“By means of gradual, treacherous, systematic abuse, the system has put every man into a spiritual prison. Everywhere and always demonic powers lurk in the dark, waiting for the moment when man is weak; when of his own volition he leaves his place in Creation, as founded for him by God in freedom; when he yields to the force of evil, he separates himself from the powers of a higher order; and after voluntarily taking the first step, he is driven on to the next and the next at a furiously accelerating rate.
Sophie Scholl
“Hatred can be nurtured anywhere, idealism can be perverted into sadism
anywhere. The inferno could erupt anew anywhere. The history of man is
the history of crimes, and history can repeat. So information is a
defense. Through this we can build, we must build, a defense against
repetition."
Simon Wiesenthal
"Everyone knows that plagues have a way of recurring throughout history, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in the ones that crash down on us out of the sky. There have always been plagues and wars, yet they always take us by surprise. When war breaks out people say it's stupid and won't last long. Stupidity has a knack of getting in the way, which we would see if not wrapped up in ourselves. In this our townsfolk were like everybody else— they did not believe in plagues."
Albert Camus, The Plague
“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
William Wilberforce
What is surprising is not that we are called to do so much, but rather, so little. Love and be grateful to God, treat people as you would like to be treated with respect, kindness, mercy and forgiveness. Do not lie or steal or cheat or act with violence and lawlessness, do not be proud and look down on your fellow creatures, and act with honor and respect for the gifts of His creation.
And when we fail through weakness, we are readily forgiven if we are but genuinely repentant for our misdeeds, by action or omission.
But all too often we bargain away our souls, one piece at a time, rebelling from even these small and reasonable requests to goodness— and for relatively so little in return. A little more money, some prestige and recognition from the worldly, more than the other guy, and a feeling of being superior to the rest of humanity.
Those people are fools, but I am smart, and fully deserve of everything that we have been given, owing nothing to anyone, including God. We are self-sufficient; we are like God.
And we may hold on to that poisonous bargain out of stiff-necked, stubborn pride and a willful blindness refusing to repent and admit our errors, until we allow them to drag us into the abyss, often bringing our family and friends with us.
Misery loves company, and the sinful insulate themselves from a recognition of the foulness of their hearts by rationalizing their sinfulness by excusing it, and attempting to convert those around them to the same wickedness.
Even now most will gloss over this, or assume I am speaking only about their financial investments, or the markets in general. Or those other guys. Because that is where their hearts and minds are, with what they truly love and serve, to get what they want.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’Let me be blunt. In the greater scheme of things the only thing that matters is your soul, for that is what this is all about.
And most are just letting theirs go, little by little,into accepting anger and hatred, lies and violence and lawlessness. I have seen it before, in the 50s and 60s. Every century is like every other, but each think that they are exceptional, and that theirs is the worst.
It is a story old as Babylon, and evil as sin.
Gold and silver were hammered today, as they seemed to be no haven from the selling except the Dollar. Not even bonds.
VIX took a jump higher.
It's possible, but not probable.
Did I mentions that there is an option expiration on Friday.
Never forget that these jokers have no conscience, and thereby no shame, in their higher priorities.
The CrashTrak model is being updated since we set some new lows today.
I am struggling with a number of probabilities here. Did we just reaffirm and more firmly set that second low, or are we truly into a failed rally scenario and a deeper decline.
A crash may be a misnomer here. The average duration from top to break in a 'crash' is generally about 62 days. We are well beyond that at 190+ days.
The selling is quite orderly. And the seasonality is all wrong. The VIX has not yet topped 40.
The dip buyers keep coming back in, dragged by their perverse need to beat the other guy.
Winning...
I am thinking this *could* be a crash in slow motion, thanks to the interference of the Fed at al.
Or maybe more likely the genesis of a grinding bear market as we had seen in 73-74.
I will be thinking more about it.
For most the higher ground is the place to be.
But if your greed drags you out into the deeper waters, well, enjoy.
Have a pleasant evening.
