May 2, 2023 | Bank Failures – A Push for CBDC?

Monday saw the largest banking failure in the US since 2008 after First Republic went under, marking the third death of a US bank this year. Regulators took possession of the bank this Monday and JPMorgan Chase will acquire the majority of the bank’s assets and remaining deposits worth around $92 billion. First Republic Bank’s […]

May 1, 2023 | Cigarettes and Housing

Happy Monday Morning! We’ve talked a lot about the recent mismatch between population growth in this country and the ability to deliver enough new housing supply to not only meet demand but actually moderate price growth. Housing is all about supply and demand after all. We’ve tried to obliterate demand but it seemingly won’t go […]

April 30, 2023 | Fooling Us With Fake Stats: Household Net Worth

Towards the end of a financial bubble, the people who benefit from the bubble’s continuation — politicians hoping to be reelected, bankers hoping to complete the next deal, money managers talking their books — start touting “record household net worth” as a sign of societal health. But they’re wrong, for the following reasons: Deceptive leverage. Pretend […]

April 30, 2023 | Why a Permabear Is Certain We’re Going Much Higher

Like many of my subscribers, I have been waiting for the stock market to crash so that sanity might have a chance to recover its footing in the investment world. Permabears can always come up with good reasons to explain why a crash is imminent.  Some use technical tools for this. Others cite public and […]

April 29, 2023 | Trading Desk Notes For April 29, 2023

Without Megacap tech, stock indices have gone nowhere The broad stock market indices tumbled to new April lows Tuesday and Wednesday, but a strong surge on Thursday and Friday, fuelled by soaring Megacap tech, lifted the indices to new highs for the month. The Nasdaq 100 had its best monthly close since March 2021, with MSFT up ~40% […]

April 29, 2023 | This Week in Money

• Ross Clark – Nasdaq, Oil, Gold, USD, Canadian Dollar, Natural Gas
• John Rubino – (9:25) Recession, Office Vacancy Rates, Physical Silver Shortage, Cable News
• Hilliard MacBeth –  (38:00) Canadian Real Estate, HELOCs, Inflation, Affordable Homes

April 28, 2023 | Elon Musk Makes Another Gamble

  Elon Musk, founder and CEO of the leading electric vehicle company Tesla, is making a possibly reckless gamble that will affect the automobile industry deeply. After several price cuts the most popular Tesla Model Y is now less expensive than the average new car in the U.S. Will Elon’s latest gamble pay off? Tesla’s […]

April 28, 2023 | How the War on Crypto Triggered a Banking Crisis

According to an article in American Banker titled “SEC’s Gensler Directly Links Crypto and Bank Failures,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler has asked for more financial resources to police the crypto market. Gensler testified at an April 18 House Financial Services Committee hearing: [Crypto companies] have chosen to be noncompliant and not provide investors with confidence and […]

April 27, 2023 | The S.E.C. and BlackRock Blink on SLV

The big news is last night’s release of the new short report on stocks, which indicated a massive 25 million share reduction in the short position on SLV, the big silver ETF, as of the close of business April 14. The short position on SLV fell from 41.5 million shares to 16.3 million shares, the […]

April 27, 2023 | Fed’s Balance Sheet Plunges $171 Billion in Five Weeks since Peak Bank Bailout as QT Continues and Liquidity Support Cools

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, released today, dropped another $30 billion for the week, to $8.56 trillion, bringing the plunge in the five weeks since peak bank bailout to $171 billion, as quantitative tightening (QT) continued at the normal pace and liquidity support shifts and unwinds, though First Republic seems to be sucking hard on […]

April 27, 2023 | US Economy Worse Than Government Indicates

The long term positive outlook for crude. Receive 50% Off VR Trader Newsletters! Enter Promo Code 2022HALFOFF.

April 27, 2023 | Gold, US Dollar, S&P 500, EV’s

Commercial Real Estate taking it on the chin

April 27, 2023 | The Real Reason Fox Fired Tucker Carlson

The spicy breakout that’s catching Wall Street’s attention

April 26, 2023 | You Can’t Taper A Ponzi Scheme

You probably hear the term “Ponzi scheme” tossed around frequently out there, but you may not know what it is and why it matters. So here’s a little background from Wikipedia: A Ponzi scheme (/ˈpɒnzi/, Italian: [ˈpontsi]) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.[1] Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to […]

April 25, 2023 | “They” Explained

People often ask who I am referencing when I refer to “they.” THEY are the leaders of the pack; the neocons. They are the people who create endless wars and use the people as their toy soldiers for war games—we are the toys. None of these wars affected our way of life and we had […]

April 24, 2023 | Sentiment

Happy Monday Morning! We’ve talked a lot about immigration. Remember, the Feds targeted 430,000 permanent residents in 2022 and hit those with ease. Those targets have been set even higher moving forward. However, the real issue here is these figures do not include non-permanent residents. It seems strange to omit these people considering the fact […]

April 23, 2023 | Twitter Corruption Went Deeper Than We Thought

  We knew Twitter was corrupt before the Musk takeover. We knew that Twitter had verified fact-checkers and the ability to de-platform individuals of power, such as then-President Trump. Yet, this piece of information has been swept under the rug. The government had backdoor access to view every user’s private messages. All of them! “The degree […]

April 22, 2023 | Trading Desk Notes For April 22, 2023

Stock indices stuck in a narrow range For most of April, the premiere American stock indices have been stuck in a narrow range as economic data and Fed speakers deliver mixed signals. Volatility metrics are at or below one-year lows, and some folks view 5%+ money market yields as a better investment than stocks. While American indices drift quietly sideways, European, Japanese […]

April 22, 2023 | This Week in Money

• Ross Clark –  Stock Markets, Oil, Gold, Russell 2000.  Special Offer!
• Martin Straith – (9:53) Interest Rates, Inflation, USD, Oil, Germany. Special Offer & Charts!
• Wolf Richter – (34;10) Recession, Vacant Office Towers, US Banking System, Vehicle Market.
• Zarko Meseldzija – (1:14:05) CEO RecycLiCo™ Battery Materials Inc. on Company Showcase – RecycLiCo™ Battery Materials CEO Discusses Recent Company and Industry News.  Watch – We upcycle cathode scraps and black mass into higher-value battery materials!  Read the Latest News.  Read Reuters Article – “Chile Plans To Nationalize its Vast Lithium Industry“.  Read The Korea Economic Daily Article – “S.Korea To Inject $15 Billion in Rechargeable Battery Sector by 2030“.   Read CTV News Article – “Industry Minister Defends Canada’s $13B Volkswagen Battery Plant Subsidy Plans“.  Read The Korea Economic Daily Article – “Korean Battery Players LG, Samsung, SK Sweep US EV Tax Credits“.  Read MIT Technology Review Article – “Why your iPhone 17 Might come with a Recycled Battery“.  Read BNN Bloomberg Article – “Canada  Matched Biden Subsidies to win Volkswagen Battery Plant“.  Read SP Global Article – “Platts Launches Daily Black Mass Spot Price Assessments for China, Europe“.  Read The Driven Article – “We Could Sell EVs for Zero Profit: Tesla Throws Down Gauntlet to Car Industry“.  Read Reuters Article – “Biden’s Push for Electric Vehicles Hits Deep in the Heart of Texas“.  Read CBC Article – “Major Drop in Lithium Prices Could Mean Cheaper Electric Vehicles“. Read Nature Article – “How to Make Lithium Extraction“.  Video  – The demonstration plant for the RecycLiCo™ Patented Process is now operational in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Questions?  Email or Phone: 778.574.4444

April 21, 2023 | Goofy Conclusions From the Silver Institute

(Here’s brief excerpt from Wednesday’s article to subscribers) Hot off the press is today’s just-released world annual silver survey from the Silver Institute. As previewed a couple of months back, the Institute is reporting flat total supply (mining plus recycling) and sharply increased demand growth of 18% or 186 million oz, resulting in the highest […]

April 21, 2023 | U.S. Recession is Coming

A recession in the US is inevitable; probably coming later this year. The increase in interest rates that came from a surge in inflation guarantees that the consumer will reduce spending, probably pushing the economy into recession. Many analysts and economists are now accepting the inevitability of a new recession which may have started already. […]

April 21, 2023 | A Very Interesting Year in Commodities

US institutions lose depositors looking for better returns

April 21, 2023 | RecycLiCo™ Battery Materials CEO Discusses Recent Company and Industry News

Watch – We upcycle cathode scraps and black mass into higher-value battery materials! Read the Latest News. Read Reuters Article – “Chile Plans To Nationalize its Vast Lithium Industry“. Read The Korea Economic Daily Article – “S.Korea To Inject $15 Billion in Rechargeable Battery Sector by 2030“. Read CTV News Article – “Industry Minister Defends […]

April 20, 2023 | Housing Market Takes Another Step Back: Home Prices Drop Year-over-Year for Second Month. Already Dismal Sales Fell

The median price of all types of previously owned homes – houses, condo, co-ops – whose sales closed in March, fell year-over-year by 0.9% to $375,700, according to the National Association of Realtors. This was the second year-over-year decline in a row since February 2012, when the market emerged from Housing Bust 1 (historic data […]