Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Wash, Rinse, Repeat - The Great Transfer of Wealth

 

"It is possible to make people contented with their servitude.  I think this can be done.  I think it has been done in the past.  I think it could be done even more effectively now because you can provide them with bread and circuses and you can provide them with endless amounts of distractions and propaganda.

Aldous Huxley


"It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that tolerates or even encourages systematic fraud.  

The behaviour that caused the mortgage bubble and financial crisis of 2008 was a natural outcome and continuation of this pattern, rather than some kind of economic accident."

Charles H. Ferguson


"The preposterous claim that deviations from market efficiency were not only irrelevant to the recent crisis but could never be relevant is the product of an environment in which deduction has driven out induction and ideology has taken over from observation.  

The belief that models are not just useful tools but also are capable of yielding comprehensive and universal descriptions of the world has blinded its proponents to realities that have been staring them in the face.  That blindness was an element in our present crisis, and conditions our still ineffectual responses.

Economists – in government agencies as well as universities – were obsessively playing Grand Theft Auto while the world around them was falling apart."

John Kay, An Essay on the State of Economics


Stocks reversed an early rally, and failed badly, going out on the lows.

This is not constructive action for a bear market bottom.

Gold and silver especially were slammed lower in a follow up to yesterday's expiration.

Let's see if they can find a bottom around support here.

The VIX rose.

The Dollar rallied sharply higher in what looked like a 'risk off' reaction.

"The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery."

Jesse, May 2009

The high ground right now is cash.

The winner in a grinding bear market, if that indeed is where we find ourselves now,  are those who lose least.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Modern Prometheus - Another Comex Options Expiration

 

"By the late 1970s, after fifteen years in the business, Bob Hare knew what he was looking for when it came to psychopaths.  They exhibit a cluster of distinctive personality traits, the most significant of which is an utter lack of conscience.  They also have huge egos, short tempers, and an appetite for excitement -- a dangerous mix.  

'A lot of white-collar criminals are psychopaths,' says Bob Hare. 'But they flourish because the characteristics that define the disorder are actually valued.  When they get caught, what happens?  A slap on the wrist, a six-month ban from trading, and don't give us the $100 million back.  I've always looked at white-collar crime as being as bad or worse than some of the physically violent crimes that are committed.'"

Robert Hercz, Psychopaths Among Us


"A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all."

Tacitus


"Many of the characteristics displayed by psychopaths are closely associated with a profound lack of empathy and inability to construct a mental and emotional 'facsimile' of another person.  They seem completely unable to 'get into the skin' of others, except in a purely intellectual sense.  They are completely indifferent to the rights and suffering of family and strangers alike.  If they do maintain ties, it is only because they see family members as possessions."

Robert D. Hare, The Charming Psychopath


Stocks managed to oscillate today, not quite sure what to do with their recent outsized gains from last Friday.

Gold and silver were hit lower, in honor of the metals futures options expiration on the Comex.

What a surprise.

The Dollar moved lower slipping off the 104 handle.

I suspect that a cadre of the initiated would like to keep the equity markets moving higher.

The better to eat you with, my dear.

Europe has banned the imports of Russian gold.   A symbolic gesture at best.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Go Go Godzilla - Metals Options Expiration Monday

 

""Psychopaths often come across as arrogant, shameless braggarts—self-assured, opinionated, domineering, and cocky.  They love to have power and control over others and seem unable to believe that other people have valid opinions different from theirs.  What makes psychopaths different from all others is the remarkable ease with which they lie, the pervasiveness of their deception, and the callousness with which they carry it out.

Wherever you find money, prestige and power you will find them.   We are far more likely to lose our life savings to an oily-tongued swindler than our lives to a steely-eyed killer."

Robert D. Hare, Without Conscience


"Maintaining silence about a dirty truth is another way of lying, a common practice in high places."

Michael Parenti


"The market ideology is now the new form of imperial power and many of us, without any critical reflection, have signed onto that and organized our lives in that way so we do not have any time, energy or capacity for the things that are rightly important to us."

Walter Brueggemann

Fear can turn to greed in a second, and concerns just melt away n the passion to gamble and not miss out.

The markets *finally* got together and gave us an impressive bear market rally that they were able to take out near the highs.

If all goes well this weekend then we *might* be able to see them extend the gains next week.

All bully has to do is take out that second high on the charts.  

And as you might expect the risk averse plays retreated somewhat, such as the Dollar, gold and silver.  

Gold and silver took a sharp hit this morning, no doubt with a nod to their Comex option expiration on Monday.

And the meme today was wow, look at that Consumer sentiment number and its implications for inflation expectations.

And besides, the recession is already here and its not so bad, right?   

Why, it's practically over already.

Don't ask why, time to buy.

I seem to recall that they said the same thing a couple of weeks ago.  

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Earnings season dead ahead.

Have a pleasant weekend.