Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - On Top of the World - Le Dénouement, à la Chinoise

“On top of the world,
Or in the depths of despair—
Happy alone is the soul that loves."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,  Klärchens Lied, aus Egmont

Stocks were on a wild tear higher.

Let's chalk this one up to the words of Fed Chair Jay Powell who sees a strong economy permitting more interest rate increases.

Gold and silver were taken out to the woodshed and beaten lower, with the Dollar slightly higher.

Stocks are putting in another blow off top. Don't try and get in front of them, but this one will end up like the rest.

Our defining character is fraud in the service of Mammon.

And the Deep State is howling a hurricane.

Trumpolini is fortunate in his opposition.  Which is too bad, because he brings out the worst in his followers.  And unfortunately the opposition tries to answer in kind.   Too bad. Darkness cannot defeat darkness.

Little Dolly has been sitting in my lap, shivering with fear, since a cold front bringing thunderstorms has started rolling through. 

As a reminder, there will be a stock options expiration at the end of this week.

And a Comex precious metals option expiration next week on Thursday, the 26th.

The struggle to cover the physical gold withdrawals from the Hong Kong Comex listed warehouses continues. Not to mention the less visible, like Singapore.

There is certainly nothing happening with the gold warehouses in New York.  It is locked down tight, like a morgue.

Gold is flowing from West to East. It is the most striking phenomenon of modern monetary developments. And yet so few see it, and fewer remark on it.

Smells like teen spirit. Or is that desperation? The price action tells us something. What is it?

This is quite a wild party being thrown for us by the elite—   a bonfire of the vanities, we suspect. Part three, le dénouement.

And they all fall down.

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

Have a pleasant evening.

Russia Adds One Million Ounces to Gold Reserves In March - Update on the Currency War

"There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936

In the tripolar world of Europe, US, and East Asia, Russia may play a pivotal role in a fourth sphere of influence.

Europe and the US are pressing heavily on its western borders, trying to limit Russia to Western Asia.

Thus I have said that if the push for one world corporatist government under the dollar banner falters, Russia may play a pivotal role in the composition of influences and the struggle for power that will follow.

At least for now, that struggle will be played out in currencies and economics of production. Control of production and the cost of labor involved is a high priority for the multinationals. What is of a lower priority is consumption, and the settlement of consumption through an equitable international currency arrangement.

The frenzy of the US elites to pass the 'trade deals' with Asia and Europe is indicative of their concerns that the progress of their plans is reaching a critical impasse. These deals will fortify the corporatist control over North America, a prerequisite before intensifying their plans for Europe and Asia. I suspect that, when push comes to shove, Asia will be little more than Japan, Australia, and a few other client states. China will almost certainly choose its own say more fitting to its domestic situation which may become more precarious.

 

Gold is of obvious strategic importance in this struggle since it is a means of settling international payments that does not as easily fall into the financial controls of one faction or another, as is the case with a fiat currency which is, at the end of the day, an instrument of highly discretionary power.

The discussions of these topics on US media is interesting to watch.   I fully expect for the propaganda to reach ever more ridiculous levels, and for any domestic dissent to be crushed before it can gain any momentum. 

 

The differences between the Wall St. Democrats and the Corporatist Republicans will continue to become increasingly cosmetic and more factional and social than substantial, in the manner of two competing gangs seeking their own enrichment rather than elected representatives of a diverse population.  Big money is steadily disenfranchising the electorate, and the credibility trap chokes off meaningful reform.  

 

Greece may in turn become more pivotal in this struggle between the West and Europe. The difference in treatment between the people of Greece and the government of the Ukraine should be more obvious to the Western observer. The lesson is certainly not lost on the rest of the world. The US-Europe may court you, but once they entwine their fingers through your hands, you are theirs to dispose of as they please.

That is a failing of the winner's curse. They start overreaching in their belief that they will simply move from victory to victory, no matter how clumsy and brutal their tactics may become.

What Is Happening With Gold: Russian Economist Mikhail Khazin - Of Volatility and Collars

There are some interesting observations contained in this excerpt of a recent interview with Russian economist Mikhail Khazin.   He is not speaking on behalf of the Russian government, so we must take his opinions as we may from a private individual observing things from a different corner of the world.

 Here is a bio of Mr. Khazin.

I found some particular interest in his views on the price of gold, and the approach of Russia and China in buying physical gold on the world markets, without attempting to break the leverage of the paper gold markets directly. 

This would of course lead to increasing volatility in the price of precious metals until a market break provides the opportunity for the paper and physical market to converge.  Mr. Khazin believe this will be triggered by the bursting of the next financial bubble. 

Whether this scenario should actually come about is a matter of some speculation.  I do not know what Russia and China will do, and how the West might respond. So we should look carefully at the accumulation of gold by Russia and China, and the general buying patterns of other central banks as well.

One might expect the speculative exchanges to take some steps to protect themselves from increasing volatility, such as establishing trading collars or limits, in the price of gold and silver.  Oh my.

This is just a brief portion of an interview covering a number of topics. You may read the entire interview here.

 

"It had been clear to many economists for a long time that the role of gold in the world will grow and, most likely, will return to its position as a single measure of value. In particular, we wrote about the current crisis back in 2004 in our book The Decline of the Dollar Empire and the End of the Pax Americana. There's a whole chapter devoted to the role of gold and its manipulation.

However, Russian economic leaders close to the IMF ignored this position at the time. This only began to change in the last couple of years. China has been serious about gold for almost the entire last decade and is now actively preparing for a potential transition to a 'gold standard,' at least in economic relations between the so-called 'currency zones' which, in our opinion, will emerge after the single world dollar system falls apart.

But Russia and China cannot stop these manipulations, because the price of paper gold is determined on the speculative dollar markets. They can’t provide 'leverage' that would be comparable to that of major U.S. banks that have access to an unlimited issuing resource. The only thing they can do is increase the gap between the price of 'paper' and 'physical' gold by constantly buying the latter on the world markets.

Of course, this increases the instability in the global gold market and creates potential losses for the main 'gold dealers' who work with the Federal Reserve on leasing programs, but the degree of imbalances has not reached a critical value yet. It seems to me that the sharp rise in gold prices will start after the burst of the next 'bubble' in the US stock market.

With regard to the potential price of gold, as I wrote back in the early 2000's, it is determined by a 'fork,' the lower limit of which is the gold price in 1980, when it had its local peak after the dollar was decoupled from gold (USA default) in August 1971, and the upper limit of which is the purchasing power of the dollar in the early twentieth century, when gold was actual money. Today this 'fork' (in current dollars) is seen somewhere at the level of $ 4,500 - $ 15,000 per Troy ounce."