SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Another Down Day

Stocks continued to give it up on price as AAPL is a drag on big tech, and earnings overall appear a bit weak based on sluggish demand.

The problem is not 'uncertainty,' or 'the fiscal cliff.'

The problem with the economy is very weak aggregate demand by the large bulk of consumers who are seeing a very weak median wage, which is a structural problem that has been years in the making.

The problems in the western economies are intimately involved with the global currency war, and a rogue element in the Anglo-American financial system that has wounded the principles of market capitalism with the same old systemic frauds and a foul partnership with the political leadership.

I suspect this stock market downturn has run much of its course by historical standards of elections in which the incumbent wins re-election, but we will have to see if it can find its footing. There are some intense negotiations going on behind the scenes as the monied interests scramble to promote their policy positions.

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Good To Be Back Again

“First you destroy those who create values. Then you destroy those who know what values are, and who also know that those who have already been destroyed were in fact the creators of values.

But real barbarism begins when no one can judge or know that what they are doing is barbaric."

Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sometimes one does not really appreciate what they have until it is gone.

It is good to be back again.

Gold has certainly had a volatile trade here in what appears to be the 'handle' of a cup and handle formation.

This is reflective not only of the volatility of a potential turning point ahead of a big move, but also the relative artificiality of the markets overall.

A storm has a gathered intensity within it that becomes unleashed in big events, as the northeast of the US has recently seen. The same can be said of the big changes that occur in the events of humankind.

The great events of life bring out the best and worst in people. I have seen this undeniably proven again and again, but especially in the last week.

People are the oddest mix of a strange transcendent nobility and self-denial, and a pure cussed meanness and ignorant aggressiveness, with a callous, almost brutish, disregard for others.

But even in the face of the most blindly self-destructive arrogance of a few, the goodness in life, its tender mercies, seems to appear again and again, and remains resilient. And this is what gives us hope, always.

"What keeps faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor. Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music, and books, raising kids—all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people. Lacking any other purpose in life, it would be good enough to live for their sake."

Garrison Keillor

Let's see how the trade in precious metals progresses over the next few days, to see if the handle 'sets' and a cup and handle formation is confirmed with a breakout.

The area where the price swings settled today, around 1720, is a key resistance area. The breakout will be achieved if gold can break up and out through 1800.