Katie, bar the door.
Gold prices hit fresh record highs on Friday after a soft U.S. jobs report cemented hopes of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut, fuelling fresh momentum for bullion’s blistering rally.
Spot gold was up 0.9% at $3,577.33 per ounce,. Prices hit a record high of $3,582.71 and were up 3.7% so far this week. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.9% to $3,637.00. ...
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Total nonfarm gubmint: 74,750 per month
Total nonfarm private: 80,375 per month
Those rascally Democrats over at BLS, my word.
Obviously more heads need to roll at the Bureau of Labor Statistics because in Trump's wonderful economy payrolls must have risen a lot more than 22k in August lololol.
Payrolls rose 22,000 in August, less than expected in further sign of hiring slowdown
... Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 22,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for payrolls to rise by 75,000.
The report showed a marked slowdown from the July increase of 79,000, which was revised up by 6,000. Revisions also showed a net loss of 13,000 in June after the prior estimate was lowered by 27,000. ...
Ford’s redesigned three-row Expedition SUV is seeing explosive growth.
The Detroit automaker reported Wednesday that it sold 8,724 Expeditions in August, up 53.7% from the same time last year and marking its best sales in 21 years. It’s sold 61,022 of the vehicles so far this year, a 13.1% increase from the same period in 2024. ...
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... GM will stop production of two electric Cadillac SUVs at its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, during the month of December, according to a person familiar with the matter and communications to GM employees viewed by Reuters.
The plant produces the midsize Cadillac Lyriq — a relative hit and one of GM’s top-selling EVs — and the Vistiq, a larger electric SUV.
GM also plans to significantly curtail production of those vehicles during the first five months of next year by temporarily laying off one of its two shifts of workers, according to the sources. The company will additionally shutter the plants for one week in October and November.
The automaker is also planning to indefinitely delay the start of a second shift at an assembly plant near Kansas City, which is still slated to begin production of the Chevy Bolt EV later this year, the person familiar with the matter said. ...
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MEXICO CITY — U.S. forces could have stopped the boat that officials say was carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela to the United States on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, but President Donald Trump chose instead to destroy it, killing 11 people on board, to send a deterrent message to traffickers. ...
The action was a dramatic escalation for the U.S. in its fight against drug traffickers. Lawmakers and legal analysts questioned the legality of launching a lethal strike against civilians in international waters outside of an armed conflict.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that the strike was “conducted against the operations of a designated terrorist organization and was taken in defense of vital U.S. national interests and in the collective self-defense of other nations,” an apparent reference to the 2001 authorization for the use of military force enacted by Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that year. It authorizes the use of force against the perpetrators of the al-Qaeda attacks and to prevent “future acts of international terrorism.” Various lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully for years to repeal the measure, including Vice President JD Vance, who as a senator in 2023 co-sponsored the End Endless Wars Act. ...
The U.S. Coast Guard sometimes shoots out the engines of go-fast boats during maritime interdictions, the former agent said, but killing the crew is new for the United States. ...
Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, said the strike violated international law. The U.S. is not in armed conflict with Venezuela or its criminal elements, she noted, which means it violated the suspects’ right to life. ...
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the attack “murder.”
“We have been capturing civilians transporting drugs for decades without killing them,” Petro said. “Those who transport drugs are not the big drug lords, but very poor young people from the Caribbean and the Pacific. ...
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Safe-haven gold rally gains further momentum after soft US data
... Spot gold was up 1.2% to $3,576.59 per ounce by 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT), after hitting a record high of $3,578.50. ...
... Tariffs are set to bring in $172.1 billion in 2025, according to the Tax Foundation, which would be a nice financial boost to a country with a ballooning budget deficit.
“If this ruling is upheld, refunds of existing tariffs are on the table which could cause a surge in Treasury issuance and yields,” wrote Ed Mills of Raymond James in a note. ...
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... Spot gold was steady at $3,476.48 per ounce, after hitting a record high of $3,508.50 earlier in the session. Bullion has gained 32% so far this year. U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 0.9% to $3,546.80. ... Spot gold prices rose 27% in 2024, and broke the $3,000 per ounce level for the first time in March ...
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PM Update per Reuters:
... Spot gold was up 1.5% at $3,529.01 per ounce as of 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), after climbing as high as $3,529.93. Bullion has gained 34.5% this year. ...
... Spot silver rose 1.6% to $40.31 per ounce, the highest since September 2011. ...
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Trump sees off the free-market capitalism that enriched America
... In short, the extent of presidential control of the economy has not been seen since the end of the Second World War. Trump has added to his influence over macroeconomic policy by levying tariffs, another name for taxes. He is in the process of gaining control of monetary policy by packing the Fed board and firing an existing board member for alleged mortgage fraud, no trial necessary.
Fed independence, done and dusted, control of the macroeconomy complete, he is turning his attention to the independent players that make up the microeconomic economy. With sycophants in seats once occupied by powerful advisers and the opposition Democrats in disarray, effective resistance to Trump’s power push is negligible. ...
Now, as president, he is favouring visitors with baseball caps emblazoned “Trump in 2028”.
