But first, something more about  gold,  a metal I featured yesterday in this blog.  Well, after hitting an all-time high of $5,594.82/ounce, settled at $5,149.99/oz, 4% lower today.  However, spot prices still up 19% for January and 3.6% this week. I should add that silver is also jumping high, then similarly dropping 6% to $108.84/ounce, after reaching $121.64/oz.  This metal has surged more than 50% this year.  Finally, platinum, too, is following the same path, hitting a record high of $2,918.80/oz on Monday, then falling 1.7% to $2,650/oz. We are 10 days to the start of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.  Everything you need to know about these Olympics : Will run from February 6 through 22. Venues will include Milan, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Valtellina, Val di Fiemme and Anterselva. Remember that Italy is 6 hours ahead of New York, 9 hours from Los Angeles and 11 hours from Honolulu. Opening Ceremony. February 6. Milano San Siro Olympic Stadiu...

The local  Star-Advertiser  today carried an article that headlined: Gold hits record $5,311 as dollar falls ahead of Fed decision First of all, the  Federal Reserve today held interest rates steady for the first time since July .  Fed Chair Jerome Powell ( will stay on as governor until the end of 2028 ) said that economic activity and business fixed investment have been expanding at a solid pace, while consumer spending has been resilient.   However, even though the housing market continues to show weakness, it has begun to show signs of recent life.   Mortgage rates have been at a three-year low. Yet, 6% for 30-year fixed is not exactly low. 15-year fixed is around 5%, also not so good. On the other hand, it was 7% last year. A good low interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is anything below 4%. In January 2021, a record low of 2.65% was reached. This rate hovered between 3% and 4% in the 2010s. However, and this surprising to me, the hist...

 I get a bit into bitcoin today to reflect how volatile it can be. Yesterday,  President Donald Trump threatened new 100% tariffs on China. The  U.S. stock market tumbled , with the Dow Jones Industrial dropping 879 points, or 1.9%.  The broader S&P dropped 2.71%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 3.56%. Gold rose 1.5%.   Read my posting of yesterday on how just this commodity could trigger a collapse of the USA and World . In particular,  cryptocurrencies Bitcoin ( almost a 10% decline ), Ether ( 14.2% ) and Solana ( 20% ) led the sinking , bringing total liquidations to $14.28 billion, the largest in crypto history.  One of Trump's executive order to allow digital assets to be included in 401(k) plans led to  Bitcoin  soaring to a record high of $124,000 last week.   When to capitalize (b)itcoin?  When referring to the protocol, technology or network.  But lowercase bitcoin is used as a unit of currency....

Venezuelan Democracy Advocate Maria Corina Machado today received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize .  Machado is a 58-year old industrial engineer known as Venezuela's Iron Lady, who has led the opposition to authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, whose last two elections were obviously fixed, and therefore not recognized by many countries, including the USA. The Nobel Committee awarded this prize for  her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy . If Trump wants to be the victor for this medal next year, he should understand that the Nobel Peace Laureate fights dictatorships, not reach out to become one.   Reaction from  Time  magazine?   TRUMP LOSES NOBEL PEACE PRIZE HE SHAMELESSLY CAMPAIGNED FOR . Donald Trump was no doubt disappointed, but shouldn't have been because the winner is decided most on what that person accomplished i...