by Christina Maas, Reclaim The Net:
Google Wallet, the Android version of the Wallet app on iPhones, has started supporting digital IDs and driver’s licenses. The company said the feature will begin rolling out this month, supporting the growing global push to get citizens to adopt digital ID measures.
Maryland residents can use the feature immediately, but residents in Colorado, Georgia, and Arizona will get the feature “in the coming months.” The feature will require Android 8.0 and above.
by JD Rucker, The Liberty Daily:
Allstate has joined State Farm in ending the sale of property insurance in California. They claim it’s over natural disasters, but something doesn’t add up.
As we reported last week, State Farm ceased selling new property insurance to California residents and businesses, citing climate change as a primary concern that would cause increased natural disasters. Allstate technically beat them to the punch by ending the practice last year, but they didn’t make it official until Friday.
from The Epoch Times:
Some Apple customers have found it difficult to access their savings from a new account program in partnership with Goldman Sachs.
After the new Apple savings account was launched in April to great fanfare, the system has been facing serious teething problems, according to customers.
by Alan Barton, All News Pipeline:
Sometimes stories almost write themselves as they just seem to flow from my fingertips, and other times it is just the opposite; try as I might, I just cannot get it done the way I envision. Stumbling over words, finding the right quotes, arranging things so they make sense and trying to keep from being the target of dangerous people, it all seems difficult on some of those stories. “Those stories”? I meant on this one specifically as it is a difficult one to get out without sounding like something I do not wish to sound like. Like racist or arrogant or prideful, which is not my intent so if I miss, this is my apology (and excuse?).
from The Epoch Times:
Major brands such as Bud Light and Target, among others, are facing immense backlash from supporting LGBTQ causes, with the market capitalization of the firms crashing by double digits in recent weeks.
Stores of Target were boycotted after the retail giant rolled out its Pride collection at the beginning of May, including some items targeted at children. Between May 1 and May 30, Target’s market capitalization fell from $72.52 billion to $61.78 billion—a decline of 14.80 percent. Bud Light became a target after partnering with transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney in a promotional campaign in April. Between April 3 and May 30, the market cap of Anheuser-Busch, which owns Bud Light, fell from $132.06 billion to $108.19 billion—a decrease of over 18 percent.
by Harvey Organ, Harvey Organ Blog:
TAS INDUCED RAID ON GOLD AND SILVER TODAY: GOLD CLOSED DOWN $24.40 TO $1953.40//SILVER WAS DOWN $.23 TO $23.67//PLATINUM IS UP $1.80 TO $1002.95 WHILE PALLADIUM WAS UP $38.70 TO $1409.15//IMPORANT COMMENTARIES FROM ALASDAIR MACLEOD AND RONAN MANLY//CHINA MAY PROVIDE ANOTHER STIMULUS TO HELP ITS BELEAGURED REAL ESTATE MARKET//BERLIN ORDERS MOSCOW TO CLOSE 4 OUT OF ITS 5 CONSULATES//PEPE ESCOBAR DESCRIBES IN DETAIL WHAT IS HAPPENING INSIDE TURKEY WITH RESPECT TO ERDOGAN//COVID UPDATES/DR PAUL ALEXANDER
by Ronan Manly, BullionStar:
Last year, a major theme in the global gold market was the record gold buying by central banks across the world, with the World Gold Council and its data gatherers (Metals Focus) calculating that central banks had cumulatively purchased a net 1136 tonnes of monetary gold during 2022.
At the outset of 2023, this led the World Gold Council to predict that:
“Looking ahead, we see little reason to doubt that central banks will remain positive towards gold and continue to be net purchasers in 2023.”
by Peter Schiff, Schiff Gold:
As expected, gold has turned in a fairly strong start to the month. It’s below April but is still early in the contract.
As shown below, the amount on First Position was actually the highest since last August which should lead to high delivery volumes.
by Martin Armstrong, Armstrong Economics:
Target achieved a 100% score on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) in 2022, and was rated #4 by the Human Rights Campaign for being one of the wokest companies. This arbitrary social credit score goes against American values and people are protesting with their dollars. Target managed to lose $10 billion in ten days after the public became aware of their aggressive rainbow marketing campaign geared toward children. Will Target become the next Bud Light?
from Business Insider:
by Wolf Richter, Wolf Street:
Spring selling season was a dud. But what comes next may be worse, that’s what mortgage applications and investors tell us.
The 7% mortgages are back. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming balances jumped to 6.91%, the highest since November, according to the weekly measure by the Mortgage Bankers Association today.
The daily measure by Mortgage News Daily already went over 7% a few days last week and earlier this week.
by Jim Rickards, Daily Reckoning:
This is a financial newsletter, not a political one, much less a partisan one. But politics affects markets. And if I come across as partisan when weighing in on politics, so be it.
But it’s based upon objective analysis. Having gotten that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get started…
The Biden administration is playing political games with one of America’s most critical national security assets — the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
from SGT Report:
The enemy has employed FEAR and PROPAGANDA with great skill and deception, but we have uncovered the nefarious, evil plans of the enemies of humanity – and it is up to all of us to stop them, or they will literally enslave us all and use our children for their satanic sexual perversions. Independent journalist Dan Fournier joins me to discuss he work, and the truth.
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by Karl Denninger, Market Ticker:
The details are still a bit thin but…..
There is no reduction in the debt on the table. That is, the government refuses to cut spending to less than what it can take in via taxes.
The growth in “mandatory” programs, specifically CMS, is where the problem is as I’ve pointed out for 30 years, all the way back to long before this column was originated and when I was running MCSNet. Its a math problem when you get down to it, but that also means its a serious political problem because waving your arms around will do nothing.
What makes it worse is that all of it is illegal. 15 USC Chapter 1 makes what our medical and pharmaceutical firms do on a daily basis federal felonies carrying 10 year prison terms — for each person screwed, and each occurrence. Two decisions, Royal Drug (440 U.S. 205 (1979)) and Maricopa County (457 U.S. 332 (1982)) both found that there is no immunity from anti-trust law for medical providers, medical “insurance” companies or drug companies.
