February 22, 2024 | Commercial Real Estate Stress is Spreading

In 2023, the national office space vacancy rate reached 19.6%, above the 19.3% historic peak in 1991. The overcapacity, over-valuation and debt write-downs needed in commercial real estate are themes that will persist for some time. No quick fix. Federal regulators in recent weeks have signaled concerns about commercial real estate, a financial sector that […]

February 22, 2024 | Stock Market Way Too Focused on Interest Rates

Has the heat gone out of Uranium? Receive 50% Off VR Trader Newsletters! Enter Promo Code 2022HALFOFF.

February 22, 2024 | The Latest from Miami Mines and Money Show

Mandated government decisions usually the wrong decision

February 22, 2024 | A Tale of Two Cities for Canadian Energy

Slowing EV sales give new hope to fossil fuel investment

February 21, 2024 | Inflation Retreating But Shelter Remains The Problem

Canada’s January Consumer Price Index (CPI) report came in softer than expected at an annualized rate of 2.9%, down from 3.4% in December and 8.1% from the cycle peak in June 2022. This brings the CPI within the Bank of Canada’s 1% to 3% target range for the first time since June 2023. The share […]

February 21, 2024 | Weak US Demand and Rising Commercial Stocks Likely To Cause Near Term Term Correction in WTI Price

GLOBAL ECONOMIC, POLITICAL & MILITARY UPDATE Mixed economic data in the US, with some indicators like manufacturing weakening are being offset by rising inflation after many months of declines. The Fed meeting notes out this week (from the last FOMC meeting) noted that they are concerned about lowering rates too quickly due to persistent price […]

February 21, 2024 | Mortgage Rates Rise Back to 7%, Housing Market Re-Freezes, Buyers’ Strike Continues. Prices Are Just Too High

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 7.0% in the latest week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association today. The daily measure by Mortgage News Daily has been over 7% for days. These are the highest rates since mid-December, when they were on their way down. Mortgage rates had been flirting with 8% […]

February 21, 2024 | Inflation Dropped in Canada – So Why is the Cost of Living Unaffordable?

  Statistics Canada reported that inflation slowed in January to 2.9%, beating expectations of 3.3%. So why are Canadians still struggling to afford basic necessities like rent and food? Mortgage interest costs remain the top noted driver of inflation after rising 27.4% YoY, while rentals increased 7.9% during the same period. Bank of Canada governor […]

February 21, 2024 | Inequality In 9 Charts And One Amusing Image

Graphs and charts showing America’s fatal case of financial inequality have become almost a separate art form: What Happens Now? Is railing against inequality just envy on the part of the less successful? Or is there a fundamental, functional reason that a society can’t be comprised of a handful of super-rich and a vast herd […]

February 20, 2024 | The Ruse of Bitcoin & Crypto

BlackRock CEO & World Economic Forum Trustee Board Member Larry Fink Turns Bullish on Bitcoin Larry Fink has changed his tune on crypto, saying suddenly it could “revolutionize finance,” endorsing an industry he once viewed with skepticism. Of course, as a board member of Scwab’s WEF, the crypto zealots cheered. Still, they think that Bitcoin […]

February 20, 2024 | Rosenberg: The Economy is Weaker Than The Narrative Suggests

Economist David Rosenberg, founder and president of Rosenberg Research, shares his macroeconomic view of the economy and explains why he’s not throwing in the towel on his recession call. Here is a direct video link. 

February 19, 2024 | US Govt Targets Private Enterprise – Eminent Domain – Private Property and Patents at Risk

A recent measure from the Biden Administration touted as a solution to lower prescription drug costs has a more sinister motive. The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act of 1980 permitted researchers to own the patents of their products developed through government funds. The legislation permitted “march-in” rights that enabled these agencies […]

February 19, 2024 | Grantham: Pollution, Population & Purpose

Thought-provoking, far-reaching discussion about things that matter in this segment. Worth a listen. On this episode, Nate is joined by co-founder of GMO Financial Holdings, Jeremy Grantham, to discuss how finance, human population, ecology, and pollution interact to shape current trends and what they could tell us about the future. Mr. Grantham unpacks why the […]

February 19, 2024 | No Reply

There has been no reply from the CFTC for 13 weeks to a question I posed through my congressman’s office about double-counting of silver inventories. However, two days ago my congressman’s office told me that the agency intends to respond although the office couldn’t say when. As a result, I still expect a response, although […]

February 18, 2024 | Harder To Get Insurance is a Game Changer

In the US inflation estimate for January, auto insurance premiums rose 20.6% year over year, while tenant and household insurance rose 6% annualized over just the last three months. Across the developed world, insurers are exiting some areas and demanding higher premiums and deductibles in others; affordable insurance — often a condition of mortgage and vehicle debt […]

February 18, 2024 | Choose Your Own Economy

If you’re a parent or grandparent, you may know of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” storybook series. Written in second person, they make “you” the hero. The reader makes choices as the story unfolds, leading to one of several possible endings. That format is disturbingly similar to a lot of economic forecasting. The economist—who of […]

February 18, 2024 | The Coming Crash of Bigness

[Globalism has peaked, says my colleague James Howard Kunstler, and with it a trend toward corporate bigness that has all but extinguished quality and vitality from the marketplace.  Bloated corporatism is about to come crashing down, he says, in a process of creative destruction that will allow us to rescale the economy so that it better […]

February 17, 2024 | Too Many Payments, Too Little Income

In the fourth quarter of 2023, 7.7% of US auto loans transitioned to delinquency on an annualized basis (New York Fed data)—the highest rate in 13 years. The total annual cost of owning a new car, including expenses such as gas and insurance, climbed to $12,182 in 2023, up from $10,728 in 2022 (latest estimates […]

February 17, 2024 | People We Should Know: Mike Benz

Sorry to deluge you with new people to check out, but this video just dropped, and I’m going to go out on a limb and call it the single most important thing currently available online. The source is Mike Benz, a former State Department diplomat “responsible for formulating and negotiating US foreign policy on international communications […]

February 17, 2024 | Mainstream Money Tiptoes Into Gold Miners

The appeal of mining stocks is that they’re “leveraged bets on the underlying commodity.” So you’d think that with gold not far from an all-time high, the big gold miners like Newmont and Barrick would be crushing it. But the opposite has been true lately, as these stocks have become almost ridiculously unloved.   Two possible conclusions can be […]

February 17, 2024 | The Fallout from The Extreme Left’s Judge Engoron Destroying NY City

  Justice Arthur F. Engoron represents the vile, disgusting degree of the completely out-of-control judicial system in New York City. It has been people like him throughout history that spark revolutions. I have warned that New York is the most unconstitutional judicial system on the face of the earth, and it really should be shut […]

February 17, 2024 | Trading Desk Notes For February 17, 2024

Leading US stock indices lose upside momentum The DJIA, S&P and the NAZ made new All-Time Highs this week but closed lower on the weekly charts. NDVA continued to rally this week, up 53% YTD, up 224% in the last 12 months, and now has the 3rd largest market cap (after MSFT and AAPL) of all US […]

February 17, 2024 | This Week in Money

• Ross Clark:  Stock Markets, Gold, Oil, USD, Canadian Dollar. Special Offer!
• Victor Adair:  (12:51) Stock Markets, Currencies, Energy
• Robert Campbell: (45:03) Real Estate

February 17, 2024 | High Home Insurance Rates Driving Away Would-Be Buyers

A wave of new multifamily residential projects are coming online as migration slows and high mortgage rates weigh on housing demand. Add to the mix an insurance crisis, and a seller’s market is becoming a buyer’s one. See, In Southwest Florida, high home insurance rates are driving away would-be buyers: Florida’s southwestern coast — long one […]