Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Madness of the Pharisees

 

Just then a scholar of the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ And the scholar answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ But wanting to justify himself, the scholar asked Jesus, ‘And who then is my neighbour?’

"As you know, this passage above is the introduction to one of the greatest and most memorable of the parables from our Lord's own lips, the story of The Good Samaritan. Our Lord did not offer us an exemption from sin if we call on His name, but forgiveness, if that request is offered in true repentance, a recognition of our faults, and faith, and an active response to His command to 'go and sin no more.'

It might be better to have been born without any knowledge of His word and His commandments, than to hear His words and then hypocritically parade in them and His sacraments, with intricate invocations of His holy name on your lips, as a call to hatefulness, pride, division, self-justification, and oppression.

I am speaking now, more directly, to those who embrace hatred and spread thoughts of violence and repression, often in the name of God, giving scandal to His faithful on earth.

I am speaking to those who stoke the fires of hatefulness, and violent words, gossip and name calling, insults and hardness towards their brothers and sisters in this world, while cynically asking, Who is my neighbor? Surely not them.

We are a generation made drunk with power, and a perverse individualism that has been foretold for increasingly dark times. Examine your own actions and thoughts and behaviors first. For you will not be called upon to answer for what others do, but what you have done.

May God have mercy on any who provide provocation and false teachings to others, and scandalous examples to their brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, especially because of their willful selfishness, stubborn greed, and foolish pride. And you know who you are, if you are not already completely dead to the life of the Spirit."

Jesse, To a Power Drunk Generation, 19 January 2015

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not abide by the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

John 8:44

"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 1937

Gold was powering higher overnight, and as the market closed for the day was around 3986, within striking distance of $4000.

Silver also moved higher, grabbing the $48 handle.

Bitcoin is hitting new highs.  

Stocks were meandering around until the last hours of the day when to rallied closing higher.

This is a bubble.  It is badly mispricing risk and is overvalued.  It may get even more overvalued.

When the bust comes it may turn into a liquidation event, and most everything will be sold.

But until then, we will party on, and certain ruling elites will claim validation for their actions in the risk markets.  

I have been watching some interesting analysis that suggests that Charlie Kirk was not killed by a high powered hunting rifle from a distance, but the actual shot that hit his neck was fired by a lower velocity air powered pistol from closer by and a different direction.   

And it makes some sense on a number of levels, especially given the type of damage done and the wound.

But who ever heard of a political assassination being done and covered up while being pinned on a patsy. 

These will be increasingly difficult times.

The madness and hypocrisy, the lies and lawlessness of the Pharisees are spreading like a contagion.

What matters is that you do not become swept up in this, and find yourself passionately drawn into the abyss of madness that is going to claim these who have fallen away.

And that is what matters above all to you, your soul.   For if that is lost, nothing else matters. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - A Never-Ending Stream of Crises

 

"The problem of the last three decades is not the 'vicissitudes of the marketplace,' but rather deliberate actions by the government to redistribute income from the rest of us to the one percent."

Dean Baker, The Market Would Be a Big Improvement, 29 September 2014

"As the boom developed, the big men became more and more omnipotent in the popular or at least the speculative view.  The big men decided to put the market up, and even some serious scholars have been inclined to think that a concerted move catalyzed this upsurge."

John K. Galbraith, The Great Crash of 1929, 1955

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege."

Thomas Clement Douglas, quoted in How the Liberals Abandoned the Just Society, 1995

"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. It is not merely that at present the rule of naked force obtains almost everywhere. Bully-worship has become a universal religion."

George Orwell, Review of Bertrand Russell's Power, 1939

"Through its monopoly over the media, the ruling oligarchy can repeatedly blame all its failures on others, and divert attention to external threats – either real or imaginary. When you live under such an oligarchy, there is always some crisis or other that takes priority over boring stuff such as healthcare and pollution.

If the nation is facing external invasion or diabolical subversion, who has time to worry about overcrowded hospitals and polluted rivers?  By manufacturing a never-ending stream of crises, a corrupt oligarchy can prolong its rule indefinitely.”

Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, 2018

This may be the calm before the storm.

Gold punched higher, setting a new closing high.  It is now within striking distance  of 4000, which has been my long term target for a number of years.

Although this is unfolding in almost exactly the way I had anticipated, some years ago, it is still surprising and gratifying to see it.

The same thing can be said for silver, which is similarly in striking distance of 50.

On the other hand, stocks are making blow off bubble tops sustained by the egoism of he-who-must-not-be-named.

But when the trigger event comes along, and there are a number of increasingly likely candidates, this bubbled up bloatfest of mispriced risk is going to deflate like styrofoam in a roaring furnace of reality.

As Orwell noted for his time in the 1930, bully-worship is a near universal religion, as force is admired as an end.   

But now and it did then, the bullies can only overreach so far, and stumble.  And then they fall into a spinning maelstrom of blowback that leaves them nearly unrecognizable. 

The most important thing is to guard yourself, your soul, in all this madness.  Because that is what the struggle is all about.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Their Minds and Consciences Are Tainted

 

“'The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, adorned with riches, holding in her hand a golden cup full of idolatry and the impurities of her lawlessness; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: 'Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth’s abominations.'"

Revelation 17:4-6

"Their tongues are devious weapons, bent like a drawn bow.  With falsehoods rather than truth they have gained power in the land. They commit one crime after another.  They do not know me."

Jeremiah 9:3

"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.  But the one who now restrains it will continue to do so until he is taken away.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay by the breath of his mouth and bring to an end with the splendor of his coming.

The coming lawlessness will be the work of Satan made manifest in all power and false signs and wonders, and in every wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to accept the love of the truth to be saved.

For this reason, God permits them a powerful delusion to believe their lies, that all may be condemned who deny the truth and instead take pleasure in lawlessness."

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12

"Rebuke them clearly, so that they may be restored in the faith, instead of following traditions and laws of people who have repudiated the truth.  Both their minds and their consciences are tainted.  They claim to know God, but by their acts they deny him, being vile and disobedient, and worthless for any good cause."

Titus 1:13-16

"All the world marveled at this, and gave their allegiance to the Beast.  And they worshiped the serpent, for giving such power to him, as they also worshiped the Beast. 'Who is as great as the Beast?' they exclaimed. 'And who is able to resist him?'  And the Beast was allowed to commit great blasphemies against God."

Revelation 13:3-5


And here it is, ladies and gentlemen— our big, beautiful bubble. 

How appropriate that we look to worldly corruption for confirmation of 'our greatness'.

Is this the great falling away?   Probably not.

But this is a time of war criminals and oath-breakers, when lies become the common currency, not just for greed and hate, but for their own sake.  

This is a time when empathy and reason are despised as weakness, and replaced with mutual hate and violence.

This too will pass, but is not going to end well.

Those who are falling away to serve the idols of the world have never listened, even to one who has risen from the dead.  Why would they listen now?

Do not fall away with them.

There may or may not be Non-Farm Payrolls number released tomorrow.   If they do appear, they will be of dubious authenticity since their manager was recently replaced by a compliant supplicant.

This is the problem at core with US markets.  The risk is that they are tainted with deception.   

And this is why the world is choosing to anchor the safety of their assets in gold and silver. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Consumed in Their Bitterness and Anger

 

"Stop your lying, and speak the truth to your neighbor, for we belong to one another.  Do not let your anger drag you into sin.  Do not let the sun set on your anger, and give the devil an invitation into your heart."

Ephesians 4:25-28

"Strive for peace with all, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord,  Take care that no one falters from the grace of God, and that no bitterness takes root and flourishes in troubles, for by this many will become corrupted."

Hebrews 12:14-15

"Few things are more destructive to Christians than anger.  Anger causes us to lose our self-control and to say and do things we would otherwise never consider.  Anger, if allowed to remain, turns into bitterness that eats away at our hearts.  Anger does not bring about God’s redemptive work; far more often it hinders what God is working to accomplish.

Is your anger turning into bitterness?  Is your anger causing you to speak in an unchristian manner to someone or to gossip about them?  Is your anger causing you to make excuses for your own ungodly behavior?  Is your anger preventing you from acting in a loving, redemptive, and Christlike way?  You must examine any anger within you and allow God to remove any sinful attitudes that your anger may have produced."

Henry Blackaby, Christian Anger

"Those wishing abundant wealth are falling into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful passions which plunge them into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all evil, and people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.  But you people of God, avoid this.  Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness."

1 Timothy 6:9-11

"But the scholar of the law, wanting to justify himself, asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'”

Luke 10:29

"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be with the coming of the Son of man. In the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, even to that very day in which Noah entered into the ark. They did not know what was happening, even as the flood came and swept them all away."

Matthew 24:37-39


If the armor of God is love crystallized from faith, then the armor of the devil is bitterness and hate, hardened from pride and anger. 

This has been an interesting time, a time of revelations and the falling away of masks.

Serve whom you will serve, and now you must surely be unable to hide behind a false ignorance.

Take your deal with the devil if you will, and let your will be done to you.

I no longer know you. 

Stocks flopped again on the open, but were steadily driven higher into the close.

VIX did a similar about face, coming in high and going out low.

It's just a working hypothesis as there is only circumstantial proof, but I am playing this with the thought that Donnie has unleashed Bessent and his facilities at the ESF to paint a pretty picture with the markets.

The White House that since the government has been 'shut down' we won't be seeing certain government collected data.

Here is all data being suspended:
- Jobless claims
- Nonfarm payrolls
- Consumer Price Index & Producer Price Index
- Retail sales, factory orders, housing starts, trade data
- Employment Trends Index

We may see quite a bit more of this, and it will work for a while.  

But it is not sustainable.

Gold came in hard with a rally to a new high, but was pushed back to unchanged at the close.

Silver is still hanging in there at some impressive highs.

The recent speeches to the gathering of America's top military officers was painful to watch.

And the President declared that certain American cities can be used as 'training grounds for the military' to crush the enemies within. 

The masks are falling away, and what has been hidden is being revealed.

Faustus, who embraced evil and shunned righteousness, became the foremost symbol of the misuse of free will, that sublime gift from God with its inherent opportunity to choose virtue and reject iniquity. Faustus had advanced beyond the level of a scarlet sinner — he was a conscious follower of the Prince of Darkness.

The fact he could publicly project an Antichrist image with pride, having no fear of reprisal, and his seeming diabolical art of escaping all punishment when others who were considered heretics had burned at the stake for less, would certainly signal that an unnatural individual walked in their midst. It is true in many respects he assumed the role of the charlatan, yet how apropos, considering his willingness to follow the Father of Lies and deception.

E.A. Bucchianeri, Faust: My Soul Be Damned for the World

You may look away, but you can never again say you did not know. 

When the reckoning comes, it is going to be exceptionally dramatic, and memorable. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - When Reality Has Been Abandoned

 

"Nearly 50 years ago, Yale University economist Robert Triffin identified the inevitable future deterioration of the dollar in his book, Gold and the Dollar Crisis: The Future of Convertibility (1960). Essentially, Triffin argued, under the Bretton Woods system in which the U.S. dollar was the world’s principal reserve currency (instead of gold, for example), the United States had to incur large trade deficits in order to provide the rest of the world with the liquidity required for functioning of the global trading system.

Unfortunately, Triffin wrote, U.S. trade deficits eventually would undermine the foreign exchange value of the dollar because foreign accounts would hold an increasing quantity of dollars. Restating Triffin's argument in contemporary terms, as the proportion of dollar claims held abroad versus U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increases, the foreign exchange value of the dollar must decline if dollar interest rates do not increase at about the same rate as the foreign dollar claims.

Issuing the reserve currency gives domestic policy makers an advantage by making it easier to finance either domestic budget deficits or foreign trade deficits because there always is a ready bidders' market for any financing instruments from that issuer. Issuing the reserve currency enables the domestic population to consume more goods and services from whatever source than otherwise would be feasible. And issuing the reserve currency gives foreign policy officials of that nation the upper hand in determining multilateral approaches to either diplomacy or military action.

This last reason probably is why U.S. policy makers clung to the original Bretton Woods format for about 10 years beyond the point at which it still was viable, with the whole apparatus finally collapsing in August 1971."

Walker Todd, Triffin’s Dilemma, Reserve Currencies, and Gold, AEIR October 2010

Jesse: Gold and silver became interesting for the first time in the 1990’s, when I started to study the history of speculation and stock market crashes, and the rise and fall of bubbles. This led to a fairly serious study of the nature of money. Up to about 1999, I had no interest in gold and silver. What I saw happening in the world economy then sparked my interest in that subject.
     I write about gold and silver now because they are at the heart of what is happening. I am fascinated by the sea change in the world monetary system, which has been colloquially called ‘the currency wars.’

L.S.: Will those ‘currency wars’ intensify going forward according to your analysis, and if so, how do you think they will play out?
Jesse: Yes they will intensify and we are seeing that already. A fiat currency is an exercise in both confidence and power. As confidence weakens, the use of power must intensify to maintain it.

L.S.: If you were calling the shots, what would you do to solve the crisis?
Jesse: I obviously cannot address that in any reasonable amount of words, except to say that the influence of big money on the political process is the root of much evil.  At one time we had a thesis and antithesis in the political debate.  But now that the ruling class has found out that they may become quite rich by acquiescing to certain things, and that there are few consequences for what one may do in that pursuit, the outcome is fairly predictable. We have to bring back consequences, transparency, and the rule of law.

Jesse with German journalist Lars Schall, All Out Defense of the Status Quo, The Matterhorn Interview September/October 2013

"From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find a comfortable foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain. Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned."

Robert J. Bausch, Thoughts On the Business of Life, NY Times, 2002


To abandon reality one must give themselves over to lawlessness.   And having lost a firm anchor to  reality founded in independent laws and principles, the slide into delusion and madness is almost inevitable. 

Despite a very strong wave of paper selling, gold found a footing and managed to post yet another strong gain and new high.

Silver struggled a bit but is holding strong.

The Dollar continued to slide.

Stocks initially sold off, but managed to pull together and stage a rally in the quiet of the afternoon.

There will be a Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

It may move the markets.

I cannot stress enough that geopolitical events are going to be weighing heavily on the financial markets, sooner rather than later.  

The recklessness of a childishly selfish, shockingly arrogant few are going to be the catalysts for a  potentially highly destructive outbreak of renewed conflict. 

They have no shame or fear, and have convinced themselves that there will be no judgement or consequences.   This is the fruits of sustained moral hazard. 

We are in a period of elevated, and highly mispriced risk.

Do not be deceived.  For God is not mocked.  What a man sows, so shall he reap.

Have a pleasant evening. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Blindness Over Gaza

 

"Unhappy people are better off living in the city. A person can live in the city for a hundred years and not even realize that they are already dead and rotting. They don't have time to realize this on their own; they are always busy."

Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata, 1889

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all Heaven in a rage.
A dove house filled with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell through all its regions.
A dog starved at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street,
Shall weave Old England's winding sheet.
The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse."

William Blake, Auguries of Innocence, 1863

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880

“As though you could use violent, unjust means and achieve peace and justice!  Means determine ends; and must be like the ends proposed.  Means intrinsically different from the ends proposed achieve ends like themselves, not like those they were meant to achieve.”

Aldous Huxley, Eyeless in Gaza, 1963

Stocks did a fairly impressive 'wash and rinse' today, as the pumping up of the futures in anticipation of a grand meeting of colonial powers to announce a peace acceptable to vultures, failed to cohere.

Every time they open their mouths the foul stench of death and corruption wrapped in lies comes out.  And it fools no one anymore.

This market is overextended and on unstable footings.  Try not to get in front of it, because these things can drag on, especially with official sanction and support of powerful insiders who are in the process of looting.

Gold and silver, spotting the brazen falseness and hypocrisy of the markets continued to soar to new records, as investors sought safer havens for their wealth.

China is going to be on holiday for the rest of this week, so we may see some opportunities for mischief.

But, the momentum for now is fairly clear.  Let's see if they can keep it up.

VIX ticked higher.

The Dollar slid off the 98 handle.

With the DXY index bias to the euro, I would say gold is a much better barometer of fiat currency weakness and strength.

The US is engaged in some provocation in South America, perhaps in preparation for obtaining their oil when the next strike in the Mideast occurs and all hell breaks loose, and the straits of Hormuz are closed.

I sincerely hope that I am wrong, and stand with those who so far resisted the appeal of the madness.

But it seems as those the tides of the fourth turning are flowing strongly, and the heart of darkness will have its way, at least for some time.

As economist Robert Johnson noted, 'the oligarchy is audacious.'   And as the fraud fades, more force is required, until all will be revealed by the bluntness of the iron fist. 

Keep your eye on the prize, and remain standing in the light and life of the Lord. 

Have a pleasant evening.

Weekend Meditation - The Awful Hand of God

 

"They live out their days in prosperity, and slide peacefully down into hell."

Job 21:13

“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 has no gratitude, and 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. 

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 oppress and subjugate others, and please their 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 backbone of their power, and with chastisements humbles them.

One has come back from the dead and spoken to us, we who oppress the weak and murder the prophets. 

'The more secret God's hand is, the more powerful — the more silent, the more awful.'   And you will see the hand of God, chastening the powerful, and bringing low those who murder his sheep.

“I am going to shock the ears of all who hear. I will bring forth the things that I have proclaimed.  I will judge their house because they knew their sons have made themselves contemptible to me, and they did not try to restrain them.”

1 Samuel 3:11-13

God will not remain silent.  And when his hand moves, the proud and the powerful will fall, and the servants of the beast will rage against it.

Look to their downfall, and repent.