WELCOME TO LEIBOVIT VR NEWSLETTERS – THURSDAY – DECEMBER 14, 2023

 

GENERAL NEWS:

Dow Surges To Record High Following Dovish Fed Announcement

Stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading session on Wednesday before skyrocketing in reaction to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement.

With the late-day rally, the Dow soared to a record closing high, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in almost two years.

The Dow saw further upside going into the close, spiking 512.30 points or 1.4 percent on the day to 37,090.24. The Nasdaq shot up 200.57 points or 1.4 percent to 14,733.96 and the S&P 500 jumped 63.39 points or 1.4 percent to 4,707.09.

The surge on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged while also confirming plans to pivot to cutting rates next year.

In support of its dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run, the Fed said it decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent.

The accompanying statement said the decision came as economic growth has slowed from its strong pace in the third quarter, while inflation has eased over the past year.

The projections provided by the Fed also suggest the central bank will begin cutting rates next year, with the median forecast indicating rates will be lowered to 4.6 percent by the end of 2024.

The median forecast points to rates in a range of 4.50 to 4.75 percent, hinting the Fed plans to cut rates by 25 basis points three times next year.

Following the September meeting, the Fed had forecast raising rates by another 25 basis points this year before lowering rates to a range of 5.0 to 5.25 percent by the end of 2024.

“Additional rate hikes no longer appear to be part of the conversation,” said Mortgage Bankers Association SVP and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni. “It is all about the pace of cuts from here.”

During his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that rate cuts will be a “topic of discussion” at upcoming meetings.

Sector News

Gold stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside following recent weakness, resulting in a 6.4 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The rally by gold stocks comes as the price of the precious metal soared in electronic trading on the heels of the Fed announcement.

Considerable strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index surging by 4.3 percent to its best closing level in over three months.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) led the sector higher, skyrocketing by 34.5 percent after winning a patent suit regarding its drug Nuplazid.

Banking, commercial real estate and utilities stocks also showed particularly strong moves to the upside following the Fed announcement.

Most of the other major sectors also moved higher on the day, with airline, housing and networking stocks seeing significant strength.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2 percent.

The major European markets also finished the day narrowly mixed. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries skyrocketed in reaction to the Fed announcement. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, plunged 17.3 basis points to a four-month closing low of 4.033 percent.

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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/

NEXT PODCAST THURSDAY

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Investing.com — U.S. crude inventories declined more than expected last week, the API reported Tuesday, at a time when many are concerns about burgeoning non-OPEC production, pushing global crude supplies into surplus.

Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $68.83 a barrel following the report after settling down 3.8% at $68.61 a barrel to remain on track for its longest weekly losing streak since 2018.

U.S. crude inventories fell 2.3M barrels for the week ended Dec. 8, compared with a build of 549,000 barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an decline of about 1.5M barrels.

The larger-than-expected draw comes as concerns about growing non-OPEC supply offsetting recent output-cut pledges by OPEC and its allies, OPEC+ amid doubts about whether the cuts will be extended.

The API data also showed that gasoline inventories increased by 5.8M barrels last week, while distillate stocks decreased by 300,000 barrels.

The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies decreased by about 1.5M barrels last week.

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Silver Shortage: A Closer Look at Market Dynamics Heading Into 2024 -Investing Haven

The price of silver may not be reflecting the intensifying silver shortage, but it’s a matter of time until the silver supply squeeze pushes the price of silver much higher.

Recent reports from the Silver Institute have sent ripples through the market. Let’s simplify the complexities, focus on key takeaways and what it might mean for the silver market and silver price price going forward.

The topic of silver shortage has been center stage in recent weeks, particularly after the Silver Institute released its later physical silver market data. It evoked a lot of reactions as evidenced by data driven posts on social media.

Let’s review the facts, and add commentary about the market dynamics that go a step further than the data points served by The Silver Institute.

The Silver Institute’s update reveals a decrease in total silver supply due to production losses at major mines, notably the Penasquito mine. On the flip side, non-investment demand has surged, primarily driven by industrial use, reaching an all-time high. Despite slight dips in jewelry and silverware demand, the crux lies in the booming industrial demand, particularly for photovoltaic solar cells.

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Janet Yellen Fiddles While America’s Economy Burns – heritage.org

by EJ Antoni

YellenAmerica’s ruling class lives in a fantasy world. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently said the United States economy is not only “doing very well,” but that the nation can “certainly afford” to pay for two wars at the same time: Ukraine and Israel. It’s distressing to realize that the woman ostensibly in charge of the nation’s finances knows nothing about them—and the Treasury’s data prove it.

First, the idea that the economy is doing well is laughable. Inflation has become embedded and is running about twice the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, as well as two and a half times the rate it was when President Joe Biden took office. Last year, inflation reached 40-year highs as prices throughout the economy set record after record.

Under the leadership of Mr. Biden and Ms. Yellen, prices have risen more than 17%, and they continue rising. Inflation has outpaced earnings growth so rapidly that the average worker has lost the equivalent of about 5% of his annual income from the dollar’s reduced purchasing power.

The persistent inflation has now led to higher interest rates, which have raised borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to credit cards—and those cards currently have record-high interest rates. An American family trying to buy a median price home today will pay about $13,800 more per year—for the same house—compared to January 2021 because of inflated home prices and higher interest rates.

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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 13. 2023\

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https://tinyurl.com/2rd9wv52

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FROM 2007 – REP RON PAUL:

IT IS TIME TO REPEAL THE 16TH AMENDMENT – THE ONE THAT CREATES INCOME TAX

THE CASE FOR ABOLISHING THE FEDERAL RESERVE

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COME ON, DAD. IT’S TIME TO EAT

DISCLAIMER:

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