Later

Gold / Cripto: Paulson, 65, is increasingly concerned about rising prices, he said in an episode of “Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein.” The rapidly expanding money supply could push inflation rates well above current expectations, he said, and gold, which he’s backed for years, is primed for its moment.  

His harshest words are for the hottest investments of this era. SPACs, on average, will be a losing proposition, while cryptocurrencies are a bubble that will “eventually prove to be worthless.”

 

Later

Boolmberg: America is again one of the worst hotspots for coronavirus infection on Earth. Covid-19 patients are dying in U.S. hospitals at levels not seen since February—and the numbers are expected to keep climbing. In Alabama, the entire state is out of intensive care beds. Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas’s ICUs are at 90% capacity. Complicating the fight, a new study showed vaccines are less effective against the now-dominant delta variant, and lose effectiveness over time. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has condemned President Joe Biden’s plan to dole out boosters to U.S. adults when much of the world has yet to get one shot. —Margaret Sutherlin

Back from Costco (COSTnew all time high today), hardly anyone is wearing a mask. Some people are wearing one but around the chin – very helpful.  At Starbuck’s some 50 people sitting around, close together– not one mask in sight.

Library of Congress bomb suspect livestreamed on Facebook for hours before being blocked

Why is the Plague on Humanity still in business?

 Quick Overview is up to date

Notes today:

• The T-Mobile Breach Is Much Worse Than It Had to Be

• 
  The vast majority of victims weren’t even T-Mobile customers. Now their information is for sale on the dark web...Those roughly 48 million users had their full names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver’s license information stolen.
  

• Deutsche Telecom (DTEGY) owns 43.16% of T-Mobil (TMUS)

• Fed officials felt their employment yardstick for decreasing support for the economy "could be reached this year," but appeared to disagree on other key aspects of where monetary policy should turn next in the transition from the pandemic crisis…

• Some 250 ETF's  have launched this year… is this  ridiculous?. Why would the US market need 250 “MORE” ETFs? Of course, it keeps Wall Street clowns with their computers occupied. 

• Florida & COVID in the news AGAIN:  Florida’s largest school district voted Wednesday to defy  Ron DeSantis and require masks for students when classes begin next week.👍👍
• With more than 121,000 COVID-19 pediatric cases reported in the U.S. last week, Dr. Peter Hotez warns this is likely just the start of what is to come. 

• CME has denied press reports of a $16 billion bid for the  Cboe. 

 

• 
  
  (Reuters) - The frost events that hit coffee fields in Brazil in recent weeks will cause a loss of around 4% to production in the next season, according to forecaster Tropical Research Services (TRS) in a webcast organized by Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE.N). "The frosts were moderate events, not as severe as we saw in 2001 and 1994," said Steve Wateridge, the company's global head of research. (TRS' loss estimate is one of the lowest seen so far in the market...other forecasters had a loss of some 11%)
• 
  
  California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder is vowing to reverse any COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates Gov. Gavin Newsom has put in place if he’s chosen to replace the Democrat. 
• In case you missed it above: With more than 121,000 COVID-19 pediatric cases reported in the U.S. last week, Dr. Peter Hotez warns this is likely just the start of what is to come. 
• If you are pro-life - wear a damn mask ! 

• 
  
  Mike Lindell:  Cyber experts who disproved Mike Lindell’s voter fraud claims sue for $5 million reward he offered

• Landlords from Tampa, Florida, to Memphis, Tennessee, and Riverside, California, are jacking up rents at record speeds. For each listing, multiple people apply. Some renters are forced to check into hotels while they hunt after losing out too many times.  (ESS,INVH,AMH   ??)

Crypto is ‘95% fraud, hype, noise and confusion,’ says Fed’s Neel Kashkari

The central banker said he doesn’t see any use case for bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.20%, the world’s No. 1 crypto, and referred to the broader digital-asset sector as one that is largely tied to fraud and hype.

Cryptocurrency is 95% fraud, hype, noise and confusion,” Kashkari said, speaking at the Pacific Northwest Economic Regional Annual Summit in Big Sky, Mont.

Notes today: 

• Climate change is exacerbating extreme and freak weather events so rapidly that even the insurance industry is struggling to keep up.

• Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has used executive orders and court rulings to combat mask mandates and other anti-pandemic measures, has tested positive for a breakthrough case of Covid-19.

• Some 30% of Millennials and GenZers say they have cut ties with friends, family members etc. because they wouldn’t get the Covid vaccine.

• New Zealand will enter a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday over a single Covid case

• Glencore has acquired a stake in Britishvolt, (privat) the battery start-up behind plans for a gigafactory to equip the UK for an electric car future.

Florida in the news AGAIN: Several states hit hardest by the recent surge in infections have reported increased vaccinations, including Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. However, Florida, which broke a record for weekly cases on Friday, reported vaccinations falling week over week.

In case you’ve been wondering what palm oil is doing, - well it’s in new all-time high ground.

 

Finding the Will to Stave Off a Darker Future

Notes today: 

• The Taliban now rule  Afghanistan.

• Germany's wholesale prices rose 11.3% YoY in Jul vs +10.7% in June. This was the highest monthly annual rate of change since Oct1974 after the first oil crisis.

 

• The American University Hospital in Beirut was once the best in the Middle East. It will close on Monday unless somehow somewhere it gets fuel to run the generator.

• CDC: Making the seals tighter to prevent air leakage can reduce people’s exposure by more than 95 percent in laboratory tests. And cover your nose!!

•  Economists now expect annual growth of around 7% in Britain

• Biden hailed the Senate's passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill which aims to bring long-awaited improvements to America’s roads and bridges, broadband internet, drinking water and school facilities.

  
  

Nixon Broke With Gold 50 Years Ago. What Comes Next?

There have been four post-gold standards, and all of them can be understood by looking at the ratio of share prices (which rise on optimism) to gold (which rises on pessimism). When the stocks-to-gold ratio is rising, confidence is high, but when it falls, there is fear of inflation.

Oats closed limit up last Friday. Will be interesting where to from here.

As of tonight, so far, Oats are in backwardation. Sep is at 504 Dec at 500

 

 

Headlines of this sort are usually a pretty good indicator that the exact opposite may ensue.

 109 years ago

Should have read decades not centuries.

Pondering Earth's Distant Future

The word has been out for decades: We were born on a damaged planet careening toward environmental collapse.

 

Quick Overview is up to date

BDI Baltic Exchange Dry Index is moving right along 

First time in a  while that the CCFI is down a little.

Florida in the news again: Florida added 151,415 new COVID cases from Friday through yesterday.  1,071 more deaths were also reported by the state

Preventable!!!!!!!

Notes today: 

• The Senior Citizens League estimates that US Social Security could be increase by as much as 6.1% 

• US Census shows US growth driven by minorities; white pop falls under 60 percent. 

• US Inflation remained at 5.4% in July, the same YoY level reported in June. 

• The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.0 percent in July, as prices for final demand services advanced 1.1 % and the index for final demand goods rose 0.6%. The final demand index moved up 7.8% for the 12 months ended in July. 

• The world’s currently home to about 7.9 billion people, but this number’s growing constantly.
• The UN thinks there’ll be 9.7 billion people on the planet by 2050. 

• The FDA is reportedly planning to authorize booster shots for immunocompromised Americans. 

• California became the first state to require all school employees to either be vaccinated or submit to regular testing. 

• The Chinese Communist Party announced a new five-year economic plan that will strengthen its grip on crucial sectors, signaling that its corporate regulatory crackdown will extend for years. 

• Britain’s economy grew by 4.8% between April and June compared with the previous quarter.

• The US spent $88 billion $ training the Afghan Army for 20 years. It collapsed in 1 month.

Hundreds of students in Florida are already in quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 in the classroom, just a few days into the new
school year.

August U.S. consumer sentiment is at the lowest level in about ten years.  Americans grew more worried about the economy’s scenarios, inflation and the recent surge in coronavirus cases.

Nearly half of American workers do not earnenough to rent a one-bedroom apartment, according to new data. 

 

Listen to the latest USDA comments by Steve Freed 

here

Dec. Wheat

Sep.Oats

Spreads for muni hospital bonds are near the lowest in a decade. Delta variant causing hospitals to start canceling profitable elective surgeries - again!

 Global Fire Emissions

 

Later

Sugar: Weather woes have triggered downward revisions in the Center-South production estimates to levels as low as 490 million metric tons, a 19% decline versus the previous crop. In the second half of July, sugar content in cane declined in the region from a year ago, while cane yield dropped 18%, the nation’s sugar-cane industry group Unica said in report Tuesday. 

 

Quick Overview is up to date

Business groups were eager to start giving to Sedition Caucus members in the wake of the January 6th.

The flow of money from corporate PACs and industry groups to political committees allied with the Sedition Caucus started just days after the insurrection, and within the first few months after the deadly attack, their total contributions had already climbed into the millions of dollars.

Austin warns of ‘catastrophe’ as Texas again becomes center of pandemic

Meanwhile, local officials who want to implement proven public health measures to mitigate the spread have been hamstrung by the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, 

who has implemented a sweeping order restricting vaccine and mask mandates.

With the Continental Army constantly threatened by smallpox, Washington ordered all soldiers to be inoculated. It was good enough for George Washington!

CODE RED: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has just proclaimed a code red for humanity.” The unequivocal consensus of the world’s top climate scientists—unveiled in a landmark report Monday—is that not only are humans responsible for the catastrophes befalling the atmosphere, the oceans, the ice packs and the forests, but that without drastic moves by the planet’s leaders to eliminate greenhouse gas pollution, things are going to get a lot worse, and quite soon. (Blooomberg)

 US Share buybacks very strong!

..investing more and more at higher and higher prices as our confidence increases...

and round and round it goes.

Notes today:

•  Investor morale in the euro zone fell in August to a three-month low on a sharp drop in expectations due to concerns that new lockdown restrictions could loom in the autumn and beyond, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the euro zone fell to 22.2 points in August from 29.8 in July. 

• Economists and financial professionals are at least 20 times more likely to believe that climate risk is underestimated by asset markets as opposed to overestimated. 

• The Dallas Independent School District on Monday announced that "to protect staff and students from the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, Dallas ISD is temporarily requiring all staff, students and visitors to wear masks when on district property."👍
• 
  
  The decision is in direct opposition to Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) ban on mask mandates in public schools and government entities in the state. Abbott announced the ban in May, saying that any government entity that required people to wear masks would face fines of up to $1,000 per offense.👎