Black Coffee: Canaries in the Coal Mine

It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.

Well … another busy week is behind us. So with that in mind, let’s get this party started …

Life’s big changes rarely give advance warning.

– H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Credits and Debits

Debit: Did you see this? Last week the Social Security Administration has announced a 2.5% “cost-of-living” adjustment (COLA) for 2025, which will increase monthly benefits for over 72 million Americans. This adjustment – which is effective January 2025 – will add approximately $48 to the average monthly benefit of $1907. Unfortunately, anybody who shops for groceries, fuel and insurance knows prices actually rose far more than that in the past year. In fact, Social Security recipients’ standard of living fell even further after receiving a similarly-paltry 3.2% increase in 2024.

Debit: Believe it or not, prices increases aren’t limited to basic living expenses. For example, the Mega Millions ticket price will rise from $2 to $5 in April 2025, but the company promises “bigger jackpots” and more chances to win. For you gamblers who aren’t counting at home, this is only the second price hike since Mega Millions’ current format launched over 20 years ago – but the last increase was in 2017, when tickets doubled from $1 to $2. Oh … and speaking of gambling:

Debit: Sadly, most people who regularly dabble in state-run lotteries fail to understand why these games of chance are better known as the “stupid tax.” The odds of winning the grand prize are currently 1 in 302 million. Compare that to the odds of being struck by lightning during your lifetime, which is roughly 1 in 15,000. As for those who say they are hoping for a smaller, but “easier to win” payout, the odds of winning their measly $4 “jackpot” is 1 in 89. If only the odds of losing were just as bad …

Debit: Did you know that 7-Eleven operates more than 13,000 stores across the United States and Canada? They do. However, the company said this week that it plans to shut down 444 stores – that’s more than 3% of its outlets – as part of improving efficiency and managing cost. Call us cynics, but we bet rampant retail theft also has a little something to do with this too. Um … and probably this too:

Credit: Meanwhile, a trip to Wall Street shows that the stock market indices are continuing to flirt with – and hit – new all-time highs. Imagine that. Then again, we’re pretty sure that the stock market only goes in one direction any way.

Debit: The US National Debt is increasing by $1 trillion every 100 days. With that in mind, here’s something you can take to the bank: The US is furiously printing its currency of the realm into oblivion because it knows the current fraudulent debt-based monetary system is approaching the end of its useful life. So although the “Almighty Dollar” is running on empty, that won’t stop the Fed from running on, well … their version of modern monetary theory (MMT) for as long as they can:

Debit: Perhaps the rapidly growing National Debt is why Treasury yields have jumped – even though the Fed, ironically, cut rates last month. As a result, confused investors who were looking for an aggressive easing cycle to match the Fed’s previous tightening cycle are now wondering what in the world is going on. The truth is, the Fed is becoming increasingly impotent as the debt-trap noose it finds itself in gets tighter with each passing day – which is bad news for the US Treasury (and Secretary Janet Yellen).

Credit: Macro analyst Jim Rickards notes that, “Over the past century, monetary systems change about every 30 to 40 years on average. Before 1914, the global monetary system was based on the classical gold standard. Today, the existing monetary system is over 50 years old, so the world is long overdue for a change.” Very true. Although those in charge of the USD’s fate are doing their best to keep the evidence under wraps (er … so to speak):

Credit: Indeed, just as the world’s premier global reserve currency began transitioning from Great Britain’s pound sterling toward the US dollar (USD) shortly after World War I, it is becoming increasingly obvious today that the world is gearing up for another transition away from the USD. As for what the world will be transitioning to, well … that is becoming increasingly obvious.

Credit: By the way, Mr. Rickards also warns that, “although the process will likely be relatively gradual, no investor should be surprised if it happens sooner rather than later.” Nor should you. Maybe that’s why gold closed at yet another all-time high to end the week, while silver saw its highest weekly close in more than a decade. Both precious metals are clearly telling us something about the state of our debt-based monetary system. Sadly, few people seem to be listening.

By the Numbers

If you believe the gold is still in Fort Knox, the United States has the largest gold reserves in the world with more than 8000 tons. However, at 0.8 troy ounces per citizen, the US doesn’t even rank in the per-capita top 10. Here are the ten nations with the largest per capita gold holdings (in troy ounces):

1.0 Austria

1.1 Netherlands

1.1 France

1.2 Portugal

1.2 Qatar

1.2 Singapore

1.3 Germany

1.4 Italy

1.7 Lebanon

3.7 Switzerland

Source: BestBrokers

Last Week’s Poll Result

Do you like sushi?

• No (57%)
• Yes (29%)
• Never tried it (10%)
• Never tried it, and never will! (4%)

More than 1900 Len Penzo dot Com readers answered last week’s poll question and it turns out that it’s probably safe to assume that 1 in 25 have never eaten escargot.

If you have a question you’d like to see featured here, please send it to me at Len@LenPenzo.com and be sure to put “Question of the Week” in the subject line.

The Question of the Week

Useless News: Sunday Tee Time

One day Moses, Jesus, and an old bearded guy were out playing a round of golf.

Moses stepped up to the first tee and proceeded to strike a long drive that hit the fairway but then began rolling toward a large pond guarding the green. So Moses quickly raised his driver and the water parted, allowing the ball to safely roll to the other side of the pond and onto the green.

Jesus then strolled up to the tee and hit a similarly long drive that also found itself heading directly toward the same pond. His ball rolled into the center of the pond, but hovered over the water. Jesus then casually walked onto the pond and chipped the ball onto the green.

The old bearded guy then teed up his golf ball and hit it as hard as he could. Unfortunately, the ball veered sharply to the right, zooming over a fence and into the oncoming traffic of the local street, where it bounced off a truck and hit a tree, which caused the ball to springboard onto the roof of a nearby house. The ball then rolled into the rain gutter and fell into the downspout, which deposited the ball onto a very steep driveway. From there the ball rolled back under the fence and onto the fairway — directly toward the aforementioned pond. However, on the way to the pond, the ball caromed off a broken sprinkler head, which redirected it toward a large stone that caused the ball to bounce onto a lily pad in the middle of the water, where the ball finally came to rest.

Suddenly, a large bullfrog jumped on the lily pad and snatched the ball into its mouth. But a few seconds later an eagle swooped down, grabbed the bullfrog, and flew away.

Then, as the eagle soared over the green, the bullfrog squealed with fright, causing the ball to drop from his mouth and fall directly into the cup for an epic hole-in-one.

Moses then turned to Jesus and said, “I hate playing with your Dad.”

(h/t: Cowpoke)

Buy Me a Coffee? Thank You So Much!

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More Useless News

Here are the top — and bottom — five Canadian provinces and territories in terms of the average number of pages viewed per visit here at Len Penzo dot Com over the past 30 days:

1. Yukon (2.09 pages/visit)
2. New Brunswick (2.02)
3. Newfoundland & Labrador (2.00)
4. Manitoba (1.93)
5. Alberta (1.84)

9. Saskatchewan (1.55)
10. Quebec (1.51)
11. Nova Scotia (1.49)
12. Nunavut (1.44)
13. Prince Edward Island (1.40)

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Letters, I Get Letters

Every week I feature the most interesting question or comment — assuming I get one, that is. And folks who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbag get their letter highlighted here whether it’s interesting or not! You can reach me at: Len@LenPenzo.com

Somebody calling themselves Horrified dropped a note in the Len Penzo dot Com complaint box after reading my piece on 13 Yucky Halloween Treats Kids Hate:

You sound like a spoiled brat to me. I’m guessing that you’re labeled as ‘high maintenance’ by your significant other.

And I’m guessing that you’re the guy who will be handing out the stale chocolate bunnies this year. Again.

If you enjoyed this edition of Black Coffee and found it to be informative, please forward it to your friends and family. Thank you! 😀

I’m Len Penzo and I approved this message.

Photo Credit: stock photo