Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Non-Farm Payrolls Tomorrow - La Douleur du Monde

Stocks managed to rise today for the third straight day, although on light volumes.

The new economic advisor Larry Kudlow helped the equity markets by bullishly announcing that the Trump tariffs are just 'proposals,' and that the US is not interested in a trade war.  They merely want to engage China in meaningful negotiations about trade.

Let's see if China agrees that their own tariffs were just proposals.   Or the US President himself for that matter.  I hear that China has declared itself the winner in round one already. 

(11 PM Addendum:  Yep, Trump has upped the ante in the trade war, as the stock futures tumble.)

The stock market action today looks very much like the continuation of the short squeeze from yesterday, led by the SP futures and various underperformers, if one looks at the stocks that were leading the indices higher.

The rally *could* continue if there were a rotation out of these heavily shorted stocks into the market leadership, either in the financials or the FANGs or both.

Gold was off today on a US Dollar rally up to the 90.485 level. Silver was up a bit.

Tomorrow there will be a non-Farm Payrolls Report for March. It *could* move the markets depending on how it compared to the forecasts and expectations.   And this includes its ancillary components, especially wages.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Saving Private Equity - No Fear

"The government can always rescue the markets or interfere with contract law whenever it deems convenient with little or no apparent cost.  Investors believe this now and, worse still, the government believes it as well. 

We are probably doomed to a lasting legacy of government tampering with financial markets and the economy, which is likely to create the mother of all moral hazards."

Seth Klarman

The US stock futures markets had slumped badly in the overnight session due to the escalating 'trade war' with China.

And as you can see, stocks made a dramatic turnaround and finished markedly higher on the day.

Silver was off a bit and gold closed virtually unchanged after having rallied in a flight to safety in the early morning.

Are we not exceptional?   Are you not entertained?

Have a pleasant evening.

William Pepper: Another Look at the Assassination of Martin Luther King

"I wound up being the last judge hearing the James Earl Ray matter: Did he in fact assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King?  And had he not died and his local attorney not died in close succession, it would have been my finding that he was not the gunman.  That Remington 760 Gamemaster they’ve got in the Civil Rights Museum is not the murder weapon. It’s not even close."

Judge Joe Brown

This is an interesting report that includes testimony from William Pepper, who is a lawyers, an anti-war journalist and friend of MLK and his family.

He is "noted for his efforts to prove government culpability and the innocence of James Earl Ray in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the King family, in subsequent years. Pepper has also been trying to prove the innocence of Sirhan Sirhan in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy."

I was intrigued by the testimony of a judge in the matter of James Earl Ray who says that it has been proven conclusively that Ray's rifle was not the murder weapon.  He says that he would have ruled to vindicate him based on this.  Judge Brown was removed from the case for 'bias against the prosecution.'

I have not investigated this particular version of events exhaustively and offer it only as something for thought.  It relies heavily on the credibility and veracity of William Pepper and the facts as he has assembled them.

I personally agree with the results of the King family's civil action that James Earl Ray was not a lone gunman in this action.

A transcript of this video is available at The Corbett Report.