Happy Friday!  It’s time for our weekly PRECIOUS METALS REPORT courtesy of my friend Ira Bershatsky. Oh wait a minute, REALLY sorry for that head fake… It is not actually Friday, and I regret to inform you you still have one more day of work this week. Sorry for that buzzkill, but Ira is traveling tomorrow so he’s getting the report out early this week.  Hope you like it!  Let me know what you think, and if you’d rather have these come out on a Thursday, we can make the change permanent.  Just drop me a comment below. As always, my standard disclaimer: Not personalized financial advice, but this is the quality of insight and macro analysis that people pay big money for…and thanks to Ira, I’m pleased to be able to share it was all of you. This week I want to start with this short and simple Tweet: Gold is sending a warning. — Michael A. Gayed, CFA (@leadlagreport) September 10, 2024 I think he’s absolutely right, and it ties in with everything Ira has been telling us. The signs are piling up everywhere, and with Gold leading and breaking out to new highs, it’s telling you this market is not well. And now instead of the previously-expected two rate cuts, most think we will only get one quarter point cut. Will it be too little, too late? For September 12, 2024 — Ira Bershatsky explains: Yesterday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers were disappointing. Although the overall CPI number was in line with expectations the core CPI number which excludes the volatile food and energy components increased .3% from July. This dampened enthusiasm for a one-half point FED rate cut and the expectation is now a quarter-point rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW) promptly dropped over 400 points at the open and dropped over 700 points then rallied to close up 124 points. Is this the work of the President’s Working Group on the Financial Markets known colloquially as the Plunge Protection Team? And this occurred the day after the presidential debate? Hmmmmm. Thursday morning’s overall Producer Price Index (PPI) number was in line with expectations with a .2% increase from July and the core PPI number which excludes food and energy was up .3% higher than expectations. This has not deterred the stock or metals markets with the stock indices mostly unchanged and the metals up strongly with gold up $26.30 an ounce or 1.05% and silver up 49 cents an ounce or 1.71% as of this writing.  I can’t give you personalized financial advice but as for me, I’m buying as much Gold, Silver and Crypto as I can get my hands on. Ira can help you if you want to do the same thing, he’s earned my trust. I know many of you are already familiar with Ira Bershatsky, but for those who don’t know him, you can find him at WLT Precious Metals. I have personally sent family members to Ira for 5-figure purchases of Gold and Silver and he treated them like royalty.  They were very pleased. That’s how much I trust Ira. No one has a crystal ball for the markets, but I trust Ira’s ethics and morals and customer service implicitly.  I always hear glowing reviews! I didn’t tell him I was sending them over either (and these particular family members have a different last name) so I did it as a bit of a “secret shopper” test and Ira passed with flying colors. Of course I knew he would. That’s why I work with him and that’s why I have confidence telling you about him. Ira can handle bulk purchases of bullion, coins, whatever you want. All custom ordered and shipped right to your door. A lot of people love Bullion because its the cheapest and most economical way to do it, to stretch your dollar into as much gold and silver as possible. The website is called WLT Precious Metals and when you see my logo in the top left-hand corner, you’ll know you’re in the right place. You’ll get a personal phone call with Ira Bershatsky (or someone on his team) and they will work with you free of charge for as long as needed to answer any questions you have and get you taken care of. How about that! You don’t see that much anymore, but Ira and his team pride themselves on good old-fashioned real customers service: No sales pitch, just real, actual help. And the best prices you will find. Here’s the only disclaimer I will give you: because they do pride themselves on dedicated service, it might take a few days before you get a phone call back.  Just be patient. Good things come to those who wait! You can contact Ira and WLT Precious Metals here. Ira can also help you if you want to purchase Gold and Silver in your IRA. I mean, his name is Ira, after all, OF COURSE he can help you purchase in your IRA account. The thing I love about purchasing in your IRA account is you can do it with no money out of pocket.  You just take money already in the IRA account, perhaps in stocks or bonds or other investments, and you can shift it into Gold and Silver. Again, I’m not your personalized financial advisor, I’m just explaining how it works. And it’s REALLY cool. So even if you’re saying times are tough right now, I don’t have a lot of spare money to shift into Gold and Silver, you might have a golden opportunity (pun intended!) already sitting there in an established retirement account. I’ll be back next Friday with another Precious Metals Report update from Ira. Until then…. Noah out.

Patti Smith isn't a Donald Trump fan

Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman became the first civilian to go on a private spacewalk on Thursday morning, after traveling the farthest from Earth a human being has gone since the Apollo moon missions. 

A New York City grand jury has indicted former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by at least 80 women, on new charges that reportedly revolve around other cases of sexual harassment. In 2017, women started coming forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual abuse. Weinstein’s 2020 conviction of third-degree rape of one woman and first-degree criminal sex act of another was overturned in April by an appellate court. But in 2022, Weinstein was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault, and sentenced to 16 years in prison, a decision that is being appealed by his attorneys. Earlier this week, Weinstein was transported from Rikers Island jail to Bellevue Hospital for emergency heart surgery. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. Weinstein’s Miramax company, which he founded with his brother Bob, produced three films that won the Best Picture Oscar: “The English Patient,” “Shakespeare in Love,” and “Chicago,” as well as the films “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hunting.” The appellate court that overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction wrote, “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes. The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial. … It is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them.” After 2017 reports in The New York Times and The New Yorker detailed Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment of women, Weinstein was dismissed from Miramax, expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and suspended from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He resigned from the Directors Guild of America. In what was called the “Weinstein Effect,” after the reports of Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment became public, many women and some men came forward to speak of being sexually harassed by prominent individuals. RELATED: New York Appeals Court Tosses Harvey Weinstein Rape Conviction

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin released two attack ads on Wednesday focusing on abortion and claiming that her Republican opponent Mike Rogers supports a federal abortion ban. Slotkin’s campaign said the two 30-second spots will appear on broadcast, cable, and digital platforms and are part of a multimillion-dollar ad buy, The Detroit News reported. Slotkin, a current congresswoman, has been focusing on business and the economy throughout much of her campaign, but with fewer than 60 days until Election Day, she’s again playing up abortion. Democrats in tight races across the country have been emphasizing their pro-abortion positions throughout the 2024 campaign, hoping to ride the Left’s recent electoral success on abortion amendments in red and blue states. Despite Michigan voters approving a constitutional amendment in 2022 to enshrine a “fundamental right” to abortion in state law, a woman in one of Slotkin’s ads says she is “scared that Mike Rogers will continue to take away my rights.” “I had already had four miscarriages and in our fifth pregnancy, we were filled with so much hope. At 19 weeks, I received the most devastating phone call. I had a child dying inside of me. All of our options were terrible,” the woman, identified as Sarah from Byron Center, Michigan, says in the ad. “But Mike Rogers thinks it’s okay for politicians to make those medical decisions that saved my life.” “Rogers even supported a nationwide ban on abortion. I’m scared that Mike Rogers will continue to take away my rights,” she continues. The ad highlights Rogers, a former member of the U.S. House, supporting a constitutional amendment “to protect the right of unborn children” when he ran for Congress in 2000. Slotkin’s second attack ad on Rogers quotes the Republican saying in 1994 that he supports “all restrictions on abortion.” “So if you believe Mike Rogers and anti-abortion activists will protect your rights, we got a bridge to sell you,” the ad continues. Rogers said he does not support overhauling Michigan’s abortion law and addressed the issue in a video he released on Wednesday titled, “THE TRUTH.” “I know that a decision about a pregnancy is one of the most difficult and personal decisions a woman will make,” Rogers says in the video, which he filmed alongside his wife Kristi. “Michigan voters have already decided the issue, and I respect that decision. In the Senate, I won’t do anything to change it.” Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has also vowed that he would not sign a federal abortion ban if it came to his desk, but his promise has not stopped Democrats from claiming that pro-abortion laws would be threatened if Republicans win the White House and gain control of the Senate in November. Rogers represented Michigan’s 8th District in the U.S. House from 2001 to 2015 and Slotkin currently represents the state’s 7th District. Earlier this year, Slotkin slammed the Senate filibuster for preventing Democrats from ramming through “up-or-down” votes on issues such as abortion. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. “I am like loud and proud on reforming the filibuster, so we can vote on gun laws, voter access, women’s rights, all those things could be voted on tomorrow if we only needed 51 [senators] instead of 60 to get an up-or-down vote,” she told constituents in March. Imagine a world where the Senate could actually vote on gun violence prevention, voting rights, and protecting abortion and IVF. All of those critical issues could get an up-or-down vote if we reformed the filibuster. pic.twitter.com/AOwNGuEhEC — Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) March 5, 2024 Slotkin leads Rogers in the latest polls. The most recent survey from CBS News shows Slotkin up by 7 points over Rogers, while the Republican-friendly Trafalgar Group’s latest poll has Slotkin leading by 4 points.