"What dost thou see, lone watcher on the tower
Is the day breaking? comes the wish'd-for hour?
Tell us the signs, and stretch abroad thy hand
If the bright morning dawns upon the land.
The stars are clear above me, scarcely one
Has dimm'd its rays in reverence to the sun;
But yet I see, on the horizon's verge,
Some fair, faint streaks, as if the light would surge."
Charles Mackay, The Watcher On The Tower
What failing economy?
Gold and silver drifted higher today in what can best be described as 'lackluster trading.'
The Comex was too bored with its own paper bullion game to even provide data on deliveries last Friday, as you can see from today's delivery report to be found below.
As you may recall, there will be a Non-Farm Payrolls Report for August this Friday. It will be closely watched because one of the last 'safe' opportunities for the Fed to raise rates 25 bp before the election will be this September.
Janet's minder, Stanley Fischer, will be speaking on Bloomberg at 6:30 AM tomorrow, and he may have some things to say that *could* move the markets a bit, as he is sometimes inclined to do.
If I were Janet I would placate these knuckleheads by doing a 25 bp raise in September, and making it clear it was a 'one and done' unless the global economy starts percolating a whole lot more. The last thing the US needs right now is a stronger dollar, given the palpable weakness in the real economy, despite the sloganeering and statistical razzle dazzle to the contrary, for the past six years or so.
RIP Gene Wilder.
Have a pleasant evening.
