Job creation was negative?

• Currencies rally on Friday, and gold gains in the overnight markets.

• Gold & Silver begin the week on the right foot!

Good Day... And a Marvelous Monday to you! WOW! What an absolutely beautiful weekend, weather-wise this past weekend! Nice and warm, not too hot, perfect in my book! My beloved Cardinals still can't hit, and lost 2 of 3 to the White Sox! UGH! We participated in a deck party Friday night, it was fun, with good friends, and lots of food! Whenever we have one of those, everyone is told not to bring so much, but they bring it anyway, so, then people like me stuff themselves! The great Leon Russell greets me this morning with his song: Back To The Island... 

The dollar was subjected to the weaker Jobs report on Friday, and that sent the euro streaking higher in the 1.07 handle... The beaten and forgotten Norwegian krone, traded back below 11, which to me is preposterous, that the krone is ever that weak! The BBDXY fell 3 index points on Friday after the BLS held their jobs jamboree, that showed that employment in April fell to 175,000, which was way off the expectations of 240,000, and way below March's 315,000... And get this... The BLS added 363,000 jobs to the surveys out of thin air, I might add!  

So, the way I do the math on jobs, is that April's jobs creation was a negative 48,000... I'm just stating the obvious here...  

But Gold & Silver couldn't find any traction to end the week, and Gold lost $2.10 to close at $2,301.70, and Silver lost 14-cents to close at $26.51... I know you all get very tired of reading me talk about the short paper traders, and I'm very sorry that I have to! These short paper traders are a plague on the markets... I would have to go back to school and study medieval history, on how the got rid of the Black plague, no wait! I remember! They quarantined people... hmm... I guess we've already done that and bought the t-shirt! 

There was this thought that circulated the markets on Friday, that this weaker jobs report could goose the Fed Heads to cut rates earlier than thought... I say balderdash! rates aren't going anywhere, until we get close to election time... 

I hate to sound so jaded about the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel and election time, but Janet Yellen made me that way, in 2015... I'm just saying...

Quickly attempting to squelch any widespread talk about a rate cut... Fed Head, Michelle Bowman was quick to say, "after looking at the results of the jobs report on Friday, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said in a speech that she remains “willing to raise the federal funds rate at a future meeting should the incoming data indicate that progress on inflation has stalled or reversed.”

And the dollar lost ground on Friday? I'm as confused about that as you are! We had a Fed Head talking about how we may need to hike rates, and the dollar loses ground? Not that I'm complaining here... Just stating what seems strange... 

The price of Oil has been on a slippery slope for the last two weeks, and Friday, last week, it fell another buck and ended the week with a $78 handle. Bonds got a boost with the thought that I talked about above, regarding a possible rate cut, and the 10-year's yield fell to 4.49%... 

In the overnight markets last night... The dollar is still hanging around, but the loss last Friday still remains, and the BBDXY starts the week at 1,251... The euro is pushing the envelope to higher levels, and the Eurozone received some good news for once this past weekend, when it was announced that Eurozone business activity expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year last month as a resurgence in the bloc's dominant services industry more than offset a deeper downturn in manufacturing, a survey showed. I don't think Germany, the Eurozone's largest economy, can survive too long without manufacturing, so there's some more work to do in the Eurozone... Strangely, suspicious is the rally in the Russian ruble, and Chinese renminbi... Not large rallies, but moves VS the dollar at a time when the dollar should be basking in the light of future rate hikes... I'm just saying...

Gold & Silver are kicking some tail to start the day/ week... Gold is up $19 in the early trading, and Silver is up 59-cents, and is back over $27... Let's hope it stays above that figure from here on out... No reason it shouldn't, but we always have those short paper traders lurking in the dark alleys... 

The Saudi's announced that they are raising the price of their Oil, and that news shocked the energy markets... The price of Oil didn't react too favorably on the news, as it remains in the $78 handle this morning... And the bond boys are crazy... I'm just saying that because, they took the Stupid Jobs report and ran with it around end, and to the house... I wouldn't base my trading on a report that is so hedonically adjusted like jobs is... But then that's just me, right? 

I saw a graph this past weekend that showed the Top 10 Financial Issues families are most worried about... 

1. Inflation/cost of living.

2. Cost of owning a home/rent.

3. Too much debt/ not enough money to pay debts.

4. Health Costs.

5. lack of money/low wages.

I only listed 5 because after 5 the numbers associated with the other 5 were miniscule... If I were running for President of this country, I would takes steps to alleviate each of those items, or show plans to do so, you know like Ronald Reagan used to do with his charts, so that everyone understood what would happen and how it would effect them. 

Those top 5 items are devastating to a person's finances... And like I keep telling you, it appears to me that the U.S. consumer is tapping out, as they have resorted to putting all their spending on credit cards... That doesn't have a nice ending, and there will be tears... mark my words...  

Ok, so that we all understand what fueled Gold's instant rise so far this year... First of all it was the report that Global Central Bank buying was huge last year...  Then we had China buying Gold like there's no tomorrow, and not just the Chinese Gov't, but also the Chinese people. and finally, we have the BRIC's countries dumping dollars and buying Gold...  

The Good Folks at GATA sent me this: " Nations retreating from the U.S. dollar, especially those aligned with the BRICS group, will continue to require more gold for their international trade, London metals trader Andrew Maguire says in this week's "Live from the Vault" program from Kinesis Money.

Last week's attack on gold by the U.S. Federal Reserve will quickly prompt more official buying, Maguire says."

Chuck again... long ago, many years ago, a very wise man told me that I should listen to what Andrew Maguire says about Gold... So, now you know how I feel about this statement, what say you? 

The U.S. Data Cupboard this week is pretty emptied out... There's some 2nd and 3rd tier reports this week, but nothing that's market moving, in my opinion... Last week's Jobs Jamboree also had something that was interesting to me, at least... The Hourly Wages on an annual basis grew at 3.9% in the past year... That's not outrageous in any stretch of the imagination. It's about middle of the road, not bad, but not good... 

Another print last week that was interesting was the first quarter Productivity report... You may recall the fourth quarter's whopping 3.2% gain? Well that was ballyhooed and hyped up to frenzy... But then along came the Productivity for the first quarter, and it was only up .3%... That's a Huge swing, and apparently, those that are working, aren't working very hard right now... 

To recap... The dollar lost some ground on Friday last week, and Chuck is scratching his bald head as to why? Fed Head Bowman is leaning toward a rate hike... Gold & Sliver still can't find a bid... And the Oil price is on the slipper slope... Andrew Maguire makes a visit to the Pfennig this morning, and you won't want to miss today's FWIW article... 

For What It's Worth... I found this article a week ago, saved it, and then forgot about it... This is about how Americans make enough money to disqualify them from handouts, but not enough to pay for rent and food.

Here's your snippet: "Imagine making just enough money at your job that you don't qualify for food stamps or disability payments, but not enough to afford rent and healthcare. That would make you an ALICE.

ALICEs — or Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — is a term coined by United Way's United For ALICE program to describe Americans who work and make more than the Federal Poverty Level for a family of four of $31,200, or $15,060 for an individual, but who struggle to pay for basic needs.

Many ALICEs are workers whose wages typically aren't enough to cover their bills, meaning they live paycheck to paycheck. Some are forced to sacrifice rent payments for food or childcare for medical appointments.

About 29% of US households are ALICE, while 13% are below the Federal Poverty Level, according to United For ALICE's calculations using data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and United Way's estimates for how much a family needs to get by.

Many government initiatives have tried to help people rise out of poverty. Still, as Stephanie Hoopes, national director at United For ALICE, told BI, the Federal Poverty Level is outdated in many ways, as it doesn't account for regional differences and the changing proportion of people's budgets that go to food. Hoopes also said that less attention is paid to assisting those who are better off financially but still can't invest in their futures.

For the most part, poverty shares across the US have been falling — something that, on its face, seems like good news for American workers. And while those measures might reach the most financially distressed Americans, the benefit cut-offs leave behind the still-precarious group of ALICEs."

Chuck again... These folks will become drains on the economy, folks... I sure hope none of you are in this category... I trust that isn't possible since you read this letter and you have been aware of this inflation, rising prices, and debt mess for some time... 

Market Prices 5/6/2024: American Style: A$.6629, kiwi .6029, C$ .7313, euro 1.0772, sterling 1.2577, Swiss $1.1046, European Style: rand 18.5305, krone 10.8305, SEK 10.8050, forint 351.58, zloty 4.0140, koruna 23.2143, RUB 91.24, yen 153.79, sing 1.3503, HKD 7.8158, INR 83.49, China 7.2073, peso 16.93, BRL 5.0724, BBDXY 1,251.30, Dollar Index 105.04, Oil $78.83, 10-year 4.48%, Silver $27.15, Platinum $965.00, Palladium $963.00, Copper $4.63, and Gold... $2,320.15.

That's it for today... yesterday was Cinco de Mayo... Every year since 1998, when I traveled to Cancun, I tell this story, here goes: We were walking in a plaza in Cancun, and a guitar player had a sound system set up so when he played he had the drums, etc. also playing... He began to play Dust In the Wind by Kanas, and recognizing this, I saw a microphone and grabbed it began to sing along... The guitar player didn't mind, and the crowd gathered around, and afterward, he gave me his CD that he had for sale... Derek and the Dominos take us to the finish line today with Eric Clapton's most famous song: Layla...  a real rock classic! I hope you have a Marvelous Monday today, and please... Be Good To Yourself!