Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - We Who Murder the Prophets and Persecute Saints

 

"Where such a shift in power is in favor of the governing elite, Power can now achieve its potential.  Where the elite also has built-up frustrations regarding those who have lost power, or nonetheless feels threatened by them; where it sees them as outside the moral universe, or where it has dehumanized them; where the outgroup is culturally or ethnically distinct and perceived by the elite as inferior; or where any other such factors are present, Power will achieve its murderous potential.

It simply waits for an excuse, an event of some sort, an assassination, a massacre in a neighboring country, an attempted coup, a famine, or a natural disaster, to justify the beginning of murder en masse.  Most democides occur under the cover of war, revolution, or guerrilla war, or in their aftermath."

R. J. Rummel, Death by Government, 1993

“Violence does not necessarily take people by the throat and strangle them.  They are required merely to become accomplices in its lies.”

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1970

“She was truthful when lying was the common speech of men; she was honest when honesty was become a lost virtue; she was a keeper of promises when the keeping of a promise was expected of no one; she was modest, and fine, and delicate when to be loud and coarse might be said to be universal; she was full of pity when a merciless cruelty was the rule; she was steadfast when stability was unknown, and honorable in an age which had forgotten what honor was; she was a rock of convictions in a time when men believed in nothing and scoffed at all things.

She was unfailingly true to an age that was false; she maintained her personal dignity unimpaired in an age of fawnings and servilities; she was of a dauntless courage when hope and courage had perished in the hearts of her nation; she was spotlessly pure in mind and body when society in the highest places was foul in both — she was all these things in an age when crime was the common business of lords and princes, and when the highest personages in Christendom were able to astonish even that infamous era and make it stand aghast at the spectacle of their atrocious lives black with unimaginable treacheries, butcheries, and beastialities.”

Mark Twain, Joan of Arc, 1896

"We are all lost. We have burned a Saint!"

Jean Tressart, Secretary to Henry VI of England, May 30, 1431

"I know this now. Every man gives his life to what he believes.  Every woman gives her life for what she believes.  Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing."

Jeanne d'Arc, Trial records, 15 March 1431

The offenses against the Constitution and the waves of lawlessness that we seem to be accepting, if you step back and compare what is happening now and how things were when we were younger, is startling.  The reasons for this are obvious.  They don't even bother to hide it.

Reporter: The DOJ has this new fund — $1.7 billion.  Why should taxpayers pay for the January 6ers?
Trump: Because in my world, loyalty outranks law.  They broke the rules for me, so you pay the bill for them.  That’s the transaction.

Stocks popped and flopped a bit.   

I'm a little surprised they did that well, considering how the wheels are falling off the global political situation and economy.

Gold and silver were hit hard again, but managed to take some of that back into the close.

This past Saturday was the feast day of Saint Joan of Arc.

Her accomplishments are all the more remarkable when we recall that she was executed on 30 May 1431 at age 19. 

This warrior-saint, deserving of all honor, who led the army of France to astonishing victory against fierce opposition.  How would we treat her today? 

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - By the Blood of the Risen

 

"The end of all things draws closer.  Therefore be serious and disciplined with your prayers. Above all, be constant in your love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.  Be kind to all without complaining.  Like good stewards of the grace of God in its various ways, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 

Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Christ.  To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever, amen.

Do not be surprised at the trial by fire that is taking place among you, as though something strange was happening. But rejoice that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed."

1 Peter 4:7-13

"His stature was still an asset to the regime, however, and Nero put him to work drafting a letter justifying the killing to the Senate. He had to claim that Nero had acted in self-defense against a dangerous woman, but not by celebrating the death of a mother. It did not impress the Senate, though only a hardcore stoic named Thrasea Paetus showed explicit disapproval of the blatant propaganda.

Seneca had made the bargain that many good men have made when agreeing to aid bad regimes. On the one hand, their presence strengthens the regime and helps it endure. But their moral influence may also improve the regime's behavior or save the lives of its enemies. For many, this has been a bargain worth making, even if it has cost them—as it may have cost Seneca—their immortal soul.

The Rome he has been trained to serve, the Rome of Augustus and Germanicus, was gone. In its place stood Neropolis, ruled by a megalomaniac brat.”

James Romm, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero, 2014

"The end result was to be a new Imperial Order, and a New World Empire run by elite, self-perpetuating oligarchies from the leading nations of the earth."

Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope, 1966

"He fell with his face to the earth, as if kissing some one's feet. The silence continued long; then were heard the words of the aged man, broken by sobs, 'Quo vadis, Domine?'

Nazarius did not hear the answer; but to Peter's ears came a sad and sweet voice, which said, 'If you desert my people, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time.'

The Apostle lay on the ground, his face in the dust, without motion or speech. It seemed to Nazarius that he had fainted or was dead; but he rose at last, seized the staff with trembling hands, and turned without a word toward the seven hills of the city.

The boy, seeing this, repeated as if an echo, 'Quo vadis, Domine?'

"To Rome," said the Apostle, in a low voice. And he returned.

And that same evening he went to the Ostian cemetery to teach and baptize those who wished to bathe in the water of life. And thenceforward he went there daily, and after him went increasing numbers. It seemed that out of every tear of a martyr new confessors were born, and that every groan on the arena found an echo in thousands of breasts. Caesar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world was mad.

But those who had had enough of transgression and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins. When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of the time could not give any one, — happiness and love."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis, 1905


When great powers fall into the trap of asymmetric wars against highly motivated and entrenched indigenous people, they bleed. 

Stocks managed to extend their rally once again, on more fog and puffery from the Administration on a settlement to the conflict in the Middle East.

And they fell back again on more reports that Iran disavows the things that have been said.

This must surely be the oddest negotiation that I have ever witnessed, or even heard of.

Gold spiked quite hard today around 11:00 AM EDT.   It gave back a some as the day wore on, but managed to hold on to an additional gain.

You may have noticed that when we get this hard selloffs into significant contract months option expirations, after a day or two of additional shenanigans we get a sharp rally back as the equilibrium of the market attempts to reassert itself.    

Silver was content to wallow around.

Bitcoin managed to hold on to support and break its recent decline from a failed breakout attempt. 

VIX is complacent, which is odd but in line with recent fashion in the world of the power elite.

Both the economic and the geopolitical spheres seem rather 'wobbly' these days.  Having a group of pathological liars with the support of sociopaths is not constructive. 

How are so many awful leaders, with strikingly high disapproval ratings, managing to stifle the world's democracies and turn them upside down?  It makes one wonder.

The mighty rise and are fallen, but the word and the spirit endure — by the blood of the Risen.

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

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Shining a Light Through the Darkness

 

"For the things of the world, the desire for physical pleasures, the envy for the things that we see, the pride in our possessions, are not from the Father.  The world and its desires are passing away, but those who do the will of God remain forever."

1 John 2:16-17

"Greed, I say, is a great flood; it is a whirlpool sucking one down, a constant yearning, seeking a hold, continually in movement; difficult to cross is the morass of sensual desire.  A sage does not deviate from truth, a brahmana stands on firm ground.  Renouncing all, he is truly called 'calmed.'"

Gautama Buddha, Attadanda Sutta: The Training, trans J. Ireland, 1995

"Whoever loves money never has enough, and whoever loves abundant possessions is never satisfied with their income.  So this is a meaningless vanity."

Ecclesiastes 5:10

"The moon shines in the open, not under cover.  The sun shines in the open, not under cover.  The teaching and training proclaimed by an Awakened shine in the open, not under cover.  These three things shine in the open, not under cover."

Gautama Buddha, Paṭicchanna-sutta: Under Cover, trans Bhikkhu Sujato 2018

"You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and then put it under a basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.  Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father."

Matthew 5:14-16

Stocks managed to extend their rally again today.  Unless something seriously dislocates we can expect the stock bubble to continue being inflated.

I don't think I have seen anything quite like this, even at the worst of the Wall Street financial scandals.  The pretense of legitimate price discovery was always covered by at least a fig leaf of official imprimatur.

Gold and silver recovered a bit after a final, vicious smackdown for those brave souls still holding Comex claim checks on a shrinking store of precious metals.   

VIX is now flashing a warning into the weekend.

The Dollar is chopping around.

Bitcoin has slipped off its recent breakout attempt, and has fallen back down to key support.  A further decline below 70k would not be constructive to the crypto narrative.

The levels of risk in both financial and geopolitical terms is astonishing.   The world is most likely heading right into a global recession with the kind of stagflation that bites particularly hard.

And the flashpoints in the Mideast and Eastern Europe are sparking ominously.

Now we know what those who have gone before us have felt in turning points of history as those who would defy their mortality rage at their passing into dust. 

Where are the snows of yesteryear? 

Defy the madness, we who are no longer captives of this perishing world, and shine a light for the rest through the darkness. 

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - To Be Human

 

"They slander what they do not understand, and when they act by their animal appetites are destroyed. What sorrow awaits them.  They follow the way of Cain, chase after wealth into Balaam’s error, and perish in the rebellion of Korah."

Jude 10-11

"Never in the history of the world have so many people been so rich; never in the history of the world have so many of those same people felt themselves so poor.  The state of perpetual emptiness is, of course, very good for business."

Lewis H. Lapham, The Agony of Mammon, 1999

"The inability to identify with others was unquestionably the most important psychological condition for the fact that something like Auschwitz could have occurred in the midst of more or less civilized and innocent people."

Theodor Adorno, Education After Auschwitz, 18 April 1966

“A thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance."

John 10:10

"Lordliness is not synonymous with aristocracy, nor does it signify any class difference or difference in wealth. But neither is it merely a moral trait. It is a synthesis of pride, decency, self-confidence, and magnanimity. You find Archons (Lords) scattered among all types of people. The Archon never becomes a part of a mass of people, no matter what class he belongs to; he always remains a person.

I cannot, perhaps it is my failing, define lordliness in a single phrase. But when I meet someone who possesses that complex set of virtues that compose it, then I recognize it. I say to myself: This is an Archon. He belongs to that select category of people. All of us together, with God's help should fulfill our duty, as human beings and Greeks, and leave as our bequest to our children and grandchildren our glorious inheritance. We have Archons in the legal sense who lack lordliness. But we also have manual laborers who possess lordliness in abundance." 

Konstantinos Tsatsos, Words for the Fathers, 1975

Even animals know when they have been harmed, and will react to prevent that harm to themselves and theirs from happening ever again.  

But only a human, fully developed and aware in the spirit of life, will take this experience and form it into a principle of moral justice to be applied in other situations, and to actions that are even their own.  

The glory of God is the human, fully alive; and the humanity of a person is found in reflecting the glory of God."   Irenaeus AD 180

Stocks have continued to maintain their lofty valuations and severe underestimation of risk.

I have stopped thinking of this as a mania, and rather as a conscious effort to accelerate the transfer of wealth to the power elite by pumping up certain financial assets, resulting in the general diminishment of all the rest of the assets under the Dollar through a stealthy, pernicious inflation.

It is a hidden tax on the working public.  The AI Bubble.  It is not the result of a well-intentioned policy error, or animal spirits, but a lack of character for the sake of personal gain. 

Gold and silver were hit particularly hard today in the aftermath of the Comex contract option expiration yesterday, as I suggested would happen.   They don't even bother to hide their lawlessness anymore.

VIX is near six month lows.

The Dollar continues to chop around in a well-managed trading range.  Which of the currencies in the DXY index basket can stand on their own?

I am expecting a severe resumption of hostilities in Europe and the Middle East as a result of the lack of moral and principled leadership amongst Western leaders.  They are corrupted by money and fear.  And they will sit down to a banquet of consequences.

What is our reaction to be in the face of this increase in lawlessness?

To adhere to the Way is not easy, especially with all the ugly selfishness that is so evident these days. It is never really between them and you, but between you and yourself, between you and your God. It is how you rise above, and become human. It is fine and necessary to look after your wealth in order to fill the needs of your family. But random acts of kindness will make a difference in your life and in theirs.

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. You will remember them, and you will be remembered for them, if not in this life, then in the next. 

This is our decision, our choice.  Essere umano.  To be human.  Even when the world thinks it is foolish.  

This is the rule of our warfare.  We are called to remain standing, grounded in humility and love.  And the dawn will be ours.

In the end, the only real tragedy is not to have been a saint.

Have a pleasant evening.