Black Coffee: Everybody Knows

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!

Everybody knows the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich stay rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

– Leonard Cohen

Credits and Debits

Debit: Did you see this? It’s and enough that the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered that the Social Security Administration was paying millions in benefits to a million people between the ages of 100 and 360 [sic]. Now DOGE is reporting that roughly 5600 loans worth $312 million went to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old [sic] – or younger – at the time of the loan. No, really. You can bet DOGE just pissed off a whole army of rug rats who were still in the process of filling out their own federal loan applications. That being said … we’re quite sure they’re not the only ones in a surly mood:

Debit: In other news, we noticed that Advance Auto Parts plans to finish closing all California locations by the end of March, resulting in the loss of more than 1600 jobs. It didn’t help that despite a supposedly “strong” economy, the company lost $820 million in 2024. Advanced Auto Parts, which has been around since 1932, isn’t finished boarding up its shops either. In the coming months, they will be shuttering all of their Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Arizona stores as well. We just hope those folks have enough cash saved up to pay for their living expenses until they find another jobs.

 

Debit: Speaking of economic woes, it looks like the stock market investors on Wall Street are finally catching on to what everybody on Main Street has known for a long time: Most middle-class Americans are struggling mightily just to maintain their standard of living. As a result, the week started with $1.75 trillion wiped from US stock markets on Monday alone, marking the worst decline of 2025.

Debit: By the end of the day on Thursday, all of the major stock indices had plunged into correction territory before picking themselves off the mat on the last trading day of the week. Even so, the Friday rally wasn’t enough to keep the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq from all registering weekly losses of more than 2% anyway. In fact, thanks to losing 3.1% between the Monday open and the Friday close, the Dow suffered its worst week in nearly two years. Oh … and speaking of plunges.

Debit: Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have been following stocks into the meat grinder. This is no surprise considering BTC has been tightly correlated with the NASDAQ – rather than acting as a safe haven – for a long time now. Despite this fact, the US currently owns roughly $17 billion worth of BTC and $400 million worth of several other tokens, largely attributable to asset forfeitures related to civil and criminal cases. Let’s just hope that’s the only way the US is coming into ownership of these scam coins.

Debit: By the way, cryptocurrency investors aren’t the only ones who are disgruntled these days. A new survey has discovered that almost 40% of Americans no longer agree that living in the US is enjoyable. In fact, many have set their sights on moving to another country. The study identified millennials as the age group most willing to seek life outside of America, with 1 in 4 indicating that they’d like to pack up and leave. In fact, 5% of respondents say they’re so disgruntled that they’re already looking into such a move. The good news is: There’s always hope for people who embrace change – of any kind …

Debit: Of course, it’s easy to see why living in the US may not be too appealing when housing has become nearly impossible for many Americans to afford. That’s because since 2010, the income required to purchase a home has almost tripled. And when one couples higher prices while today’s high interest rates, it’s easy to see how the dream of homeownership is only getting pushed further out of reach for the average American. For example, the median homebuyer age has jumped from 31 to 49 since 1981. If that isn’t bad enough, monthly payments have doubled since 2023. So, yeah … the housing market is a mess and needs a good correction.

Credit: The good news is that the situation isn’t hopeless for prospective homebuyers. That’s because, as analyst Alan Hibbard notes, housing affordability isn’t a problem at all when measuring mortgage costs in gold instead of dollars. On the other hand, it’s not just housing that is getting cheaper in terms of the yellow metal. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself:

Credit: Then there’s this: Europe is seriously considering the “seizure” – more appropriately: stealing – of $200 billion worth of frozen Russian foreign exchange reserves. If that happens, macro analyst Michael Every says that “would prompt urgent discussions about a reset of the global (monetary) system.” For those not paying attention, this is why the world’s central banks have collectively imported more than 1000 tons of gold annually since those Russian assets were originally frozen three years ago this month. Then again, that’s not the only reason we need a new monetary system …

Credit: Predictably, the recent global scramble for gold has ignited a silver rush. In fact, analyst David Jensen notes that, “The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) silver vault data shows 129 million oz. has been withdrawn since December. More alarming, Jensen estimates that there’s less than 200 million oz. left in their vaults available for sale. As a result, he warns that, “with 5 billion oz. of silver contracts standing as of 2025, a market price explosion can develop quickly if sufficient metal can’t be imported.” All hail poor man’s gold! Maybe the public is finally relearning that precious metals are the best way to keep a yoke on any empire’s power …

Credit: This week’s final word goes to macro analyst Matthew Piepenberg, who reminds us that history provides the answer to “the toxic economic template” we’re all currently facing. More specifically, he points to the yellow metal: “Yep. That boring ol’ pet rock that (today’s) digital generation calls outdated – and yet central banks are stacking it like crazy. It once again reminds us that some indestructible assets get the final and patient say in a world growing increasingly mad.” He’s right, you know. Got gold?

By the Numbers

Two surveys were released this week on American consumer attitudes about tipping. Here were the key findings:

89% The share of survey participants who say that tipping culture has gotten out of control.

71% The percentage of respondents who say tipping is expected too frequently.

59% Surveyed Americans who think businesses are replacing employee salaries with customer tips.

83% The share of people who think automatic service charges should be banned.

25% The percentage of Americans who say tips should be taxed like any other income.

40% People who said that tipping should be replaced by an instant employee rating system so businesses can decide how much to pay their staff.

18.9% The average tip that survey participants say they give for good service.

30% The share of survey participants who admit that they tip less when they’re presented with a tip suggestion screen.

7% The percentage of survey participants who admitted that they never tip.

Sources: WalletHub; Tradingpedia

The Question of the Week

Last Week’s Poll Result

• No 57%
• Yes; I’m Irish! 23%
• Yes; even though I’m not Irish 20%

More than 1600 Len Penzo dot Com readers answered last week’s poll question and it looks like slightly almost 4 in 9 of you will be getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit this year by wearing something green. I usually don’t – if only because I tend to remember that it’s St. Patrick’s Day only after I’ve already gotten dressed.

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.

Useless News: Good Medicine

The owner of a drug store walked in to find a man leaning heavily against a wall. So the owner asked the clerk, “What’s with that guy over there by the wall?”

The clerk said, “Well, he came in here this morning to get something for his chronic cough. But I couldn’t find the cough syrup, so I gave him an entire bottle of laxative instead.”

Flabbergasted, the owner yelled at his employee, “You idiot! You can’t treat a cough with laxatives!”

The clerk replied, “Oh yeah? Look at him — he’s too afraid to cough now!”

(h/t: Susan)

Squirrel Cam

We have two types of squirrels in my neighborhood: eastern fox squirrels, which live in trees, and the California ground squirrels. The latter are rarer – and that’s a good thing because they are hungry piggies at the buffet table. In this video, you’ll see both species; if you look carefully, you can see all the nuts the ground squirrel (foreground) has packed into his puffy cheeks to take home with him!

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Buy Me a Coffee? Thank You So Much!

For the best reading experience, I present all of my fresh Black Coffee posts without ads. If you enjoyed this week’s column, buy me a coffee! (Dunkin’ Donuts; not Starbucks.) 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. Northwest Territories (2.50 pages/visit)
2. Yukon Territory (2.33)
3. Saskatchewan (1.95)
4. Prince Edward Island (1.88)
5. Quebec (1.82)

9. Nunavut (1.50)
10. New Brunswick (1.46)
11. Ontario (1.43)
12. Newfoundland & Labrador (1.40)
13. Nova Scotia (1.20)

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Thank you so much!!!! 😊

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

After reading my article warning about the Four Horsemen of Personal Finance, Kerri left this comment:

“Len: My brother said I would like your blog. He was right!”

Thank you, Kerri! I just wish you wouldn’t seem so surprised.

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