Episode #376
No Rate Hike, No Missiles, No Problem? — Bizarro World 376
The free version of Episode 376 of Investing in Bizarro World is now live. The summer doldrums are starting to end. Copper remains the strongest chart in the metals complex, gold is repairing itself after successfully defending the $4,000 area, and silver has pushed into the mid-$60s. Meanwhile, the dollar has weakened below 100 on the DXY even as longer-term Treasury yields remain stubbornly high — giving gold the macro relief it needed. The Fed increasingly looks likely to sit on its hands. Markets are pricing roughly a 65% chance of no September rate hike after a weak July jobs report, while Nick and Gerardo discuss whether Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s intervention in currency and bond markets has become a form of quasi-QE. A weaker dollar and higher asset prices certainly aren’t unwelcome for an administration heading toward the midterms. Then there’s the arsenal. Nick cites reporting that the U.S. has already used more than 1,500 Patriot air-defense interceptors in the Iran war, with fewer than 1,700 reportedly remaining and more than two years potentially required to replace what has been spent. That has implications for Ukraine, Taiwan, China, Russia, and U.S. military readiness — and it leads directly back to the metals needed to manufacture those systems. Washington appears to understand at least part of the problem. Following meetings with mining executives, the Trump administration announced roughly $3 billion in investments, loans, protections, and education funding tied to critical minerals including tungsten and scandium. Nick and Gerardo discuss why rebuilding the domestic supply chain will require not only mines and processing plants, but far more mining engineers, metallurgists, and rare-earth expertise than the U.S. currently has. And because this is Bizarro World, there’s plenty more: political polarization, socialist candidates, Trump-backed candidates, AI getting increasingly strange, advance access to market-moving presidential posts, depleted military stockpiles, and why $6 haircuts may tell you more about inflation than the CPI. Subscribe to the channel: / @bizarroworld Read the full article + listen here: https://bizarroworld.com Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 2:27 Macro Musings: Copper Still Leads. Gold Repairs. Dollar Below 100. Inflation Oscillates. 9:39 Market Takes: Bessent Intervention. Fed Hike Odds. Weak Jobs. Asset Prices Rise. 17:05 Bizarro Banter: Political Extremes. AI Acceleration. Missile Shortage. Critical Minerals Funding. 43:08 Premium Portfolio Picks: (You need to subscribe to Bizarro World Live to get this section) If you’re trying to make sense of this market — and position yourself for what comes next — you’re in the right place.
