WELCOME TO LEIBOVIT VR NEWSLETTERS – MONDAY – DECEMBER 11, 2023

 

GENERAL NEWS:

U.S. Stocks Close Mostly Higher Following Early Volatility

Stocks fluctuated early in the trading day on Friday but moved mostly higher over the course of the session. The major averages added to the gains posted during Thursday’s session, reaching their highest closing levels in well over a year.

The major averages reached new highs late in the session but gave back some ground going into the close. The Dow rose 130.49 points or 0.4 percent to 36,247.87, the Nasdaq advanced 63.98 points or 0.5 percent to 14,403.97 and the S&P 500 climbed 18.78 points or 0.4 percent to 4,604.37.

For the week, the Dow inched marginally higher, the S&P 500 edged up by 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq increased by 0.7 percent.

The early volatility on Wall Street came following the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of November.

The closely watched report said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 199,000 jobs in November after rising by 150,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected employment to climb by 180,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dipped to 3.7 percent in November from 3.9 percent in October. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

The data raised concerns strength in the labor market could lead the Federal Reserve to postpone cutting interest rates, with investors hoping the central bank would pivot to rate cuts as early as March 2024.

“Despite the setback, markets are still pricing in a rate cut by May and four in total next year so it isn’t that much of a setback,” said Craig Erlam OANDA Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA.

He added, “The jobs report just wasn’t ideal and didn’t really fit the narrative that had been building in the markets, some would say too much.”

Meanwhile, buying interest was generated in reaction to a University of Michigan report showing a pullback in consumers’ inflation expectations in the month of December.

The report said year-ahead inflation expectations plunged to 3.1 percent in December from 4.5 percent in November, falling to their lowest level since March 2021.

Long-run inflation expectations also fell to 2.8 percent in December from 3.2 percent in November, matching the second lowest reading seen since July 2021.

“For the Fed this is significant because it would be difficult for the Fed to formally complete its rate hike campaign if consumer expectations continued to climb higher, as ‘unanchored’ expectations would continue to feed inflationary pressures,” said Quincy Krosby, Chief Global Strategist for LPL Financial.

She added, “Still, a more confident consumer, coupled with a stronger labor market, could thwart the Fed’s attempt to dampen consumer demand.”

Sector News

Computer hardware stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, resulting in a 1.7 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Significant strength was also visible among financial stocks, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

A substantial rebound by the price of crude oil also contributed to considerable strength among energy stocks, while gold and airline stocks moved to the downside over the course of the session.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.7 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped by 1.0 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply lower in reaction to the stronger than expected jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, surged 11.6 basis points to 4.245 percent.

Looking Ahead

With the Fed widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged following its monetary policy next week, traders are likely to focus more closely on the central bank’s accompanying statement and projections.

Reports on consumer and producer price inflation are also likely to attract attention along with reports on retail sales and industrial production.

 

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THE FED ISN’T AS POWERFUL AS MANY THINK IT IS

https://www.howestreet.com/2023/12/the-fed-isnt-as-powerful-as-many-think-it-is-mark-leibovit/

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CENTRAL BANK ‘HANKY PANKY’

In a 35-minute video, Peak Prosperity’s Chris Martenson explains how central banks can manipulate the prices of all futures contracts in the United States — commodity, financial, and agricultural — through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s “Central Bank Incentive Program,” which provides central banks and related institutions with volume trading discounts for trading futures secretly. The CME operates all major futures markets in the United States.

Martenson notes that while the program nominally excludes the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, this exclusion is essentially meaningless, insofar as the Federal Reserve commonly has currency swap lines with other central banks, which presumably can use the “Cent ral Bank Incentive Program” to execute trades for the Fed with the Fed’s money.

As a result, Martenson notes, world markets are hardly markets at all.

This is another issue ripe for investigation by financial journalism should it ever reappear on Earth.

Martenson’s analysis is headlined “Central Bank Hanky Panky” and can be viewed at Peak Prosperity here:

https://tinyurl.com/4ff3pd4m

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Is the banking crisis in America really that bad? Bad enough that four of the major banks have paid billions in fines since the year 2000. In the wake of this, banks are actively pursuing the transition into the world of digital currency which Jamie Dimon warns is a currency for criminals.

$181,034,960,000 in Fines Paid by Big Four US Banks As JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Says Crypto’s for ‘Criminals’ -Daily Hodl
by Mehron Rokhy

bankHundreds of billions of dollars worth of fines have been paid by the four biggest banks in the US as JPMorgan’s chief executive sounds off against digital assets, saying they are for criminals.

According to corporate misconduct data aggregator Violation Tracker, the big four banks of the US – Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and JPMorgan – have paid a staggering $181 billion worth of fines since the year 2000.

The data unveils that Bank of America has paid a total of 324 fines worth $87.2 billion since the start of the millennium while Wells Fargo has been fined 261 times for a total of $27.5 billion.

Violation Tracker also reveals that Citigroup was found to be in violation 181 times, paying $26.9 billion worth of fines while JPMorgan has been hit with a total of 272 fines worth $39.3 billion.

The Violation Tracker covers a range of civil and criminal banking offenses including foreign bribery, money laundering, corporate tax evasion, securities violations, accounting fraud, price-fixing, employment discrimination and more.

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16th AMENDMENT QUESTION BEFORE SUPREME COURT

Imagine receiving a tax bill for the appreciation on your investments, including the equity in your home, before you’ve even sold them. It could happen if the government has its way at the Supreme Court… the justices focused on the question of whether the 16th Amendment’s authorization of “income” taxes allows for the taxing of unrealized gains. It has long been understood that income taxes apply only to realized gains. Ilya Shapiro, “The Wealth Tax You May Already Owe,” Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2023.

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U.S. DOLLAR

CANADIAN DOLLAR

URANIUM  – REPORTS ONLY ISSUED WEEKLY

METALS

COMMODITIES

CRYPTO UPDATE AS OF DECEMBER 9. 2023

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https://tinyurl.com/2rd9wv52

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OPPORTUNITY TO ACCESS MARK LEIBOVIT’S PROPRIETARY VOLUME REVERSAL INDICATOR – THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE TO DO IT!

https://www.metastock.com/products/thirdparty/?3PC-ADD-VRIS

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When Is Chanukah?
Chanukah begins on the eve of Kislev 25 and continues for eight days. On the civil calendar, it generally coincides with the month of December. Chanukah 2023 runs from Dec. 7-Dec. 15.

Editor: Jews have joined the ranks of the Maccabees.

Hanukkah (Chanukah) is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.

The Hebrew word Chanukah means “dedication,” and is thus named because it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple (as you’ll read below). Also spelled Hanukkah (or variations of that spelling), the Hebrew word is actually pronounced with a guttural, “kh” sound, kha-nu-kah, not tcha-new-kah.

In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance and belief in G‑d. Against all odds, a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G‑d.

When they sought to light the Temple’s Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah.

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COME ON, DAD. IT’S TIME TO EAT

DISCLAIMER:

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