It’s the end of the week, here’s how we’ll head into the weekend…
With the three stories that caught our attention today.
We’ll share those with you below, and here’s hoping at least one of these things will help you with your investments.
On with the show…
#1 — What does the jobs news mean for stocks?
As Yahoo! Finance reports this morning:
The US economy added 175,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% last month, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Friday. Wall Street economists had expected nonfarm payrolls to rise by 240,000 and the unemployment rate to remain at 3.8%…
According to the Wall Street experts, the weaker jobs number (less people hired than expected) makes it less likely the Federal Reserve will keep rates higher.
That means… the market hopes… the Fed could start cutting rates soon. But it’s a big hope. We wouldn’t be so sure about that. The Fed is quite happy with higher rates and higher inflation.
It wants the market to get used to it before the market remembers the 2010s when interest rates were much lower. Why does it want rates high? Simple: because it gives them more room to cut when the next crisis hits.
And make no mistake, that next crisis won’t be far away. Remember, it’s around 16 years since the last major U.S. recession (forget the Covid thing — that came and went in a flash). The economy is almost due for a major economic collapse.
Not just yet. But likely within the next two years. The Fed knows it. So it’s preparing for it now. As should you.
#2 — Buffett’s first Berkshire bash without Munger
This weekend is the first Berkshire Hathaway investor meeting since Warran Buffett’s business partner, Charlie Munger, passed away last November.
You know the meeting. It’s the one where Buffett knocks back a few Cherry Cokes, has an ice cream or two, and takes questions from shareholders.
But, as mentioned, this meeting will be a little different.
Not just because of the absence of Charlie Munger, but because of the attention it will place on what will happen when Mr. Buffett is no longer with us.
Maybe it’s a little morbid… perhaps even somewhat in bad taste… but folks are thinking about it. And no doubt, if you own any Berkshire Hathaway stock (as does your editor) then you’re thinking about it too.
#3 — What happened to gold and bitcoin?
A couple of weeks ago, all anyone could talk about was the Bitcoin halving and how the price would surely go to a gazillion dollars.
Today, bitcoin is still around the low $60,000 mark. Not quite at a gazillion bucks. But heck, it’s a long way above where it was just six months ago… so what’s the rush?
We leave bitcoin and crypto forecasting to others… to those who know what they’re talking about. As for gold, it’s back off its recent high of $2,400 and is back to a level (just under $2,300 as we write), where we would be tempted to tuck in to buy a little more.
Same goes for silver. At $26.44, that looks like a good buying price to us.
Cheers,
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Kris Sayce
Editor, The Daily Cut