed to me that the Short metals paper traders were going to step in front of this runaway bus and stop their respective gains... 

The price of Oil dipped back below the $61 handle yesterday, and closed at $60.20... The 10-year Treasury saw some additional buying yesterday as its yield dropped to 4.14%.

In the overnight markets last night... The dollar drifted around and stayed within the 1,210 figure in the BBDXY. And before I retired last night, I did a quick check on the metals and saw that they were getting hammered. I said to myself, "looks like the SPTs are having their way with the metals" I absolutely loved this line from Ed Steer, talking about the manipulation in the metals... " The price management has been so obvious recently, that even Stevie Wonder could see it." 

Ed goes on to say, "And as Ted Butler pointed out on more than one occasion over the years..."one must never underestimate their treachery"...as they are strong with the dark side of The Force."  

But as the night went on, the selling abated and the SPTs made the downward move look like profit taking... Gold is down $11 to start our day today, and Silver is down $2.38... When you outperform on the upside, you get to outperform on the downside too... The old, what's good for the Goose thing.

The price of Oil remained trading with a $60 handle overnight, and the 10-year starts today trading with a 4.14% yield...  See? Even the bond boys are on board with the idea that the interest rate will be cut a couple of times in 20226... 

This brief new mini rally by the dollar has me stumped... All the talk about interest rates is centered around the idea of more rate cuts coming in 2026, so where's the "looking forward" for traders? Gets me, for sure... The mini rally has to be the PPT and their exchange stabilization funds making certain that the dollar doesn't fall into a chasm... an abyss... a hole that it can't climb out of! 

That day will come, I do believe, that no amount of funds in the ESF is going to help the dollar, but in this case, we have to be patient, and amass our Gold & Silver holdings to make sure we're diversified and that our protection against a falling dollar is in place... You can do this by contacting my old metals guru, Tim Smith at Battle Bank... Yes, he's there now, and I'm so happy that he got out of the clutches of EverBank (TIAA).

Do you recall me saying over and over again about how the higher interest rates that we had for a short period were going to really cause the U.S. to have to spend more on bond servicing (interest) than ever? Well, the U.S. has hit that target right smack dab on the nose... This from Forbes.com "Treasury spent $276 billion in interest on the national debt in the final three months of 2025, says the CBO—up $30 billion from a year prior.  Uh-Oh! Mom, it's happening! Our Empire is going to be circling the bowl soon... Are you ready?

One of these days... Yes, one of these days I'm going to report to you that the SPT's have given up the ship and are allowing gains in the metals without intervention... But, until then, we will have to endure days like this where the SPTs take over the metals and their prices for the day.... I say, to just either ignore the SPTs or, just used their cheaper value to buy more metals... I'm just saying.

Well, I don't know if this falls under Data or just plain stupid information, but I read in Ed Steer's letter yesterday that: "I received a phone call from Dr. Dave Janda yesterday -- and he informed me that JPMorgan is closing its safety deposit box program on a national level at all its banks in all states of the Union. All box holders must clear them out by April 2. I just can't imagine why they're doing it -- and I'm wondering what excuse they're going to dream up, because it's a pure profit center for them ...as it is for any bank."

Chuck again... I think that JPM will find that there are boxes that remain and no one claims them, then they can take them over... At least that's my thought on why their doing this... What's yours? I don't believe in keeping anything in a bank's safe deposit box... Remember the Canadian Truckers? That wasn't that long ago... And there are stories of coming into a bank and finding the whole wall of safe deposit boxes gone... YIKES! Well, this is a public service announcement... Should you find the bank has done nefarious things with your safe deposit box, there are lawyers who specialize in these proceedings... contact one and have at the bank! 

So, I do know that this does.... from Reuters.com: "High-end department store conglomerate Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection in one of the largest retail collapses since the pandemic, barely a year after a deal that brought Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus ‌under the same roof." 

Chuck again... WOW! See what I mean that some areas of the economy aren't doing so well?

The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had all the prints I talked about above and then some... Today, we will see the color of the Initial Weekly Jobless Claims and that's it... There is a plethora of Fed Heads out talking today, so more lies will be put upon us to deal with.

To recap... What a grand day for the metals yesterday, only to have the stuffing knocked out of them by the SPTs in the overnight markets... Gold & Silver were knocked backward last night, after setting new all-time records for price during the day. Chuck suggests that you either batten down the hatches, or dip your toes in the cheaper prices for the metals this morning... The selling of the metals could have also been tied up in that index rebalancing I told you about on Monday this week. Either way, it won't be long before the metals get right back on their rally horses.... I would think any way.

Here's your snippet: "Several money experts have sounded the alarm, warning that today’s economy isn’t as strong as some headlines suggest. Although the stock market continues to hit record highs, those gains are concentrated among a small group of companies, according to financial influencer Jaspreet Singh.

But that’s not all. The average American, Singh said, is slowly becoming poorer as prices rise due to inflation and the job market continues to slow down due to artificial intelligence.

Only a few companies carry the stock market

“The news keeps talking about how corporations are seeing record profits, which is helping the stock market break new record highs,” said Singh in his YouTube video. “But we’re actually seeing a divergence here where a few select companies are carrying the market while the rest of the stock market is actually slowing down.”

More specifically, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — collectively known as the “Magnificent Seven” — grew earnings by about 14.9% in the third quarter of 2025, Singh said.

By comparison, the other 493 companies in the S&P 500 grew earnings by just 6.7%. While the Magnificent Seven are growing much faster than the historical 10-year average quarterly growth rate of 9.2%, the remaining companies are growing significantly more slowly.

While the Magnificent 7 are growing much faster than the historical 10-year average quarterly growth rate of 9.2%, the other 493 are growing much more slowly.

The broader market is falling behind

The concern isn’t that some companies are outperforming others, Singh explained. The warning sign is that most of the market is growing more slowly than usual, while just seven companies are propping it up.

“These seven companies by themselves make up around 33% of the entire value of the S&P 500,” Singh said. “And this is where things start to become risky because if one of these seven companies doesn’t do good, not only is it bad for that company and those employees, but now it could bring down the entire stock market because it has such a big weight relative to the general stock market.”

J.P. Morgan predicts that the Magnificent 7 will see roughly 20% earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2026, a faster rate than the S&P 500’s 13% to 15% EPS, as reported by Forbes.

Easy money is inflating risk

Another concern Singh raised was whether we’re in a stock market bubble, since only a few high-valuation companies drive the market."

Chuck again.. See? Exactly what I've been saying all along! The economy is good in parts but very bad in others and a lot of others! And the debt is the number one problem, followed by inflation... I'm just saying.

Market Prices 1/15/2026: American Style: A$ .6692, kiwi .5745, C$ .7194, euro 1.1634, sterling 1.3416, Swiss $1.2487, European Style: rand 16.3622, krone 10.0687, SEK 9.1858, forint 331.26, zloty 3.6180, koruna 20.8535, RUB 78.56, yen 158.45, sing 1.2894, HKD 7.7994, INR 90.29, China 6.9671, peso 17.78, BRL 5.3865, BBDXY 1,210, Dollar Index 99.18, Oil $60.01, 10-year 4.14%, Silver $90.97, Platinum $2,373.00, Palladium $1,831.00, Copper $6.00, and Gold.... $4,616.

That's it for today, and this week... There's a holiday on Monday so... no Pfennig... We'll pick it back up on Tuesday next week. My beloved Mizzou Tigers came home and played Auburn last night and won the game. Our St Louis Billikens also came home and won their game VS Fordham... I'm so glad that I can stream my TV provider from home, here and get the games! It's so much better to watch the games on my TV than my iPhone! Dennis Miller called last week, and we talked for a long time regarding what things could stop Silver. He wrote about that in his letter this week, so look for that today! Procol Harum takes us to the finish line today with their song: Whiter Shade of Pale... I hope you have a Tub Thumpin' Thursday today and Please Be Good To Yourself!