Silver ended the day down 8.63% on a year-to-date basis.
Gold ended the day down 1.33% on a year-to-date basis.
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Monday, June 8, 2026
Middle East tanker transits 31 May - 6 June 2026: Strait of Hormuz 1.7/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 15.7/day
SoH E: 1.0/day
BAM SE: 7.7/day
Italian coffee company Lavazza to introduce proprietary machine Tabli to brew its proprietary entirely natural compressed coffee tablets which require no recycling like K-cups do
Italian coffee giant Lavazza launches single-serve tablets to make espresso in the U.S.
... Lavazza will officially launch Tablì in the U.S. in August. A $99.99 bundle that includes the machine, a 60-count variety pack of tabs and a milk frother is available now to pre-order on the company’s website. ...
There was no "pre-order" tab on the U.S. website.
The question is, Will the coffee from a tablet be any good?
And, Do you want to be hostage to the company for future supply?
Personally, I prefer Kimbo to Lavazza, but I will drink Lavazza.
My advice is to buy a moka pot and a grinder instead, and buy the beans or ground coffee of your choosing.
You will have the coffee you want when you want it, and if you never put the moka pot in the dishwasher it will last you a lifetime.
I have used several different sizes in both aluminum and stainless steel since the 1990s and have never gone back to percolators, pour-overs, French presses, drip machines, steam or pump espresso makers, et cetera. And I keep several different brands and styles of coffee going all the time.
Plus, the moka pots will work over a flame in a power outage, take up no counter space, and can travel with you at leisure or in an emergency.
And the look is . . . iconic.
OMG CNBC story headlined "What is the average mortgage payment?" takes you to "Is a reverse mortgage right for me?"
What is the average mortgage payment?
https://www.cnbc.com/select/is-a-reverse-mortgage-right-for-me-/
Bait and switch much?
AI's answer is $2,329 nationally, about $1,595 on average where I live.
OMG, good morning, time for a donut
... more than 40% of patients reporting vomiting might limit the drug’s commercial potential ... no shit lol
Weight loss drug maker sinks 25% after new safety data spooks investors
Sunday, June 7, 2026
I have a hard time getting excited about bond yields surging 7% in the wake of the Iran war when they already surged 368% since 2020 to the end of February
100 days of the Iran war: How global markets and the economy have been affected, in charts
... Yields on U.S. Treasurys are among those to have surged in the aftermath of the war ... U.S. 30-year Treasury yields have surged ...
Progressive Dems wanted Biden to just shut up and disappear in 2024, and nothing has changed
They have learned nothing.
When you adopt the narrative of your enemy, you lose.
Saturday, June 6, 2026
That's unfair to Harris, she came in fourth in California
Again, what doomed Democrats was betraying their sitting president in the ninth inning.
Warren Buffett's right hand man Charlie Munger was fundamentally anti-social
... "You don’t need other people. The point of getting rich is so you don’t have to need other people, so you don’t have to get along with others.” ...
Quoted here.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Everything sold off today
Stocks were down across the board, with the NASD 100 notably down 4.77%. The equal weight S&P 500 is down 0.52% month to date.
The Tech sector was down the most on the day, 5.78%.
The Consumer Staples sector was up the most on the day, 1.64%, which looks defensive against a possible coming recession. The Utilities sector was up half that.
The U.S. 10Y yield rose to 4.55%, and the 20Y and 30Y yields rose above 5.00. YTD return for VUSUX is now down 0.85%.
Oil retreated 3%.
Metals were down across the board, silver down over 8%.
Crypto was down across the board, too, with Bitcoin falling below $60k.
But DXY climbed! +0.658 to 100.071.
The theory is investors are upset that today's "strong" jobs numbers (the 70k hospitality hires is probably World Cup related, a one off, so forget that) indicate easy money from the Fed is now absolutely out of the question, and maybe even a rate increase is coming because the economy is running too hot, which is silly with 1Q GDP at 1.6% annualized. CNBC called that "solid" lol.
Jokers say everyone's just raising cash to buy overpriced SpaceX in its IPO next week.
Investors are taking profits ahead of SpaceX IPO, says Capital Wealth’s Kevin Simpson
SpaceX is worth less than half of its $1.75 trillion IPO target, Morningstar says
The increase in Saudi oil exports through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in April 2026 came to about 3.3 million barrels per day according to Kpler
Iran’s threats against this Red Sea choke point are a big vulnerability for the oil market
... Oil and product exports through the Bab el-Mandeb nearly doubled to 7.2 million barrels per day in April compared with 3.9 million bpd in February before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, according to data provided by Kpler.
The interactive chart by Kpler in the story is a shipwreck.
The data is in millions of barrels per day passing through, as explained in the story. Unfortunately you don't see "million" anywhere in the chart.
What you see is 5.2B, 7.7B, 2.9B, etc., which could easily be misinterpreted as either "barrels" or "billion".
The proper designation should be MMb/d or perhaps MMB/D in the chart, but maybe just leave that out entirely next time because it's already too busy and just put "million" in the subtitle before "barrels" and leave it 5.2, 7.7, 2.9, etc. in the chart.
Middle East tanker transits May 28-Jun 3, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 1.1/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 14.9/day
SoH E: 0.4/day
BAM SE: 7.3/day
Just 48.82% had a full-time job in May 2026
Trump I averaged 49.23% full-time, even with 2020 thrown in there.
For 2017, 2018, 2019 the average was 49.87%.
2019 averaged 50.38% full-time, Trump's best year.
Trump's best month was July 2019 at 50.98%, which Biden did not beat.
Trump is making America 2017 again, not great.
Full-time peaks in the summers, so we'll see what happens, but the set-up doesn't look promising.
The Dow Jones consensus estimate for May jobs was +80k, leisure and hospitality alone led all sectors with +70k lol, well above the 14k/month average over the past year, government added 52k, education and health services 40k
Productive jobs rose by 7k in manufacturing, by 17k in construction, and by 4k in mining and logging, mixed in there with the others.
U.S. payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, much more than expected; unemployment at 4.3%
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Democrats should have punted on allowing warrantless spying a long time ago, but it's amusing that Trump putting Pulte in the game might make them finally do it
I mean, Pulte's own family punted on him, why shouldn't Democrats?
Nope, you dope
Ruining young brains was not better.
And while we're at it, letting young girls cut off their tits wasn't better, either.
"We got this, we got this" USDA says about Plan B after Plan A began too late, with too little urgency, and will be short of the needed 500 million sterile screwworm flies until 2028 at the earliest
We are so screwed, so to speak.
Hamburgers will never be cheap as long as Donald Trump is president.
Flesh-eating screwworm is confirmed in the U.S., officials say
... "The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again," the USDA said.
... Dudley Hoskins, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the USDA ... “USDA invested heavily in the tools needed to eliminate NWS ever since cases started increasing in Central America and Mexico,” Hoskins said. “The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again.” ...
Confirmed screwworm case in Texas sends two biotech stocks higher
... regional director of the Federal Crop Agency ... “We just had a conditional use drug approved; U.S. producers can handle it.”
August 15, 2025:
... Washington has halted cattle imports from Mexico and invested millions in setting up a new sterile fly production plant in Metapa, Mexico. But it will take roughly a year to come online.
... The U.S. eliminated screwworms in the 20th century by flying planes over hotspots to drop red-striped boxes packed with sterile flies, sometimes called “cupcakes” by ranchers. The USDA constructed a fly production plant in Mission, Texas, in 1962, that pumped out 96 trillion flies until it was decommissioned in 1981. Now the USDA is planning to resurrect the plant to disperse sterile flies, while Texas officials have scattered 100 screwworm traps along the border.
USDA inspectors known as Tick Riders who patrol the border on horseback to guard against another pest, the cattle fever tick, have also been tasked with conducting screwworm preventive treatment for all cattle and horses they find in the border area.
At the heart of the problem is an unworkable math equation. The USDA estimated 500 million flies need to be released weekly to push the fly back to the Darien Gap. At its maximum, the Panama plant produces just 100 million.
“It’s an overwhelming situation at this point,” Dr. Lansford said. “Screwworm is obviously doing well in Mexico, and they’re up against the same challenges we are.” ...
October 21, 2025:
... Moscamed, as the factory is called, will begin manufacturing 100 million sterile flies by July 2026. ...
Until now, the sterile flies that are spread throughout the country to combat the screwworm plague (100 million each week) are brought from a plant managed by the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of the Cattle Screwworm (Copeg), in Panama, where they have been working at maximum capacity to control the pest since January 2025. ...
With the other leg of the project, the construction of a manufacturing plant for these flies in Texas, international efforts project a production of up to 500 million flies per week, which will be released throughout the region. If international cooperation continues, myiasis could be eradicated in less time than the first time. Some representatives of Senasica have even talked about achieving this goal in five years. ...
USDA didn't break ground on the Texas facility until two months ago.
April 17, 2026:
USDA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Break Ground on New Texas Sterile Fly Production Facility
... Initial operational capability targeted for November 2027, reaching production of 100 million sterile flies per week.
Construction continues immediately beyond initial operations to scale full production capacity to 300 million sterile flies per week. ...
This new state-of-the-art facility will complement USDA’s ongoing production of 100 million sterile flies per week at the Panama-based COPEG facility. USDA has also invested $21 million to support modernization of Mexico’s Metapa, MX facility, expected to be operational in summer 2026. ...
CNBC says long-term unemployment is surging but it is not, at least not yet
Long-term unemployment is surging in the U.S. There are hidden costs for workers and the economy
Long term unemployment is . . . falling.
The four-week moving average of initial claims has been falling for a year.
The four-week moving average of continued claims has been falling for ten months, not very fast at first, but falling decisively nevertheless.
The actual number unemployed 27 weeks or longer is down since December 2025. Yes, it is slightly higher than in January.
The percentage of population unemployed 27 weeks or longer is not surging either. At 0.666% in April, the percentage has been holding fairly steady near this level also for ten months.
In this latter metric, a surge would look more like a steady climb toward 1.00% of population unemployed 27 weeks or longer, which is common after recessions begin. The climb to the current level has been very choppy, reflecting the chaos of positive and negative developments under Trump II.
And incidentally, a contraction in this metric falling below 0.5% would indicate good times are here indeed, so this right now is not that either, as Trumpty Dumpty keeps saying.
Of course all of this could be about to change for the worse because of oil.
Oil makes our world go round.
Trump always prefers a diplomatic solution after oil prices spike 62% after he doesn't
Oil prices fall 3% on report Trump reluctant to restart Iran war
... The White House declined to comment on the report when asked by CNBC. A White House official said while Trump “always prefers a diplomatic solution, he has been clear about the consequences if Iran refuses to make a deal.” ...
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Middle East tanker transits May 26-June 1 2026: Strait of Hormuz 2.0/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 17.3/day
SoH E: 0.9/day
BAM SE: 7.3/day
US House votes 215-208 directing the president to remove U.S. military forces from hostilities with Iran, which Republicans say isn't a war and which Trump says ended on April 7 lol
House passes resolution to end Iran War, challenging Trump
House lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation designed to force President Trump to end the Iran War, marking a victory for Democrats and the constitutional purists who say the conflict is illegal without explicit congressional approval.
The tally was 215-208, with four Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Tom Barrett (Mich.) and Warren Davidson (Ohio) — joining every Democrat in supporting the measure.
The development is largely symbolic, since there are lingering disputes about whether the measure, known as a concurrent resolution, carries the force of law. And Trump is certain to contest the authority of the measure even if it’s also passed by the Senate, where it’s headed next. ...
Behind Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), most Republicans have argued that the conflict does not rise to the level of a war, and therefore doesn’t require congressional approval. ...
The administration is also challenging the measure from a practical angle, arguing that the conflict ended when Trump called for a ceasefire in early April. ...
The House Roll Call is here.
Who's gonna tell him?
Bessent: Inflation jump will be 'short-term blip'...
Core inflation has been rattling around 3% or higher for nearly five consecutive years as our betters fail to get inflation down to their 2% goal.
I say their goal because 0% is the goal in the law.
Goals are real nice, aren't they?
They, too, are meaningless. They are tricks to persuade you that our elected officials are serious people who agree with you while they have no intention of doing what they say they will do.
"Well I'm really sorry, Mr. Smith. We tried really hard to get inflation down but we had all these unexpected events ruin our best efforts."
In 1Q2026 core inflation rose, to 3.11%, and under current circumstances no one thinks 2Q is going to be lower, which will make it five full years of this and headed the wrong way again.
One good blip deserves another, I guess.
The Treasury Secretary is not serious about inflation, and just about everyone points to Scott Bessent as the serious person in this administration.
We are so screwed.
LA Mayoral race: How does the percentage of the vote counted go down 7 points in 3.5 hours lol?!
LA's problems are worse than you imagined!
But look at the other California races.
Results for Congressional District 7 were 50% counted at 1212 PM, but only 45% counted at 338 PM!
District 22 went down too, from 67% to 61%.
The race for governor went from 62% counted to 57%.
District 6 went from 55% to 50%.
And District 14 went from 51% counted to 47% counted.
As time goes by in California, they just keep finding more votes to count I guess, unlike in the rest of America.
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| 1212 PM |
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| 338 PM |
Update, June 4, 2026, 545pm ROFLMAO:
This Donald Hussein Trump statement is willfully blind
Or Russia in Ukraine.
Who's side is he on, anyway?!
Senator Thom Tillis says it's still amateur hour at the White House lol
GOP Sen. Tillis slams Trump intelligence pick Pulte: ‘Don’t think he has a prayer’
... “Whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House,” Tillis said. “I am tired of amateur hour.”
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Joel Kotkin took a vacation to Italy to find fascism and found conservatism instead
In today’s Italy, some outlets like The Guardian
label the present government of Giorgia Meloni as the doyenne of what
it describes as “neo-fascism.” They see in her politics a savvy,
gradualist way to restore the Mussolini-era patriarchy and strong,
controlling state.
Although her party has its roots in a political descendant of the fascist regime, there is little evidence of what historian Simonetta Falasca-Zamboni has
described as “fascist spectacle.” There are few Meloni posters, much
less statues in Rome or elsewhere. She does not hold the kind of massive
show-of-strength rallies that Mussolini and Hitler specialized in.
Unlike Mussolini, she has no cadre of violent “Blackshirts” to impose
the party’s will.
Meloni’s governing philosophy, instead, is traditionalist and conservative. Like others in the European “far right,” she is protective of the vast Italian welfare state and not willing to rock the boat of what is, whatever its political coloration, a profoundly conservative country. Leftists do not fear criticism of her will land them in jail. Actually, the rising censorship in Britain and the EU is applied to those who challenge progressive assumptions. When Meloni’s proposed judicial reform was voted down, Meloni dutifully accepted the results. “She’s basically a Christian Democrat,” Rome-based economist Veronica De Romanis told me. “Stability is her main goal.” ...
OMG not THAT idiot
Trump picks housing Dir. Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief, replacing Tulsi Gabbard
But speaking of idiots, just how does one become a former scion anyway?
Monday, June 1, 2026
The communist New York Times favors State of Massachusetts dictation of minimum lot sizes, the very same idea bipartisan legislators are keen to impose on Michigan residents
... For decades, the state government has ceded control over housing policy to its 351 cities and towns. When it comes to housing policy, the state of Massachusetts is often a bystander, allowing town governments to impose classic “not in my backyard” policies. ... The initiative would prevent many towns from setting needlessly large minimums for lot sizes and effectively blocking the construction of middle-class homes. The campaign, Legalize Starter Homes, is now trying to gather the nearly 12,500 signatures it needs before June 17 to place the measure on the ballot. We endorse the initiative. ... The initiative would create a statewide minimum of 5,000 square feet, which is about the size of a basketball court, and bar towns from setting their own standards. ...
That's less than 1/8 acre lol.
The editorial is here.
Yuri Zhivago once had his "too big" house taken away from him by the communists, too, to make room for thirteen families:
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