Irish branded gold bars to be sold for the first time

• Currencies and metals fight back on Monday.

• But the overnight markets beat them down again.

Good Day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! What a show last night! The All-Star Game Home Run Derby, was quite the spectacle for my eye, don’t know about your eyes, but for my one lone eye it was quite the feast for a baseball lover like me! I should have known when I filled out my HR Derby Bracket, that the favorite, would not win… Congrats to The Mets’ Pete Alonso, for his repeat HR Derby Championship. I’ve watched the HR Derby every years since it began and this year’s Derby was the best, with the only challenge coming from the year Mark McGwire was hitting balls out on the streets of Boston! I think I’m over my virus that was shared with me by little Evie, as I ate some cheese & crackers last night with no problems… So, now I can get back to wondering what the hells is “ Advanced sphenoethmoid sinusitis, how I got it, and how not to get it again!’ The Box Tops greet me this morning with their song: The Letter… A classic 60’s song!

Well it took most of the day on Monday to reverse what the overnight markets had done to the currencies and metals, but in the end the dollar was getting sold, Silver was in the green, and Gold was only down $1.40 on the day, after being down as much as $10 in the early trading… The euro recovered, the A$ recovered, the franc recovered, and so did the loonie, which had fallen below 80-cents for the first time in a month of Sundays, last week, but has since recovered back above 80-cents… And since I mentioned the franc, I have to admit that while the euro & sterling go through gyrations nearly every day, the old Swiss Franc seems to be oblivious to these gyrations…

So… as I just said above, Gold fought and fought to get to positive territory yesterday, only to come up a $1.40 short on the day… That put Gold’s closing at $1,807.50… But Silver did reverse the tables on the price manipulators, and ended the day up 13-cents, to close the day at $26.31… I searched and searched yesterday for something that would tell me why Gold was getting sold in the early markets, but since I didn’t find anything, I can put that down to the price manipulators taking back the gains that Gold booked late last week… Have I told you lately just how much I thoroughly dislike these price manipulators? There is a Silver lining here though, and that is they do keep Gold’s price from getting out of hand for investors… But when investors don’t take advantage of these buying opportunities, I don’t feel sorry for them, if at some later time they decide they need to buy Gold and it’s $2,000…

In the overnight markets last night… What the heck is going on in the Asian and European markets? Again last night, the dollar was bought, and pushed back the gains the currencies made during the U.S. session yesterday. It just doesn't make sense to me... these are the countries that have Central Banks backing up their trucks to load up on physical Gold because they see what's going on in the U.S., but then they turn around and buy dollars? Makes no sense to me, folks, and I've been around currencies since 1991...  

Ok, on the inflation front... Yesterday the NFIB Small Business Index printed, but that wasn't the BIG news... In the reports from the Small Business we got a clear picture of the cost and supply pressures that are affecting small businesses.

Per the latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Survey, 47% of respondents are currently planning to raise prices. That’s the highest such number since 1981. And quite frankly, I'm surprised it's only 47%... I would think the number should be around 95%, for cost and supply pressures are really rising, folks... And they won't be turned around quickly in anyone's imagination, even Paul Krugman's! 

So, have you heard the news of what's going on in Minnesota or Minnesnowta (what my former boss called it) ? Well, you knw that there's been talk of Universal Basic Income (UBI) here in the U.S. and I've gone crazy against that idea, right? Well in the state of Minnesota they are doing a trial run of UBI... And no I'm not kidding... Apparently, about 200 families will get as much as $500 a month for two years in the latest city program to test unrestricted cash payments. And the money comes from the Federal Gov't... Which means... tax payer money, because the Federal Gov't doesn't have money to send to the state for this ridiculous boondoggle... The Federal Gov't could print it... But I don't see that as what's happening here... They're using tax payer funds to pay people for their votes... That's how I see it..

Ok, onto uplifting... I pulled this from Bloomberg.com this morning, as I thought it was funny... probably not funny for those in this situation, but funny to me because this is what happens when you lay on the couch, in the A/C eating chocolate bon bons, watching NetFlix...  Here's the snippet: "Americans who soothed themselves with calorie-laden comfort foods are frantically trying to slim down for the perfect office bod. Gym memberships are up, personal trainers are booked and digital subscriptions to WW, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers, were 16% higher at the end of the first quarter from a year earlier."

Chuck again... I remember that when the shut down began a writer said that Americans will either become alcoholics or great chefs... he needed to add one... overweight lazybones... 

The GATA folks sent me a note yesterday that caught my eye immediately… the note was title: Irish branded Gold bars to go on sale for the first time….    Now if you have an ounce of Irish in your blood, you are probably like me and very interested in this story! So, that story will be in the FWIW section today, don’t miss it!

So, yesterday I was just doing some research and came across an article on FX Daily.com that talked about how they worried that a spike in inflation that would show up in the stupid CPI print this morning, could cause a rush to Bonds, and fears of higher interest rates, which wouldn’t be good for Gold… I got to thinking about that… and while I will give them that higher interest rates are usually good for Gold, you have to go back to the 70’s to see it differently… Oh, those 70’s again, right? Yes… Look I was a both a teenager and adult in the 70’s so I recall what went on then more than I do 20 years ago! I was in a trivia contest and one of the categories was “the 90’s”… I knew nothing! I can tell you that NAFTA came on in the 90’s, and that Alex was born in the 90’s, and beyond that… nothing! Oh, I started the Pfennig in 1992! But I doubt that’s on any trivia roster of questions! 

Ok, getting back to my thought on higher interest rates and Gold, back in the 70’s… Gold experienced one of its glory decades going from $41 in 1970, to $850 in 1980… But in reality, individuals weren’t allowed to buy Gold until Jan 1, 1975… But the point I’m trying to make here is that Gold rallied even in the face of 18% interest rates in the U.S. The runaway inflation carried a bigger stick than interest rates in determining the price of Gold!

Man I sure went the long way to get to the point there didn’t I? Oh well… as I’ve told you before, once these fat fingers get flying, watch out!

On a sidebar… I was very upset to hear that a 3rd shot may be needed to combat the new variant of COVID 19… I’m hoping that doesn’t come to newsstand near me… I’m just saying.

The U.S. Data Cupboard today has the aforementioned stupid CPI (consumer price index) which in June had risen to .7% a huge jump from May’s number… So, it’ll be interesting to see what the folks at the BLS say about CPI this month… Not that whatever they do conjure up it won’t be anywhere near what you and I are experiencing in inflation… That’s a given! The Federal Budget is supposed to print today also, but… like past times, if the numbers haven’t been massaged and cooked enough, they’ll not print until ready…

To recap… The currencies and metals fought all day to recover what was lost in the overnight trading the night before… But for the most part they did, with only Gold not able to get back to flat and lost $1.40 on the day… No biggie… Silver was able to get back above water on the day, along with the euro, A$, franc, etc.  Chuck does a long dissertation on why higher interest rates doesn’t always mean that they are bad for Gold…  And Ireland is going to sell for the first time, Irish branded gold bars! How about that!

For What It’s Worth….  Well, I teased you above about the Irish branded Gold Bars, and now I have to produce the story! No worries, I’ve got it right here in my back pocket! When I saw this article I sent the link to Ed Steer, and then remembered that he was a board member of GATA, and that he had probably had already seen it, and he responded that he had, and that he had it queued up for his letter Tuesday.

Here’s your snippet: “People will be able to give the gift of the gold as Irish-branded gold bars go on general sale for the first time following an agreement between one of the country’s oldest institutions and a bullion dealership in the capital.

The Dublin Assay Office – overseen by The Company of Goldsmiths of Dublin – was established 384 years ago and assays and hallmarks articles of precious metals sold in Ireland.

The Dublin Assay Office Gold Bullion Bars being made available are 999.9 parts per thousand fine gold and are the only Irish-branded gold bars available on the market.

They can be purchased through Dublin-based Core Bullion Traders in 10g, 1oz, 50g and 100g investment-grade bullion bars.

Based on the current market price of gold, a 1oz Dublin Assay Office branded gold bullion bar would cost in the region of 1,590 euro.

Core Bullion Traders’ Head of Trading believes that they will be a big attraction among the Irish abroad, who want a connection to their native land.”

Chuck again… My Irish eye is smiling… Hello, Tim Smith? Hey Tim can you get me some of these Irish branded Gold Bars? (for those of you new to class Tim Smith is my metals guru, and he can be reached at 1-800-926-4922).

Market prices 7/13/2021: American Style: A$ .7475, kiwi .6974, C$ .8008, euro 1.1836, sterling 1.3845, Swiss $1.0905, European style: rand 14.5389, krone 8.7027, SEK 8.6058, forint 301.23, zloty 3.8093, koruna 21.6603, RUB 74.44, yen 110.26, sing 1.3522, HKD 7.7649, INR 74.44, China 6.4739, peso 19.90, BRL 5.2079, BBDXY 1,142.51, Dollar Index 92.39, Oil $74.32, 10-year 1.35%, Silver $26.18, Platinum $1,121.00, Palladium $2,943.00, Copper $4.18, and Gold... $1,809.80.

That’s it for today… I was busy yesterday, getting stuff taken care of before I leave for vacation next week… And every time I thought I had taken care of every thing, my wife reminded me of something else that needed to be taken care of… I hadn’t taken my meds for two days, because I knew my stomach would not deal with them, and so I got back on the meds wagon last night… I don’t think two days without was harmful to me… All but Alex will be with us this vacation… So, it’s not going to be a cheap vacation! HA! I didn’t get a nap yesterday, so I was more than ready for sleep last night after the HR Derby! I was very disappointed this morning when I stepped on the scale, I hadn’t really eaten anything for two days, and I hadn’t lost a pound! UGH! I basically shut down for two days, so that’s probably the reason I didn’t lose any pounds… UGH! Three Dog Night takes us to the finish line today with their song: Mama Told Me Not To Come… Now there’s one you probably haven’t heard in a while! I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday, and will Please Be Good To Yourself!