"When humanity, subjugated by the terror of crime, has been driven mad by fear and horror, and when chaos has become the supreme law, then the time for the empire of lawlessness will have come."
Fritz Lang, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, 1933
"We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds: we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical. Are we still of any use? What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, After Ten Years, New Year 1943
"I cautioned you all that we have entered a period of hysteria. I saw this phase coming years ago. And here we are. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty out there. And it is going to get worse. It is those who can proceed calmly and with serenity who will pass through this period relatively well, and even if they do suffer some unavoidable misfortune, they can do so without regret."
Jesse, A Plea for Civility, 14 April 2013
"The foolish ask nothing better than not to have to understand anything, and they even used to get together and try not to understand, because it is not as easy to be malicious and foolish all by themselves. Without understanding, they form spontaneously into herds, in obedience to the petty ideology. They would far rather kill than have to think."
George Bernanos, Under the Sun of Satan, Paris 1926
“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them, anyway.”
Mother Teresa
Stocks did another pop and flop again today.
They come in strong from the wee hours of futures trading, bull it up in the morning, and then take their winnings and go home at the end of the day in New York.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
I would not criticize anyone who suspects that there is some 'tinkering' being done in the equity markets by the folks with the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The desire is to keep the markets buoyant into the November elections.
Gold and silver conversely were smacked lower, but then recovered in the days trading and finished up pretty much flat.
There was a Comex option expiration of the precious metals futures today. Let's see how they fare the rest of the week. By far the December futures are the most heavily traded for the precious metals in New York.
VIX ticked up a bit.
The Dollar did a dip and recover of its own.
Israel launched its retaliatory strike against Iran. It was not particularly successful, as viewed through the fog of war and willful war propaganda which dominates the media.
I suspect the actual attack was toned down out of respect for the upcoming elections.
Have a pleasant evening.
