GOOD MORNING! Treasury yields on Thursday tracked the NASDAQ and precious metals, which acted like two wild and crazy guys. They slipped and fell sharply like a drunk mid-morning (attached) and dragged Treasury yields down on fears of bubbles bursting. They did recover some but Treasury prices held their gains due to coming un-nerved by the happenings in other financial markets and as the risks of a partial government shutdown rose and tensions with Iran intensified. In turn the geo-political jitters sent oil prices higher. The weekly jobless claims, November’s trade balance and the 7-year T-note auction were treated with a ho-hum as the markets kept their eyes out for breaking headlines. Some of the headlines crossing the screens was a report that Trump officials met with a group pushing for Alberta independence from Canada and that President Trump will name who he will appoint for the next Federal Reserve Chairman soon (the rumor is that it will be Kevin Warsh, a former Fed Governor).

     In early trading on the last session of the month it appears that everything is for sale. Price of Treasuries, stock index futures, oil, gold and silver are lower on month-end moves. It is also anticipated that the partial government shutdown may be shorter than feared after some late night scrambling by Senators. Ahead for today is December’s Producer Price Index and some talking Fedheads.