Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And the Darkness Has Not Overcome It

 

"And the judgement is this, that God’s light has come into the world, but people love the darkness more than the light because their actions serve evil.  For those who do evil hate the light and refuse to come into it for fear that their lawlessness will be revealed.  But those who live in the truth come into the light, so that it can be seen that they are doing God's will."

John 3:19-21

"There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts.  There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage.  And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life.  What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.'  And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God.  'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'  And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.  So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders."

Vermont C. Royster, In Hoc Anno Domini, December 24, 1949

“These people honor me with their lips, and offer worship with their words, but their hearts are far from me.  Their religion is nothing but the rituals and traditions of men, which they memorize.  I will awaken them with one shocking blow after another.  Their wisdom will be shown as foolish, and all their cleverness will be made worthless.  Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, 'No one can see us, so who will know?’"

Isaiah 29:13-15

"In a society that worships the self, power is the coin of the realm, where power is to be found in asserting one's own will over others.  And beyond all doubt, kindness and tolerance are to be despised as undermining, weakening the will to power.  In power is to be found the definition of all truth, for it dictates all, and does not bend a knee to any other reality but its own interpretation. In rationalizing ourselves by dehumanizing others, we can therein comfortably become monsters. And some do."

Jesse, 9 January 2015

“I bear with my loneliness now, in order to avoid greater loneliness in the years ahead.  You see, loneliness is the price we have to pay for being born in this modern age, so full of freedom, independence, and our own egotistical selves.”

Natsume Sōseki, Kokoro, 1914

"What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:4-5

The markets had a little thrill ride today, as word of Trump's desire to fire and replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell roiled markets, sending stocks and the Dollar plunging, and gold and silver soaring.

But, as usual, Donnie quickly distanced himself from what he has been clearly engaged with, and things settled back down again.

The whole purpose of this exercise is to replace the mildly independent Powell with a chairman willing to be a one percent interest sycophant.

And, Trump added, he no longer desires to have the support from 'weaklings' who wish to have him fulfill the promise of revealing the material being withheld about l'affaire Epstein.

This is the kind of silliness, in addition to three card monte scams and pyramid schemees that occupy our best and brightest.

And why we, unlike the rising titans of Asia, are not allowed to have nice things.  Like infrastructure.

Option expiration on Friday.

People are starting to wake up.  But those who believe will cling even more tightly to what they cherish and have pledged their souls to serve in this world.  

This is Bonhoeffer's principle of foolishness.  And a biblical story, older than Babylon and marinated in madness.

A faithful light shines in the darkness.  And the darkness has not overcome it. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Baghdad Barbies and the Bubbylonians

 

“The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."

Alex Carey, Taking the Risk Out of Democracy, 1995

“Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it.”

Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

H.L. Mencken, In Defense of Women, 1918

"The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information.  With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.  American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information, and those who stand for the KKK type of demagoguery.”

Henry Wallace, The Danger of American Fascism, 1944

“The British press is extremely centralised, and most of it is owned by wealthy men who have every motive to be dishonest on certain important topics.  But the same kind of veiled censorship also operates in books and periodicals, as well as in plays, films and radio.  At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question.  Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness.” 

George Orwell, Animal Farm, 1945

"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


Stocks did a fairly impressive 'pop and flop' today,' as the rally lost steam at new highs and then properly folded like a house of cards, finishing unchanged or in the red.

The 'tell' for this was the almost shocking lack of breadth in the rally, being driven by program buying in a few stocks that weigh heavily on the NDX and the SP500.

The Dollar rallied during the day trade. 

Gold and silver were smacked down in NY again.  

I don't think the current Administration likes them.   They are disobedient, and implacable in the face of political demands and directives.

Talk to the gram. 

Donnie dealt with the Epstein files controversy by pointing at AG Bondi saying, 'It's up to her.' 

VIX is barely aware of what is going on.

CPI came in on the warmer side this morning.  PPI tomorrow.

America's disastrous economic policies with regard to tariffs are going to bite. 

Bitcoin turned back from its all time high.

There will be a stock option expiration on Friday. 

We had some fairly serious flooding here yesterday.  Our particular area is on higher ground, so we were mostly spared, although the lower areas south of us got clobbered. 

I was getting flash flood alerts on my phone, and at one point the State Police advised people to 'stay off the roads.'

Daisy and I sheltered in place on my recliner.   

It's always something,

If you think deeply, you may realize that reality is eternity. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Apparatus Makes Us Slaves

 

"You who make wicked judgements, who write oppressive laws to deprive the needy of justice, and to rob the poor of their rights, that widows may be your victims, and that you may make the orphans your prey— what will you do on the day of reckoning, when the consequences come from afar?  To whom will you run for protection, and where will you hide your riches?"

Isaiah 10:1-3

"The impotence one feels today—an impotence we should never consider permanent—does not excuse one from remaining true to one’s self, nor does it excuse capitulation to the enemy, whatever mask he may wear.

Whether the mask is labelled Fascism, Democracy, or Dictatorship of the Proletariat, our great adversary remains The Apparatus—the bureaucracy, the police, the military.  Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battle-lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers’ enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. 

No matter the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all humanity in ourselves and in others.”

Simone Weil, Reflections on War, February 1945

"They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control.  They will be cruel and hate what is good.  They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.  They will act religious, but they will refuse the grace that could make them righteous."

2 Timothy 3:3-5

"For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be."

Matthew 6:21


God is not going to ask us, when we stand before him in judgement, 'whom do you serve, whom do you love?' 

He is asking us this now, and every day we answer — with what we say, and what we do. 

Whom do you love?  Whom do you serve?

Stocks managed to rally today, most likely in a Potemkin tribute to Donnie's address to the nation this evening.  

There is a need to distract the true believers from l'affaire Epstein. 

We need such exorbitant decorations and embellishments.   Because the reality is too awful to sustain the illusion.

The rallies in gold and silver were pressed back.

The Dollar ticked up in late hours of trading.

There will be a stock option expiration this Friday. 

Bread and circuses.

And no one could see it coming.

Can you see what is coming for you?  Or is it easier to become a beast to avoid the struggle of being a man? 

All the finest people are doing it. Worshiping the Beast.  It's the fashionable thing to do. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Burnt Offerings of the Unspeakable

 

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as cunning as serpents and yet as innocent as doves. Be on your guard, for people will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings because of me to testify before them and the Gentiles.

“When they hand you over, do not be concerned about how you are to speak or what you are to say. When the time comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Matthew 10:16-22

"Therefore they shall eat the bitter fruit of their ways, and be gutted by their own schemes.  For the foolish turn away from me — to death.  For fools are destroyed by their pride and self-satisfaction.”

Proverbs 1:31-33

"It is as popular now as ever to blame poor people for their station in life. Republican politicians love to talk about how poor people could stop being poor if only they made better choices or worked harder. If only they'd stop buying iPhones, they could afford insurance! These assholes - and I do not use that slur lightly - have no clue what it is like to grow up poor. They have no clue how hard it is in many places in the US just to keep the lights on and food on the table.

It is easy for them, from the comfort of their cushy offices and homes, with full bellies and bank accounts, to pretend that poor people like my mother are poor because they are stupid or lazy or ignorant or irresponsible rather than confront the broken systems that perpetuate poverty in Appalachia and all across the US. Poor people don't contribute to reelection funds, but those who profit from poor people sure do.

Therefore, truth be told, most politicians couldn't care less about the plight of the poor. There's so much profit to be made from poor people - think payday loans, high-interest rent-to-own stores, for-profit colleges, and overpriced mobile homes - that politicians and their crony-capitalist donors have a vested interest in keeping them poor."

Joshua Wilkey, My Mother Wasn't Trash,  May 2017


Stocks popped and floundered today, taking a break from a truly speculative rally.

The markets are one trigger event away from a fairly remarkable selloff.

The underpinnings are constructed of leveraged debt.

Those positions will start 'pancaking' under the weight a significant wave of selling.

The Dollar chopped around the 97 handle.

Bitcoin rallied up to a new all time high.

I suspect the fat lady is at least clearing her throat.

Silver had an impressive breakout higher, a powerful move that completed our intermediate measuring objective on the chart at 39.

Gold continued to advance as well.

The difficulty we are in, we being the public, is that we can not trust what the government or the mainstream media say about many of the most important things.

“The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more, and tolerated by all.” 

Tacitus, Histories 1.28

This lack of trust will facilitate any break in investor confidence.  

All in all, this is as bad of a market setup I have seen in a long time, having traded through the market breaks of 2002 and 2008.

These are the fruits of lawlessness. 

Have a pleasant weekend.