"Two-thirds of the directors at the New York Fed are hand-picked by the same bankers that the Fed is in charge of regulating.
Today, the United States is No. 1 in corporate profits, No. 1 in CEO salaries, No. 1 in childhood poverty, and No. 1 in income and wealth inequality in the industrialized world.
Today, the top one-tenth of 1% owns nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90%. The economic game is rigged, and this level of inequality is unsustainable.
We need an economy that works for all, not just the powerful.
I think what the American people are saying is enough is enough. This country, this great country, belongs to all of us. It cannot continue to be controlled by a handful of billionaires who apparently want it all."
Bernie Sanders
"Then the kings of the earth, their nobles and their commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every one of their willing slaves and free men, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne, and from the righteous anger of the Lamb.'"
Rev 6:15-16
We had our answer, a real workable solution, and we trampled it in the dirt and threw it away, because it did not flatter our vanity.
Today we had the expected correction in the markets. It was the first stock market move greater than one percent since the Brexit decision in July.
Stocks came down hard on nothing particularly new. And bonds followed as yields rose, and the reckless pursuit of returns without regard to risks reversed.
They had all been greatly overextended by a calculated and intentional mispricing of risk, and today we had a minor settling of accounts.
That mispricing of risk had not been at all accidental, and was well supported by many fine words and false rationalizations that were repeated by the pundits in the media who afterwards will shamelessly plead ignorance, despite their pretentious claims to the well paying rewards of authority. It is what I have called 'the CEO defense.'
Gold gave up a little less than silver, which has a higher industrial component, but even moreso, a higher beta. This was a result of the dollar moving slightly higher in the usual currency cross trading.
I took the short broad stocks hedge for my silver positions off in the afternoon, probably a little too early, but these leveraged instruments are notoriously volatile, and they had done their job for me. I always seem to be a little early in these things.
Next week will be heavy on economic data as indicated in the calendar below.
People always say at these times, 'what is next?' Not, 'what can we learn from what just happened.' Not, 'what can I do personally to make things better for everyone, and not just myself.'
This is probably not such a great thing, and will be quickly forgotten enough. But the reckoning of accounts will come, when gold will be more likely moving up many, many dollars ovrnight. And the fear in the markets will be palpable. And the mood of the people will become ugly.
The politicians have failed, the regulators have failed, the people have failed to be vigilant and vocal for justice for all, and not just for their own private benefits.
But these are all things that you know, and that you have been told many, many times. And you will think about it for a day, and then most likely forget all about them.
In the end the only pity is not to have saved yourself, your real self, the part of you that matters and will remain and has lasting value, and which is also the substance of those whom you love.
And the good news is that it is almost never too late to come back home. The pity is that in their stubborn pride and foolish greed some will not. This is the only tragedy.
The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery.
Have a pleasant weekend.
