* Upcoming Appearances * Thursday morning panel at the SkyBridge Capital SALT Conference in Las Vegas * Liberty Forum - Salt Lake City * MoneyShow - Las Vegas * Economic News for the Week: March Factory Orders met expectations, but downwardly revised February number for 5th straight year-over-year monthly drop * March Trade Deficit: $51.4 billion, a miss greater than $10 billion and the single worst trade deficit since October 2008 and largest monthly gain in nearly 20 years * If the economy is so good, why do we have such a large trade deficit? * Rising oil prices, along with other rising prices are putting additional pressure on consumers * April U.S. Auto Sales fell, missing expectations for the 5th month in a row - sales at lowest year-over-year start since 2009 * The auto bubble has burst * The United States has been spared the discipline of the market by virtue of the dollar being the reserve currency * Gold is still just below $1,200/ounce - we will eventually run out of sellers who are keeping prices down, and when it goes up it will go up in a spectacular way * Aussie dollar is up a percent and a quarter * Canadian dollar up half a percent * Euro up a third of a percent * Swiss Franc up almost a full percent * There was some good news: April ISM Service Non-Manufacturing Index rose, to 57.8, beating estimates * New orders plunged into negative territory * April PMI dropped from 59.2 in March to 57.4, a bigger drop than expected * No one is looking for the April jobs number to be lower * The consensus is also for unemployment to keep falling from 5.5% to 5.4% * If we have all these jobs, why isn't the consumer spending? * The answer is the jobs don't pay very much or the hours are reduced * Meanwhile, as much as the Fed wants to pretend there is low inflation, the cost of living is rising * The one safety net for the consumer was oil prices, and now that is goneOur Sponsors:* Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD* Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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