- The strokes of the pen need deliberations as much as the sword needs swiftness.
- Julia Ward Howe
Betting on Life
A wager risk in contest like football reveals the sporting nature that lies within us, but crossing the line like Polymarket to gamble on human lives, reveals a lack of humanity. Their latest was will the US rescue the downed pilot behind enemy lines or will he be caught and maybe killed? Take their license away!
Private Credit Contagion
We told you about Blue Owl and Apollo Global restricting withdrawal redemptions from their fund. Fed Chair, Powell has stated this is not to worry. Didn't Bernanke say the same thing just before the financial crisis of 2008? CEO, Dimon of Morgan Chase says, "This is a cockroach." We saw last week that investors are still seeking to get their money back. Another 22% of Blue Owl's investors want out. The firm has capped withdrawals to 5%. So, if you are on the wrong end of that list, it will take two years before you can hope to get your money back. Oh, yeah, we have two new names of funds that their investors want out, Ares and KKR.
Are big names reading our blog? We also saw these names talking about the growing situation connected to private credit funds. Michael Burry, Jeffrey Gundlach, Mohamed El-Erian and George Nobel, the ex-Fidelity fund manager all echoed our worry.
Banks Denying
President Trump has asked the banking industry to cap their credit card usury fee at 10%. They cried, "We can't afford to do that!" Well, the big banks are reporting profits of $18 billion in the last 90-days. Can we get a chorus from the Eagles band, "You can't hide your lying eyes..."
By the way...
Are central banks playing the market? Turkey just sold 60-tonnes of its gold into the market. They made a nice profit. Well, their action has spread. France just sold 129 tonnes of gold. There is one, big difference. France repurchased the 129 tonnes at a lower price. Maybe some of the recent volatility in the metals is from the manipulations of central banks? However, the world is deep in debt and rising. At last count it was over $350 trillion. Gold and silver has only one path, up.
Inflation...
...is still out there as we said it is. The government and the Federal Reserve still seek to manipulate our thinking. They admit inflation, but they keep repeating that the Iran conflict should end soon and with it, inflation. The March report last Friday claimed inflation rose at 3.3%. The consumer sentiment fell to its lowest. It revealed consumers see inflation rising to 4.8%. We say that inflation is closer to 10%, now!
Peace?
How can it happen when the war-monger, land stealing leader of Israel, Ben Netanyahu will use any excuse to take land along its borders. This is not to say that Israel's enemy, the extremists are right, but Netanyahu is a terrorists for peace.
Retail Disaster
It shows its face every week. Popeyes is closing 3,193 locations under its bankruptcy filing. Sadly, we read this piece on a pizza chain. Gina Maria's Pizza entered bankruptcy after 50 years in business. The retail catastrophe has extended itself for over ten years. We hope it ends soon. As always, Peace.
