If by repeatedly adding desperate men this plague grows to the point where it holds territory and establishes a fixed seat, seizes cities and subdues peoples, then it more conspicuously assumes the name of kingdom, and this name is now openly granted to it, not for any subtraction of greed, but by addition of impunity.
For it was an elegant and true reply that was made to Alexander the Great by a certain pirate whom he had captured. When the king asked him what he was thinking of, that he should molest the sea, he said with defiant independence: 'The same as you when you molest the world! Since I do this with a little ship I am called a pirate. You do it with a great fleet and are called an emperor.'”
Augustine of Hippo, City of God IV
"Nothing from the rising to the setting of the sun is enough for them. Among all others only they are compelled to attack the poor as well as the rich. Plunder, rape, and slaughter they falsely call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."
Tacitus
It was more of the same old wash and rinse, on an economy sized scale (pun), designed to benefit a relatively few insiders at the expense of all the rest.
Fed Chair Powell came out and laid on a heavy tone of hawkish, and the 'rally' from yesterday went into a meltdown, tout de suite.The public and real economy must once again pay the price for the sins of the Banks and their bubbles.Everything was down in the risk assets, improperly priced as they were from the rally just yesterday.
What a coincidence.
Gold and silver took a hit.
The Dollar rose on the rise in short term interest rates.
Many of the miners were clocked, although some bounced back a little at the end.
September could be a dangerous month for the markets as I have cautioned previously.
The bulls need to take out the second high on the Crashtrak model.
Today they were going in the wrong direction.
There are some benefits to staying on the higher ground.
Have a pleasant weekend.
