Russia and China BFF's

• Currencies & metals rally again on Tuesday.

• Poor, poor, pitiful, Powell.

Good Day... And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! Well, give them the chance and my beloved Cardinals will play down to their competition... They lost last night to the Rockies... Yes, I said the Rockies, a team that has only won 26 games so far this season, of which one of their wins is against the Cardinals! UGH! I had to deal with my streaming company all night last night, but finally go it straightened out! UGH! King Crimson greets me this morning with their classic rock song: In The Court of the Crimson King... I love this song!

Well, the dollar continued to get sold yesterday with the BBDXY posting a 4-index point loss and close in the U.S. at 1,196... The euro moved higher in the 1.17 handle, and the rest of the currencies gained some ground on the dollar... Yesterday I went through a couple of the laundry list of items that are weighing down the dollar, but most of all is this question that should be on the minds of everyone... "The Current Debt is $37 Trillion, and will keep going higher... How will we finance that debt when all the participants at the auction window don't show up? 

I wouldn't be surprised if an emergency bill went through congress that requires all investments in 401k's be in Treasuries...  Now that's just something that I dreamed up, it's not on the docket, but I wouldn't be surprised to see there one day in the future... 

Well, didn't I say yesterday that the negatives in Gold & Silver would probably turn around and be positive figures? And guess what Gold & Silver did yesterday? They turned those negative figures in price to positive ones, just like I thought they would! Gold gained $35 to close at $3,432, and Silver gained 36-cents to close at $39.35... That's back to a 14-year high for Silver, and quite frankly if the short paper traders hadn't genuflected on the news of a 14-year high last week, we would be well into the $40 handle this week... 

The price of Oil remained trading with a $66 handle yesterday, and the 10-year saw some buying, from those up-in-the-sky folks that are still leaving a light on for a rate cut next week... The 10-year Treasury's yield ended the day at 4.36%... 

In the overnight markets last night... the dollar slipped another index point in the BBDXY and starts today at 1,196... I've been surprised by the overnight markets not picking up the ball and running with it the last two sessions, as the dollar has gotten sold in the U.S. and Gold & Silver have rallied, but then the foreigners don't seem to want to participate... Hmmm... Oh well, que sera, sera, eh?  

The price of Gold has slipped a mere $3 to start our day today, and Silver is up 9-cents... These too are figures that could easily be turned around, so watch for that to take place today... Because there will be more Fed Heads speaking and talking about the need for a rate cut... I'm just saying... 

The price of Oil slipped a buck overnight, and trades this morning in a $64 handle... And the 10-year Treasury didn't move overnight, so it starts today with a 4.36% yield. I read this morning that Russia had increased their physical Gold shipments to China by 80% or $1 Billion worth... These two are getting really chummy, chummy, don't you think? I do... and I don't like it one iota! That scares the bejeebers out of me for sure!

Well, poor, poor, pitiful Powell.. Everyone's ganging up on him these days... Even his own brothers in arms (Dire Staits) at the Eccles Bldg. Are starting to voice their preference to cut rates... if I were Powell, I would say, "OK, go ahead and cut rates while inflation is still above our target and money supply is growing by leaps and bounds, and I will say, neener, neener, I told you not to cut yet!"

I know that I've explained market trends to you before, so I won't get into that too much now, only to remind you that the dollar has seen a weak, then strong, then weak, then strong, trends in the past, and I believe we have just seen the ending of the strong trend for the dollar that has been in place since the debts of the Club Med were exposed, and the Eurozone as whole had to deal with it, causing the main offset to the dollar to get sold, and thus began the strong dollar trend that went further than any previous trend, and only because the U.S. seemed to have weathered the storm of 2007, and then COVID... But those things are in our rear-view mirror now, and that's why I believe it's time for a long-term weak dollar trend to begin... 

It all started when the U.S. weaponized the dollar a few years ago now, and froze the Russian assets and deposits... Every country in the world had a coming to Jesus realization that if that could happen to Russia, the U.S. wouldn't think twice about doing it to us... And that triggered the mass buying of physical Gold and selling of dollars by Central banks around the world.  

Yes it's taken the dollar bugs a while now to come around to thinking that maybe, just maybe, 'cause you never know (Andujar) But now, the writing is on the wall for the dollar bugs, and they had better know how to read!

We, as Americans need to own some dollars... but it has long been my mantra to say that we need dollars, for gas, groceries and giggles, and that's it! 

And on a sidebar here... Did you know that market trends go as far back as 2,000 BC? I was told that by a sage trader many years ago... So long ago that the Dead Sea wasn't even sick yet! 

In Japan, the revolving door PM policy is set to see another new PM next month.. Mr. Ishibi Japan's current PM saw his majority in the house get beaten and a new majority that sure doesn't see things Ishibi's way, has now taken over, and from the looks and sounds of it, the current PM's place isn't long for this Gov't... I've told you time and time and again through the years that Japan is a basket case... And will continue to be one for years to come... That's why I wouldn't touch Japanese yen with YOUR 10-foot pole! 

The U.S Data Cupboard has the Existing Home Sales that I erroneously thought was going to print yesterday... Instead, the Cupboard was bare yesterday, and has a non-market moving print today... 

To recap... I would suspect after two HUGE move by Gold & Silver the last two trading sessions, that we could begin to see some profit taking... From those that still think that Gold & Silver are commodities that are there to trade like stocks... UGH! The dollar is still getting sold...

For What It's Worth... I came across this article while perusing Google, and thought it could very well by FWIW worthy... This is an article about things to look for from the FOMC at next week's meeting... 

Here's your snippet:"The Federal Open Market Committee will set short-term interest rates next Wednesday, July 30.

The Fed has held rates steady at 4.25% to 4.5% for the year so far, and markets do not expect an interest rate cut in July.

However, a rate cut may be reasonably likely at the conclusion of the next meeting on Sept. 17. That’s according to the CME FedWatch Tool, which measures the expectations of fixed income markets.

Three topics are likely to be the focus of markets at the meeting.

The first is any response from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on the repeated pressure and criticism that President Trump and his administration has directed at Powell. In prior meetings Powell has been terse in his responses to questions on the topic, pointing out that he can’t legally be removed as Fed chair without cause but refusing to be publicly drawn on Trump’s comments.

The other things to watch for will be hints of a September cut and whether there is any dissent within the open market committee on the policy decision.

For now, markets view a September interest rate cut as more likely than not. The FOMC generally doesn’t try to surprise markets, so if a September cut is coming there may be clues either in the July statement or the accompanying news conference.

June’s Consumer Price Index inflation report did show some potential signs of tariff-related inflation in certain categories, which could concern the FOMC. Nonetheless, since February inflation has generally eased and the job market has held up well for 2025 on the most recent reports. FOMC officials have expressed the view that tariffs might raise prices and slow growth, but they are awaiting data. That issue may be resolved one way or the other in the coming months. So far, the FOMC’s position has essentially been to wait and see, especially as the jobs market has held up well on recent reports."

Chuck again... As usual, this article is much longer, so if you can carve out some extra time to read it in its entirety, then click the link above and go for it! 

Market Prices 7/23/2025: American Style: A$.6600, kiwi .6046, C$ .7365, euro 1.1729, sterling 1.3543, Swiss $1.2602, European Style: rand 17.5418, krone 10.0870, SEK 9.5102, forint 340.22, zloty 3.6287, koruna 21.6851, RUB 78.54, yen 147.21, sing 1.2766, HKD 7.8500, INR 86.47, China 7.1604, peso 18.65, BRL 5.5652, BBDXY 1,196, Dollar Index 97.42, Oil $ 64.89, 10-year 4.36%, Silver $39.44, Platinum $1,448.00, Palladium $1,258.00, Copper $5.82, and Gold... $3,429.

That's it for today... Tomorrow, I'm meeting my classmates for lunch... This is a small group of people that were very good friends back in the day... One of my friends I've known since kindergarten... 1960... There's nothing on the docket for this weekend, so I'll be chillin and grillin... And trying not to use as much electricity as I usually do! I leave for my winter home, in the summer on Sunday... I love it down in the South, and see myself living there more than just the 3 months of winter, and various short trips in the future... The pain I told you I woke up with on Monday, has finally started to abate... YAHOO! My all-time favorite Dooby Bros song takes us to the finish line today playing : South City Midnight Lady...  I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday today, reduce your electricity usage, and Be Good To Yourself!