$4000 gold

Well, they finally did it.  Those crazy guys in the trading pits finally pushed gold to $4000 an ounce.

And the Fed is still murmuring about cutting rates.  Unbelievable.

Back in 2003, some gold bugs were predicting gold would hit somewhere in the $3000-$5000 range by 2020.  They weren't off by much, just five years.  I bought a little gold back then, but it was just a pittance, and I wish I'd had the funds to buy more.

Inflation is obviously back on the table, but will there be any real growth to support it?  Is all the "growth" we've seen so far just an AI bubble inflating itself, or is there some real tangible productivity there somewhere?  Enough to justify current valuations, I mean.  I guess we'll see when the music stops and everyone's scrambling for a chair.

I actually bought a couple of stocks today.  No, I'm not saying what.  And I didn't spend much, because I want to have enough cash available when the inevitable correction happens and everything's on sale again.  I don't know when that'll happen, but the market has been too quiet for too long, and I'm starting to get the willies about it.

FREE books!

I'm participating in a couple of group promotions this month.  Tons of FREE books.  Please take a moment and browse the links below.

From My Book Cave:

 

https://mybookcave.com/g/escape-into-realms-and-galaxies/?bcsrc=kecikg

From StoryOrigin:

 

https://storyoriginapp.com/to/4itRPYT

On behalf of all the authors involved, thanks for taking a look at our books.  :)

Thanks!

Just wanted to say thanks to whoever promoted my book a few days ago.  I saw a nice little bump in downloads of Clouds of Venus, and I really appreciate it.  :)

Welcome, new readers!

Just want to welcome all the new folks who downloaded Clouds of Venus today.  I hope you enjoy the book.  :)

Fed cuts a quarter

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday.  The market expected this, so the cut was already baked in.

I don't agree with the decision.  I think prices of goods are still way too high, and the only way to bring them down is with some sustained deflation.  We need higher interest rates, not lower ones.  Gold and silver have been making all-time highs in recent weeks, and that's kind of a red flag, you know?

In any event, the stock market is quiet at the moment... too quiet.  Volatility is noticeably low, indicating we're ripe for a correction.  September and October are historically volatile months for both stocks and world events, so keep an eye out for trouble.

Computer update

My laptop is old, and it shows.

I recently had to dispose of the battery.  It reached the end of its natural life.  Since I don't really take the laptop anywhere, and since it works fine without a battery and on AC power, I decided not to buy a replacement battery.

The "t" key is sttill somettimes double-striking and someimes nott registtering at all.  I'm leaving tthtis paragraph uncorrectted so you can see for yourself whatt I have to endure.  Yeah, itt sucks. 

The display sometimes features flashing horizontal lines.  It has something to do with color.  Also, pressure on it in a certain way can make it do the flashing thing.  There's obviously a bad connection somewhere where the screen portion of the laptop is hinged to the lower part.

The laptop is nearly nine years old, so it's no spring chicken, and it's served me pretty well.  I'll keep using it until it becomes unusable, but I fear that day is approaching faster than I would like. 

Thanks!

Just wanted to say thanks to the unknown benefactor who promoted Clouds of Venus today.  It's always nice to see a mysterious spike in free downloads.

To the new readers out there, I hope you enjoy the book.  :)