"Consequences are unpitying."
George Eliot
"Nemesis is long delayed sometimes, but it comes in the end.”
Agatha Christie
The sounds emanating from the markets and the news feeds can mean only one thing— a page in history is turning, and a new chapter is about to begin.
Today was a precious metals December futures options expiration on the Comex. As you may recall, December is one of the biggest months for the metals futures.
That should tell you quite a bit about the price action.
Those new holders of futures contracts, thanks to holding an in-the-money call into expiration, will probably get a 'gut check' on price at some point, depending on how the numbers went. We will not know this for a day or two.
Much of the physical exchange of gold is being conducted off-market over the counter through 'Exchange for Physical' (EFP) transactions.
The real insights into the physical gold market are to be found as they can in Asia, and to some extent in London. New York remains remarkably opaque, despite its scrupulous attention to reporting lots of details— with a deniable linkage to the underlying reality, one might add. Just read the disclaimer on their reports.
Is there is a risk in this lack of full disclosure? Of course there is. The question is whom does it advantage, and disadvantage?
But alas, this controlling of information for advantage is the sordid tale of our society, where figures who blatantly lie to Congress are later cited as the principle information sources for claims and issues of great national preoccupation and importance.
The scene in Washington becomes increasingly embarrassing, eerily resembling the Third World. The status quo is doubling down again and again on their perceived advantages. And this will not be sustained.
Stocks were largely unchanged today. The prognosticators are looking forward to a continuation of this asset inflation, without a corresponding stimulus and growth in the real economy. And thereby it is the best of times, and the worst of times, as the saying goes.
Have a pleasant evening.
