SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Making Sausage

"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."

Otto von Bismarck

The histrionics are flowing heavily from Washington. And the pity is that the 'news programs' do such a poor job of setting out the issues and the mechanics of what is going on.

Typically they set one talking head against another, who spin at each other while the 'moderator' chimes in as their own political bias may prompt them.

The markets will tend to follow this US budget news.

Have a pleasant evening.

The Plan for Conquest and Pacification: Hitler's Britain

"Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest', but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is."

Sydney J. Harris

This documentary is based on the written plan for the conquest and occupation of Britain.

I found it to be quite interesting. I do object to the naming of specific individuals, since no one really knows what they would have done, despite what the Germans thought they might do.

People who are entranced with exceptionalism will find this entire documentary unthinkable. I think that is a mistake, given the experience in so many other countries and the Channel Islands themselves.

If there had been resistance, the conquest could have been utterly ruthless and brutal as it was in Poland, for example.  I remember a lady telling me that the Poles welcomed the Nazis 'with open arms.'  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

But people get these thoughts and can become attached to them for various reasons.  Just as some might think that Britain, or the US for the matter, can never change what is perceived as its national and natural character. 

I hate to single out Britain here, but we do have the plan as it was written.  We do not have access to any similar plans as complete for the US, either by the Germans or the wealthy financiers who have sought to capture the government for their own ends.

The lack of knowledge of US history amongst some of its people is appalling.  The actions of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's, and the attempted coup d'état by wealthy financiers and industrialists in the 1930's, seems like a fiction to many, easily dismissed.   If only civilization was so robust and indestructible as that.  This complacency is often due to pride and ignorance, a sense of exceptionalism, rather than a sound understanding of human nature with both its strengths and weaknesses.

In his powerful documentaries done with the BBC, Laurence Rees outlines the charismatic power of an unscrupulous and fanatical leader, and how they can use exceptionalism and stereotypes of 'the other' to tap the inner darkness of an otherwise educated and civilized people, who view themselves as both good and practical.

The documentary below is instructive in general because it outlines how one might conquer a large and developed country either by exterior force or through an internal rising. 

I don't wish to alarm anyone.  What is possible is not inevitable.  But it is good to remember that possibility demands good sense and vigilance.   None are immune to evil that comes draped in the appearance of practicality and expediency.   I have seen this in otherwise good people I have known personally.  They can lose their way, and stop thinking in the face of uncertainty, and rationalize themselves into doing terrible things.   

None are exceptional except as individuals, and only to the extent that they can grasp something greater than their own needs and desires in order to save themselves from becoming hopelessly lost.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Through the Looking Glass

"A rogue does not laugh in the same way that an honest man does; a hypocrite does not shed the tears of a man of good faith. All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face."

Alexandre Dumas

It was capping all the way today as stocks rallied back from overnight lows to close on the highs, while gold and silver were pushed down and went out near the lows.

It is most likely that the ongoing opera buffo in the Congress will tend to overshadow the real economy for the duration. I provided a brief explanation of the Senate and House particular procedures in the stock commentary for my non-American readers. And probably quite a few American readers as well. The 'news' does not cast much light. They mostly offer spin, and opposing parties with agendas spinning at each other with all the indignation and prevarication they can muster.

There is a soft deadline of October 17th as put forward by the Treasury Secretary for a 'default' as the line in the sand by which the government in no longer to pay its bills.

Interestingly enough this is also a stock option expiration week.

The markets are acting as though a last minute deal will occur as it did the last time the government ran into such an impasse in 2011.

The question of a default is almost silly since the debt is all denominated in dollars, and the Fed does own a printing press. This is default, as opposed to a devaluation which is a more real possibility. What this utterly political 'default threat' affects is the full faith and credit of the government that provides the essential backing for any fiat currency. It is human nature to lack confidence in the obsessed, the ignorant, and the incompetent.

Have a pleasant evening.