NYC Journal

Phil,

Copper currently is a red hot commodity: record prices. The copper shortage is not going away anytime soon. At this point it is kinda going to be a “strategic” metal.

American’s don’t have any clue about the poverty that awaits us.

My spin is debt is akin to slavery. It makes me mad when I think about how taxpayers took on the debt/losses and effectively Wall Street losses were “Socialized” in 2007-2008.

The protected class, the top 20% of earners, were as defined, meaning protected.

In my book taxation without representation.

BTW what happened in 2007-2008 is not capitolism.

In China they are preventing loses from their own real estate crisis. We similarly did the same. Pretty much kicked the can down the road where it will appear again.

“Moo,” said the Pig.

I kinda expect some third world resemblance here. Might have to buy a shotgun and load it with alternating rounds of slugs and shot. I’m not a survivalist BTW, but I’m being pragmatic.

Cal
 
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The DOW has deteriorated down -632 points.

A headline says inflation worries and negative consumer sentiment are to blame.

Late to the game. These economists reside in an ivory tower and analysts pretty much don’t see what is in plain sight.

Don’t forget that Jerome Powel, a Trump appointee, is professionally a lawyer and not an economist…

Cronies are running our country and the economy.

How did we get to resemble a third world country? Anyways that is where we are heading…

Cal
 
The rallies against the duel presidents (black and orange) are increasing and include lots of republican voters who did not bargain for what's happening. There is a level of meanness, incompetence, ignorance, stupidity and plain evil that is hard to fathom. The rallies will get larger as this sick administration continues to destruct our government: health care and research, education, social programs that support retirees and the poor, government security and intelligence services, relations with our allies. Citizenship and voting rights are next to be attacked. This is hell unleashed and will require a commensurate response. Civil disobedience will increase. Two elections coming soon may flip congressional seats to democrats, and this will set off alarms for the sycophant republicans.

It may be too much to expect more republican members of congress to wake up and oppose DT's cruelty, chaos and vengeance (He would close universities because they include smarter people who value improvement, truth, progress - things he could never comprehend) but when they see enough voters turning against them and threatening their jobs, that may help some join join democrats in fighting against this insanity. And if the republican leaders cannot fathom that they, too, could lose social security, and that their own parents and relatives could lose health care services --- then what hope is there?
 
E,

Citizenship and voting rights have been already violated by Team Orange, but if you go back to the year 2000 and include the Supreme Court Decision that got George W. Bush his first term there is actually a history.

Back then in 2000 I preached, “This is the beginning of the end of our democracy.”

Cal
 
It is before the close of the markets and the DOW is down around 750 points.

Gold is still consolidating above $3.1K.

Tis not April 2d yet…

The auto makers are in a big sell off. Hope you have a good car that remains fresh. Ugly is about to start. We have not really seen anything yet. The beginning is beginning…

I see many Americans getting crushed like ants when the shoe drops.

Cal
 
Automotive bonds are being sold off. Imagine the worry of automotive bond holders that they have a chance of not getting their capitol back, none the less the interest promised.

There is a fog setting in, and the impact of tariffs has not set in yet.

Then there is more serious talk of stagflation.

They say the deficit is now worse than under Biden

My thinking is that high interest rates will persist. We are kinda stuck with persistent mild inflation perhaps for a prolonged period. The interest on our National Debt is a big number, and our debt is compounding where it is a problem.

********************

I have three guitars assembled that need to be wired, strung, and set up. Something like 14 electric guitars are spread around my studio which is a smallish bedroom. At this point I need to be able to hang guitars on the walls to make breathing room.

Been a good day.

Cal
 
Austin,

I’m not too keen on AI. It is only as good as the programming, and in certain things it can work well.

As they say garbage in: garbage out.

I spend a lot of time editing these posts because AI takes over and actually makes work for me.

The business model that requires Data Centers that are energy and resource intensive I can’t see being cost feasible. Pretty much major infrastructure like overhauling and doubling the capacity of the grid. So where is the savings and productivity?

There is a lot of headlines and talk about AI being a bubble. Remember the Dot Com bubble when they were laying out all this fiber optic cable?

I’ll dumb things down a bit. My 2015 Audi has side collision avoidance, and a backup camera. Pretty much all I need, but newer cars have mucho more electronics to break, and pretty much many features go unused and are disabled. As a passenger in a Nissan Tundra that is perhaps a year or two old all these reminders and extra steps to park a car or back out.

On my Leica SL2 I strip down the camera to just a still camera. Never use the video features, and pretty much I make it very much like a film camera. I turn off or disable most of the features.

AI is how I get parole reminders in Colorado, a state I have never been to. AI is actually dumb and makes mucho mistakes. I also because of AI got mistakenly a workman’s comp claim.

I guess I’m in the group that thinks AI is a bubble at this point. AI as far as the markets go jumped the shark.

Then again there is the F-35 fighter jet…

Cal
 
It may be of interest to some here that everyone I know with money behind them, is now dumping great loads of US$ and buying- are you ready for this? - no, not Euros. Swiss francs!!

When your stock market collapses and mobs of starving peons start storming the streets and flinging bricks into politicians' office windows, having cash in hand could be a good option, even the only option, Next to gold which is now nigh-high unaffordable to most anyway.

I'm told buying into Europe's Chocolate And Cuckoo Clock Culture's currency is not an easy process. Apparently there are conditions. Somebody told me you have to keep them in an account in that country, but said account comes with a globally accepted debit card. And it seems Switzerland is tax free for investments there.

(Disclaimer here, I've not looked too deeply into this, so I'm merely passing on what I've been told. Anyone interested should do their own research.)

As I would do, it I had the means. Alas, I don't. Aussie dollars nowadays are worth not much more than 2-ply toilet paper but the money market grab-artists go wild over it, when it goes up they sell out and buy US$, when it goes down they sell out and buy AUD$. In zillion dollar transactions, apparently.

Here in Asia, I wonder which currency will hold its value best. Not the Japanese yen, those day are long gone. And only crazy coots would put any investment into the Indonesian rupiah or the Malaysian ringgit. Which leaves us Singapore dollars, maybe. The little research I've done shows those are a stable unit.

But then things may go topsy-turvy for much of the global money market if Your Glorious Leader carries on in his usual way.
 
DU,

There are traders that trade currency. This involves using lots of leverage.

The markets trade 24 hours…

Small moves because of leverage can make big profits.

Right now the U.S. dollar is tanking, and some people are using this dollar weakness to buy gold which is priced in dollars.

I can see a day where the FED has to raise rates to draw foreign buyers of U.S. bonds.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
DU,

There are traders that trade currency. This involves using lots of leverage.

The markets trade 24 hours…

Small moves because of leverage can make big profits.

Right now the U.S. dollar is tanking, and some people are using this dollar weakness to buy gold which is priced in dollars.

I can see a day where the FED has to raise rates to draw foreign buyers of U.S. bonds.

Cal
Click to expand...

US bonds, eh heh heh. Will those be 1-ply or 2-ply?

Worth about as much as Kangaroo bonds.

In our loo-paper issues the tax is deducted every year even before the bonds expire and they repay the principal and your pittance in interest. About the worst investment I can think of.

And US bonds, well. Good luck with those.
 
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The amount of energy required for a Data Center is mucho crazy. HVAC systems to cool electronics is really intensive. Did you know that because of this they tend to go geothermal and pretty much water supplies are taxed and depleted.

It is on a scale that is that crazy.

So people are failing to see the environmental consequences. Pretty much prolific amounts of Data Centers is impractical due to logistics and eventually limited resources.

*******************

I wired up an alder Tele with a recycled rosewood neck that came off the sonic blue Thineline that became a baritone with a neck swap.

Even not plugged in it is warm and thick in tone. I have a rough set up, and I need to dial it in, and trim the nut slots and then the nut height.

This body has a 2-tone burst which makes the guitar seem smaller. Looks like an old guitar with all the chips and dings that MJT did to “age” the body. The body is a 1-piece, and the grain visible, and the grain in the body and the roasted maple on the neck somehow matches the grain in the body.

This I can tell already will be a great guitar.

Cal
 
Seems like the rats Phil mentions are buying gold. German stocks are pumped up.

A headline is that European stocks outpaced the S&P 500 index.

IMHO the shoe has not dropped yet.

Many Americans will get crushed like ants when that shoe drops.

Cal
 
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