Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And on Earth, Peace to Men of Good Will

 

"The Lord did not come to make a display.  He came to heal and to teach suffering humanity.  For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been to appear and dazzle the beholders.  But for Him Who came to heal and to teach, the way was not just to appear here, but to place Himself in the service of those who needed Him, and to be made known to them as they could accept it, not diminishing the value of His Divine presence by overwhelming their capacity to receive it.

He became as we are, so we might become what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word, 335 AD

"Now there were shepherds in that region, living in the fields, and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.  And they were struck with great fear."

And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  For behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people.  Today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a babe, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will.'

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  So they left in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a manger.

After they had seen the Child, they spread the message that they had received about Him. and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. And Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:10-19

"The glory of God is the human being, fully alive; and the humanity of a person is found reflected in the glory of God."

Irenaeus of Lyons

VIX, the measure of potential market volatility and thereby 'risk', has fallen to its lowest level of the year.

This is remarkable complacency, in a boiling morass of potential exogenous events including the expansion of existing wars to other fronts.

Fear of Missing Out, FOMO, is a powerful factor of the greed that extinguishes fear.

If the market went up today, despite all these problems, it can certainly go up tomorrow.

And so we go into Christmas.

The tech heavy NASDAQ 100, which has been the lead sled dog for this latest phase of the tech bubble, is failing to make a new high, in a sharp divergence from the SP 500. 

Gold and silver continued powering higher.

Their breakouts, from a long period of artificial price suppression, is uncoiling decades of mispricing.

The Dollar is hanging on the 97 handle.  A look at the long term DXY chart does not suggest that this is so far out of bounds as to be hard to rationalize.

The US is busily engaged in undermining the confidence of the world in the full faith and credit required to sustain a fiat currency, even one which has long enjoyed the status of the reserve currency of choice.

And the times, they are a-changin'.

A number of our growing extended family is coming over tomorrow.  And le Propriétaire will be the sole Maître d'hôtel, in the absence of his sous chef, the young man, who is rejoicing in the presence of his bride and her family in beautiful Hangzhou.

Daisy, I am sad to report, is of little utility in practical matters.  Like most small dogs, her major competency is a careless presumption based on 'cuteness'.   And here we thought this was only the qualification for corporate spokesmodels, and certain positions of government.

His simple creatures are often an instrument of His loving kindness towards us.  Yesterday evening, I was updating my financial plans, and feeling satisfied about the returns on my investment portfolio this year.

And little Daisy jumped up on my recliner and onto the blanket, pushed my computer aside, and threw her dinner up in my lap. She ate too much too quickly.

Surely a tender mercy from God, a caution against pride, in remembering my place in life. lol

So I made a donation to a charity that my goddaughter devotes much of time to, that will help  feed and shelter the poor in eastern Pennsylvania this winter.  And I filled the bird feeder, and put out something for the foxes and other critters that come around at night.  

Message received, Lord.  No need for any more reminders.

At this time of year old men remember lost loves and old friends.  I have a surprising number of those.  But I am even richer in new friends, many of whom I speak with often, but have never met!  Such are the times.   

These friends often give me, as I hope to give to them, the kind of comfortable encouragement and examples to remain standing against the tides and winds that blow at us through the long halls of history.

I won't name them all but they know, I should like to think, who they are.  Joe, Matt, Dave, Leigh, Jason, Peter, Sheila, Bruce, Lars,  Ducky, Andrew, Carlos, Tony, Bill, Victor, Henry, Philippe, Christopher, Doug, Steve, 'Elvis', John, Ronan, Doug, Vitaly, Prakash, and so many, many others.

And as things happen you often lose touch, and quietly drift away.  And sometimes when you try to regain contact, you find they are no longer with us.  And you may wonder when you will join them.

But the examples and memories remain, strengthening and encouraging one another to do their best..  And there is the opportunity to remember them fondly, in both your thoughts and your prayers.

May you and all your families have a joyous and peaceful Christmas day.

See you briefly on Friday.

Merry Christmas, everyone.