Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Jesting Pilate

 

“God's truth judges created things out of love, and Satan's truth judges them out of envy and hatred. Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Be merciful, just as your Father in heaven is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured for you. For as you measure, it will be measured to you."

Luke 6:36-38

Then Pilate went back into the praetorium, and having summoned Jesus he asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or have others told you about me?”  Pilate said, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and the chief priests have handed you over to me.  What have you done?” Jesus replied,

“My kingdom does not belong to this world.  If my kingdom did belong to this world, my followers would have fought to prevent me from being handed over to the Jews.  The fact is that my kingdom is not here.”

Pilate then said to him, “So you are a king!”  Jesus answered, “It is you who say that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

And Pilate asked, “What is truth?”

John 18:33-38

"It is important to observe that nowhere is it suggested that Dives' [the rich man] wealth is ill-gotten nor that Lazarus was his victim. The sin of Dives is that, cushioned by his lavish life-style, he was simply oblivious to the presence of a beggar at his gate."

Wilfrid Harrington

Pilate asked, 'what is truth?' while staring at truth in the flesh, and then turned and washed his hands of it.

To the proud peacocks of this attractive but deceitful world, virtue is a stranger, and truth a beggar. 

But even they must bend the knee to their master, money and power.

Stocks rallied.   And they went out nearer to their highs.

The VIX fell sharply.

I suspect the suspension of Biden's candidacy was viewed as removing some risk off the table, or at least some uncertainty. 

It was fairly obvious the Joe was past his 'sell by' date, but these things take time to resolve.  Even among us plebeians, no one wants to tell grandpa that he is too old to drive.  And he surely doesn't wish to hear it.

Gold and silver were hit early on, but managed to finish up fairly close to unchanged.

The Dollar also chopped sideways.

Comex metals option expiration this week.

Have a pleasant evening.

Little Cells of Joy and Peace In a Stricken World

 

We are called to acts of love, selfless acts that may be of little value in the eyes of a stricken world. 

Sheila is my friend, a long time patron of Le Café, and a wonderful human being.

"We can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world.  We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world.  There is nothing we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as our friend.”

Dorothy Day

And yes, dogs too. And birds and squirrels and all of God's creatures.

And especially the worthy and the unworthy poor, and those who are destitute in their hardened hearts being both blessed and blinded by the world, as they are all our brothers and sisters in the Lord. 

This is what we are all about.

Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me.

Matthew 25:40

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Hidden Hand of God

 

"The Lord did not come to make a display.  He came to heal and to teach suffering humanity.  For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been to appear and dazzle the beholders.

But for Him Who came to heal and to teach, the way was not just to appear here, but to place Himself in the service of those who needed Him, and to be made known to them as they could accept it, not diminishing the value of His Divine presence by overwhelming their capacity to receive it."

Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, 335 AD

"Wonderful providence indeed which is so silent, yet so efficacious, so constant, so unerring.  This is what baffles the power of Satan.  He cannot discern the Hand of God in what goes on; and though he would fain meet it and encounter it, in his mad and blasphemous rebellion against heaven, he cannot find it.

Crafty and penetrating as he is, yet his thousand eyes and his many instruments avail him nothing against the majestic serene silence, the holy imperturbable calm which reigns through the providences of God.  He makes a guess here, or does a bold act there, but all in the dark.  If even devils, sagacious as they are, spirits by nature and experienced in evil, cannot detect His hand while He works, how can we hope to see it except by that way which the devils cannot take, by loving faith."

John Henry Newman, Christ Manifested in Remembrance

“There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action.

The books which the Holy Spirit is writing are the living, with every soul a volume in which the divine author makes a true revelation of His word, showing it to every heart, unfolding it in every moment.

To escape the pain caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good Providence, and give the present wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.”

Jean-Pierre de Caussade, L'Abandon a la Providence Divine

"Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me: for you are the God of my salvation; and I wait for you all the day. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and loving kindness for us, as they have always been of old."

Psalm 25:4-6

Well, today was an interesting day.

Stocks got hammered.

Gold and silver were body-slammed.

The Dollar was up slightly.

The VIX put in quite the impressive range, which no doubt was tied into the ghost of Y2K we experienced today.

Several of the online brokers were shut down for the day.

I'd be willing to bet that none of the pigmen were locked out of trading.

How did one Wall Street wiseguy put it, 'like shooting fish in a barrel.'

After figuring out that none of my orders were going anywhere I took the day off.  And I am glad that I did.

Life is too short.  And it's good to walk away from the game every now and then.

But the need to regulate and keep these jokers honest has never been more apparent.  

And quite frankly it isn't happening.

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

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind

 

"What miserable drones and traitors have I nurtured and promoted in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric. O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this troublesome Priest?"

Henry II, speaking about Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Christmas 1170, historical sources.^[1]

"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, 2017

"The historical evidence is overwhelming. Many societies have done well for a while – until powerful people get out of hand.  This is an easy pattern to see at a distance and in other cultures.   It is typically much harder to recognize when your own society now has an elite less subject to effective constraints and more able to exert power in an abusive fashion. And given the long history of strong institutions in the United States, it appears particularly difficult for some people to acknowledge that we have serious governance issues that need to be addressed."

Simon Johnson, Jamie Dimon and the Fall of Nations, Economix, May 31, 2012

 

I am not watching bubblevision today.  Pretty much for the same reasons I am not watching the network news and the RNC.   It's like watching a drunk grabbing their keys and bolting for their car.  It's hard to stop, and almost guaranteed not to end well.

And who is going to tell grandpa that he's not allowed to drive anymore.

But apparently Netflix did not post good results in their earnings call after the bell, since the stock is lower in afterhours.

Gold and silver were smacked down fairly hard.  And the miners followed.

The Dollar rallied.

VIX rose.

I think quite a bit of this is for the stock option expiration tomorrow, and perhaps for the Comex metals option expiration on Thursday the 25th. 

While we are mesmerized with the bread and circuses at home, dumpster fires are raging in the Ukraine and the Mideast.  If Israel invades Lebanon, then it's Katy bar the door.

The young man is a married man now.  A milestone long anticipated.  

Few Americans really understand what their leaders have been doing in the world. It's discouraging to see how servile the media has become to the moneyed interests and their narratives.  But apparently it is more the historical norm that we have been led to believe.

We who murder the prophets, and persecute the messengers who tell the truth.  

While the band played on.

When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Listen, and I Will Tell You a Mystery

 

"When I look up at the heavens
      that have been formed by your hands,
the moon and the stars
      that you have set in place—
What is man that you are mindful of him,
      and the son of man, that you care for him?"

Psalm 8:3-4

“We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him.  We do not understand that His call is a thing that takes place now.  We think it took place in the Apostles' days, but we do not believe in it; we do not look for it in our own case.

God beholds you.  He calls you by name.  He sees you, and understands you, as He made you.  He knows what is in you, all your peculiar feelings and thoughts, your dispositions and likings, your strengths and your weaknesses.  He views you in your day of rejoicing and in your day of sorrow.  He sympathizes in your hopes and your temptations.  He interests Himself in all your anxieties and remembrances, all the risings and fallings of your spirit.

He encompasses you round and bears you in His arms.  He notes your very countenance, whether smiling or in tears.  He looks tenderly upon you.  He hears your voice, the beating of your heart, and your very breathing.   You do not love yourself better than He loves you.  You cannot shrink from pain more than He dislikes your bearing it; and if He puts it on you, it is as you would put it on yourself, if you would be wise, for a greater good afterwards.

God has created me to do Him some definite service;  He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.  I have my mission -- I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next.   I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.  He has not created me for naught.  I shall do good, I shall do His work.  I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore I will trust Him.  Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.  If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.  If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.  He does nothing in vain.  He knows what He is about.   He may take away my friends.  He may throw me among strangers.  He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me -- still He knows what He is about.

Let us feel what we really are--sinners attempting great things.  Let us simply obey God's will, whatever may come.  He can turn all things to our eternal good.  Easter day is preceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that they only who sow in tears shall reap in joy.  The more we do, the more shall we trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.

May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.  Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.”

John Henry Newman
 

Late last night stocks took a decided turn lower.

The Dollar started slumping around 4 AM.

And gold ralllied sharply.

Silver, along with a few other key industrial metals, turned lower in sympathy with stocks.

As I have mentioned a few times in the past, when I was during multivariate regression analysis of the precious metals and other things, it was apparent that unlike gold silver has about a 50%  sensitivity to economic conditions.

The VIX is very rangebound.

My gut hunch is that today was just some preliminary shenanigans ahead of the stock option expiration on Friday.

I didn't see any particular news.  But I may have missed it.

Stock option expiration this Friday, and a Comex precious metals option expiration next week.

If Israel invades Lebanon there is going to be a battle royale in the Mideast.  Ukraine is also on a slow boil, but I don't think they stand a chance unless the US gets far more involved.   Same with Israel most likely.

All exogenous events worth watching for their mispriced risk factors.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Oligarchy and the Plutocracy - The Metals Rally

 

"Like the Labour Party in Britain and its equivalents among former social democratic parties such as the Labor Party in Australia, still describing themselves as 'liberal' or even 'left', Syriza is the product of an affluent, highly privileged, educated middle class, 'schooled in postmodernism', as Alex Lantier wrote.
For them, class is the unmentionable, let alone an enduring struggle, regardless of the reality of the lives of most human beings.  They lead not the resistance that ordinary people crave, but 'better terms' of a venal status quo that corrals and punishes the poor.  When merged with 'identity politics' and its insidious distractions, the consequence is not resistance, but subservience.  Mainstream political life in Britain exemplifies this."

John Pilger, The Problem of Greece is not Only a Tragedy: It is a Lie, CounterPunch, Jul 13, 2015

"The American economy increasingly serves only a narrow part of society, and America's national politics has failed to put the country back on track through honest, open, and transparent problem solving. Too many of America's elites-among the super-rich, the CEOs, and many of my colleagues in academia-have abandoned a commitment to social responsibility. They chase wealth and power, the rest of society be damned."

Jeffrey Sachs, The Price of Civilization, October 4, 2011

“It could be argued that we are now in the midst of a coup d’état in slow motion.  Democracy is weakening; few people would disagree.  Corporatism is strengthening; you only have to look around you.  Yet none of us has chosen this route for our society, in spite of which our elites quite happily continue down it.  Certainly corporatism is creating a conformist society.  It is a modern form of feudalism.”

John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization, 1995

"This elite-generated social control maintains the status quo because the status quo benefits and validates those who created and sit atop it.  People rise to prominence when they parrot the orthodoxy rather than critically analyze it.  Real change in politics or society cannot occur under the orthodoxy because if it did, it would threaten the legitimacy of the professional class and all of the systems that helped them achieve their status.

Kristine Mattis, The Cult of the Professional Class, April 4, 2016


It was a solid 100°F here today.  Not all that unusual for July.  But it certainly does not encourage one to do yardwork.

For the 2024 election the alternative independent choice is going to be a third party, and probably Robert Kennedy.  The establishment hates and fears him for his independence.  And they smear and try to silence him relentlessly.  That's a pretty good endorsement, because they themselves are unprincipled and corrupt, faithless and venal warmongers.

Our oligarchy is the public face of the plutocracy.   An oligarchy is a government where the public discussion and agenda are significantly controlled by an elite minority.   A plutocracy is a government controlled by a few wealthy individuals.  

So what we have is a government in which an elite, credentialed minority holds most of the power, and serves for pay on the behalf of a wealthy few.

Old as Babylon, evil as sin.

Gold and silver rallied briskly today, going out near the highs.

The Dollar just chopped around.

VIX is still wallowing.

Tech was lower, the SP 500 and the broader market managed to post gains.

Option expiration on Friday.

If you keep in mind that the US is ruled by a credentialed oligarchy, for the benefit of a wealthy few, then a lot of things will make better sense as you  look at them.

Call it 'deep state' if you will, although some dislike this term.  But there is an inner clique of power, that is able to kill presidents, flout the law at will, knock skyscrapers flat, and foment wars of aggression that result in the death of millions — and not be held accountable for any of it.  They deal in illusions.

And you will not able to stand against it, against the allure of power and money, unless you keep and hold fast to the love of God in your heart.

In the end, you will be found applauding the powers of darkness in this world, with blood on your hands, believing in unconscionable evil, and be proud of it.  

You may be miserable in hell, but you will have the company of some of the finest people.

It's a brisk trade in human weakness and folly.

Have a pleasant evening.