What did the FOMC do now?

• Currencies & metals rebound on Tuesday... 

• The price of Oil continues to rebound... 

Good Day… And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Tomorrow is Opening Day in Baseball! I’ve long said that Opening Day should be a national Holiday! But, I’m a dying breed of Americans that believe that Baseball is our National Pastime, the way for fathers and sons (& daughters) to bond, by playing catch, and going to games and learning how to keep score… I like the new speedup rules in baseball, as long as they don’t impede a player’s ability to get ready to pitch or hit! But that’s tomorrow, Opening Day, that is, and I’ll be like a kid at Christmas… And no team does Opening Day like the St. Louis Cardinals! America greets me this morning with their song: This Is For All The Lonely People…

I figure all the times during the year, that I get left alone, that could be my theme song! HA!

Well, when I left you yesterday, I was wondering if the currency and metals traders and participants would get right back on the horse, an ride it into the sunset, or… would they cower under the weight of the PPT, and paper traders (price manipulators)… Well, it was the former of the two.. .The dollar, which was sold overnight, Sunday night, continued to get sold throughout the day yesterday, bringing its day to show a 6 index point loss in the BBDXY… And Gold, got back on the rally horse, and gained $17.50 on the day to close at $1,974.90, and Silver gained 26-cents to close at $23.42…

I think the fact that traders and participants went right back to work selling dollars, and buying metals, is proof that the PPT and paper traders were in the markets last week… Not that I needed any proof that they were in on Friday! 

In the overnight markets last night… The dollar selling faded out, but no new dollar buying took its place. The BBDXY is up 1 index point overnight, so no biggie there… Gold, however, is down $8 in the early trading today, probably some profit taking there, so let’s hope that’s all there is to this early morning trading. Silver is down 4-cents this morning, The price of Oil continues to rally and is within spitting distance of $74 this morning, and the 10-year is stuck in the mud at 3.55% 

Well, leave to The FOMC to makes statements under the cover of radar… Check this out:” Projections released on last Wednesday morning revealed that officials from the Federal Reserve expect a significant rise in the US unemployment rate by the end of this year. While the current unemployment rate is at 3.6 percent, Fed’s officials expect it to reach 4.5 percent, meaning that millions of US citizens could lose their jobs over the next few months as the country’s economy grapples with the consequences of the current banking crisis and interest rate hikes affect the economy.

OMG! I can’t believe they came out with that the day they were to hike rates for the 9th consecutive time later that day!  But then they do feel like they are Gods… And that they control our future… Well, if they are in charge of our future, I’m just sure I want to be part of it! Oh well, one of these days, someone with far more gray matter than I, will come up with a better hula-hoop for the economy that by passes the Fed/ Cabal/ Cartel… Let’s hope they are in the pipeline, because we need them now!

I read an article this morning that talked about abolishing the Fed... Now that would be something to get behind, wouldn't it? When I was a young man I used to answer the phone at home by saying "Impeach Nixon"... If I were still a young man I would change that answer to "Abolish the Fed"... 

Changing gears here… I was talking with a friend the other day, who’s from Canada… She was in agony about the cheap level of the Canadian dollar VS the USD… I told her that I was actually surprised that the loony had retained its level above 73 cents, given the results from the new Trudeau Budget last week… Spending out of control, and taxation widening… A bad combination for a currency… I then mentioned that the people of Canada should be rethinking their votes for Trudeau…And I could tell she was getting a little hot under the collar at that last statement from me, so I stopped and said, “Well, a currency is the stock of a country… And walked away…

OK… remember when I told you that it was not a good thing, when China’s leader, Xi, met with Saudi officials? Well, this last week there was news that China will build a refinery for Saudi Aramco…. Now that’s cooperation, and will lead to Saudi oil being sold to China… and not in dollars! Could this be the beginning of the end to the petrol dollar? And instead be called the Petrol Renminbi?  I sure hope not, but, China could provide the security to the Saudis, just like the U.S. does… and you don’t see the U.S. over in Saudi Arabia building a refinery… I’m just saying…

Well, as I’ve told you for years now, the euro is the offset currency to the dollar, and when traders go to sell dollars, the main beneficiary of those dollar sales is the euro… And a year ago, the euro was as low as 1.05, since then the dollar has been weaker, especially this year, and the euro has recovered to 1.08 and change… I would expect the euro to return to 1.10 should the dollar selling that’s going on now, continue to reflect dollar weakness…

And one more thing to talk about today and that is the fact that the Fed Heads are performing QE once again, under the cover of darkness… Their balance sheet grew by a large amount earlier this month, so much for reducing their balance sheet, eh? This to me, is the first step by the Fed Heads to put an end to their rate hikes… Remember what I had told you, that the reduction of their Balance Sheet, or QT, was the same as rate hikes? Well, if they stop doing those rate hikes, then the actual physical rate hike stopping won’t be far behind… I’m just saying…

Oh, and that would be a HUGE boost for Gold… Got Gold?

I just watched the sun rise out of the ocean with no clouds or marine layer obstructing it… And orange orb, that peeks over the ocean and then emerges out of it, and lights up the day… Simply beautiful!

The U.S. Data Cupboard doesn’t have anything worth looking at today, and the same holds true tomorrow, we won’t see real economic data until Friday when the Feb reports for Personal Income and Spending are printed, and the PCE (personal Consumption Expenditures) will print… But I’ll be packing for home on Friday, so I’ll pick it up over the weekend, when I get all hooked up again back home.

To recap… The dollar was getting sold yesterday morning from the overnight markets, and that selling was picked up in the U.S. session and continued throughout the day… The BBDXY lost 6 index points, and Gold rebounded from Friday’s trip to the woodshed with a gain of $17.50, and Silver gained 26-cents!  The FOMC made some nasty forecasts for Employment that you didn’t hear about except from me!

For What It’s Worth… Well, I’ve stated my case against Cryptocurrencies in the past, so I wont’ go down that rabbit hole again today… But what I have for you in the FWIW section today is an article on Bloomberg.com about how Binance crypto firm is in some deep dookie, along with the CFTC (commdoities exchange) and other firms that had dealing with Binance…

Here’s your snippet: “A top US regulator’s case against Binance Holdings Ltd. is mushrooming well beyond Changpeng Zhao’s company and rattling American firms that officials say worked with the exchange to trade crypto.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s scrutiny of arrangements that three trading firms had with the exchange has already sent chills across an industry, which relies on US licenses to make markets for securities. The firms weren’t identified in the CFTC’s lawsuit.

The stakes are particularly high for American trading firms because even as many have dabbled in crypto, equities and other more traditional assets remain their bread and butter. A serious regulatory misstep could have repercussions on their broader ability to conduct business.

“The risks to US firms are far greater than the risk to Binance,” said Urska Velikonja, a professor at Georgetown Law. “The big risk to them is the ‘lights out’ risk that they lose their license to operate as broker-dealers in the US.”

Chuck again… I know it seems that I only ever produce articles that are negative toward cyrptos… And that would be correct, because all I ever read is pro-cyrptos, and there needs to be some balance!

Market Prices 3/29/2023: American Style: A$ .6674, kiwi .6234, C$ .7355, euro 1.0854, sterling 1.2347, Swiss $1.0886, European Style: rand 18.1097, krone 10.3982, SEK 10.3902, forint 349.57, zloty 4.3170, koruna 21.7717, RUB 76.09, yen 131.93, sing 1.3291, HKD 7.8499, INR 82.33, China 6.8850, peso 18.16, BRL 5.1667, BBDXY 1,230.50, Dollar Index 102.46, Oil $73.98, 10-year 3.55%, Silver $23.25, Platinum $959.00, Palladium $1,452.00, Copper $4.06, and Gold… $1,966.73.

That’s it for today… This sure is a crazy world we’re living in these days… if you went out to dinner at a restaurant, you would look around and think, well, the U.S. economy must be doing well, because this restaurant is packed! But that’s the illusion that’s going on folks… The economy is in the danger zone, and I’m not talking about the song from Top Gun 1… Crazy, world… Our soccer team, St. Louis City SC… is 5-0, and coming back home for a match this Saturday… Grandson Everett, and dad Jerry, will be going to the game in my seats, which I understand is a misnomer…  Because everyone stands the whole game! UGH! I wonder what it is that paid for? Standing room only, or seats?  The Moody Blues take us to the finish line today with their great song: I’m Just A Singer (in a rock and roll band)… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!