Welcome to another exciting edition of Black Coffee, your unusual weekly digest of what’s going on in the world of money and personal finance.
I have another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get straight into this week’s commentary…
One week there are diamonds in your pockets, the next week macaroni and cheese.
– Jolene Blalock
The only free cheese is in a mousetrap.
– Anonymously
Credits and debits
Credit: Have you seen this? Black Friday shoppers saw red last week after Walmart customers quickly discovered that Kraft’s new limited-edition “Mac Friday Box” had sold out just seconds after it went on sale at midnight Friday for $19.37. The novelty, designed to look like a 65-inch flat screen – no, really – containing 65 boxes of classic Kraft Mac & Cheese. Savvy shoppers realized that at that price, each box cost about 29 cents – which is 75% less than the regular price at the supermarket.
Debit: Speaking of the holiday shopping season, temporary Christmas hiring in the US is here its slowest pace since tracking started in 2012. Retailers are expected to attract just 265,000 seasonal workers this year, compared to 442,000 in 2024. And that’s Real bad news for this recently unemployed magician…
Debit: On the “positive” side, the latest inflation data – which is a bit outdated due to the delays caused by the government shutdown – shows that core prices were “only” 3% higher in September than a year ago. That’s the lowest inflation level entering a Christmas shopping season since 2020. Never mind that the public would be much better served in an environment of mild deflation. Oh, and speaking of inflation…
Credit: Hey… and here’s more good news: U.S. tariff revenues rose to more than $31 billion in October, setting a new monthly record. Hurrah!
Debit: Unfortunately for the US, October’s record tariff revenues are not nearly enough to solve the federal government’s budget situation. 24 cents of every dollar of taxes collected goes toward paying interest on the debt.
h/t: @Daniel_Hall
Credit: According to market analyst Gregory Mannarino, the recent partnership between the US Treasury and the Fed gives them the opportunity enormous power because: “If the same alliance issues the debt (the US Treasury) and the financing (the Fed), then you no longer have price discovery, risk premia, or even bankruptcy risk – just a managed illusion masquerading as a market (because) buyers of natural debt on purpose pushed away” because of Yield curve control (YCC), socialized risk, front-running by insiders. As a result, the “market becomes an extension of policy, not a reflection of reality.” In other words: fraud. Not that it matters. Well… until then. (Just ask the Bank of Japan…)
Note: And now the Fed and the US Treasury don’t care either.
Debit: Mannarino, by the way, makes his first point, warning that by keeping interest rates below where the free market would set them, this “unfortunate merger between the Fed and the Treasury Department only contributes to pushing inflation onto savers, workers, and retirees while US debt rises even faster. Rather than openly admitting insolvency, it is a silent default. And as usual, it is the citizen who pays.” If only the media would learn a lesson this guys on how to challenge monetary officials with some probing questions that can inform the public about what is actually happening:
Debit: On the other hand, we argue that Americans have been paying for their wasteful government for decades. This can be seen by examining gold-adjusted income, which shows true purchasing power. Despite steady increases in salaries in US dollars (USD), the purchasing power of the average American, measured in ounces of gold, has plummeted by 77% since 1998. We also suspect that most of you were already aware of this on an intuitive basis. The good news is that there is still money to be made in the stock market. At least for some people…
Debit: It is no coincidence that silver trading was halted last week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) under very questionable circumstances after the price rose more than 6% to a new all-time high of nearly $57. For market analyst Niko Moretti, the COMEX shutdown is “a an indictment. The nickname “Crimex” exists because the very exchange that pretends to “discover” the price of silver has been used as a weapon for years to produce fake offerings, limit rallies, and keep real money chained to a dying fiat order. But those chains have now been broken and the crime scene is finally visible for all to see. Oh, and speaking of crime scenes…
Credit: Here’s the cold reality: the people who do want it eat the losses any reset of the monetary system – whether it be a controlled devaluation of the USD against gold or a chaotic collapse of the currency – will be those whose savings, pensions and/or portfolio investments are tied to fiat money and government bonds. As for the winners? These will be those who own precious metals. Got gold?
By the numbers
Let’s take a look at year-to-date performance (through November 30) for some selected key asset classes. And no… the numbers for gold, silver and their respective mining stocks are not A decimal point is missing:
-11% 10-year US Treasury Proxy (TNX)
+11% Dow Industries
+12% Russell 2000
+12% S&P500
+21% Nasdaq Composite
+61% Gold
+101% Silver
+140% Proxy for Gold Miners (GDX)
+142% Silver Miners Proxy (SIL)
Source: Yahoo!Finance
The question of the week
The results of last week’s survey
How much is your Christmas gift budget this year?
$100 to $500 31%
More than $1000 28%
$501 to $1000 26%
Less than $100 15%
More than 2,000 Len Penzo dot Com readers responded to last week’s question and it turns out that 5 in 9 of you plan to spend at least $500 on gifts this holiday season. As for me, my original budget was $500, but it looks like I’m going to exceed that amount by a small amount this year.
If You If you have a question you would like me to ask the readers here, please send it to me at Len@LenPenzo.com and be sure to include “Question of the Week” in the subject line.
Useless news: fill prescription
This lady noticed that her dog could barely hear and took her to the vet. He determined that the dog’s problem was hair in his ears. So he cleaned both ears and the dog could hear just fine.
The vet then told the lady that if she wanted to prevent this from happening again, she should go to the store and buy some hair remover, and then gently rub it into the dog’s ears once a month.
After getting the vet’s instructions, the lady went to the drugstore to get some hair remover.
At the checkout the pharmacist says: “If you are going to use this under your arms, don’t use deodorant for two days.”
“I don’t use it under my arms,” said the lady.
“Well… if you use it on your legs, don’t shave for five days.”
“I don’t use it on my legs either,” the lady said. “If you really want to know: I use it on my schnauzer…”
The pharmacist replied: “Then stay off the bike for at least a week.”
(h/t: Sam I am)
Squirrel Cam
It only lasts four seconds, but when the camera was on, this little guy was ready for his close-up!
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More useless news
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Letters, I get letters
Every week I post the most interesting question or comment, that is, if I get one. And people who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbox will get their letter marked here, whether it is interesting or not! You can reach me at: Len@LenPenzo.com
This week Motzmotz has filed this complaint with the complaints department of Len Penzo dot Com:
No one responds to the comment I leave here, and possibly no one cares about the comment I left. [sic]
Not true! Anyone who left a comment can rest assured that I read it.
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Photo credit: public domain
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