Will the mining cos destroy the black hills?

• Currencies and metals get sold on Monday.

• The Dastardly SPT's doing dastardly things.

Good Day... And a Tom Terrific Day today for you! Another day of distress for my digestive system, I hope it ends soon, for I don't want to have to stop withe the medicine they are infusing in me... In 2018, I was on a chemo medicine that made my stomach so awful they had to take me off the medicine... The doctors soon found another chemo for me, and since then I haven't had major stomach problems that last long... until now... UGH! My beloved Cardinals beat the Marlins in Miami last night, now if only they could build on that victory and get another the next night, and the next night, etc  In 2011, the Cardinals were 10.5 games out of a playoff spot in late August. And ended up qualifying for the Playoffs! They achieved this remarkable feat with a 23-9 record to close out the season.... Hey! Stranger things have happened, which a true fan sticks with the hope.... Booker T and the M.G.'s greet me this morning with their song: Green Onions...

Well, in our world of opposites the dollar rallied yesterday on the thought that the next rate cut would be announced as coming from Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole shindig that is coming this week... The BBDXY ended the day at 1,205... A memo to the dollar traders... When a country debases their currency with rate cuts you are supposed to sell the currency... I just don't get it... Back in the day when I was I was first learning the ropes to currency trading, this is what I learned... Debase the currency, the currency suffers... End of story... But in this day of sentiment ruling currency traders' direction instead of fundamentals, we get this opposite behavior... 

Gold and Silver on the other hand should rally when rates get cut... And they got sold yesterday, with Gold selling down $12 and Silver lost 31-cents... what will it take to return to fundamentals? God only knows (Beach Boys) Gold held steady for a good part of the day yesterday, until the short paper traders entered the market... Again! 

The price of Oil remained trading with a $63 handle, and the 10-year's yield ended the day with a 4.33% yield. 

In the overnight markets last night... There wasn't any movement from the dollar bugs overnight, the BBDXY is still at 1,205 this morning as we start our day... I think the markets are for lack of a better description, holding their breaths, ahead of the Jackson Hole shindig... So, there's that... Gold, this morning is up $7 to start our day, and Silver is up 14-cents... But when you look back to yesterday, Gold & Silver were up early, before the short paper traders arrived, and plotted their dastardly design to take down the metals... Who knows where Gold & Silver would have ended the day had the short paper traders had a flat tire on the way to work and didn't show up! I'm just saying... 

The price of Oil slid back to the $52 handle overnight... A very tight range... And the 10-year Treasury is stating the day with a 4.32% yield... I just don't see much movement in the markets the next couple of days with the Jackson Hole shindig on the horizon... 

I really went long an tough on the U.S. and its debt yesterday, eh? Well, someone should take the lawmakers and Central Bank to the wood shed besides me... But here I am all by myself ( Eric Carmen). I need Lola, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and other big banks to diss the U.S. and the debt for anything to get take hold.. But that won't happen because they'd get taken to the woodshed by the POTUS...

I have something for you in the FWIW section today, that's not a widely used indicator, but I think it should be heard... and so I let them opine here! 

And there will be no Pfennig tomorrow for I have to be at the eye doctor early... It's just a check-up from my cataract surgery... no biggie... So, mark your calendars... 

With the markets holding their breath... There's not a lot to talk about that I haven't already beaten like an old rug... 

There is a report that mining companies are looking to go back to the Black Hills of S. Dakota again... There was a gold rush there 150 or so years ago, and the native Indians were displaced... So, the mining cos. Are not being welcomed back with open arms... With Gold prices over $3,000 oz, you can see why the mining cos are wanting to come back... Well, please don't disrupt the natural beauty of the area!  

You know when I was a youngster I used to read about stuff from the 1800's and think that it really wasn't that long ago, but now... That's eons from now!  

The U.S. Data Cupboard has two housing prints, and two Fed Heads our speaking... I told you yesterday that the Data Cupboard was a non-event this week... So, we're stuck with all distractions that the Gov't keeps throwing up to get out minds off how bad things are... The Cost of Living is rising... The debt is unsustainable... And Companies will be soon coming to grips with fact that they can't continue... UGH!

To recap... The dollar got bought yesterday, because we're growing closer to the Jackson Hole shindig, and the markets are thinking that Jerome Powell's keynote speech will tell them ahead of the meeting in Sept, what the Fed is going to do, and that's cut rates... Chuck explains how that thought process is backward, but we are living in an age of opposites! 

Here's your snippet; 'Analysts and investors will scour Friday’s retail sales report for a readout on how US households are feeling about the economy. Those watching the cardboard box industry say they already have an idea.

A nontraditional economic indicator, sales of the corrugated cardboard used to make the boxes that transport everything from doughnuts to dishwashers are slumping, signaling that retail demand across industries may be due for its own correction in the not-too-distant future.

US box shipments—that is, volumes of empty packaging materials sold to retailers, which in turn use them to ship orders to warehouses, storefronts and Americans’ doorsteps—fell to the lowest second-quarter reading since 2015, according to data from Fibre Box Association, a trade group. (Corrugated cardboard also goes into other items, such as 3D advertising displays, but since the vast majority is used for packaging, the industry tends to use “box shipments” and “corrugated cardboard shipments” interchangeably.)

Memphis-based International Paper Co., one of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies, reported a 5% drop in daily US box shipments in the quarter from the same period a year ago, while packaging giant Smurfit Westrock Plc, based in Dublin, saw a 4.5% slide in North American corrugated cardboard volumes, the biggest drop across all of the regions it operates. “If volume picked up in the United States, that would give us more confidence, but we haven’t seen that yet,” Chief Executive Officer Anthony Smurfit said on a recent earnings call.

The strength of the highly seasonal cardboard box industry isn’t necessarily a one-to-one proxy for retail spending, but—like beauty-shop outlays or consumer sentiment—it can flash early signals when things start to go amiss. And because boxes aren’t usually ordered that far in advance, they can offer a nearly real-time indicator of buying and manufacturing activity."

Chuck Again...Well, that was different, eh? Only time will tell if it was a true indicator, of which I do believe It is... I'm just saying...

Market Prices 8/19/2025: American Style: A$ .6490, kiwi .5921, C$ .7239, euro 1.1681, sterling 1.3516, Swiss $ 1.2413, European Style: rand 17.6243, krone 10.2081, SEK 9.5439, forint 337.04, zloty 3.6347, koruna 20.9431, RUB 80.79, yen 147.76, sing 1.2831, HKD 7.8020, INR 86.95, China 7.1793, peso 18.78, BRL 5.4363, BBDXY 1,205, Dollar Index 98.03, Oil $ 62.62, 10-year 4.32%, Silver $38.11, Platinum $1,351.00. Palladium $1,143.00, Copper $4.52, and Gold... $3,341

That's it for today...Well, I ran some errands yesterday, without any stomach problems, so that was good, but as soon as I arrived home, they began... UGH! The kids around here are back to school... So be careful out there! The Brewers finally lost! After 14 consecutive wins... And then the next day they started another winning streak VS the Cubs... They are THE team this year... I was so upset with Amazon... On 8/15 I ordered a book, and the next day they told me it wouldn't arrive here until 8/23! UGH! When you can't depend on next day delivery any longer, you know that the economy is showing strains... Chicago takes us to the finish line today with their song: 25 or 6 to 4... The first time I heard this song and the the guitar playing of Terry Kath, I was blown away!  I hope you have a Tom Terrific Tuesday today, and please Be Good To Yourself!