Yours truly has the December Rage Gauge tallied, and it’s actually the best I’ve seen all year: Neutral to Elevated Risk. Thank you Mr. Trump. Bond investors, if you listened to us and kept maturities short, you should be smiling. Not true for the turkey-faced, long-term bondholders that stooped for nickels and got steamrolled by the selloff.
Speaking of steamrolled, the White House must be feeling joyful about the recent unemployment rate of 4.6%. But before they light that candle, let’s not forget the workforce cake shrank to a near-four decade low with a participation rate of only 62.7%. No doubt there are those who are nervous about the future of this country (me included), but there’s another huge proactive group prepping, target shooting, and hunting. FBI background checks, a precursor to gun purchases, were up 14% from a year earlier and “in the first 11 months reached 24.8 million, passing last year’s record annual total of 23.1 million even before December’s traditional peak,” reports the WSJ. Guess what conversation topic captured the attention of all three-generations gathered at our night-before Thanksgiving dinner? Football? Skiing? Answer: Guns.
But it’s not all guns and roses, especially with the price of Gold in USD heading down. But imagine sipping Turkish coffee in Istanbul holding gold instead of the lira. Things are looking up, no?
Want to talk with me about your precious holdings? You can email me at ejsmith@youngresearch.com or give me a call at 800.843.7273. If you want to learn more about our current thinking, you can read our client letter.
