{"id":34414,"date":"2015-11-07T03:00:36","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T11:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=34414"},"modified":"2023-05-12T10:27:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T17:27:42","slug":"black-coffee-no-youre-not-going-crazy-i-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id34414-black-coffee-no-youre-not-going-crazy-i-am.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: No, You’re Not Going Crazy — I Am"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

And away we go …<\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> This week the media were celebrating the best employment figures of the year, thanks to a nonfarm payrolls report that showed 271,000 new jobs<\/a> were created in October. Apparently, the economy is booming! Or maybe not.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Unfortunately, not many people are buying into the media euphoria. A closer look at the Bureau of Labor’s Household Survey reveals a disturbing statistic<\/a>: more than 9 in 10 new jobs last month went to workers older than 54. Even worse, there was a loss<\/em> of 35,000 net jobs for those between 25 and 54.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> No matter how you spin it, that’s not the sign of a vibrant economy<\/a>. As Paul Craig Roberts points out, none<\/em> of those new jobs were in the manufacturing sector. Does anybody wonder why the mainstream media refuses to point this out?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Roberts also asks: “If the US was in the middle of an economic recovery, would half of all 25-year olds be living with their parents<\/a> like they are today?” No. They wouldn’t, Mr. Roberts. But why spoil the narrative by getting tangled up in the dirty details?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> You’d think with continuing falling factory orders and rising inventories<\/a>, employers wouldn’t be in a rush to hire. Then again, I suspect most of those new jobs are the now-ubiquitous low-paying part-time service sector positions.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The dirty details would certainly help explain why the current share of first-time homebuyers is now at a 28-year low<\/a>. Still, for too long now, the government economic data continues to be at odds with rotten performance data from the private sector. Something is amiss. Somewhere.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of homebuyers, the latest data shows that 30% of all US homes lost value<\/a> over the past year. Of course, if you need to sell, that’s not so good news.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> And while the government insists inflation is low, beef prices are so high now that supermarkets are seeing more people trying to steal it<\/a>. That won’t change anytime soon because, unlike the housing market, the outlook suggests it will be another year before beef prices finally drop. Sorry.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, the confusion that’s all around us isn’t limited to data coming from Washington D.C. Earlier this week, David Stockman warned that we’re headed for “monetary mayhem<\/a>” because the soaring markets now trade on central bank announcements rather than the fundamentals.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> It’s too bad that most Americans aren’t even paying enough attention to see the system is hopelessly broken<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, Bloomberg put out a piece this week that shows how the Fed’s quantitative easing (QE) campaign helped Wall St. “steamroll<\/a>” everyone who lives on Main Street. Yet more evidence of the disturbing divergence in economic reality.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> There are so many conflicting signals that many people feel as if they’re losing their marbles. For example, how else can you explain<\/a> gold and silver falling to 5-year lows during the same week Congress uncapped the federal debt limit, which will hit $20 trillion by the end of next year?<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Franklin Sanders<\/a> summed the current situation up perfectly: “Friends, we live in a world of seeming<\/em>; a world where spin, illusion<\/a>, deceit<\/a>, and appearance count for more than being<\/em>. It’s annoying, irritating, and plumb exasperating sometimes, but it’s worth waiting and wading through the lies just to get to watch the truth avenge itself one time.” Someday, Franklin. Someday.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are a few fun facts about the world’s most remarkable metal — gold!<\/p>\n

170,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Total tons of gold ever mined by humans.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Number of olympic-sized swimming pools needed to hold all of the gold ever mined.<\/p>\n

551<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Weight, in pounds, of the world’s largest gold bar.<\/p>\n

46<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Tons of gold used annually for dental applications such as fillings and crowns.<\/p>\n

0.2<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Milligrams of gold in the average human body.<\/p>\n

$0.01<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Approximate value of 0.2 milligrams of gold at current market prices.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Percentage of the world’s gold owned by Indian housewives.<\/p>\n

0<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Counterparty risk borne by those who choose to hold physical gold.<\/p>\n

25<\/strong><\/span><\/span> According to metals executive Peter Hug, the percentage of gold owners who are crazy.<\/p>\n

100<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Percentage of physical gold owners who think Peter Hug is crazy.<\/p>\n

Sources: Resource Investor<\/a>; CNN<\/a>; Fact Slides<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Last Week’s Poll Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which of these supernatural abilities would you rather have?<\/p>\n