Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

"Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive."

Sir Walter Scott, Marmion

Thin premiums on another 'record day' for stocks.

I bought volatility when the SP 500 June Futures tagged 1568 intraday.  As you know volatility is just another name for uncertainty.

That is close enough to my intermediate target of 1570 to have a go at it. We may get back up there for a couple more tests.

I think the hit on the metals today was rather heavy-handed and obvious. The Gold/Silver ratio is approaching an extreme.

Remember that Non-Farm Payrolls is on Friday.  I was therefore expecting a hit on the metals, and here it is.  It may not be over. 

The COT seems to indicate that this is in the hands of the hedge funds and momentum funds in addition to the usual suspects.  They tend to move quickly when there is a turn.

As you may recall I tend to take a long view of the precious metals bull market as the progress of the ongoing currency war which will result in the establishment of a new global currency regime to replace what we have called 'Bretton Woods II' based on the fiat US dollar.

I believe gold will play a role in this, and probably silver as well, if not in a formal way, then as a modifier or a 'hedge.'

Respect your timeframes and your ability to endure risk, because there will be risk aplenty no matter what you may do.
It is probably better to leave leverage to the professionals.

Risk? What Risk? We Don't See No Stinkin' Risk..

"It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion." Paul Joseph Goebbels

As measured by the VIX, the volatility index, the perception of risk in US markets has declined significantly in the last twelve months from over 50 to current readings around 20.



As a response to this changed perception, mutual funds are once again fully invested, with levels of cash reserves at record lows. In other words, the 'other people's money' crowd are all in.



There is an interesting distribution top forming in the US equity markets. This rally has been driven by liquidity delivered from the Fed and the Treasury primarily to the Wall Street banks, who are deriving an extraordinary amount of their income from trading for their own books, at least based on published results.

Much of the rally in US stocks has occurred on thin volumes and in the overnight trading sessions. Definitely not a vote of confidence, and a sign of potential price manipulation in fact.

Is this a 'set up' to separate the public from even more of their own money, using their own money? Perhaps.

The government is frantic to restore confidence in the US markets, and the toxic asset rich banks are more than capable of using that sincere interest to unload their mispriced paper on the greater fools again.

The perception of risk is a powerful tool in shaping the response of markets, and as an instrument of foreign and domestic government policy actions. It is nothing new, as indicated by the quote from Joseph Goebbels, but it is rising to new levels of sophistication and acceptance in nations with at least a nominal commitment to freedom of choice and transparency of governance.

"There is a social theory called reflexivity which refers to the circular relationship between cause and effect. A reflexive relationship is bidirectional where both the cause and the effect affect one another in a situation that renders both functions causes and effects.

The principle of reflexivity was first introduced by the sociologist William Thomas as the Thomas theorem, but more importantly it was later popularized and applied to the financial markets by George Soros. Soros restated the social theory of reflexivity eloquently and simply, as follows:

markets influence events they anticipate – George Soros

This theorem has become a basic tenant of modern central banking. The idea is that manipulation of the psychology of market participants affects the markets themselves. Therefore, if you artificially suppress the price of gold, you reduce inflationary expectations and reduce inflation itself…so the theory goes."

Why Do the World's Central Banks Manipulate the Price of Gold?

For now we must watch the key levels of resistance around 1115 in the SP. A trading range is most probable but there is a potential distribution top forming with a down side objective around 870 on the SP 500.

It does bear watching, closely, keeping in mind that this is an option expiration week, and the traders expect the market to misrepresent its price discovery, as the result of conscious manipulation.

Comparison of 1928-32 and 2007-11

There are important differences in the nature of the declines. The current series looks like a bear market in the form of 1973-4 whereas 1929-32 was much more precipitous. This may be attributed to the extraordinary actions of the FED and Treasury. However, this may only soften the blow and not the outcome, most likely adjusted for inflation.




The Intraday Volatility matches up nicely so far as we have aligned them Peak to Peak without regard to pricing. It will be in the market action going forward where the model will be assessed here.

Having Trouble With This Market? Highest Volatility in a Century at Least

Can't seem to hold a position, make a decent return, keep from getting whipsawed, find a trend?

No wonder, because this is one of the most volatile markets in the past century.

Our opinion, for what it is worth, is that the volatility is being turbocharged by the injections of Fed liquidity into the Wall Street banks, who have few options for higher returns than Treasuries. So their trading desks are churning the markets to hammer the hedge funds and skin the small specs who are loss sensitive and unsophisticated in their use of leverage and hedging.

The financial sector needs to be reformed badly. The economy will not recover until real wages start advancing again so consumption and savings can resume. Look for the well-heeled elites to fight that every step of the way, and appeal to the worst in our character as part of a campaign to do it.

If you are not an experienced trader now is a good time to sit in cash and add some precious metals on weakness, and above all, learn to live within your means.