A massive destruction of wealth is coming this is what the Fed is ‘engineering’ – Alfonso Peccatiello

A massive destruction of wealth is coming, this is what the Fed is 'engineering' – Alfonso Peccatiello

Attempting to slow down the economy and subdue inflation, the Federal Reserve has already raised interest rates by 25 basis points and is expected to raise rates by 50 basis points at each of its next two meetings in May and June.

"Right now, the wealth effect still dominates the way we engineer economic growth to make sure the balance sheets of consumers become stronger. As asset prices keep going up, consumers' liabilities, debt and leverage get cheaper," explained Alfonso Peccatiello, Author of The Macro Compass. "If equity or housing prices drop by 50%, it will be a destruction of wealth generated by two generations, because of this loss of wealth effect. Nobody wants to see this happen."

Peccatiello spoke to David Lin, Anchor at Kitco News about his views on wealth, markets, and the Federal Reserve. Paccatiello worked as a portfolio manager for a multibillion-dollar portfolio comprised of multiple asset classes, prior to becoming an author.

Comparing the Fed's current tightening policies to policies of previous years when the Fed wanted to ease conditions, Peccatiello said they are trying to engineer an economic slowdown.

"From 2016 to 2019, the Fed was basically selling the put to the market, putting the floor on the asset prices," he noted. "Right now, the Fed is doing the opposite. They are trying to slow down the demand side of the equation in the economy. They are making your balance sheet weaker, your 401(K) go down a bit, and your second home worthless. This way demand slows down, therefore, inflation slows down."

Peccatiello discussed how high he believes the Fed will hike interest rates. "The Fed will raise rates 50 basis points in May and then again in June. They are going to hike rates until something breaks. The Fed believes neutral rates are between 2 and 2.5%, which means they can easily hike all the way to 2.5% without much happening," Peccatiello predicted. "If the economy can handle 2.5%, and the labor market remains solid, and the equity market remains buoyant, then the Fed is going to keep raising rates fast. But that assumption is just a fairytale."

On equities, Peccatiello disclosed he shorts the S&P 500, which is his main trade, and tech stocks. "My target is for the S&P to drop below 4,000 in the next two months. The reason for this target is because the Fed has been explicit about wanting financial conditions to tighten," Peccatiello emphasized. "If you look at the financial condition index; equity markets, real interest rates, credit spreads, mortgage rates and the dollar are all tightening."

Peccatiello explained why there's very little positive macro-economic news to find at this stage. "Things must get worse, unfortunately, before they get better. The big picture is that central banks won't aggregate demand to slow down. When we start seeing more signs that growth is slowing down, and or when the equity markets start to drop more aggressively, it will get worse. 4,000 for the S&P will ring some bells for the Fed," he said. "If growth slows down, it will imply that inflation will also slow down as a result. If that happens the Fed will feel more comfortable slowing down their hawkish stance."

Speaking about the real estate market, Peccatiello pointed out that it is the biggest and most leveraged asset class out there. "People should pay attention to it. The real estate market is huge, almost a $300 trillion market cap. It's much larger than the equity market, at a $100 trillion cap, or the bond market," he stressed. "Housing prices sit on the asset side of the balance sheet of consumers. Real estate prices are of paramount importance for the wealth effect. If housing prices go down, then consumers appetite to spend will also drop."

"The housing market could face a 50% slowdown. Despite all the rumors you hear about all cash buyers, 85% of all home purchases are bought with mortgages. Mortgage rates have gone up massively. 30-year mortgages in the U.S. have risen from 3% to 5%," Peccatiello stated.

"Wages have not changed for most Americans and most people around the world. And housing prices compared to last year have gone up 20%. In order to buy the same house a year ago, you must pay 30% higher in your monthly mortgage payments, which means you can't afford it."

Peccatiello advises investors to be defensive in this macro environment we are facing.

"Investors should raise their cash allocation. I know it feels uncomfortable with this spot inflation levels. It's better to be defensive than to be offensive where the macro environment doesn't allow you to be offensive," he continued. "You just must be patient. This is an environment where you have nowhere to hide. You can't buy stocks, you can't buy gold, you can't buy Bitcoin."

For more on Alfonso Peccatiello's views on wealth, markets and the Federal Reserve, please watch the full video above.
 

By Kitco News

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

Tim Moseley

What’s in store for gold price as Fed remains laser-focused on inflation and its supersized hikes?

What's in store for gold price as Fed remains laser-focused on inflation and its supersized hikes?

The gold market will be wrapped up in the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision next week as analysts see the U.S. central bank ignoring the steep drop in the U.S. Q1 GDP data and remaining fixated on fighting inflation.

Gold is looking to end April down 1.7% on the month despite Friday's gains. June Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,912.20, up $21 on the day.

"April was a terrible month for gold. Many traders were surprised by another strong move higher in the U.S. dollar. Greenback's strength was driven by safe-haven flows on concerns about economic slowdown across Europe, China's zero-COVID strategy, and expectations of a rather wide interest rate differential between the dollar and its major trading partners due to the Fed's aggressive stance," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya told Kitco News.

The Federal Reserve, scheduled to make its interest rate decision on Wednesday, has locked itself into an aggressive rate hike cycle for the next three meetings. "The market has around 250 basis points worth of rate hikes priced in over the next 12 months," Moya said.

The big surprise this week was the U.S. economy contracting 1.4% in the first quarter. But the Fed is likely to look past that negative number because the outlook for the second quarter looks better, according to analysts.

"You have to take a look at why the economy contracted. The consumer was still strong, and the consumption was still fairly robust. But imports were one of the key reasons why. They over-delivered when you consider that exports were soft. A lot of traders shrugged the data off a bit. Nothing to change Fed rate hike expectations," Moya explained.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will remain focused on inflation, which is tricky to control, especially considering the type of price pressures the U.S. is seeing, noted CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld."Some are pointing to the fact that the Fed has never achieved as sharp a deceleration in inflation as it aims to engender without causing a recession," Shenfeld said. "That's actually not our central worry because we haven't really faced this type of inflation in the past … The problem is that just as this year's spikes in such prices have made the inflation problem look worse, next year's retreats will have the CPI understating the true trend. Getting inflation down will be easier than keeping it that way unless we slow the pace of hiring and prevent a further tightening in the labor market."

 

Here's what to expect from the Fed

The two main things the markets are anticipating to see next week are the 50-basis-point rate hike and the start of quantitive tightening.

"We doubt that the unexpected 1.4% annualized decline in first-quarter GDP will stop the Fed from hiking its policy rate by a bigger 50bp next week or from launching quantitative tightening. The Fed will stress the ongoing strength of employment growth, the temporary impact of the Omicron wave, and the pick-up in the growth rate of final sales to private domestic purchasers, which is arguably a better gauge of underlying demand. But the bottom line is that with inflation rampant, it simply doesn't have a choice; policy needs to be tightened rapidly regardless of the costs to the real economy," said Capital Economics chief North American economist Paul Ashworth.

The minutes from the last FOMC meeting suggested that "participants generally agreed that monthly caps of about $60 billion for Treasury securities and about $35 billion for agency MBS would likely be appropriate."

Strategists at ING said they are forecasting for the Fed to start with $50 billion "being allowed to run off each month before getting up to $95bn by September."

Looking forward, however, the Fed is unlikely to get more aggressive and talk about 75-basis-point rate hikes, said ING's chief international economist James Knightley, citing the weak GDP number. "For now, our base case remains that the Fed will follow up next week's 50bp hike with 50bp increases in June and July before switching to 25bp as quantitative tightening gets up to speed. We see the Fed funds rate peaking at 3% in early 2023," Knightley clarified.

Gold is an 'ideal' asset right now but why isn't the price higher? Fidelity weighs in

What gold price is looking for from the Fed

The gold market is looking at the Fed to show signs of optimism, said Moya. "Is inflation peaking? You are probably going to see many traders very fixated on that," he said.

The latest core PCE price index data published on Friday suggested that core inflation peaked at 5.2% annually in March, following 5.3% reported in February, Moya noted. "This is pretty significant. It is the first time we've seen a decline since October 2020. This could help the argument that Fed could develop a soft landing and not be as aggressive once we get past super seized rate hikes," he said.

After the Fed meeting, gold could start to benefit from some safe-haven flows, especially if uncertainty in the equity markets continues, Moya added.

The $1,875 an ounce level remains good support for gold in the short term. On the upside, Moya is watching $1,940 an ounce. "If we break $1,875 on the downside, gold could fall to $1,830. But this is the level at which many technical traders become bullish. That is when you see gold testing a 200-day moving average," he said.

It is only a matter of time before gold can break above its critical psychological $2,000 an ounce level, said Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone. And the main trigger is likely to be the Fed showing some hesitancy in the face of the promised aggressive rate hikes.

"The base now appears closer to $1,800, and $2,000 is key resistance. We expect that it's just a matter of time for gold to potentially break above this threshold. A top potential catalyst is a trough in Fed's rate-hike expectations, which may not occur until the stock market declines further. The S&P 500 down about 10% in 2022 to April 28, appears to be insufficient," McGlone said. "When fed funds futures start anticipating a rate-hike cycle end, the precious metal should breach $2,000-an-ounce resistance."
 

Data to watch next week

Monday: ISM manufacturing PMI

Tuesday: Factory orders

Wednesday: Fed's interest rate decision, ADP nonfarm employment change, ISM non-manufacturing PMI

Thursday: BoE interest rate decision, U.S. initial jobless claims

Friday: U.S. nonfarm payrolls
 

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

Tim Moseley

Gold bounces off yesterday’s lows but is unable on to hold today’s highs

Gold bounces off yesterday’s lows but is unable on to hold today’s highs

June 2022 gold futures opened this morning (4/29/2022) at $1895.80, far above yesterday’s low of $1871. Trading to a high of $1921.30 and settled in New York up 1.1% at $1911.70. However, on Fridays, Globex trading remains open until 6 PM EDT before closing for the weekend. As of 5:10 EDT gold has moved back below $1900 and is currently fixed at $1896.90 a net gain of $5.60 or 0.30% in afterhours trading.

The tremendous price swings evident in gold over the last couple of days likely resulted from multiple factors influencing gold prices. Investors continue to focus on next week’s FOMC meeting. It is widely anticipated that they will enact a ½ a percent interest rate hike which will go into effect at the end of next week’s meeting. Concurrently it is widely believed that the Federal Reserve will begin to reduce its balance sheet assets over the next three years. Economists polled by Bloomberg news believe that the Federal Reserve will reduce its balance sheet from the current level of $8.8 trillion to $6.4 trillion by the conclusion of 2024.

According to the CME’s FedWatch tool, there is a 99.1% probability that the Federal Reserve will announce ½ a percent rate hike. This indicator predicts a 91.9% probability that another half a percent rate hike will follow next week’s rate hike at the June FOMC meeting. The speed at which the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in an attempt to play catch-up to the spiraling level of inflation provides bearish market sentiment for gold.

Today’s release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the PCE report indicated that inflation continues to surge higher. The PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditure) index was up 0.9% on the month and 6.6% on the year a 42-year high. This is the highest level since 1980. Yesterday’s the BEA released advance estimates for first-quarter GDP. The U.S. economy had a major contraction during the first three months of this year due to a resurgence in Covid 19 and a decline in government stimulus. This is the first decrease in U.S. GDP in approximately two years.

These two reports will certainly lead to bullish market sentiment for gold.

Additionally, there is a major economic fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine. Inflation globally has been pressured higher especially in food costs because both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of grains such as corn and wheat. Russia also is a primary provider of energy products such as oil and natural gas. Russia is the 3rd largest producer of oil. This continues to support higher pricing for oil and natural gas.

Since the largest components of spiraling inflation are energy and food costs, the war in Ukraine had a significant impact on moving inflation higher.

Unquestionably, there are multiple factors and events which have influenced gold prices. The complexity of all of these components we have spoken about today are providing both bullish and bearish undertones for the safe-haven asset gold, and in fact, might be the primary cause of recent price volatility.
 

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

Tim Moseley

What is a Workcation?

What is a Workcation? ðŸ¤”

by, Demir Bentley, founder, The Lifehack Method

 

Have you ever heard of a workcation?

It’s exactly what it sounds like: grabbing your laptop and taking work on the road with you!

Before the rise of remote work, there were really only two categories…

You were either working or on vacation.

But now we are seeing the rise of this third category and we’re SO stoked about it.

My wife Carey and I did a month-long workcation in Paris last year, and it was one of the most productive months in the business we've ever had! Not to mention how much FUN we had exploring Paris as a family ðŸ˜„

 

I recently talked with ABC7 about the concept of a workcation. If you’re curious about bringing your work on the road with you, definitely check this interview out!

 

 


New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

Western and Eastern technical studies suggest a bullish reversal in gold has occurred

Western and Eastern technical studies suggest a bullish reversal in gold has occurred

Gold traded to its lowest value in the last nine trading days with market forces taking the June 2022 futures contract to $1870.90 this morning. After opening at $1886.80, gold futures drifted lower and then recovered strongly. As of 4:30 PM EDT, the most active June 2022 gold contract is fixed at $1896.20 which is a net gain of $7.50. More importantly if it finishes this Globex session at these levels it will be a strong indication that the support level at $1885 is active support. However, when we combine today's price range with Eastern and Western technical analysis a case can be made that a pivot or key reversal has resulted from today's price action.

Chart #1 is a daily gold chart that we have used and published in which we highlighted the support level we had identified at $1885. This chart also clearly illustrates that the intraday low this morning moved just below gold's 100-day moving average.

Chart # 2 is the daily chart enlarged to better view the daily Japanese candlestick to identify it. The candlestick chart allows us to easily visualize the open and closing price, represented as a rectangle. The rectangle is filled in green, indicating that the close is currently above the opening price (a red candle indicates that the current pricing or the close is below its opening price). In the case of today's open and closing range, which is labeled as the "real body" in a candlestick chart, we can see that it opened and closed above the support at $1885 that we have identified.

A single Japanese candlestick can also be identified. The candlestick that formed today can be branded as a "Hammer." This single candlestick is part of a group known as the umbrella lines and consists of four primary candles labeled; hammer, shooting star, hangman, and inverted hammer. Umbrella lines are candles that show either very long lower shadows and small bodies near the top of the trading range or very long upper shadows and small bodies near the bottom of the trading range.

The "Hammer – Hangman" is the same except for their location within a trend. Therefore, depending on its location, it will be interpreted as a bullish or a bearish candlestick. If it appears during a downtrend, it can indicate that the correction has concluded. In such places, we name it a hammer. If the same candlestick appears after a defined uptrend, it is labeled as a "Hang-man."

While a single candlestick cannot indicate a potential pivot or reversal if it occurs within other variables, it can be a strong indication that a bullish reversal is taking place. Today's low fell below the 100-day moving average creating a long lower wick. This long lower wick occurs below both the open and closing price, which illustrates that when prices moved to today's low, buyers quickly stepped into the market and bought the dip. These buyers could be covering short positions or initiating long positions. Also, the real body (which is created from the open and closing price) of today's candlestick occurs above the support level at $1885.

This becomes an extremely important and valid piece of information,n if tomorrow's candlestick is a long green candle with a higher high and a higher low than today's, it would be labeled as a confirming candle. All of these factors would strengthen the assumption that the correction, which began on April 18, taking gold from $2003 per ounce to today's low of $1870, has concluded.

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

Tim Moseley

Russian government spokesmen on Ukraine

Russian spokesmen are very sharp in their comments on the events in Ukraine. As we read their statements during last few days, a chill runs down our spines. They choose very sharp words.
"Russia will respond harshly to further strikes by Ukraine against military facilities on Russian territory initiated by the West", said Russian diplomat spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. According to her, the West openly encourages Kyiv to use the supplied weapons to attack Russia. Several fuel and ammunition depots have recently caught fire in southern and western Russia, with Moscow blaming Ukraine.
"What option do you leave us, idiots? Complete destruction of the remaining Ukraine? A nuclear attack? ” Indicated the possible “ answers ”of the editor-in-chief of the state television, M. Simonjana, who, together with Zacharov, is considered a“ Putin's fury ”and the face of Russian propaganda.

The flames engulfed another strategic point of the Russians. Military warehouses near Belgorod have been burning several times this month. The question of whether Ukrainian forces, Russian sabotage, the Kremlin itself, or the interplay of coincidences are to blame remains unanswered.
 

                               This map shows fires on Russian territory recently

"Efforts to arm Ukraine, even with heavy weapons, are actions that threaten the continent's security and provoke instability," said Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov in response to words from the British Foreign Secretary. Liz Truss said Russian troops must be pushed out of all of Ukraine and the Allies must "redouble" their efforts and send more military equipment to Kiev.
A spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy also accused the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of passing data on Russian forces to the intelligence services of the West and Ukraine.

More deliveries of Allied weapons are pouring into Ukraine. The United States in particular is showing faith in Ukraine's victory over Russia. At the summit in Germany, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pledged to move "heaven and earth" for Ukraine's victory.
Germany has announced that it will send 50 anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine.

In an address to the Australian Parliament at the end of March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explicitly requested the 11-ton multi-purpose transporter.
The Bushmaster armored vehicles from Australia are already in action. Footage of the Ukrainian army testing them in combat has appeared on social networks.
Australian Bushmaster in Ukraine

The dangerous situation is escalating.

                                                   Thanks for reading          Margaret

Tim Moseley

Gold silver slump on strong US dollar rising bond yields

Gold, silver slump on strong U.S. dollar, rising bond yields

Gold and silver prices are lower in midday U.S. Trading Wednesday and hit two-month lows. The safe-haven metals are being hit hard by a surging U.S. dollar and rising government bond yields. The bulls also continue to get punished by the chart-based bears who continue to press their case amid weakening near-term technicals. June gold futures were last down $15.40 at $1,888.70 and May Comex silver was last down $0.049 at $23.485 an ounce.

A feature in the marketplace this week is the soaring value of the U.S. dollar, as the U.S. dollar index today hit another two-year high. Meantime, the Euro currency today hit a five-year low. The greenback is seeing safe-haven demand amid the geopolitical crisis. The Euro zone is getting hammered by soaring energy costs, as much of Europe gets its energy from Russia. Russia on Tuesday cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

Global stock markets were mixed overnight. U.S. stock indexes are higher at midday, on corrective bounces after big losses Tuesday. This week is the busiest U.S. corporate earnings week of the quarter, which will help drive stock prices. So far most of the earnings reports have been upbeat. However, at present geopolitics is trumping corporate earnings as risk aversion remains elevated amid the Russia-Ukraine war that is the biggest battlefield in Europe since World War Two. Inflation worries are also near the front burner of the marketplace.

Major Russian gold miner opts for exports versus imports as local banks buy gold at discount

The other key outside market sees Nymex crude oil futures prices weaker and trading around $100.75 a barrel. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently fetching 2.8%.

Technically, June gold futures prices hit another two-month low today. A price downtrend line is in place on the daily bar chart. Bears have gained the slight overall near-term technical advantage and have momentum on their side. Bulls' next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $1,950.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,850.00. First resistance is seen at $1,900.00 and then at today’s high of $1,908.10. First support is seen at today’s low of $1,881.60 and then at $1,875.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.5.

May silver futures prices hit a nine-week low today. A price downtrend line is in place on the daily bar chart. The silver bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $25.00 an ounce. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $23.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $23.765 and then at $24.00. Next support is seen at today’s low of $23.275 and then at $23.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.5.

May N.Y. copper closed up 245 points at 446.50 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session high today and saw short covering. The copper bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. A price downtrend line is in place on the daily bar chart. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 470.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at the January low of 428.80 cents. First resistance is seen at 450.00 cents and then at Tuesday’s high of 452.45 cents. First support is seen at this week’s low of 438.30 cents and then at 430.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.0.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

Tim Moseley

Being happy alone – the power of being alone

Being alone is not always easy, but spending time just with yourself holds great power.
Why, and how you manage to be happy alone, I will tell you here and enjoy reading.

The most important relationship is the relationship with ourselves
We care about everything and everyone and sometimes about every trivial thing, sometimes without knowing what for. Yet the most important relationship is the relationship with ourselves. But because we are constantly on the move on the outside, our inner self atrophies. The hectic existence becomes a self-runner, spinning in circles so long and so fast that it makes us dizzy. Then we fall over and are thrown back on ourselves.
And then we lie there …

Escape from oneself – or being alone to develop personally
There are moments when you feel abandoned not only by the world, but also by yourself. After a break-up, a loss or at some other turning point in life, being alone can feel terribly lonely.
Enduring this, or rather enduring oneself, is difficult, but important for our personal development.

Being happy alone can be hard
We have a tendency to want to avoid unpleasant things immediately: Let's get away from this gloomy place that currently knows no laughter and no happiness, that no one visits and that is always rushing from one to the other, so as not to have to endure and feel one's own feelings and so as not to be plunged into the depths by one's own abysses, we think, numbing ourselves with stimuli and running faster and faster in an attempt to outrun ourselves and the challenges of life.

But this will not succeed. We cannot run away from life's trials because they are interwoven with us to the very depths. We should solve them.
If we run away from them, they will always appear before us. They force us to immerse ourselves so that we can develop in the threads of life and go our way.
Therefore, we should not want to run away from loneliness, but meet it courageously.

Why being alone is important
Being alone is important. Perhaps all the more important the lonelier it feels. In a world where one is permanently accessible, one should make oneself temporarily unreachable. We don't have to sink into complete isolation and punish ourselves with solitary confinement. It is simply a matter of not constantly avoiding our own encounters with distractions in the depths – and also the heights – of life.
The truth is: even the greatest distraction cannot separate us from ourselves. We always remain true to ourselves. Even when we have not been true to ourselves and our attitudes or resolutions.
The truth is: we are never alone in the world.
It's all the worse when this feeling feels so real – happiness only shallow and yet any human closeness seems distant.
When everything is colourful but appears to us in black and white, when everything is animated but only emptiness sprouts for us, when we are burnt out because the inner fire has gone out, we should throw the focus back on ourselves. Put our life in perspective, lean back into ourselves and look at what is wrong right now.

Be happy alone? Connect with yourself
When our tank is empty and only a sticky trail of oil drips behind us, we need to refuel – fill ourselves back up with ourselves. Breathe into ourselves a spirit of life that speaks our voice, walks in our rhythm, beats our beat and gives us a warm embrace from within.

We don't have to turn the whole world upside down or travel around the globe to do this – all it takes is time with ourselves.

Inner stability when it's stormy on the outside
We can anchor our roots deep inside so that we stand firm in the storms of life. Gentle breezes will come, storms will come, but hurricanes will also sweep over us, sometimes changing our whole lives.
And then?
One thing is certain, the more firmly we stand in ourselves, the less can bring us down.

Aloneness transforms
We don't always have to be able to prance through the world with a beaming smile, bubbling over with joy or feeding on our own endorphin cocktail. We are allowed to be weak – but we have to be strong in order to gain new strength. Because true strength is to endure one's own weakness, to dive into it, to draw from the depths and to grow from it.

Aloneness is the key to ourselves
Being alone is always what we make of it. The key to change can lie in honestly and lovingly letting ourselves in, because then we can open up the many (protective) shells and recognise who we really are. What we need and where we want to go.

Having time for ourselves gives us strength and contentment
Without external influences we become calm. We connect with ourselves, process the past and recharge our batteries. We give ourselves time and attention and take care of ourselves.
And in the moment when we are content with ourselves – not needing any stimuli, events or confirmation from outside, accepting our own shadow sides and not blaming anyone else for our happiness – a powerful force full of independence, personal responsibility and genuine contentment awakens.

Being happy alone – this is how it works
Therefore: If life overruns you or is a self-runner and you no longer know whether you are running after your own life or away from it, then just stand still.
Sit back.
Do nothing or what is good for you.
Hold on, catch yourself and catch yourself again when you have run too far away. Take yourself by the hand and pick yourself up where you are – this way you become yourself again and being alone becomes not only less lonely, but your source of strength.

 

Tim Moseley

Gold firms as investors digest China inflation and global economic contraction

Gold firms as investors digest China, inflation, and global economic contraction

Gold futures opened at $1899.60, traded to a low of $1896.30, and then recovered back above $1900 per ounce. As of 4:18 PM EDT gold futures basis, the most active June 2022 contract is currently trading up $9.30 and fixed at $1905.30. Gold’s reversal from its price decline over the last seven trading days is being supported by multiple factors and events.

Most evident is renewed concern by investors regarding China’s worsening Covid-19 infection rates, which has resulted in lockdowns in major Chinese cities which now include areas of Beijing. Over 500,000 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Shanghai as hazmat-wearing patrols continue to enforce lockdowns throughout the city.

Shanghai is a major port city, and its shutdown has led to the absence of goods being shipped abroad, disrupting the supply chain to the United States of electronics and semiconductors vital to the automotive and electronics industry.

Real concerns about a global economic contraction resulting from China’s lockdowns shook equity markets worldwide. Shipping disruption was a root cause that led to Chinese equity markets selling off dramatically, which had a tremendous impact on U.S. equities today as all major indices experienced deep declines. The Dow lost 809 points or 2.38%, the S&P 500 declined by 2.81%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite dropped dramatically, losing 3.95% or 514 points.

The uptick of Covid-19 infections in China and subsequent lockdowns have raised concerns that inflation will continue to rise and has not peaked as the Federal Reserve has maintained it would. When added to current geopolitical uncertainty regarding the war in Ukraine, these issues are at the core of today’s bullish market sentiment in gold as a safe-haven asset and hedge against both inflation fears and the emergence of risk-off market sentiment. Tapering the bullish market sentiment for gold is dollar strength, along with the potential for the Federal Reserve to initiate a series of rapid rate hikes of ½ a percent at each of the next two FOMC meetings.
 

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

 

Tim Moseley

Twitter HQWhere Hell Froze Over

Twitter HQ…Where Hell Froze Over!

by Jeff Brown, editor, The Bleeding Edge

 

Twitter HQ...Where Hell Froze Over!

 

What an incredible turn of events

As a response to Elon Musk’s offer to acquire Twitter on April 14, Twitter’s board immediately adopted a poison pill defense to ensure the acquisition by Musk wouldn’t happen. I can imagine the board members chortling over the poison pill vote saying, “It’ll be a cold day in hell before Musk takes us over…”

Of course, I’m just paraphrasing. I’m sure much fouler language was used. But the funniest part is that hell did just freeze over. The board was “forced” to accept the offer from Musk at a buyout price of $54.20 a share, or roughly $44 billion. I used the word “forced” for a reason. Twitter’s board made a critical mistake… They left themselves exposed and in a weak position. 

They neglected their fiduciary responsibility as members of the board who are supposed to be acting in the best interest of shareholders. That’s where they failed. The way the poison pill was designed would have resulted in a material decrease in the value of Twitter and its share price. The major shareholders of course knew that. The board, in one fell swoop, created enemies of those who they were supposed to be working on behalf of.

 

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey struggled with his dysfunctional board for years.

He’s a brilliant entrepreneur, but even the best can be stifled by a bad board. And we just got a glimpse of how big the struggle was for him. So with so much hate and distaste for Musk and his beliefs, why did the board capitulate?

The answer is that they had no choice. The 12 days that followed after Musk’s original offer were most certainly a scramble. With an offer like that in the air, it meant that Twitter was “in play.” The board had to canvas the investment banks and private equity markets to see if there were any other possible bidders out there at a higher price… Preferably one that was seen as being less principled than Musk.

 

 

Clearly, there were none

Otherwise, the board wouldn’t have agreed to the “no shop” provision in the deal that prohibits Twitter from taking another offer. And the board’s foolish poison pill gave Musk even more influence over the large shareholders of Twitter. The shareholder base was clearly able to force the hand of the board to accept the offer from Musk.

The criticism has been harsh from some. It’s typically along the lines of, “Rich people shouldn’t be allowed to control media companies.” Yet it’s perfectly OK to those critics that Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, and Mark Zuckerberg controls Meta (Facebook).

The other tired complaint is that Twitter will now be awash with misinformation and disinformation under Musk’s control. The most ironic part about comments like that is that Google, Facebook, and Twitter all banned scientific research and/or world-renowned epidemiologists, virologists, and cardiologists from their platforms during the pandemic, considering them all to be in the class of “misinformation.” It pains me to even write those words, they are so absurd.

What is it about Musk’s ideas that are so hated by this toxic minority?

  • “Twitter has become the de facto town square, and it’s really important that people have both the reality and perception that they are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.”

  • Musk plans to remove the political bias from Twitter’s algorithms and make the source code available in order to prevent "behind the scenes manipulation, either algorithmically or manually.”

  • He pledged to defeat the “spambots” that have been used by bad actors and nation-states to negatively influence not only society but also elections.

  • The plan is to authenticate all humans who use the platform.

  • He believes that freedom of speech is a fundamental right and that it is a necessity for a free and democratic society.

It’s hard to disagree with the above… In fact, this is precisely what needs to happen in order to unleash the value of Twitter.  To use Musk’s words, Twitter’s “behind the scenes manipulation” has fomented hate and division, and it has also resulted in a deeply undervalued company.

 

Musk can and will fix Twitter as a platform

He managed to pick up Twitter at an incredible price. Presuming that Musk takes Twitter public again at some time in the next two or three years, he is going to make a fortune – at least two or three times his investment.

Can Musk fix Twitter? Absolutely. Just have a look at what he’s built to date:

  • Tesla (worth $1 trillion) – the world’s most successful clean energy company

  • SpaceX (valued at $100 billion) – the world’s most successful aerospace company

  • Boring Company (valued at $5.7 billion) – the world's most innovative boring company

  • Neuralink (valued at $2.1 billion) – is on the verge of a breakthrough for brain-computer interface technology

Any one of these accomplishments would be an outlier, but four of them? Plus, we know there will be more to come, presuming Musk doesn’t work himself to death. 

But the incredible thing about his deal with Twitter is that if he is successful in affecting the changes that he intends, it may very well be the greatest contribution he’ll make… Is the restoration of one of our most fundamental and cherished rights, freedom of speech.

 


New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter