Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Wine of Her Idolatry

 

“Men lost faith in the state not because Christianity held them aloof, but because the state defended wealth against poverty, fought to capture slaves, taxed toil to support luxury, and failed to protect its people from famine, pestilence, invasion, and destitution. Rome was not destroyed by Christianity, any more than by barbarian invasion; it was an empty shell when Christianity rose to influence and invasion came. A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within.”

Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, 1944

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows.  Outside, in the streets, in the general community, ‘everyone’ is happy.  One hears no protest, and certainly sees none.  You speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’

And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don’t know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

But your friends are fewer now. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.

You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things that your father, even in Germany, could not have imagined. Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done, for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing.  You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair."

Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45

"Everywhere Rome was failing in her duties as mistress of the civilised world. Her own internal degeneracy was faithfully reflected in the abnegation of her imperial duties. When in any country the small-farmer class is being squeezed off the land; when its labourers are slaves or serfs; when huge tracts are kept waste to minister to pleasure; when the shibboleth of art is on every man's lips, but ideas of true beauty in very few men's souls.

When the business-sharper is the greatest man in the city, and lords it even in the law courts; when class-magistrates, bidding for high office, deal out justice according to the rank of the criminal; when exchanges are turned into great gambling-houses, and senators and men of title are the chief gamblers; when, in short, 'corruption is universal, when there is increasing audacity, increasing greed, increasing fraud, increasing impurity, and these are fed by increasing indulgence and ostentation." 

A. H. Beesley, The Gracchi Marius and Sulla, 1921

"God's heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies. But our Father's heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud. God's heart is with the little ones and the humble, and with them He builds up His Kingdom of love and peace day by day. Wherever there is love and service, God is there."

Leo XIV, 14 April 2026

"Come, I will show you the judgement on the great whore who reaches across many waters.  The kings of the earth have given themselves over to her in lust, and have become drunk with the wine of her idolatry."

Revelation 17:1-2


And here we are, falling into complacency, while dancing on a volcano.

The Dollar continued its slide lower, while gold and silver rallied.

Bitcoin has climbed back to the upper bounds of it intermediate trading channel.

Let's see if it will continue sliding sideways, or not.

VIX is once again down to its long moving average.  Generally a complacent place to be.

Stocks are utterly overvalued, and risk is utterly mispriced.

This is a 'hubris rally.'   They are pumping stocks up higher because they can, at least in the short term.  

And if you can't win a war, or manage an economy to the benefit of the public, at least you can make a show of prosperity, while enriching your cronies.

This will give heart to the true believers in various idols and systems.  

And as always, it will not end well.

People do not want to hear it.  Not one bit.  Pride and greed are ascendant.  The madness will hold no discourse with logic.  

The masks are falling away more quickly now.  What has been hidden is being revealed, the principalities and powers, the spiritual wickedness in high places.

You can choose to look away, but you can never say again that you did not know, or should have known whom you served.

Have a pleasant evening.  

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - What Then Are We To Do, and Believe?

 

"Prayer is not a refuge in which to hide from our responsibilities, nor an anesthetic to numb the pain provoked by so much injustice.  Rather, it is the most selfless, universal and transformative response to death: we are a people who are already risen!  Within each of us, within every human being, the interior Teacher teaches peace, urges us toward encounter and inspires us to make supplication.  Let us rise from the rubble!  Nothing can confine us to a predetermined fate, not even in this world where there never seem to be enough graves, for people continue to crucify one another and eliminate life, with no regard to justice and mercy.

Prayer teaches us how to act.  In prayer, our limited human possibilities are joined to the infinite possibilities of God.  Thoughts, words and deeds then break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God.  A Kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness.  It is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive.

Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death.  A world of brothers and sisters with one heavenly Father vanishes, as in a nightmare, giving way to a reality populated by enemies.  We are met by threats, rather than the invitation to listen and to come together.  Brothers and sisters, those who pray are aware of their own limitations; they do not kill or threaten with death.  Instead, death enslaves those who have turned their backs on the living God, turning themselves and their own power into a mute, blind and deaf idol, to which they sacrifice every value, demanding that the whole world bend its knee."

Pope Leo XIV, Prayer Vigil for Peace, Rome April 11, 2026

"The dazzling and consuming act of pride that transformed the angel of light into an angel and prince of darkness condemned him to an insatiable, and therefore desperate, need to acquire. The loss of the wellspring of life gives rise to an essentially inextinguishable thirst. The entire world can not fill the emptiness which the awareness of having left their rightful place in the world forms in the heart of a creature.

Having fallen from the eternal, Satan's desires are endless and insatiable. Having fallen from pure Being, he seeks to possess. But the problem is forever insoluble. For in order to have and possess, it would be necessary to have life, to Be, and he is connected to life no longer. All he takes into himself he destroys."

Denis de Rougemont, La Part du Diable, Switzerland, 1944

"They devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.  Amazement and awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need.  Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes.  They ate their meals with joy and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying respect among all the people.  And every day the Lord added to the number of those who were being saved."

Acts 2:42-47

“When we leave this church tonight, we must move beyond prayer.  As citizens and believers in this democracy that we cherish so deeply, we must advocate for peace with our representatives and leaders. It is not enough to say we have prayed.  We must also act.  For it is very possible that the negotiations will fail because of recalcitrance on both sides, and the president will move to re-enter this immoral war.  At that critical juncture, as disciples of Jesus Christ called to be peacemakers in the world, we must answer vocally and in unison:  'No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country.'”

Cardinal Robert McElroy, Homily Vigil Mass for Peace, Washington DC, 11 April 2026


The 'deal' for an enduring ceasefire between the US/Israel - Iran fell apart rather quickly this weekend. I am sure you can read about the questionable conduct and progress of the discussions for yourself. 

And on Sunday evening the stock futures opened significantly lower as one might have expected, given that they had recently rallied sharply on word of the ceasefire and discussions.

But fear not, as is customary on a Monday these days, stocks were elevated higher by steady program buying that squeezed all the precautionary shorts from over the weekend, and then some.

This is a familiar play, in my opinion orchestrated and promoted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, with his facilities in the ESF, and his cronies in hedge funds and Wall Street.

The Dollar took a serious dive.

Gold and silver were hit hard overnight, but eventually took back their losses and posted modest gains.

Even Bitcoin managed to gain back everything it had lost over the weekend, and ended up where it closed on Friday evening.

So, great success, right?

Welcome to Fantasy Island.   

If you have not figured out yet what is happening, and the risks that are involved, then I probably won't be able to say anything that can penetrate and persuade.  

You will just have to see. 

This is certain to become more interesting.  I would, however, like to be watching this unfold from a much greater distance.

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

 

"Far-called, our navies melt away;
     On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
     Is one with Nineveh and Tyre.
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!"

Rudyard Kipling, Recessional, 1897

"During the Roman Triumph, when a great hero was recognized by a procession through the city, a slave was kept behind them, whispering in their ear: Memento mori, 'Remember that thou art a man.'  Perhaps a member of their modern retinue can whisper this to our financiers and the politicians,  as they bask in their moments of power and triumph, and forget their commonality with the people.  But madness has no discourse with logic."

Jesse, Memento Mori, 24 July 2011

"Peter, verily, verily, I say to you, when you were young, you dressed yourself, and walked where you liked.  But when you are old, you will stretch out your your hands, and another will dress you, and will take you where you would not like to go.'"

John 21:17-19

"Et Jehanne, la bonne Lorraine,
   Qu'Anglois bruslerent à Rouen;
Où sont-ilz, Vierge souveraine?
   Mais où sont les neiges d'antan."

François Villon, Ballade des dames du temps jadis, 1489

"Where are the princes of this world, and those who lorded it over the creatures of the earth?  Those who made sport of the birds of the air, and hoarded up riches in which they trusted.  Those for whom there is no limit to their greed, those who schemed to get more wealth, and were always anxious about their possessions.  Now there is no trace of them.  They have vanished down into the earth, and others have risen to take their place."

Baruch 3:16-19

"Wir sind aus solchem Zeug, wie das zu Träumen,
    Und Träume schlagen so die Augen auf
Wie kleine Kinder unter Kirschenbäumen,
    Und drei sind Eins: ein Mensch, ein Ding, ein Traum."

H. von Hofmannsthal, Terzinen über Vergänglichkeit, 1894

"Fascist politics invokes a mythic past which may be religiously, racially, or culturally pure. The dangers of fascist politics come from the way in which it dehumanizes segments of the population. By excluding these groups, it limits the capacity for empathy among citizens, leading to the justification of inhumane treatment, from repression of freedom, mass imprisonment, expulsion, and mass extermination. Schools are to indoctrinate the glorious achievements of the dominant race."

Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works, 2018

"A true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, we are not going to be judged.”

Czeslaw Milosz, Discreet Charm of Nihilism, NYRB November 19, 1998


Stocks did a little pop and flop today, as the course of 'peace talks' in Islamabad between the US and Iran are on shaky ground.   Iran insists that a cease fire must include Lebanon and the Israel incursions there, which have the appears of Gaza-like action.

Let's see if Trump can bring Netanyahu into the fold.   Dare he bring speak to him publicly as he has done to Zelensky?  

US Consumer Sentiment this morning was at an historic low as shown in the chart below.

The Dollar continued to slide.

Gold was held in check, but silver managed to take and hold a gain.

VIX is now at a recent low.  Not quite complacent, but relatively sans souci given the gravity of the situation and the state of the rapidly deteriorating global economy.

Nothing to see here but greatness, move along.

Trump has promised his staff that they will receive 'mass pardons' before he leaves office.

Take good care of your boss guys.   Goldenagers are always tripping the rift between this world and the next.  As the old Polish saying goes, 'Old age is no joke.'

Let's see how the weekend goes.  

Need little, want less, love more.  For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.

Have a pleasant weekend. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Hide Us From the Wrath of the Lamb

 

"Some men want war for sordid, others for idealistic, reasons; some for personal gain, others for impersonal principle.  But most of those who consciously want war and accept it, and so help to create its 'inevitability,' want it in order to shift the locus of their problems."

C. Wright Mills, The Causes of World War III, 1960

"If at the start this cancerous growth in the nation was not particularly noticeable, it was only because there were still enough forces at work that operated for the good, so that it was kept under control. As it grew larger, however, and finally in an ultimate spurt of growth attained ruling power, the tumor broke open, as it were, and infected the whole body."

Die Weiße Rose, Second Leaflet, Munich 1942

"We know that the harming or killing of men and women is wrong, and we are reluctant consciously to do what we know to be wrong.  But when particular men and women are thought of merely as representatives of a class, which has previously been defined as evil and personified in the shape of a devil, then the reluctance to hurt or murder disappears."

Aldous Huxley, Words and Behaviour, 1936

“Once they’re in power, narcissists consolidate their position by firing everyone who challenges them. In their place rise a plague of toadies, opportunists, and enablers equally guided by self-interest and short on scruples. So you end up with these individualistic cultures with no teamwork and low integrity.

True narcissists, Professor Charles O’Reilly says, are self-serving and lack integrity. 'They believe they’re superior and thus not subject to the same rules and norms. Studies show they’re more likely to act dishonestly to achieve their ends. They know they’re lying, and it doesn’t bother them. They don’t feel shame.

But even worse, narcissists change the companies or countries they lead, much like bad money drives out good, and those changes can outlast their own tenure. Divergent voices are silenced, flattery and servility are rewarded, and cynicism and apathy corrode any sense of shared purpose in a culture where everyone’s out for themselves. In the extreme, they can destroy the institution itself.'"

Lee Simmons, How Narcissistic Leaders Destroy From Within, April 30, 2020

"Whoever today still doubts the reality, the existence of demonic powers, has failed by a wide margin to understand the metaphysical background of this war.  Behind the concrete, the visible events, behind all the objective, logical considerations, we find that which goes beyond the merely rational: the struggle against evil, against the servants of the antichrist."

Die Weiße Rose, Fourth Leaflet, Munich, 1942

Stocks extended their rally today, in what appears to be a short squeeze, and a hand off of valuations at a near term top.

Gold and silver managed modest gains, as the Dollar continued to slump.

VIX fell to a surprisingly low mark, all things considered.

Is this optimism?  Or short term market manipulation.

Gentlemen and ladies, place your bets. 

My bet is on the continuation of the trends based on what is, rather than that which appears to be. 

The first chart below shows the growing 'empire of lawlessness' being fostered in the US.

It is not all that hard to discover what is actually happening around the world, if you will open your eyes and stop stuffing poison into your minds.

But to maintain the courage to remain standing, when the love of most grows cold, one must fill their fearful hearts with faith and love.

Have a pleasant evening.