"Early in 1928, the nature of the boom changed. The mass
escape into make-believe, so much a part of the true speculative orgy,
started in earnest. It was still necessary to reassure those who required some
tie, however tenuous, to reality. And, as will be seen presently, this process
of reassurance eventually achieved the status of a profession. However, the time
had come, as in all periods of speculation, when men sought not to be
persuaded of the reality of things but to find excuses for escaping into the
new world of fantasy.
Even the most circumspect friend of the market would concede
that the volume of brokers' loans—of loans collateraled by the securities
purchased on margin—is a good index of the volume of speculation.
Measured by this index, the amount of speculation was rising very fast in
1928. People were swarming to buy stocks on margin—in other words, to have
the increase in price without the costs of ownership."
John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash of 1929, 1955
"If you wish to take the measure of a society, look to how its weakest members are protected from its strongest, and its predators skulking at the fringes. If you wish a hell on earth, do nothing for the benefit of others, for the greater good, or to inhibit those who act solely out of greed, fear, and hate. Soon enough you will have a society that is intensely self-interested, self-concerned, superficial, destructive and self-consuming. A free and just society is not a prize to be won or a gift that can be bestowed; it is a recurring commitment, and an enduring obligation."
Jesse, Lessons from the Panic of 1907, 5 July 2008
"But what is more than curious — indeed, piquant to a degree — is that an ancient god of storm and frenzy, the long quiescent Wotan should awake, like an extinct volcano, to new activity, in a civilized country that had long been supposed to have outgrown the Middle Ages.
For the sake of better understanding and to avoid prejudice, we could of course dispense with the name 'Wotan' and speak instead of the furor teutonicus. But we should only be saying the same thing and not as well, for the furor in this case is a mere psychologizing of Wotan and tells us no more than that the Germans are in a state of fury.
Perhaps we may sum up this general phenomenon as Ergriffenheit — a state of being seized or possessed. The term postulates not only an Ergriffener (one who is seized) but, also, an Ergreifer (one who seizes). Wotan is an Ergreifer of men, and, unless one wishes to deify Hitler– which has indeed actually happened — he is really the only explanation.
It is above all the Germans who have an opportunity, perhaps unique in history, to look into their own hearts and to learn what those perils of the soul were from which Christianity tried to rescue mankind. Germany is a land of spiritual catastrophes, where nature never makes more than a pretence of peace with the world-ruling reason.
The impressive thing about the German phenomenon is that one man, who is obviously 'possessed,' has infected a whole nation to such an extent that everything is set in motion and has started rolling on its course towards hell."
Carl Jung, Wotan, Neue Schweizer Rundschau (Zurich), March, 1936
I have seen a lot of ugly, immoral, and despicable things over the last 70 years or so. But I have not seen more conscious, sadistic acts of cruelty and systemic war crimes as we are seeing today.
Truly, we have gone mad.
Stocks gave up a bit of their rate cut frenzy from last Friday.
VIX however opened higher, but then dropped off as the day wore on.
The Dollar took back its rate cut sympathetic decline.
Gold and silver gave something back as well.
Tomorrow is an option expiration on the Comex for the September futures contracts.
It is not a big contract month for gold, but moreso for silver.
Still, its a good time for the wiseguys to run stops and engage in their usual shenanigans.
Bitcoin got smacked back down to 110,000 again. It looks like some large holders are 'diversifying' out of it. Its a market that is easily moved, as it is founded in momentum.
If it breaks 100,000 and holds it, look out below.
Doesn't it seem like there is a touch of madness in the air. That people have lost their grounding in principles and ideals, and are doing whatever power permits.
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity."
Have a pleasant evening.
