Gold and Silver Commitments, Holdings, and Technicals - What Is Hidden Will Be Revealed

"Gold will be around, gold will be money when the dollar and the euro and the yuan and the ringgit are mere memories."

Richard Russell


"'We didn't truly know the dangers of the market, because it was a dark market,' says Brooksley Born, the head of an obscure federal regulatory agency -- the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] -- who not only warned of the potential for economic meltdown in the late 1990s, but also tried to convince the country's key economic powerbrokers to take actions that could have helped avert the crisis. 'They were totally opposed to it,' Born says. 'That puzzled me.  What was it that was in this market that had to be hidden?'"

PBS Frontine, The Warning


"Those entrapped by the herd instinct are drowned in the deluges of history.  But there are always the few who observe, reason, and take precautions, and thus escape the flood. For these few gold has been the asset of last resort."

Antony C. Sutton


"Gold in US dollars is 25.7 % away from its all time high.

Gold in renminbi is 13.8 % away from its all time high.

Gold in euros is 3.2 % away from its all time high.

In many other (major) currencies gold is at an all time high."

Jan Nieuwenhuijs, the artist formerly known as Koos Jansen

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - History Lesson

Wall Street's finest discuss forming a 'stock exchange' under a nearby buttonwood tree

Stocks today came in lower, as the euphoria of risk-offishness from yesterday wore off rather quickly, after the bell as a matter of fact, as some new era darlings laid an earnings egg.

And this morning the appetite for chasing bubbling assets with hot money was cooled even moreso by an intemperate statement (what a surprise) from Trump regarding his indifference to his fellows meeting with the Chinese in September to discuss a resolution to the ongoing trade war.

But fortunately once the Europeans went home to say hello to the wife and kids and have dinner, the denizens of Wall Street managed to walk the stock indices back up towards nearly unchanged, as they are often wont to do when they have the opportunity.

And the usual suspects among the advisors in the White House were reassuring that, again no surprise, Trump did not really mean to say when he in fact said, in writing.

And so we had a bit of a risk-aversion hiatus, and the usual safe havens like gold, the Dollar, and the bonds faded a bit, and stocks were bought.

But there is a definite lack of whole hearted confidence in any of this trading, and cynically mechanical, so that time of positions being held must be down to milliseconds rather than a more judicious few hours or so.

So what does this mean?

It implies that, at least for now, the markets in the US will remain exceptionally fluid, which is a nice way of saying skittish and prone to event driven volatility.

If this up-and-down roller coaster continues on for the remainder of the summer, I would not be surprised if it does not shake itself apart before the winter.

Those of you who recognized the subtitle above, History Lesson, was a nod to the famous science fiction story by Arthur C. Clarke ought to be congratulated.  And those select few who recall the moral of the story itself can very well accept it as an analogy for understanding the stock markets and economic models of today.

And those who do not are invited to watch a brief illustrative video included below.

Need little, want less, love more. For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.

Have a pleasant weekend.

History Lesson from DD on Vimeo.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Shadows Lengthen - Götterdämmerung

“But you can't make people listen.  They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them.”

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451


“The masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true.  Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow.”

Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism


Totalitarian regimes energize their base and forge national unity by emphasizing an us vs. them mentality—  If only there weren't  [Jews, immigrants, Muslims, blacks, homosexuals] our country would achieve its intended prosperity."

Christopher Lebron, What Totalitarianism Looks Like

After the bell Uber put forward a massive loss, as was expected. But they also missed on the topline revenues which was far less excusable.

Uber missed. How poetic is that?

Stocks were in massive rally mode, as the recent realizations of mispriced risks were dismissed.

Fear was cast aside by greed. Wash and rinse.

The volatility surprises some.

How else could it be, when all standards and measurements of objectivity have been cast aside in an overwhelming tide of willfulness?

Whatever we say, goes.

Gold snapped back in the late afternoon, and retook the 1500 handle.

Silver held on to the 17 handle.

Mortgage refi activity is skyrocketing thanks to the recent plunge in interest rates.

This appears like a setup for a major, bone shattering correction.

 History would suggest the early fall, but last year it came in December.

Timing this sort of break in overconfidence and reckless disregard for risk is notoriously difficult, even in ordinary circumstances.

Nothing is certain in the time of madness and the raw love of power unleashed.

Trump himself says he is one thing, and then another, at complete opposites to each other. Without even the blink of an eye or the slightest hint of a blush.

It is a behaviour that is being widely imitated.  It is a sign of the times.

There is little accountability, the slightest of consequence if any, and certainly no shame.

It is not only profitable, it has become highly fashionable.  A mark of talent, a class distinction.

For they would be as gods, beyond good and evil.

Have a pleasant evening.