“Depart from me, you accursed. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not comfort me.' They answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not care for you?' He answered, 'Truly I tell you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’” Matthew 25:40-46
Sorry for the brief comments but I have an appointment with the vet and so must leave early. I have been caring for a sick pooch for several days now and she is really not recovering as quickly as we would like.
Gold was under a little pressure, but silver managed to retake the 14 handle.
Stocks were wobbly, and looking for some support. I would not step in there yet myself if you have a mind to that.
A hat tip to Ned Naylor-Leland for the first chart below showing bank exposure to China and Hong Kong by country.
"Price discovery is not a sexy function of markets, but it is critical to the efficient allocation of scarce capital and resources, and to the preservation of the long term wealth of investors and the economy as a whole. If price discovery is compromised by manipulation, then we will all be gradually impoverished and the economy will be imbalanced and unstable."
London Banker, Lies, Damn Lies, and Libor
"Delivery takes on a note of finality, of a reckoning, when the available supply has become rehypothecated into little more than a digital entry and a state of mind. The unanswered call for delivery begins the final lifting of the veil."
Jesse
Gold managed to hold a rally around 1090 and silver at 14 almost on the nose.
Some of the miners were spanked, in what could have been related to the January stock option expiry. Or not.
There is a general repricing of the mispriced risks from last year going on if you had not noticed in the general equity markets. It is possible that the miners are being caught up in that urge to liquidate uncertainty. A miner is a leveraged 'if-come' bet on the metal with varying degrees of uncertainty.
If the trends continue as they are then this is the year I think we may see the first very visible (to the general public) manifestations of the divergence between synthetic gold derivatives trading and the physical gold bullion trade. But let's wait for that event to happen in its own time.
I have made up the new calendars for gold futures and futures options for 2016 and have included them both below.
The Bucket Shop was quiet as usual, although we saw a little action in silver.
As a reminder the US markets will be closed for the observance of Martin Luther King day on Monday.
Please try to carry on without their guidance with regard to values.
Have a pleasant weekend. See you on Monday evening.
Let us pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil.
We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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