Free Republic

Expectations for Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska have been downplayed but diverted attention from a stalling US and global economy. Any independent observer will note that the outlook for the dollar is deteriorating, credit risk rising, and a debt trap is being sprung on the US Treasury. Tonight’s Alaska circus is a diversion from this reality. Gold and silver continued to consolidate earlier gains this week, but the market underneath continues to tighten. In European morning trade today gold was $3340, down $60 from last Friday’s close, and silver was $37.90, down 40 cents. Comex volumes in both contracts...

Russia is increasing production of its Oreshnik missile system as NATO pledges an additional $40 billion to Ukraine. The nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile is a powerful system with the capacity to travel 3,415 miles, effectively enabling Russia to strike anywhere in the West from Europe to the United States. “Serial production of the latest Oreshnik medium-range missile system is under way,” Putin told a graduating class of military cadets in televised comments. The system became operational on November 21, 2024, and used in an attack whereby it carried multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) payload and six warheads that were each...

KEY POINTS -On Friday, falling bond prices pushed the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly above 4.5%, up from 3.99% just a week prior. -The ICE U.S. Dollar Index hit its lowest level in three years. “The market is re-assessing the structural attractiveness of the dollar as the world’s global reserve currency and is undergoing a process of rapid de-dollarization,” Deutsche Bank strategist George Saravelos said in a note to clients Friday. But on Friday, falling bond prices pushed the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly above 4.5%, up from 3.99% just a week prior. Meanwhile, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index hit...