Author: Money Mechanics

Silver futures have just inverted into a +$0.30 premium over spot, marking one of the strongest and most explosive signals the precious metals market can generate. This is not a routine fluctuation—it reflects a structural imbalance where immediate physical demand overwhelms available supply, forcing futures prices above spot in what is known as backwardation. Historically, this condition has only emerged during the most aggressive phases of bull markets, including the 2011 melt-up to $49 and the 2020 physical squeeze that drove spreads violently higher. Today’s inversion confirms that silver is no longer trading in a normal carry structure—the market has…

It appears that the American October Consumer Price Index (CPI) will not be calculated by the Bureau of Labor [sic] Statistics (BLS), courtesy of the now-ended shutdown. Since the CPI calculations rely on an extremely large survey of data on a particular set of dates, the absence of employees making that survey makes it impossible to recover that data point.Although this is not too big a deal, I just want to comment on some arcane side effects of this hole in the data.Does it Matter for Cost-of-Living Adjustments?The absence of the data would cause problem for any contracts that use…

Although Congress has finally agreed to a Funding Bill to end the Government shut down and on Wednesday, November 12th, President Trump signed the bill, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has not yet released the inflation numbers for October, which were scheduled for release on November 13th. In order for the government to reopen, the bill needed 217 ‘yes’ votes. In the end, it was able to secure 222 ‘yes’ votes compared to the 209 ‘no’ votes. Ultimately, Six Democrat senators broke ranks with their party to advance the measure, while two Republicans sided with Democrats in an effort…

The AI feature allows you to have a back-and-forth dialogue with Redfin while you search, helping you discover homes that best suit your preferences For years, online real estate search has been limited by filters and map boundaries. But no more: Starting today, you can use our new AI-powered conversational search feature to find homes on Redfin.com by describing what you want in your own words and have a natural, back-and-forth dialogue to refine your search.  For example, you can comment on a suggested listing to say the kitchen should be more modern or respond to follow-up questions about your…

klamb_s/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty ImagesFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysAnthropic will spend $50 billion to build its own data centers.They’ll be in Texas, New York, and elsewhere across the US.It could set new standards for AI labs trying to scale.Anthropic will invest $50 billion in the construction of its own data centers, the company announced Tuesday — a move that could have ripple effects across an industry already racing to build AI infrastructure. “Anthropic serves more than 300,000 business customers, and our number of large accounts — customers that each represent over $100,000 in run-rate revenue…

Key Takeaways Gold prices hit record highs above $4,000 per ounce this fall, tempting many to cash in. While selling could get you quick cash, gold’s long-term status as a safe haven during economic turmoil might mean holding off could be the better deal. Compare written offers before handing over your gold items—you’ll likely only get an average of 60% to 80% of the current market price for typical gold jewelery when selling to a dealer. The price of gold is over $4,000 an ounce, and cash-for-gold signs are popping up online and in storefronts nationwide. So you might be…

It’s easy to think of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as passive investment vehicles — baskets you can buy, hold, and forget about. But as we’ll show, ETFs today can also be a lot more active than many people realize.A big shift to indexing and ETFs (but they are not the same thing)It’s now been more than 30 years since the first U.S. ETF (SPY in 1993) was launched. Over that time, index funds (including ETFs) have grown strongly. Most databases now show assets in index funds have surpassed assets in active mutual funds.Chart 1: Passive pass active fund assets Interestingly, over…

Key Takeaways P2P lending may offer better returns than traditional fixed income but comes with credit, liquidity, and platform risks.Diversifying across many notes and assessing borrower credit quality helps manage default risk.P2P loans are hard to sell before maturity and may require discounts.Returns rely heavily on the platform’s integrity, fees, and loan servicing.P2P lending should be a small, diversified supplement based on clients’ risk tolerance and time horizon. Clients seeking fixed income or diversification may see Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending as a valuable option. P2P lending is online lending that connects borrowers directly with individual investors, bypassing traditional banks. Compared to…

Key Takeaways Tech stocks led the major indexes lower on Thursday as investors turned their attention from the longest government shutdown in U.S. history to concerns about an AI bubble.Investors are increasingly concerned that massive spending on data centers is fueling an unsustainable AI boom that could be a bubble. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s expectations for a December rate cut are fading. The stock market cleared a major hurdle this week. It’s the outset of what is historically a good time for equities. You wouldn’t know it if you looked at your portfolio today. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed legislation…

Key Takeaways The U.S. Mint struck the final circulating penny on Wednesday, officially ending 232 years of production due to unsustainable production costs. Each penny now costs 3.69 cents to produce, and people using less physical cash has reduced the need for them. Rounding could be the new normal as businesses begin to shift cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents. The U.S. penny, beloved by penny pinchers for 232 years, has officially reached the end of its production. On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint hosted a ceremonial strike event at its Philadelphia facility for the final 1 cent coin meant…