Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - What Is Truth? The Consequence of Corruption

 

“What happened to Kennedy is what nearly happened to me. His story is the same as mine. It looks like a cowboy story, but it’s only an OAS story.  The security forces were in cahoots with the extremists.  All of them together will observe the law of silence.  They will close ranks.  They’ll do everything to stifle any scandal.  They don’t want to know.  They won’t allow themselves to find out.”

Charles de Gaulle, President of France, to Alain Peyrefitte, 1963

“What is unrecognized about JFK's presidency, which then makes his assas­sination a false mystery, is that he was locked in a struggle with his national security state.  That state had higher values than obedience to the orders of a president who wanted peace.  It’s unbelievable—or we’re supposed to think it is—that a president was murdered by our own government agencies because he was seeking a more stable peace than relying on nuclear weapons.  It’s unspeakable.  For the sake of a nation that must always be preparing for war, that story must not be told. If it were, we might learn that peace is possible without making war.

When we become more deeply human, as Merton understood the process, the wellspring of our compassion moves us to confront the Unspeakable.  There is nothing so threatening to systemic evil as those willing to stand against it regardless of the consequences."

James W. Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, 2008

"It is so important to understand that one of the primary means of immobilizing the American people politically today is to hold them in a state of confusion in which anything can be believed but nothing can be known, nothing of significance that is.

And the American people are more than willing to be held in this state because to know the truth - as opposed to only believe the truth - is to face an awful terror and to be no longer able to evade responsibility."

E. Martin Schotz, History Will Not Absolve Us, 1996


There will be a stock option expiration for December on Friday.

President Trump has announced that he will be making an announcement to the nation this evening at 9 PM EST.

Speculation on what this will be about is all over the board, but much of it centers on the Administration's provocative confrontation with Venezuela.

It's difficult to forecast what will happen, because we are dealing with a group of people who live in an alternative reality of lies and purposeful imaginings designed to manipulate public opinion, and the outsized looting of the nation by wealthy, willful sociopaths.  

Whatever happens, let us not overlook or excuse the terrible responsibility that is being laid upon those who watch all this unfolding and ask, 'What is truth?', and then cynically turn away from it.  

May they never rest. 

Gold and silver are moving higher in a flight to safety, with silver showing a particularly powerful bullishness driven it seems by a short squeeze on physical supply.  

All the things we have been saying about this ongoing fraudulent manipulation of silver, and gold, seems to be harder to dismiss now.  Not that the usual suspects will not try.  Fraud discovered has no resort but audacity.

VIX ticked higher.

The Dollar is hanging on the 98 handle, helped by the peculiarly outdated composition of the DXY index. 

Remember, in this time of adverse weather and troubled conditions, to feed and care for the birds and animals of His creation, and the innocent souls among us, the little ones, the least of these. 

"The blessed John the Evangelist lived in Ephesus until extreme old age.  His disciples could barely carry him to church and he could not muster the voice to speak many words.  During individual gatherings he usually said nothing but, 'Little children, love one another.'  The disciples and brothers in attendance, annoyed because they always heard the same words, finally said, 'Teacher, why do you always say this?'  He replied with a line worthy of John: 'Because it is the Lord's commandment, and if it alone is kept, it is sufficient.'"

Jerome, Commentary on Galatians, 4th century

And this includes caring for the state of your own soul, with faith and prayer and acts of kindness, because that is what this is all about.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Souls Lost In a Field of False Flags

 

"Through its monopoly over the media, the ruling oligarchy can repeatedly blame all its failures on others, and divert attention to external threats – either real or imaginary.  When you live under such an oligarchy, there is always some crisis or other that takes priority over boring stuff such as healthcare and pollution.  By manufacturing a never-ending stream of crises, a corrupt oligarchy can prolong its rule indefinitely.”

Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, 2018

"I organized the [false flag] incident under orders from Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Müller, chief of the Gestapo. On the night of 31 August, a small group of German operatives dressed in Polish uniforms and led by Naujocks seized the Gleiwitz radio station and broadcast a short anti-German message in Polish. The operation was to make the attack and the broadcast look like the work of Polish anti-German saboteurs."

SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks, Testimony at the Nuremberg trials, 20 December 1945

"If you know American foreign policy, false flags are the essence of that.  And if you study the CIA as I have for a lifetime, you know that false flags are actually their method of operation.  It launches coups, assassinations, wars. The whole history of the United States after 1947 is bringing down governments."

Jeffrey Sachs, Interview with Piers Morgan, 5 December 2024

"Some men want war for sordid, others for idealistic, reasons; some for personal gain, others for impersonal principle. But most of those who consciously want war and accept it, and so help to create its 'inevitability,' want it in order to shift the locus of their problems."

C. Wright Mills, The Causes of World War III, 1960

"Foreigners and those who disagree with us are not thought of as men and women like ourselves and our fellow-countrymen; they are thought of as representatives and symbols of a class.  In so far as they have any personality at all, it is the personality we mistakenly attribute to their class – a personality that is, by definition, intrinsically evil.

We know that the harming or killing of men and women is wrong, and we are reluctant consciously to do what we know to be wrong.  But when particular men and women are thought of merely as representatives of a class, which has previously been defined as evil and personified in the shape of a devil, then the reluctance to hurt or murder disappears.

Rulers of nations and leaders of parties find morality embarrassing.  That is why they take such pains to depersonalize their opponents.  All propaganda directed against an opposing group has but one aim: to substitute diabolical abstractions for concrete persons.  The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.  By robbing them of their personality, he puts them outside the pale of moral obligation."

Aldous Huxley, Words and Behaviour, 1936


In looking back over the past 30 years or so, I recognize that I have had a serious misconception of how certain things work in this fallen world.  The solution is not to find knowledge and share it. Knowledge does not create morality. 

You cannot foster goodness and moral improvement by showing people the reality of things.  To the contrary, more knowledge can often just help to create more effective devils in those so inclined.

And a corollary of this is that just 'knowing more things' does not necessarily make one a better person.  Some of the better educated people in our Lord's time on earth were the Pharisees and the Romans.  And their hypocrisy is well-documented, to the point of being legendary.

"'It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.'  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, 'Who then can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, 'For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.'”    Matthew 19:24-26

This is the reason why the efficient markets hypothesis and the trend to self-regulation is hoo-haw.  People are not naturally give to the rational, so providing more and better information about how things work does not cause they to be 'better.'

Another modern myth shot to hell.

Stocks dumped today, but found a footing and came back in the light last hour of trading.

The economic news this morning 'sucked out loud', as the youngsters (those under 40) might say. 

Donnie says he has 'big news' for us tomorrow night at 9 PM EST.  Since I am not clairvoyant, and am not able to see changes to the personal stock portfolios of some of our government luminaries, I have no idea what this is, and how it will affect the markets.

Odds are it will be a big nothing, or a big sounding something that is pure wind. 

Gold and silver wobbled around as did the Dollar.  The silver market is interesting of late.  I think we have been seeing someone with deep pockets sitting on silver with a limit buy that keeps absorbing the paper selling on the Comex and whack-a-mole selling on the London LBMA.

The other day I read that Samsung has a new lithium battery technology that utilizes silver that solves a lot of lithium-ion problems, and its going into mass production next year.  This is correlated to the Electric Vehicle market, and the buildouts of solar farms for AI centers.

Since I expect the AI tech bubble to go the way of the 2001 tech bubble, this might not be as long term reassuring as I might hope. But it will be nice to see the silver racket with a hole blown through it.

A similar situation has existed for some time now with gold, as its bull rally is underpinned by steady and strong physical buying by the non-Western central banks. 

VIX fell again.

Bitcoin bounced back a little, remaining in the recent trading range it has channeled.  It seems a bit dicey, but the major players don't want to kill their golden goose just yet.

Corrections and rallies come and go.  But the risk markets are primed for a 10-20% correction.  I think it will take an 'event' to crash through the support levels patrolled by Secretary Bessent and his boy at the NY Fed and ESF.  

It might not even be a US-centric event.  A crash in the Japan carry trade might get the ball rolling for example.  Or some unfortunate series of event in the Mideast as another.

Need little, want less, love more.  For those who abide in God abide in love, and love in them.

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Pride and the Lust for Power

 

"With the tools of democracy, democracy was murdered and lawlessness made ‘legal.’ Raw power ruled, and its only real goal was to destroy all other powers besides itself.”

Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, April 2010

"Legitimate power always includes attentiveness to justice.  When power is not attentive to justice it cannot endure."

Walter Brueggemann, Truth Speaks To Power, 2013

"The men of the higher circles are not representative men; their high position is not a result of moral virtue; their fabulous success is not firmly connected with meritorious ability. Those who sit in the seats of the high and the mighty are selected and formed by the means of power, the sources of wealth, the mechanics of celebrity, which prevail in their society. Commanders of power unequaled in human history, they have succeeded within the American system of organized irresponsibility."

C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, Oxford Press, 1956

“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.   For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then? Power is not a means; it is an end.”

George Orwell, 1984


Pride seeks power to provide substance to its inflated estimation of itself.

It cannot bear the truth, which shines a light on its emptiness.

It cannot admit its weakness, or errors, and so cannot repent and accept forgiveness.

Pride is the gatekeeper of hell.

Stocks were struggling again, ahead of the big release of economic data tomorrow morning.

Silver is being driven by a relentless physical buying that breaks the leveraged paper pricing.

The Central Banks do not have big reserves of silver they can lease out to suppress price, as they do for gold.

JPM has the big silver stash on Wall Street, and the word is that they have pulled it back and are keeping it close to the chest for themselves.

Bitcoin was slammed down again to the bottom of its recent trading range.  $80k is important support, and $70k is critical.

The way in which its market is structured, there was some entities that could be triggered in the unwinding of leverage and forced selling, which is 'bad news.'

Let's see what tomorrow's economic data brings.

Have a pleasant evening.   

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Dying In Their Elegance

 

“Addiction might be the best word to explain the lostness that so deeply permeates society. Our addiction make us cling to what the world proclaims as the keys to self-fulfillment: accumulation of wealth and power; attainment of status and admiration; lavish consumption of food and drink, and sexual gratification without distinguishing between lust and love. These addictions create expectations that cannot but fail to satisfy our deepest needs.

As long as we live within the world's delusions, our addictions condemn us to futile quests leaving us to face an endless series of disillusionments while our sense of self remains unfulfilled. In these days of increasing addictions, we have wandered far away from our Father's home. The addicted life can aptly be designated a life lived in 'a distant country.' It is from there that our cry for deliverance rises up.”

Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1991

'Gnosis’ was an enormous temptation in the early Christian Church.  What made it so insidious was the fact that the Gnostics very often did not want to leave the Church.  Instead, they claimed to be offering a superior and more authentic exposition of Holy Scripture, though, of course, this was only for the ‘superior souls’.  It inevitably encouraged not only an excited craving for higher initiation, but also an almost unbounded arrogance in those who had moved from mere ‘faith’ to real, enlightened ‘knowledge’.

From this very general description, we can see that Gnosticism is radically anti-Christian.  Irenaeus, with great perspicacity, understood this, and show it up for what it was.  For him, Christianity is about the divine and spiritual Word becoming flesh and body.  The redemption depends on the real Incarnation, the real suffering on the cross, and the real resurrection of the flesh.  All three of these are a scandal for Gnosticism.

Myth seeks the ascent of man to spirit; the Word of God seeks descent into flesh and blood.  Myth wants power; revelation reveals the true power of God in the most extreme powerlessness.  Myth wants knowledge; the Word of God asks for constant faith and, only within that faith, a growing, reverent understanding.  The revelation of God’s Word is gentle patience amidst the intractable tensions of life.  Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered.  On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself.”

Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Scandal of The Incarnation: Iranaeus Against the Heresies, 1990 

"The glory of God is the human, fully alive; and the human life of a person is to be found in reflecting the glory of God."

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, AD 180

"Those among the rich who are not, in the rigorous sense, damned, can understand poverty, because they are poor themselves, after a fashion; they cannot understand destitution. They will be moved, to the sound of beautiful music, at Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them. They want it all out of gold, bathed in light, costly and of little weight; pleasant to see, hanging from a woman’s beautiful throat."

Léon Bloy

Well that was interesting.

We had a risk on moonshot yesterday, with the SP 500 making a new high.

And today we had a heavy correction.   

Stock fell heavily.  And I was gratified in my somewhat whimsical large short position which I had put on into the close yesterday.  A trader's instinct smelled a rat.

Donnie got his new all time highs in the market, a sign of his success.

And Bessent and his cronies got to wash and rinse the public.

Ho, ho, ho.  

Gold and silver rallied sharply in the morning, and then gave it back in the afternoon.

The World giveth, and the NY-London kleptoplex taketh it away.

The Dollar had a case of the wiggles.

VIX popped and flopped. 

Bitcoin is its usual bipolar, heavily artificially manipulated self.

All in all, a scene of crony capitalism in decay.

Repentance, forgiveness, thankfulness. 

These are the three great gifts of the cross, illuminated by the resurrection, made possible by the Incarnation, freely given, the most profound abundance that we may ever hope to receive.   

In the end, isn't that all that really matters?   Better to live simply, than to die forever in elegance.

"Fear not, little flock, for your Father delights to give you welcome into His Kingdom."
 Luke 12:32

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - All Who Labor For God In a Dark Time

 

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse Dune, 1985

"His instruments are poor and despised; the world hardly knows their names, or not at all. They are busied about what the world thinks petty actions, and no one minds them. They are apparently set on no great works; nothing is seen to come of what they do.

Let this be the settled view of all who would promote Christ's cause upon earth. If we are true to ourselves, nothing can really thwart us. Our warfare is not with carnal weapons, but with heavenly. The world does not understand what our real power is, and where it lies. And until we put ourselves into its hands of our own act, it can do nothing against us.  Let all who would labour for God in a dark time beware of any thing which ruffles, excites, and in any way withdraws them from the love of God and Christ, and simple obedience to Him.

Such is the rule of our warfare. We advance by yielding; we rise by falling; we conquer by suffering; we persuade by silence; we become rich by bountifulness ; we inherit the earth through meekness; we gain comfort through mourning; we earn glory by penitence and prayer. Heaven and earth shall sooner fall than this rule be reversed; it is the law of Christ's kingdom, and nothing can reverse it but sin."

John Henry Newman, Sermons on the Subjects of the Day, June 13, 1841

"Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by twenty well-documented traits and characteristics.  The most visible are glib/superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self worth, a strong need for stimulation (that is, psychopaths are easily bored) and impulsivity.  However, there are others, which they successfully hide from view, in particular pathological lying, conning, manipulation, a lack of empathy, remorse and guilt.  Over time, one might begin to see examples of irresponsibility, lack of realistic, long-term goals, and their failure to take responsibility for their own actions."

Paul Babiak, Robert Hare, Snakes In Suits, May 9, 2006 

Stocks rallied back from steep losses, finishing into the green at the close.

Gold and silver advanced again sharply, giving back only a little.

The Dollar fell, prompting more bullishness in the metals.

Bitcoin rallied in the last half hour.  Smells like teen spirit.

Odd timing for all this in the depths of December.

Their arrogant ambitions know no shame, or bounds. 

Please try to remember God's creatures, huddling in the cold. 

“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving others with God’s own love and concern."

Have a pleasant evening.