About WORDS

September 13, 2012

 

 

 

about words

 

Welcome to the About Words website. Below is a brief audio introduction to this site.

Did you know that one of the most popular words on the internet is God?

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What leads Bitcoin? How to use COT data to anticipate rallies and declines.

January 23, 2026

Summary: if past correlations continue, heavy selling of bitcoin can be expected to manifest significant downside risk (extending at least across the next several weeks). The data across the bottom of the chart below has presented in late 2025 what could be labeled as a sell signal, which still holds as of late January (today is the 22nd).

What data is charted above?
While bitcoin has been around for many years, the data on commitment of traders (the positioning of a few different categories of traders) has only been available since 2021. The top line (black) is the price of bitcoin, charted logarithmically. The lower lines are detailed below.

How would we use this chart?
When smart money traders (tracked with the dark green line across the bottom) have been buying at unusually high levels (like 52-week highs or at least 13-week highs), then we should also consider buying. The 3 lime green arrows plus the big green region late 2022 highlight those markers (and we can see the fantastic accuracy of following their lead). We can also notice that those green marks correspond to low points in the blue line across the bottom (which we could label as tracking the activity of “dumb money” investors- considering that those investors have been consistently wrong).

In contrast, the red arrows mark potential good points to sell (or to go short). Again, see that when the blue line is unusually high and the dark green line is unusually low, those red arrows mark (1) the beginning of the 2021 collapse in bitcoin prices and (2) several later periods in which bitcoin went down for many months without making a major rally.

Note again that the “sell signal” of late 2025 is still active. The recent 20% or so quick rally in bitcoin has reversed as of January 22 and is poised for a potential acceleration downward.

What does this chart fail to show?
It only shows what it shows. We could study many other datasets that consistently correlate with future price movements of bitcoin (as well as prices of a long list of dozens of other markets, including literally thousands of individual stocks).

Why do I like this chart?
It does not measure what people say. It measures the actual trading positions of various groups, one of which is consistently wrong at major highs and lows (due to blindly following recent trends) and another of which is consistently right.

What do I think of labels like smart money and dumb money?

As I have said elsewhere, if high-volume buyers were buying a market heavily at low prices, but then saving a few million dollars to implement marketing campaigns on social media to promote aggressive buying, that would simply… make sense. If they could spend a few million dollars to promote aggressive buying by the masses (as in promoting FOMO – the fear of missing out- so that more people become “HODLers” of bitcoin), that would allow them to sell an asset like bitcoin at prices that are briefly elevated. A few billion dollars of spending to buy the asset low, followed by perhaps several million dollars on advertising campaigns, could produce a huge return on the money spent on marketing.

After they exit a market at a temporarily elevated price, plus after prices of a market like bitcoin start to flatten or fall, then they could even implement social media campaigns when they are not in that market to promote panic selling (AKA discounting) by mainstream trend-followers who currently hold that asset. They could even promote rotation into some other hot market, like metals or tech stocks. If more promotional attention is put into other markets that are soaring lately more than bitcoin (like due to that group buying a lot of those other things) , then all of that investment in marketing could allow those funding the marketing campaign to buy an a rotating sequence of assets (such as bitcoin) at prices that are unusually low temporarily.

This cycle of activity constitutes a repeating cycle of transfers of wealth. When spread across many markets and repeated across many months and years (and even centuries), these systems can significantly concentrate power and wealth. If there were not already systems for manifesting voluntary transfers of wealth from the anxiously distracted to the patiently attentive, it would make sense that new systems would be developed.

Related Footnote: What do I think of “The Austrian School of Economic Theory?”

Likewise, if there were not already systems for coercing transfers of wealth (such as imperialism or taxation), it would make sense that people would concoct justifications for creating them. If a group of analysts fails to account for the obvious economic appeal of efficient systems of extortion, piracy, imperialism, and taxation, then – no matter how insightful their other observations – they might not be among the group that I might label as “the smart money.”

Investing well (by rotating into only the best opportunities)

January 18, 2026

One option is to target rotating one’s investment exposure into the opportunities that currently are best (including best statistically). In regard to statistically best, what if we could rapidly find patterns that repeat across a wide variety of markets? Those patterns could guide positioning for a possible continuation of each established existing pattern.

Notice in the chart below that whenever the line leaves the shaded area, it tends to rapidly return back into the shaded area. 

There are 3 periods across the top where the line is briefly higher than the shaded area. There are also three periods when the line is briefly below the shaded area. So, the tendency of price momentum to eventually get extreme is eventually almost inevitable… but also almost inevitably quite temporary.

(We can give many examples of data extremes that consistently correlate very well with price reversals… as well as conditions that correlate well with unusually large future changes in price.)

We can find repeating patterns and then monitor them for possible continuation. Can you see the repeating waves in this chart? (The pink area is highlighting the period when the measured data did rise, but did not rise as much as one might expect based on prior waves.)

Still, we have a clear pattern of waves that Eventually resumed. 

So, the two charts above are statistical measures of the momentum of price movements (rather than a chart of actual price movements). While simple charts of prices can form very consistent patterns that are very useful for positioning For maximum opportunity and minimum risk, the best predictors of future price actually may not be found by analyzing past prices only. In my many decades of experience studying market correlations, one of the best correlations for future price action is data like what we see below In the next chart.

There are a few ways that I could introduce the data below, but what I will say is that the red line across the bottom shows positioning of a group of investors who historically could be classified as intelligent or smart. The two green arrows show when they are most aggressive positioned for an increase in price (and an increase in price is exactly what followed the times of those two arrows). In contrast, at the far left, in 2023 at that first red arrow is when the same group of investors was positioned most aggressively for a decrease in price. Again, that is exactly what followed.

In 2023 at the red arrows, Dumb money Investors (whose positions are shown in the green line at the bottom) Were aggressively position for An increase in price. Basically, the bottom dataset is clear about smart money investors selling at high prices to Dumb money investors, Followed inevitably by the dumb money investors selling at low prices back to the smart money investors (Who consistently buy low and sell high).

Imagine that the smart money investors are not only consistently buying low and selling high, But also investing in marketing campaigns to convince other people to consistently Sell low and buy high. If you were going to make $100 million off of a certain future price move, would you be willing to invest one or $2 million into an advertising campaign that would potentially earn you $100 million? What if we were talking about $100 billion instead of $100 million?

Think about the potential profits of effective marketing campaigns publicized by mainstream media and social media algorithms and even through public school programming (or laws that can easily be influenced by a few million dollars of lobbying investment). Not only would it be important to program Large numbers of people to make extremely unwise financial decisions, But it would also be important to confuse them and distract them from the simplicity of accessing information that would allow them to make wise financial decisions simply and easily and consistently.

Next, let’s look at another chart that shows a clear tendency of price momentum to fade from extremes. At the three points when the line is above the shaded area, it rapidly falls into the shaded area. At the single point where the line is below the shaded area, it rapidly returns to the shaded area.

Further, I had a dotted lines that track a second tendency, which is for price momentum to have a tendency to persist. For instance, at the bottom left, Noticed that the line never falls outside of the shaded area, but once it falls below the dotted line, it takes quite a while for it to significantly break above that line. You would notice the same thing towards the center of the screen at the point when the line does eventually Leave the shaded area.

For this next chart above, we did not see quite the same patterns, but we do see that when the line falls below the shaded area, once it returns, then the line tends to continue up for quite a while and quite far. That pattern can be used as tradeable information. 

Again, the sequence would be that when the line falls below the shaded area, that is an alert to pay attention to this market. When the line (almost inevitably) returns back up into the shaded area, that could be a signal to take a position relating to an eventual increase in the momentum of price upward.

So, when considering Investment positions, the only issue is not just the future direction of price (as in the future behavior of buying pressure that moves up price or of selling pressure that moves down price). Price direction is one issue, but what about time? Other important issues include the strength of the correlation probability of price moving in that direction plus the probability of price rapidly moving very far in that direction- like a far more rapid move than is typical.

Unless there’s a high probability of a near future price move in a specific direction that is very large, then that would not be the ideal circumstances for large exposure. So, the issue of time is important in regard to how rapidly can a position make how large of a gain, especially with a high probability.

Naturally, for the highest probability, the longer time windows (like six months or six years) make it easier to comment in regard to very high probability. But what if there are markets with obvious statistical extremes not only in a high probability of price moving in a certain direction, but to do so at an unusually high rate of change- like very Fast and very far.

If someone had data like that available to them, then they might want to consistently rotate across just a small range of markets that are absolutely the best statistically across the near future. As other markets become the best statistically, then no matter how big profit hasn’t been made how fast from any particular position, there would be rotation and to whatever is currently the best opportunity.

In fact, when profits soar very high very quickly, That would be when it is most important to consider reducing exposure (Or exiting completely).

So, What do most investors focus on? many of them might focus on what they are programmed to focus on through government incentive programs and through social media programming and mainstream media programming. 

They focus on certain markets In particular, usually on markets that have recently done very well in terms of rapid increases in price. Basically, they are encouraged most aggressively by advertising to buy whichever things that the people who fund the promotional campaigns are most aggressively hoping to sell at high prices in the immediate future.

Many investors only focus on continuation of an existing pattern of rising prices (or other forms of Analysis of price charts.) In other words, they don’t consider any statistical patterns of probability or measures of asymmetrical opportunity (unusually big upside or downside potential). Rather than target markets that specifically have unusually high statistical probability of price moving in a certain direction… or unusually high potential for a favorable price move, they may simply chase trends reactively.

What if I told you that there was free information easily available that showed extremes in the behavior of smart money investors? What if I told you that I could show you a heat map across dozens of markets that showed across a six week period, 10 markets that had reached an annual extremes in downside risk (shown in red below)?

Well, you might not know how to benefit from downside risk so that might not be very interesting. But if I could also tell you that the same chart shows 19 markets that recently have reached an annual extreme in upside risk (shown below in green)?

Note that the pink shading and especially the light blue-green shading looks similar to the green and the red but are not green or red.

Contact me for more information on how to benefit from these and other insights.

Compressing the brain causes problems (while releasing pressure on the brain reverses them).

September 9, 2025

(written June 12 2025)

Compressing the brain causes problems while releasing pressure on the brain reverses them.

That’s the basic premise of a health researcher that I’ve known for years. He has developed a rather simple system to release the pressure and reverse the neurological problems. Most of the stretches can be done without cost, but devices to assist the stretching range in cost from $10-$100. He reports massive improvement for himself as well as for many of the other people that are using him system (more than 1000 so far).

I’ve been experimenting with his system of releasing skull compression for a few years. I am pleased with my results and so increasing my usage. If you’re curious to know more, keep reading.

First, here is something else on the topic of skulls and brain function. Yesterday, I saw something quite fascinating to me. It was this photo of a woodpecker, showing the anatomical structure of the tongue wrapping twice around their brain. 

So, that is freaky enough by itself, but how did this unusual anatomy develop? Is this really supposed to be random mutations of evolution that create a long tongue that magically wraps around the skull to protect the brain? 

It would make more sense to me if you said that you went on ChatGPT AI and said “I want to bang my head thousands of times a day against a really hard tree. Find me an anatomical solution so that I don’t have a concussion after the first three times.”

Evolution alone cannot possibly explain the… Wait, what? This one is not a woodpecker. That right there is a hummingbird. And clearly on the right, you can see that the tongue of the hummingbird also wraps around the exterior of the skull of the hummingbird… and then all the way into the midbrain area. Holy… what the… magical… impossi…..

So maybe there are a few things that are not widely known that are both real and easily proven. Next, what I’m gonna present below and what Ken has been sharing for years might be quite real and quite easily proven/ demonstrated/ reproduced, yet also slightly more useful to you than learning trivia about bird tongues that go around the outside of the skull like in the image below of a woodpecker:

So, prepare to be amazed. Today, Ken sent out this article (linked just below) in which he documents that crushing or compressing different parts of the brain has been documented to eventually lead to specific neurological dysfunctions (depending on which part of the brain is compressed, such as the front or the back or the top). 

You could name most any neurological dysfunction and then what if there is already decades of research showing one specific part of the brain that is ALWAYS reduced in size *prior* to that neurological dysfunction getting “medically significant?” What if uncompressing that particular part of the brain prevents or even reverses that neurological dysfunction (like by restoring proper blood flow and proper nerve signaling, etc.)? You can read his article, so I’ll stop my summary right there and move onto my broader comments.

He’s never mentioned those details before in any of his other articles, but so what? Can’t you just look at certain people (and their physical structure) and have a general sense of what particular kind of crazy they might be (as in make reasonably accurate speculations about their neurological functionality)?

For instance, maybe you can imagine that people with a severe overbite have certain personality traits. What personality or behaviors would you associate with this facial profile?

Can’t you speculate at least a little about his personality just by looking at this side view profile of his face? I could. 

Doesn’t he “look tired?” What about easily annoyed? (I wonder if I’ve ever seen anyone like that…. while looking in the mirror.)

That’s just how his skull and his face are arranged. If from someone’s facial profile, you can tell me their *likely* personality profile, what does that tell you? If you can look at him and expect certain personality traits or behaviors, that then means that you already know that structure affects brain function. 

I’m not telling you something new. I’m showing you that you already know this.

Next, here’s Robin Gibbs from the most successful disco group in the 1970s: The Bee Gees.

I propose this personality profile for Robin: relatively less socially assertive as in anxious, but once you get them talking they might not shut up soon, a bit goofy and maybe overly optimistic too. 

What about his voice for a casual conversation? How about squeaky, nasal, high-pitched? That’s because the way the air passes through the skull depends completely on the shape of the skull (as in the alignment of the skull plates).

(By the way, I have an overbite as well as a twist).

What about people whose faces and skulls are crooked or twisted? Are you aware that the word crooked refers to a certain type of personality or behavior patterns (as in deceptive)? What does the word twisted refer to in regard to a certain type of personality or behavior patterns?

If you were buying something from him or hiring an employee, does this guy “look totally trustworthy” just because he’s smiling?

What about someone who is stable and straightforward? Does the physical stability and structural symmetry of a straightforward face correlate to emotional stability and mental stability and so on?

Personally, I think the guy on the left looks a bit mean or cruel. But after some popular orthodontic treatment, that same guy later shown on the right… might not look so shady or suspicious. However, what if the underlying structural issues as far as pressure on the skull and brain… are not only hidden by common orthodontic treatments, but multiplied/worsened?

Moving the teeth (straightening them) does not inherently unwind a wound-up skull or brain. Also, what does it mean behaviorally when we say that someone is really wound up or that they clearly need to unwind?

We all know that structural alignment in the skull makes a difference in terms of behavior and medical outcomes. We’ve known it since we were children. It’s as primal as looking at someone’s face and knowing what facial expression goes with what emotion. 

We know which structural alignments or misalignments produce what patterns of behavior and what neurological or psychiatric states. We know now and we’ve known all along.

So, get ready to unwind your mind. Are you Interested?

Finally, linked above is Ken’s report on which parts of the brain need to be compressed or crushed in order to produced which neurological disorder. Note that virtually all of these neurological disorders are soaring in frequency in recent decades. Ken also has an explanation for that… and far more importantly, a simple solution.

Coincidentally, today was the day of the delivery of three of the devices for stretching that Ken sells (that I recently ordered). Those cost less than $100 each. Plus, he widely publicizes a starter device that typically costs between 10 and $30. I’ve only been using “starter devices” until… today. Here we go….

Will falling oil prices disrupt the US economy?

May 8, 2025

In my forecasts of investment markets and economics, people may request “simpler” examples. The two issues I mention the most are debt problems and energy supply problems.

So, here’s a short comment on debt problems focused on a simple case: if the entire industry of US oil companies cannot pay their debts and then go out of business, would that be a big deal or a small deal?

There you go. That was it.

Within the US, there would be no private companies extracting oil or refining gasoline. Would that be good or bad for a typical household or a typical business, etc…?

Now, here’s the background. If it costs about $50 for the typical US company to extract and refine 1 barrel of oil, then wouldn’t business be fine for them if oil prices are $52 or $55? Well, not quite.

Why? Because the cost of extracting oil is not all of the expense for those companies. They also need to pay their debts (which include things like pension funds, but also corporate bonds, real estate mortgages, and taxes.)

So, while it might cost about $50 to extract and refine the oil, the price needed for an individual company to actually break even (like not even to make a profit) might be closer to $60. Note also that oil prices recently fell below $60 per barrel for the first time in many years.

To review, the oil industry in the US might be far more vulnerable financially than most investors understand. If oil prices stay below $60 (or even go down below $50), then that would be disruptive to the US economy. Also, both of those outcomes are things that I consider more likely than unlikely in the next several months.

Also, the trucking and shipping industry has a major decline expected in the coming weeks (due to a plunge in oversea imports from China in recent weeks). Collapsing demand for trucking means collapsing demand for fuel which means collapsing fuel prices. (That is not good for the truckling industry or for the fuel industry.)

So, what will happen to the oil industry in the US? Will it cease to operate? No, debt-heavy corporations will do a few predictable things. They will sell their assets like oil rigs and oil wells… but if the whole industry is in financial distress, then that might not be very helpful.

So, beyond dumping their assets, they could go as beggars into bond markets to try to beg for high-interest lenders to take a big risk on them. That kind of desperate move can drive up interest rates nationwide and internationally (for all corporations, governments, and households). Why?

Oil companies can drive up overall interest rates because oil companies and all of those other debtors (governments and corporations and households) are all competing against each other. When several desperate companies who together normally borrow $1 billion in a year suddenly each try to borrow an extra $1 billion dollars in a week, then that can creates “ripples.” By asking for huge amounts of loans at whatever interest rate it takes to get a lender to lend to them, oil companies could cause a credit crunch where lenders do not have much extra money to lend to other eager borrowers.

So, if there is a dip in oil prices that is short and small (like to the mid 50s for a week or two, then rapidly back into the 60s and 70s), then I am wrong in my expectations and things overall will go fine with the US economy. However, if oil prices stay low, then it could be pretty challenging for the oil industry to keep finding more borrowers to stay in business… especially while their finances (as in their credit ratings) collapse into “junk bond” rating levels.

So, the next obvious development would be that they file for re-organization bankruptcies. That is good in that there would still be an operating oil industry in the US… with continuing deliveries of petroleum products (as in fuels like unleaded gasoline) to gas stations and airlines. However, if an entire industry uses bankruptcy laws to continue operations as their weak finances come into widespread attention, that has long-term effects.

Of course, stock prices for those companies would plunge. That is ironic because bankruptcy would greatly improve the finances of the companies. However, the vast majority of investors currently might be reasonably described by the word “dumb.”

They invest in companies without knowing anything at all about the finances of the company or industry or sector… or the issues that could alter the finances of that company or industry or sector. What are pros in the sector saying?

Here is something from a May 7 article (published today):

“The [oil] company reduced its full year budget by $400 million at the midpoint [of the year in order to cut staff and pay down debt]. It might ramp up activity if oil prices return above $65 per barrel consistently.”

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/oil-prices-us-crude-production-trump-drilling-energy-policy-diamondback-2025-5

In other words, with oil prices this low (now $58 as I type this), that is a problem.

I just checked some SEC reports of insider trades by executives of a few oil companies. Note that I did not know what I would find.

Here is what I found:
For Chevron, over $250,000,000 of insiders selling in last 3 years.. Total insider buying in the last 3 years: $0. (wow)
https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/CVX/insider-trades/

For ConocoPhillips, $2,000,000 of insider buying and…. $253,000,000 of insider selling in the last 3 years.
https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/COP/insider-trades/

For ExxonMobil in the last 3 years, close to $300,000,000 of selling but $140,000,000 of buying (but NOTHING since 2023). Again… wow!
https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/XOM/insider-trades/

For this small company, $31,000,000 of selling and only $1,000,000 of buying.
https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/NOG/insider-trades/

For this other small oil company, $890,000 of selling and only $51,000 of buying (but nothing since early 2023).
https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/ODC/insider-trades/

So, you might think that I screened these 5 companies to make the situation seem especially bad. Well, if you are skeptical, then do some research yourself… if you dare. (By the way, rather than “cherry-pick” these 5 companies. I simply picked 5 US oil companies randomly and then researched those first 5 and stopped.)

So, if we group together these 5 oil companies in the US, there has been VERY little insider buying in all of 2024 and so far in 2025, plus in that same period hundreds of millions of dollars worth of selling by insiders (corporate executives).

For 3 years across the 5 companies:
total selling by insiders: $616 million
buying: only $143 million
(and ExxonMobil was almost all of that… at $140 million)

So, do I recommend shorting these companies or buying put options on any of these companies (or sectors like XLE, XOI, IEO, OIH, and IEZ)? Well, I have not lately… but I may soon. (I have been trading the ETF called SCO a lot lately… making large gains on the plunging oil prices).

As for a potential put option trade, I will say that OIH is especially vulnerable to declines in oil prices. It is now at $213 after peaking above $1400 in 2008. (That is a decline of about 85% lasting 17 years so far.)

So, let’s back up to the simple issue: oil companies in the US need oil prices to be above a certain level for them to make a profit (and for many companies at least, oil prices recently fell below that level apparently). Next, if these companies are not making a profit, then they could have trouble paying debt (although they could sell assets like oil rigs and oil wells in order to gather cash for paying off debt also). If they do not pay interest on their debts, they could eventually cease to operate (but first they would likely file a strategic bankruptcy).

One problem with strategic bankruptcies is this… the price of oil could still be too expensive for US oil companies to operate at a profit. The biggest issue for these companies is not the huge interest payments on debt (which is a big contrast between them and the US government). The biggest issue is the cost of getting the oil out of the remaining shale deposits, which apparently is increasingly expensive for reasons like that the deposits are simply running out of oil. So, one thing I did not mention yet is that I have an idea of why ExxonMobil insiders demonstrated significant buying as recently as 2023. The answer for that likely is a relatively new discovery of oil in a country called Guyana (several years ago). That oil deposit is massive, plus the costs are relatively low to get oil out of that deposit (far below $50 per barrel currently). ExxonMobil owns that oil field.

However, the vast majority of US oil companies have concentrated their ownership of oil fields within the US. And the direct extraction costs currently are very high (close to $50 per barrel) prior to other costs like taxes and mortgages and payback of corporate bonds. So low oil prices would be a problem for the US economy… because of widespread disruption of access to fuels like gasoline.

That leads me to another topic I have mentioned for quite a while: the absence of sufficient shipping capacity in oil tankers. Shipping oil into the US would be an obvious solution, but there is a growing problem in the oil tanker industry… which is related to the low oil prices like in 2018 and 2019. The issue is that oil tankers and pipelines only last so long before they need maintenance or replacement.

Can old tankers still be used to ship oil? Sure, but there will be problems… like leakage.

It is a bad set-up. While it is an obvious set-up, the only conclusions that I could make about so any governments and corporations missing this issue is… either they are collectively sabotaging the industry… or they are very, very distracted (as in stupid)…. or perhaps some combination of those 2 things.

Before you dismiss my comments about a collective internal sabotage of an industry or an economy, be aware of this name: Yuri Bezmenov. By the early 1980s, he described the long-term plans of communists to infiltrate and blackmail their way into destabilizing the US (and beyond). His commentary featured bizarre references (for the 1980s) which look rather familiar now: slowly cultivating culture wars regarding things like non-binary pronouns, development of biological viral weapons to justify “emergency approval of experimental medical procedures,” Saul Alinsky’s Radical Rules for Useful Idiots, climate change as the justification for the controlled demolition of building #7 in September of 2001, plus of course judicial activism to protect Jeff Epstein from being traded to the Lakers in exchange for a presidential pardon.

Wait… what? Was there satire in the prior paragraph(s)? Maybe.

“All the world is a stage and we are merely the bass players.”

– Geddy Lee (performing his role as scripted by Neil Peart)
in the song “Limelight” by the famous Canadian rock music trio, Rush.

the only antidote to programmed anxiety and shame?

May 1, 2025

So, the leaders of social institutions influence populations toward behaviors that serve the interests of the social institution. For promoting those behaviors, how can they do that? The careful use of communication including language could program the population about what outcomes generally interest them (and then what behaviors fit those general interests).

A key point here is that these promotions can select certain pre-existing interests but ignore others (or systematically suppress or redirect certain ones). So, there could be inherent interests plus a potential to distort the perception of those interests.

If populations are targeted for distorting their interests, how? That process of social programming could result in creating schools, social media, religious institutions, and an entertainment industry.

Of course, if these systems of influence are effective, then many people will be involved in supporting the distorting of perceived interests. For instance, if you ask the masses what the interests of the general population should be, they might answer with the programmed interests. In fact, if you do not even ask but simply take action that is inconsistent with the programmed interests, the typical programmed person might react reflexively with disapproval of something as weird (unfamiliar) or even as wrong (contrary to the program).

They may be sincerely confused and ask: “why aren’t you more worried, angry, optimistic, pessimistic, terrified, stressed, relieved, excited, normal, loyal to the holy program” etc….

Their focus may heavily feature sports or the latest fashion or music or movie or book. The latest controversies in politics could be a big focus.

While​ the ​natural interests for most people might include many things (economics and science and technology ​and even some politics), the mainstream population will focus on these things in a mainstream way, like only perspectives from mainstream sources and mainstream paradigms. In other words, unfamiliar ideas or sources could immediately be treated with intense resistance or ridicule, rather than with natural neutrality relating to something new.

Could the masses be programmed to relate to the unfamiliar as generally a threat? Wouldn’t that be a fantastic way to trap people in a certain paradigm or routine of thinking?

What if the mainstream could associate a particular perspective as the only one with credibility? What if the only potential for revision of that perspective could be locked into a specific authority or institution?

Who dictates what is right to the mainstream? Does authority come from tradition? If so, which one? Is a certain tradition inherently better than all other traditions and all other future potentials?

Or, what if categorizations like “fundamentally either right or wrong” are inherently linguistic (as in social)? What if mainstream fundamentalism is rooted in an absence of attention to the nature of language itself? What if the nature of language is… that it is fundamentally an instrument of social influence, not fundamentally a vessel or transmitter of truth or accuracy or wisdom? 

Language is a system of labels. Labels are not especially influential on reality, like if you have a bottle full of water, then there is no massive change to the contents if you label the bottle “sugar” or “empty” or “syrup.” The water within the bottle is unchanged. In fact, the presence or absence of a label on the bottle has no influence on reality. 

Or does it? In a general sense, labels only influence the perceptions of those programmed to understand the label and to “blindly believe.”

Now if instead of a clear bottle of water, I put some water in a metal flask (so you cannot see what is inside the flask), then the label is more important. Or if I have a clear glass bottle and I label it water, but put rum into the bottle, maybe the clear liquid of rum looks like regular water. But if I have white liquid like milk and put that in a clear bottle, most people would instantly notice that a label of “water” does not match with that white liquid. (That is the topic of “transparency” and I will come back to it soon….)

Next, labeling something is an activity that can alter the consciousness of people. If I write “I love water” on a label and then put that label on a glass full of water, what about that?

If I am fluent in the language in which I write “I love water” (such as the English language), then I may be changed because of the labeling. So even when doing studies about how words on a label might directly or indirectly influence water in a bottle, is there a direct influence from the ink on the label that shapes words? (What about other shapes like squares or hexagons? If hexagons drawn on a label do not influence water, then can shapes of ink directly influence the water?)

Or is any influence on the water coming only from the consciousness of a human who is writing or reading the shapes of ink on your computer screen right now…. or on a label placed on a flask of milk? If I am fluent in the language of English and then I read or write “I am grateful for this milk,” maybe the fluency of my consciousness is the issue. Maybe I can simply say the words out loud (without writing or reading them) or even just silently think the words… and still influence somehow the milk that I am about to drink.

Maybe prayer is a real form of influence, especially when words are combined with emotion and other factors (like visualization, sound, smell, movement, and so on). If this sounds like rituals of spell-casting, isn’t that kind of the point of things like baptism and eucharist? Aren’t they intended to actually change the consciousness of humans?

Or what about hymns in church? Some of the value of singing hymns might be physiological, like from the patterns of breathing (quick inhales and long, vocalized exhales). So singing songs in a foreign language might still be potent by itself. But what if there is also fluency in the language of the lyrics?

As for the label “rituals,” is that label only for organized religions? Or are there also aspects of ritual in sport, school, and business?

So, towards some concluding remarks, there is the issue of attention to language and it’s nature. There is also the issue of transparency or opacity (as in lack of transparency). A clear glass cannot be labeled as milk and easily deceive people just because of a fluency in English. Likewise, a clear statement of solid logic is transparent, like too transparent to be useful in certain kinds of deceptive programming in mainstream media.

Still I have not really addressed directly the words of the title of this article. So, let’s get more transparent about that.

What if the programmers are programming the masses to hate each other and to hate themselves? What if the program is to relate to naive, programmed fundamentalists as shameful?

If what we have been programmed to be is specifically targeted as shameful and unworthy of compassion, then what could be a better program for anxiety (to hide how one knows they truly are) and for depression (for self-directed shaming of how one truly is)? We are programmed to be a certain way, plus programmed to hate the way that we have been programmed to be (or even the possibility that we have been programming at all).

“Deceptive programming is not the stated purpose of mainstream programming. So deceptive programming is wrong and mainstream programming should not be deceptive. Programming should not be programming. Deception should not be deception. To be deceived by programming is shameful and no one around you wants to admit that they have been programmed to be naive and anxious and ashamed, so please do not bring up the topic!”

So what would be the only antidote for a lack of awareness about how the masses are programmed to be ashamed, anxious, and self-defeating? Could it be a gentle exploration into the systems for programming? Could awareness about language and about programming be the only antidote for a vulnerability to programming through language and other systems for influence?

Trump, the Fed, and the coming transfer of wealth

March 18, 2025

Soon, a great change can be expected. It would be like certain prior changes, but also unique. And there are clear signs of something far more severe than anything already familiar.

“Right, but…” Noah said, “to adjust to this coming storm, should I carry a small umbrella all the time or a big umbrella most of the time?”

Noah, honey, darling, if you are talking about umbrellas, then you do not understand. Even a normal roof will not be enough to….

“Yeah, but…” Noah said, “have you thought about using the roof to collect the water from this big storm? I think that could be the best way to benefit from it.”

Maybe I should back up. Soon, life as you know it will be very different.

If you start by thinking that you can keep your existing presumptions and fit this new information into them, you could be right. Or… maybe exploring some common presumptions are how we should start.

Is the best investing system to consistently do a popular and familiar thing? Or, is the popularizing of a certain method a strategic weapon of an opponent who will be suddenly enriched by the widespread use of the method that they are promoting to be widely used?

I propose that both are true. However, the issue is timing. When the second issue is relevant (when there is a widespread use of a highly risky method without any awareness of the risks), then decades or centuries of wealth collected behind a dam… can suddenly flow out of a breaking dam and into a dry canyon that suddenly becomes full of a river.

Is it better to own things through debt or to be the creditor that has legal priority over the owners? If I own $1 million of Teslacoin, but that company owes $37 trillion of debt for “upside down” commercial real estate mortgages, then how much of the company do I own if it goes bankrupt and the creditors own 100% of it?

Obviously, the best method for accumulating wealth is to borrow millions of dollars to invest in real estate, right? Or is it to borrow billions of dollars to run a company? Or is it to borrow trillions of dollars to run a country?

Or, is borrowing a method that transfers risk toward the owner and away from the creditor (the lender)? Think of someone who owns a home “free and clear,” and then they refinance it. That is a transfer of the owner’s legal interest in the asset (a transfer of ownership interests toward the creditor).

What is the risk taken by the creditor? One risk is of soaring inflation of the currency…. Or the possibility that the value of the currency will decrease at a greater rate than the interest they receive on the loan.

Over time, many currencies frequently decrease in value. But not always.

What about from 1929-1932 in the US? The purchasing power of the currency rose by about 900% (at least in relation to certain “bubble assets”). In other words, stock prices fell by about 90%. So, to buy the same amount of stock shares at the lows of 1932 would cost 10% of the 1929 price. That is a 900% increase in purchasing power. (The same thing happened with real estate prices.)

Why? The issue was debt.

Debt markets destabilized. Banks that had been lending money for speculative buying of real estate 9and stocks) stopped lending more money. So the buying frenzy in real estate that had been fed by lending… stopped.

Why did the banks stop lending money? They did not have any more money to lend. (Also, as a side note, they went out of business and so they ceased to operate at all.)

Why did those banks collapse? Because they were lending money that they borrowed from another specific bank… and took dumb risks with that borrowed money.

Did that other bank encourage those dumb risks? What if the other bank wanted to cultivate soaring asset prices to attract high-risk borrowing? 

What if “the Fed” suddenly owned 100% of the assets of the bankrupt banks? What assets? The assets included 100% ownership of huge amounts of real estate and private companies.

How would that happen? The typical bank was lending money for buying real estate and for operating businesses. 

What if, quite suddenly, the typical business went bankrupt (transferring ownership from the shareholders to the lender) and the typical real estate got foreclosed (again, transferring the ownership from the borrowers to the lender)? Plus the typical lender also went bankrupt (transferring all the assets of that lender to the Fed)?

Well that would be like the story of the wolf who was protecting the sheep from an evil wolf who was dressed as a shepherd while pretending to protect the sheep from a dishonest wolf. Suddenly, through a collapsing banking system, the Fed shifts from being a lender to a lot of banks… to being the 100% owner of a massive number of private companies plus a few trillion dollars worth of private real estate (or whatever, like maybe all the gold that US citizens did not know that they owe to the US Treasury as security against the $783 of bond market debt owed by the US government to your grandchildren).

Gold is an interesting detail. Did you know that possession of gold by a US citizen was criminalized in 1932? 

If not, why not? If you do not already know all the history I just mentioned, why not? Who created the programming of mainstream schools and mainstream media (including social media)? Why?

If you do not already understand the simplicity of the Fed’s program to transfer the ownership of massive amounts of gold, private companies, and real estate, why not? What had they been programming the masses (of corporate executives and of mainstream investors) to notice and to think and to do?

Obviously, this history of what they did to set up the sudden transfer of wealth in 1932 was a singular incident. Nothing like this could have ever happened before… certainly not dozens or hundreds of times. Plus, nothing like this could ever happen again… not at a much larger scale.

That would be… just… I mean… yeah, but…  I have an umbrella so… if there is a big storm coming then I could just set up the roof to collect the water and then everything would be….

What you don’t understand though is that I do not want the Fed to take over a certain country’s government. I do not want that so I will not consider that potential. 

Or, I will accept that potential but then look to mainstream news and see that I have a protector who is definitely not a wolf but must be a great shepherd because that would be convenient for me. This heroic leader will save me from risk.

To protect me, I have the FDIC and the POTUS and the SEC and the TSA to protect me from the need to assess risks and protect myself. So, I am totally safe now. 

I don’t need to take any precautions because not only do they give me a free umbrella, but they hold it over my head for me and walk around everywhere with me to protect me from rain. Also, I don’t need to relate to the coming sudden transfer of wealth as an opportunity. That would be disloyal to my favorite political party and stuff.

Real estate prices can’t fall 90% because it’s never happened before…. Or, even though it has happened before, this time it’s different…. Or that can’t ever happen again because I have the president walking around with me as my personal Secret Service protector, holding a magic umbrella over my head everywhere I go.

Stock market prices can’t fall 90% because the Fed actually is not what the school system designed by the Fed told me that the Fed is. The Fed designed a school system and a media narrative that told me what should be and what the Fed is and that they are honest shepherds. I know that is true because I really hope it is true because I really want it to be true because if it is not true, then that would be really embarrassing and financially catastrophic when suddenly they do what they have been planning to suddenly do.

Yeah, but… they shouldn’t do that. They shouldn’t plan those things.

They taught me the things that they should be planning and that they should not be planning. They taught me the things that they should be doing and that they should not be doing.

So they can’t be planning to do the things that they told me that no one should plan to do. That would be deceptive.

That would mean that I am distracted and misled. I don’t want to be naïve. I don’t want to be misled. I want a shepherd to protect me (with magic umbrellas) from wolves who pretend to be shepherds.

Also, there is a sudden transfer of wealth about to happen. It is incredibly easy to benefit from this transfer of wealth. While there have been prior transfers that give hints of what is possible, like gains of over 1000% in a few weeks in early 2020, the scale of this particular development could be far greater.

Or maybe Donald the holy shepherd will protect us this time and prevent the sudden change. Why? Because this time will be different than in early 2020 when he was also the commander in shepherd.

How? I mean… Donald has… an umbrella that is tremendous… and Elon Musk can… well, Hillary is bad. As a consolation, we can blame Biden for failing to prevent the 1932 criminalization of gold. 

Those people (or some of thee people) are not doing the things that those people told us they would do. It is like they are trying to set us up for a sudden shift.

Could they be attempting to influence our perception of risk? Could they be attempting to influence our perception of opportunity?

Help Wanted in Galveston TX

January 2, 2023

I seek office staff who can train in Galveston in January. I already have a few “virtual assistants” who work for me remotely. However, I would like to train you in person first. So you can eventually work from home, I prefer that you own a good computer (or I can provide one).

HOURS AND PAY: Part-time is okay and hours can be flexible. Pay is negotiable (base hourly pay plus unlimited performance bonuses plus tuition assistance).

Naturally, your compensation ultimately will depend on your productivity. So below is what we do.

First, if you share any of these interests, let me know: remodeling & home design, business administration, internet marketing, communication & public relations, computer programming, systems engineering, and project management.

WHAT WE DO: We receive dozens of requests per month (mostly by email) for residential construction and remodeling services. We identify the appropriate recipient to whom we will forward the request (like to a certain builder or to our in-house architectural staff who prepare blueprints for our builders).

Later, we phone our builders for them to give us priority updates (plus for them to give us instructions on future routine follow-ups). We typically send emails and texts for “routine” follow-ups.

I have several staff who can send those routine follow-up messages. What I need is a coordinator or manager who can help prioritize tasks (and delegate many of those tasks to other staff).

Occasionally, we need to add to our list of builders who have agreed to participate. We also routinely “recycle” some of our older requests to find out who still needs help.

So that’s the basics of what we do. If you are interested, email me at ProjectRequests1@gmail.com (and note that I do NOT frequently check messages on Facebook). Send your contact info, some background on you, and ideally your desired compensation range.

As some extra background, I started the business on a part-time basis several years ago (at first serving just one metro area: Phoenix AZ). 2022 was our best year ever by far. 2023 is expected to be several times as profitable. We are on schedule to receive our 10,000th request in 2023.

Our top-paying contractor for 2022 has paid us in full for about 15 projects (all in Arizona, averaging about $2000 per project).

We also made money from projects in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and our very first projects ever in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. We currently work with several drafters, 1 structural engineer, and over 250 contractors.

The image below is to catch your eye by showing a few recent checks we have received. The top 2 are for projects near Houston and near Dallas. The bottom check is from a builder near Atlanta GA.

Builders, increase profits with discounted SIPS packages (faster to build)

September 25, 2020

9-25-2020

If you are already familiar with SIPS, great. In that case, the key detail to know is that, through us, you can get them at a discount over the rates generally available to builders (because of our collective buying power and an exclusive discount from the manufacturer).

Marshall@TrinityBuildingSystems.com  (503) 839-9625

If you’re not familiar with SIPS, keep reading. The key advantages are just below. After that is a quick explanation of what they are.

In general, the key advantages of SIPS often include:

for builder: cheaper, faster, simpler (so you can complete MANY more projects than with conventional framing – even during a labor shortage- plus maintain nice profit margins on each individual project)

for homeowner: all of the above plus long-term savings from far better insulation than most typical systems (due to the precise fit of the pre-cut panels which makes them extremely airtight). That means lower energy costs year after year.

What are SIPS?

The photo above shows a crew raising a panel. Briefly, each panel has foam insulation in the middle plus two sheets of wood. Because the panels can support roofs without additional studs or framing, they are called “structural panels.” Because they are insulated, they are called Structural Insulated Panel Systems (or SIPS).


Next is a bit more of the background (and much more background is below in the slides). Call Marshall to get examples / details relevant to specific projects of yours.

Marshall@TrinityBuildingSystems.com  (503) 839-9625

(1) competitive prices for materials: materials prices for this method have not gone up as much as typical wood studs and wood sheets

(2) the time to build is much less because the materials can be ready faster and are simpler to build, so building takes less skill and less time (and thus lower labor costs).

(3) you can complete a dried-in shell with a lower cost than stick-framing. Plus, insulation and fittings (for plumbing and electrical) can be pre-cut (again saving lots of time and money for the interior finish)

////////////////////////////////

EXPLORING FURTHER:

(Note that any references to costs of materials in the slides below are from spring of 2020 or earlier. So, the advantages of SIPS vs conventional framing has greatly increased as of early fall of 2020.)

The overall construction cost is lower, plus profit margins can be increased. Labor shortages are also much less of a problem with these (and the skill level required is much lower as well). 

Even the roof is easily-assembled as pre-cut airtight panels. (See photo below.) So, that’s a huge decrease in safety issues / liability, especially when high winds or extreme temperatures are an issue.

While the materials do cost more for framing, the savings more than covers that with reduced labor cost, reduced cost for insulation, plus reduced costs due to needing a much lower capacity HVAC system. Further, because of the reduced cooling costs and increased speed of the build, it is reasonable to charge more to the buyer… increasing profit margins.


More on much faster build + greatly reduced costs for cooling (due to better insulation plus much more air-tight than stick-framing, so quieter and better indoor air quality/ greatly reduced risk of mold):(“energy payback period” is typically 5.1 years… to break even on the higher initial costs that builders can charge for this system)




avoids the settling issues of stick-frame|

does not expand as much in heat / cold, so less cracking in stucco & less nail pops

About twice as strong as conventional (in terms of bearing the weight of upper levels).

Typically a 20-year warranty
no need for trusses because of large spans / structural strength

More slides on benefits:







example (residential):

Examples (commercial: 7/11, starbucks, schools, etc)



For builders, better profits with discounted SIPS packages

September 25, 2020

9-25-2020

If you are already familiar with SIPS, great. In that case, the key detail to know is that, through us, you can get them at a discount over the rates generally available to builders (because of our collective buying power and an exclusive discount from the manufacturer).

Marshall@TrinityBuildingSystems.com  (503) 839-9625

If you’re not familiar with SIPS, keep reading. The key advantages are just below. After that is a quick explanation of what they are.

In general, the key advantages of SIPS often include:

for builder: cheaper, faster, simpler (so you can complete MANY more projects than with conventional framing – even during a labor shortage- plus maintain nice profit margins on each individual project)

for homeowner: all of the above plus long-term savings from far better insulation than most typical systems (due to the precise fit of the pre-cut panels which makes them extremely airtight). That means lower
energy costs year after year.

What are SIPS?

The photo above shows a crew raising a panel. Briefly, each panel has foam insulation in the middle plus two sheets of wood. Because the panels can support roofs without additional studs or framing, they are called “structural panels.” Because they are insulated, they are called Structural Insulated Panel Systems (or SIPS).


Next is a bit more of the background (and much more background is below in the slides). Call Marshall to get examples / details relevant to specific projects of yours.

Marshall@TrinityBuildingSystems.com  (503) 839-9625

(1) competitive prices for materials: materials prices for this method have not gone up as much as typical wood studs and wood sheets

(2) the time to build is much less because the materials can be ready faster and are simpler to build, so building takes less skill and less time (and thus lower labor costs).

(3) you can complete a dried-in shell with a lower cost than stick-framing. Plus, insulation and fittings (for plumbing and electrical) can be pre-cut (again saving lots of time and money for the interior finish)

////////////////////////////////

EXPLORING FURTHER:

(Note that any references to costs of materials in the slides below are from spring of 2020 or earlier. So, the advantages of SIPS vs conventional framing has greatly increased as of early fall of 2020.)

The overall construction cost is lower, plus profit margins can be increased. Labor shortages are also much less of a problem with these (and the skill level required is much lower as well). 

Even the roof is easily-assembled as pre-cut airtight panels. (See photo below.) So, that’s a huge decrease in safety issues / liability, especially when high winds or extreme temperatures are an issue.

While the materials do cost more for framing, the savings more than covers that with reduced labor cost, reduced cost for insulation, plus reduced costs due to needing a much lower capacity HVAC system. Further, because of the reduced cooling costs and increased speed of the build, it is reasonable to charge more to the buyer… increasing profit margins.


More on much faster build + greatly reduced costs for cooling (due to better insulation plus much more air-tight than stick-framing, so quieter and better indoor air quality/ greatly reduced risk of mold):(“energy payback period” is typically 5.1 years… to break even on the higher initial costs that builders can charge for this system)




avoids the settling issues of stick-frame|

does not expand as much in heat / cold, so less cracking in stucco & less nail pops

About twice as strong as conventional (in terms of bearing the weight of upper levels).

Typically a 20-year warranty
no need for trusses because of large spans / structural strength

More slides on benefits:







example (residential):

Examples (commercial: 7/11, starbucks, schools, etc)



market report: volatility surges… even as stocks float

September 2, 2020

So, it is obvious that recent months have been unusual in many ways within the US as well as much of the world. Lately, in the last 6 trading days, the volatility in the US stock market has surged up over 20% (with last Thursday being the biggest surge). That happens occasionally and indeed is exactly the kind of development that I have been expecting and positioned for.

However, in the last 4 days, volatility has risen steadily even while the prices of US stock indexes rose. That is NOT typical.

I may add to this report later with more data, but for now I will just show some quick data. First here is what happened in the last 6 days (with the orange highlight showing last Thursday relative to other recent days).

Here are the last few months to show that UVXY normally FALLS when stock prices rise. (You can also see the massive surge in from June 5 to June 11.)

Many of my investing clients are already positioned in UVXY heavily as well as a much smaller share of SCO. As a reminder, here is what they did in under a month early this year:

When I wrote in January about the extreme risk in US stocks, one of the data streams that I used to make that assessment is the one shown below:

The extremes in recent months are indeed “even more historic / unprecedented.” Note the lower levels on the bottom right (plus the larger green arrows indicating the more extreme conditions).

Here, I lined up the recent history of soaring prices in UVXY (including the 1000% gain early this year) with the green arrows I just showed you above. “The stage is set.”

While the gain in UVXY in July was rather modest, the potential of another large surge in the immediate future is quite high. Plus, because of the last few months have set records for the optimistic extremes of buying, that means that there is a lot of “pressure” that could “blow out.” Indeed, with the gains of well over 20% in the last 6 days in UVXY even WHILE stocks prices are rising further, that may be a sign of the initial “cracks in the dam.”

Keep in mind that technically there is only one thing that “moves prices of something up:” buying of that thing. Likewise, the only thing that “moves prices down” is selling.

So, what could explain soaring volatility even why an index is rising (given that volatility normally rises on selling)? If investors are dumping most mid-sized stocks in order to pour voraciously in to a select few “darlings” like AMZN or TSLA, then a stock index can go up even as the majority of the stocks in that index are falling in price (AKA being dumped by sellers faster than new buyers are replacing those sellers).

With TSLA, keep in mind that the company lost $4.5 billion across the last 4 calendar years BUT investors are buying it aggressively AS IF IT HAS BEEN MAKING A SOLID PROFIT. TSLA is quite a contrast to a company like AMZN or AAPL that it company with strong finances.

But, for those who think “now is a great time to buy and hold TSLA” (relative to 2019 or 2013 etc), they might be very disappointed. As telecommuting “takes over” so much of the developed world (US, Europe, etc), what will happen to the demand for electric vehicles that give us access to HOV lanes? As millions flee from New York and Silicon Valley for places that are 1/3 or 1/4 as expensive, they MIGHT continue to pour some of the excess investments in to “darlings” like AMZN or TSLA. But they might not.

I do not wish to over-emphasize the value of AMZN, but they have an established niche that has done well in recent years and even better in recent months. The company itself is reasonably stable. Their stock price is not, but the company itself probably is.

TSLA itself is not as stable. Maybe they will do great in terms of revenues and profits for year after year. But the 2000% rise in the value of TSLA stock since mid-2019 is NOT matched by a similar improvement in the finances of the company itself.

That is a 10-year chart. Some people think “I don’t want to miss the next surge.” I wonder “based on what data would someone be confident that TSLA is a better buy right now than any other particular company?”

I might not have said much lately about the book:price ratio. If I said that I would sell you a dollar bill for 80 cents or for 60 cents, would you be interested?

The chart above shows that stocks of Wells Fargo were recently worth about 60% of the cash value / actual net worth of Wells Fargo. That means it is a reasonably appealing long-term buy (if considering that stat alone).

Bank of America stocks were a bit more expensive at about 80% of the the cash value / net worth of the company. However, those are still excellent prices.

The typical ratio right now for the entire S&P 500 is that stock prices cost 341% of the actual cash value of the companies. That is not a great ratio.

But amazon’s stock price is over 2000% of the actual value of the company. And Tesla motor’s stock price is currently reported at over 4000% of the actual value of the company.

Here is a link to current data for TSLA:
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TSLA/tesla/price-book

Here is the link where I created the chart above:

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/stock-comparison?s=price-book&axis=multiple&comp=TSLA:AMZN:BAC:WFC

So, months ago I also frequently referenced a few other markets besides US stocks. A few quick charts of those are below.

Crude oil prices are exactly where they were 2.5 months ago, except there was a sharp move down in recent hours:

The US bond market has overall done very little in recent months (although there have been a few short-term variations in that time). The open market interest rates that lenders are offering to the US government is just barely higher than in mid-April, meaning that bond prices are just barely lower.

The EUR:USD forex rate has been rather flat for the last month (mostly staying within a range of about 2%):

Among precious metals, for a few months recently, buyers of silver and gold have been far more aggressive than buyers of platinum or palladium.


Aggressive buying has driven silver prices up more than 100% and gold prices by more than 1/3. However, selling across the last 4-5 weeks has outpaced buying, resulting in falling prices. Platinum investors have been aligned with gold and silver investors for most of the last few months, but with much less enthusiasm / optimism / hysteria.