Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Darkest Hour

 

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious.  But it cannot survive treason from within.  An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.  But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."

Taylor Caldwell, A Pillar of Iron, 1965

"If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.”

Carl Von Clausewitz, On War, 1832

"We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds: we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretense; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical.  Are we still of any use?  What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, After Ten Years, New Year's Day 1943

"In the last days there will be difficult times, for people will be lovers of themselves and of money, boastful, proud, disrespectful to God, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, profane, lacking all natural affection, harsh, implacable, lying, unrestrained, brutal, despising what is good, traitors, reckless, arrogant, and lovers of their own pleasure rather than lovers of God." 

2 Timothy 3:1-4

"Arise and shine, for the light has come,
     and the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
Though darkness covers the earth,
     and total darkness shrouds the people;
but the Lord will shine over you,
     and His glory will appear with you.
Nations will walk by your light,
     and kings to the brightness of your dawning."

Isaiah 60:1-3

Stocks were in rally mode on the weekend news that the US-Iran have agreed on a 'Memorandum of Understanding' to achieve a new ceasefire in their conflict.

While I hope that this resolution is real and lasting, I see many flaws in it, and gaps in the narrative.  It is not a proper treaty, and can be dispensed with in the same way that Trump 'ripped up' the more substantial JCPOA when the mood struck him.

In summary, it is likely to be a bulltrap, a canard purposely engineered by those seeking to cash in on the SpaceX IPO.  

Let's see what transpires. 

Gold and silver and Bitcoin popped a bit.

The Dollar chopped lower.

VIX fell hard.

I will be unavailable on Wednesday.   The doctors at a local hospital are going to repair something that has gone amiss.

Old age is no joke. 

I have no idea what the surgery and the 'recovery' will be like, given my geezerly tendencies, so be advised that there is a triple witch on Friday.

At some point the MOU narratives will converge into something in writing, or they will not.  And the opponents to the ceasefire in the US and its 'closest ally' are determined and formidable.

I doubt Trump has the resolve to stand up to them.  But we can hope. 

Have a pleasant evening.

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - To Be Human

"For we are the work God’s hands, created for a life of good works, prepared for us in Christ Jesus, that we may find life in them."

Ephesians 2:10

"There's been a lot of talk in this race about what it means to be a real man.  Recently on the campaign trail I told the story of my adoptive dad, Mark Talarico.  Every Saturday morning, he would mow our lawn, and then without anyone asking him to, he would go next door and mow our neighbor's lawn because she was a widow.  My dad never talked about it — he just did it, because that's what a man does.

A man takes responsibility.  A man upholds his commitments to his family and his neighbors.  A man does what's right, even when no one is watching.  Here's what real men don't do.  They don't lie and cheat their way through life, sell their soul to the highest bidder, or steal from other people in order to enrich themselves.

Real men serve others.  Weak men serve themselves.  I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man, and I don't think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is."

James Talarico, Candidate for Senator from Texas, June 12, 2026

"The government is intervening in the various markets.  There is little or no question about it, if you accept that actively changing, with intent, the rules, money supply, short term liquidity, interest rates, methods by which key statistics are tallied, spin and other information that might impolitely be called 'propaganda' is manipulating the markets. (With gold now at $912 and silver at $17.48.) 

And often it is. They admit it. The evidence is there.  If you don't know about it you have not been keeping up with current events.  Those who are in-the-know are in denial and hiding, trying to line their pockets and curry favor with whomever they think will be in power next.  Those who don't know are running around waving their hands, shouting slogans and hearing only their own voices, or just ignoring it all getting distracted by whatever happens to be handy.

One's best recourse is essere umano, to be human throughout it, perhaps giving the bastards a swift little kick from time to time just to let them know you're still there.

In the meanwhile there are important and interesting questions to investigate as best we can. Its not clear yet exactly which way this thing goes, and the variables interact with one another, and are many more than can listed here: 

• Will our government become a better democratic Republic, Fascist, or Socialist, and the related broader question of the Individual vs. the State.
  
  
• When and how the dollar will be valued and how fiat currencies can be sustained without being destroyed by inflation? (in all history none have succeeded}.
  
  
• How will the world's reserve currency evolve?  Can a greater centralization of power and control be avoided gracefully?  Can freedoms be maintained if it cannot?
  
  
• Will there be a 'moment of clarity' when the failure becomes evident and things move with alarming speed, or will this be a damp fizzling decline into an ignoble whimper.
  

We will continue to explore all these areas with what we hope is a bias to objective analysis and pertinent data, laced heavily with humour, satire, charts, and pictures.  Little by little there will be progress, and the body of knowledge grows, and life is renewed, and creation is made more orderly, and liberty and the spirit are restored."

Jesse, Of Government Intervention, and Why I Write This Blog, 11 July 2008

"I do not ask for your performance and pretense,
       the hypocrisy of festivals and solemn ceremonies.
I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain.
      I do not even notice your finest peace offerings.
Spare me the noise of your hymns and praise,
      I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Instead, let justice flow from you like a river,
     and righteousness in an ever-flowing stream."

Amos 5:21-24

"He became as we are, so we might become what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word, 335 AD

"You have been told what is good, and what the Lord requires of you.  Only do what is right, and  love goodness and mercy, and walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

Stocks rallied up on the back of yet another big, beautiful peace deal.

I don't think the 'deal is real' but the Street wanted to launch a pig into space, and so they did, lipstick and all.   Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire.  Let’s make sure he’s the last.

Gold and silver gained a little, coming off their recent lows earlier this week.

VIX fell down again.  

The Dollar is chopping around in a trading range.  Nothing could be more clear.

Bitcoin failed to take off, and is still stuck at overhead resistance.

There will be a triple with option expiration next Friday.

Let's see what new deals are announce over the weekend to prop the markets up on Monday.

"The rules are simple: they lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them."  Elena Gorokhova, A Mountain of Crumbs, 12 January 2010

The US is sliding into the kind of country we used to hold up as an example of what we were not, and were so much better and freer.

 It's the new tradition. And Trump is just hatching the egg that the imperial presidents before him have laid.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - As a Testimony to the Nations

 

"Financial predators, on the other hand, are usually narcissistic and audacious criminals.  They regularly have an extreme sense of entitlement coupled with high self-efficacy.  Many of them have a charismatic quality and are preternaturally persuasive.  Financial predators are commonly shameless and quite adept serial liars.  They perceive themselves having near unlimited guile and resourcefulness to extricate themselves out of any compromising situations."

Russ Alan Prince, Unmasking Financial Predators, Forbes 2017

"...over the last thirty years, the United States has been taken over by an amoral financial oligarchy, and the American dream of opportunity, education, and upward mobility is now largely confined to the top few percent of the population. Federal policy is increasingly dictated by the wealthy, by the financial sector, and by powerful (though sometimes badly mismanaged) industries such as telecommunications, health care, automobiles, and energy. These policies are implemented and praised by these groups’ willing servants, namely the increasingly bought-and-paid-for leadership of America’s political parties, academia, and lobbying industry.

If allowed to continue, this process will turn the United States into a declining, unfair society with an impoverished, angry, uneducated population under the control of a small, ultrawealthy elite. Such a society would be not only immoral but also eventually unstable, dangerously ripe for religious and political extremism.

Thus far, both political parties have been remarkably clever and effective in concealing this new reality. In fact, the two parties have formed an innovative kind of cartel — an arrangement I have termed America’s political duopoly. Both parties lie about the fact that they have each sold out to the financial sector and the wealthy.  So far both have largely gotten away with the lie, helped in part by the enormous amount of money now spent on deceptive, manipulative political advertising.  But that can’t last indefinitely; Americans are getting angry, and even when they’re misguided or poorly informed, people have a deep, visceral sense that they’re being screwed.

I have no problem with people becoming billionaires — if they got there by winning a fair race, if their accomplishments merit it, if they pay their fair share of taxes, and if they don’t corrupt their society.  But that’s not how most of the people mentioned in this book became wealthy.  Most of them became wealthy by being well connected and crooked.  And they are creating a society in which they can commit hugely damaging economic crimes with impunity, and in which only children of the wealthy have the opportunity to become successful.  That’s what I have a problem with.  And I think most people agree with me." 

Charles Ferguson, Predator Nation, 2012

"It is never really between them and you, but between you and yourself, between you and your God.  No act of kindness is wasted.  You store them in your heart, and these are the only things that you will take with you when the day is done.  It is how you rise above the darkness, and become human."

Jesse, Even In a Time of Vanity and Greed, 5 May 2013

"Do not be deceived, for God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap."

Galatians 6:7


Trump sparked the equity markets today with yet another whopper about taking a pause from bombing Iran to work on a peace Memorandum of Understanding. 

More likely this is a courtesy to Elon Musk, who is squeezing out a whopping pig of an IPO tomorrow for SpaceX at a wildly confabulated evaluation of $135 a share, in his never-ending quest to become a trillionaire. 

The Street knows this. They absolutely know what is what about all of it.  Trump and the Congress know that he is lying through his teeth.

They don't care.  They just want to get paid. They all have the same moral sensibility, which essentially none.

"Iran directly rejects Trump's new claim that he reached an agreement to "cancel tonight's strikes" on Iran as baseless, saying no agreement has been approved at all, and all of Trump's words should be disregarded like all his previous 38 times deal-imminent announcements over two months, per Tasnim. A senior Israeli official also tells Channel 12 they are 'not aware of any agreement being reached'."

So, stocks rallied hard after Trump made his 39th announcement of an imminent peace deal.

Gold and silver rallied.  Bitcoin rallied a bit.

VIX fell.

SpaceX is coming out tomorrow.

"You are the very cause of your ignorance, yourselves.  You put away the light, yourselves; you first pluck out both your own eyes, yourselves; and after that other men’s too, so that the blind may lead the blind, until you both fall into the pit.”    Thomas More, 1535

And the Band played on. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Dispatches From Occupied Territory

 

"I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.  Why should we not form a secret society with but one object — for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire.  

It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race more of the best the most human, most honourable race the world possesses."

Cecil John Rhodes, Confession of Faith, 1877

"Our plutocracy, whether the hedge fund managers in Greenwich, Connecticut, or the Internet moguls in Palo Alto, now lives like the British did in colonial India: ruling the place, but not of it.  To the person fortunate enough to own a Gulfstream jet, viable public transportation doesn’t even compute.  With private doctors on call and a chartered plane to get to the Mayo Clinic, why worry about Medicare?”

Mike Lofgren, The Deep State and the Rise of a Shadow Government, 5 January 2016

"'The undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria," Moneo said. Duncan Idaho pushed back and heaved himself to his feet.  'When has your damned God Emperor ever been responsible for anything?'  Moneo looked down at his cluttered table and spoke without looking up.  'He is responsible for what he has done to himself.'"

Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune, 1981

"The present war crisis is something we have made entirely for and by ourselves.  There is in reality not the slightest logical reason for war, and yet the whole world is plunging headlong into frightful destruction, and doing so with the purpose of avoiding war and preserving peace!  This is a true war-madness, an illness of the mind and the spirit that is spreading with a furious and subtle contagion all over the world."

Thomas Merton, The Root of War, The Catholic Worker, October 1961

"Our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts.  Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread, if still contested, franchise (right to vote).  But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened."

Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens, Princeton 2014

“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1973

Stocks slumped today and went out on the lows.

The Dollar chopped sideways and was mostly unchanged.

Gold was just hammered.   Silver sold off a bit.

I don't have a good handle on what is driving the gold selling yet.   Some have speculated that this is a sign of a liquidity crunch.   I think it might be so, but there may also be an element of a carry trade.

It will be interesting to see how the SpaceX IPO comes out this Friday.

VIX rose.

The Consumer Inflation YoY number came in hot this morning.

The wheels are falling off the Trump Administration's foreign policy.

Rough seas ahead, mateys. 

Have a pleasant evening.