Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Carelessly Uncaring, Deceiving and Being Deceived

 

"They have become twisted in their reasoning, and their foolish hearts are darkened."

Romans 1:21

"Early on in the gospel traditions the power elite in Jesus’ society, who were colluding with the Roman Empire, recognized him as a threat and began to conspire to kill him.  Jesus became a reference point for much of the hostility and resistance to the power of the empire because he refused to accommodate it, and told another story of reality that the empire could not co-opt."

Jonathan Merritt, Brueggemann On How to Speak Truth to Power, June 26, 2014

"Those who wish to live in the grace of Christ will be persecuted, but the hypocrites and their charlatans will move from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

2 Timothy 3:12-13

"The humanitarians and civilians should never be paying the consequences of war. This is a basic principle of humanity. At the time, this looks like it’s not a war against terrorism anymore. It seems this is a war against humanity itself. You cannot be destroying every building. You cannot be destroying every hospital, every school. You cannot be targeting humanitarians. You cannot be targeting children. You cannot be fighting the basis of what humanity should be standing for."

Charlie Nash, Aid Workers Were ‘Targeted Deliberately’, Mediaite, 4 April 2024

"You are always on the right side when you are with those who suffer persecution and injustice."

Léon Bloy, Le Pèlerin de l'Absolu, 1914

"What is more disturbing to our peace of mind than the unconditional loyalty of members of totalitarian movements, and the popular support of totalitarian regimes, is the unquestionable attraction these movements exert on the elite, and not only on the mob elements in society.  It would be rash indeed to discount, because of artistic vagaries or scholarly naivete, the terrifying roster of distinguished men whom totalitarianism can count among its sympathizers, fellow-travelers, and inscribed party members."

Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951


As is customary of late, the stock futures slumped badly on Sunday evening, but little by little they were pushed higher, and behold, there was yet another rally on a Monday morning.

Gold and silver of course were sold, but managed to hold up fairly well and even posted modest gains.

Bitcoin has risen to the upper half of its intermediate trading range.

The dollar slipped off the 100 handle.

VIX did its usual dipsy-doodle in the face of increasing risks.

Below is a chart showing the performance of  'alternative asset managers' in the markets.   They are not faring well, as the quality of private debt is corroding like its 2007.

The geo-political economic and military risks are sky high, but the markets are looking the other way, as if this is a way to support the effort, in abject denial. 

The West is slipping into recession.  That last nail in that coffin was the invasion of Iran, and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the carelessly uncaring actions of The Mad King.  

This afternoon Trump gave Iran an ultimatum for this Tuesday at 8 PM, or face 'obliteration' of its civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.  And the markets yawned. 

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”   F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 Have a pleasant evening.

Truly, He is Risen

 

"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and she saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken our Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.

So Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple was running faster and arrived at the tomb first. When he stooped down to look he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not go in. The Simon Peter, who had been running behind him arrived, and went right into the tomb.

He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face cloth that had been on Jesus' head. It was not with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had arrived first, went into the tomb, and saw and believed. They still did not understand the scripture that Jesus must arise from the dead."

John 20:1-10

“There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen, and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his sores.

Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘My son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31

The sin of the rich man in the parable of Lazarus was not that he had been given great wealth, even though had no gratitude, and still thinks that it is all because of his own merits.  No, his sin is that his pride made him blind to the suffering of Lazarus, who sat every day on his doorstep.  He saw, but did not care.

It was in the torment of the abyss that the rich man's eyes were opened.  Looking across the great chasm he finally sees Lazarus and holy Abraham.  And the first thing that the rich man does is to beg for favors and comfort for himself, rather than forgiveness.

He feels no shame, no repentance, never once saying that he is sorry.  Even as his eyes were opened, his heart remained hardened in the grip of his greed.  His sins are the chasm that separates him from salvation.  He holds himself apart from the abundant grace of God.

Nations that have been blessed can blind themselves to the misuse of their power and good fortune, given to them by God, to harm and oppress others, to fulfill their own greed and vanity. They exalt themselves as the greatest good, the exceptional— even as they oppress and plunder and murder.  Until at long last God breaks the arm of their power, and with chastisements humbles them.

'The more secret God's hand is, the more powerful — the more silent, the more awful.'

Holy Saturday : The Harrowing of Hell - Arise, and Let Us Go Forth

 

"What is happening?  Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages.  God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.  He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross.  When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.'  And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’  And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld.  Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead.  Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image.  Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Arise, let us go forth."

Epiphanius of Salamis, On the Lord's Descent into Hell, Patrologia Graeca, 4th century


And even now, the Lord bids us 'Arise, and let us go forth from this hellish darkness, into the Truth.'


"We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds; we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretense; 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.

If we look more closely, we see that any violent display of power, whether political or religious, produces an outburst of folly in a large part of mankind; indeed, this seems actually to be a psychological and sociological law: the power of some needs the folly of others.

It is not that certain human capacities, intellectual capacities for instance, become stunted of destroyed, but rather the upsurge of power makes such an overwhelming impression that men are deprived of their independent judgment, and give up trying to assess this new state of affairs for themselves."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, 1943-1945

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - A Whirlwind of Consequences

 

"For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."

Hosea 8:7

"So when an angel by divine command
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land,
Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm."

Joseph Addison, The Campaign, 14 December 1705

"Yon stars, yon suns, he rears at pleasure higher,
Illumes their light, and sets their flames on fire.
Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease
'Mid snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease;
And proud his Mistress' orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm."

Alexander Pope, Dunciad, Book III, 1743

"Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?"

John Page, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 20 July 1776

"There is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power.  The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and the earthquake has its power; but there is something among men more capable of shaking despotic thrones than lightning, whirlwind, or earthquake, and that is the excited and aroused indignation of the whole civilized world."

Daniel Webster, Speech on the Hungarian Revolution, Washington, D.C., January 7, 1852

"Willful pride brings a whirlwind of consequences."

Jesse, A Whirlwind of Consequences, 27 July 2023

Stocks slumped badly in the overnight, as Trump's address to the nation last night was a big letdown for anyone expecting it to be sensible.

But fear not, the pumpsters and their associates managed to turn it around and finish the day unchanged.

When the correction comes, you will understand the ferocity it has obtained by this willful manipulation and mispricing of risk. 

But they most certainly do not care what damage they are doing, as long as they are getting paid.

Gold and silver were hit by selling, as befits the day before a Non-Farm Payrolls report, which is scheduled to come out tomorrow.  The markets will be closed, but apparently the government will be open for business.

These jokers can't plan or fight a war, but they certainly know how to cheat.  It's what they do.

VIX fell, of course.

The Dollar took back the 100 handle.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, and I will be spending a quiet day in prayer and meditation.

Easter is this Sunday, and so I will join all those around the world who say, 'Truly, He is risen.'

The tomb is empty, death is overthrown, and we are the heirs of abundant life. 

Have a pleasant weekend.