Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Fallen Angels - End of 1st Half 2022

 

“The pull of fascist politics is powerful. It simplifies human existence, gives us an object, a 'them' whose supposed laziness highlights our own virtue and discipline, encourages us to identify with a forceful leader who helps us make sense of the world, whose bluntness regarding the 'undeserving' people in the world is refreshing. Fascism thrives under conditions of economic uncertainty, where fear and resentment can be mobilized to set citizens against one another.

When you legitimize yourself entirely by inventing enemies, the truth ceases to matter, normal restraints of civilization and decency cease to matter, the checks and balances of normal politics cease to matter.  It dehumanizes segments of the population. It limits the capacity for empathy among other citizens, leading to the justification of inhumane treatment, from repression of freedom, mass imprisonment, and expulsion to, in extreme cases, mass extermination."

Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works


"Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, in all their magnificence, and he said to him, 'All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.'”

Matthew 4:8-10


"In the present state of the world, a virile and strong Christianity must go to the point of being a heroic Christianity.  This heroism will not consist of speaking constantly of heroism, and of being delirious about the virtue of power–which would perhaps prove that one was submitting to the influence of  power, and that one was beginning to fall away.

Gentleness and goodness, delicacy toward the humble and weak, pity–yes, pity –toward those who suffer, the rejection of perverse means, the defense of the oppressed, humble devotion, resistance to lies, the courage to call evil by its name, the spirit of peace and concord, openness of heart, the thought of heaven, that is what Christian heroism will save.  This [Nietzsche's] whole 'morality of slaves' will make it obvious that it is a morality of free men, that it alone makes man free.

Christianity will never have any real efficacy, it will never have any real existence and will never make any real conquests, except by the power of its own spirit, by the power of love."

Henri de Lubac, Spiritual Warfare, 1943


“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory, or one of unthinkable horror.”

C. S. Lewis

Today marked the end of the first half of 2022.

And just about everything moved lower.

Stocks were down.

The Dollar was down, slipping back to the 104 handle.

Gold and silver were down.

Let's see what the second half brings.

Probably more bear market, and geopolitical turmoil.

Standing firm on the high ground still seems like the place to be.

The trick will be to remain firm and standing, even if all around you lose their way.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Churn and Burn

 

“Never was the victory of patience more complete than in the early church.  The anvil broke the hammer by bearing all the blows that the hammer could place upon it.  The patience of the saints was stronger than the cruelty of tyrants.”

Charles H. Spurgeon


“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”

Fredrick Douglas


"This is the Golden Age of fraud, an era of general willingness to ignore and justify the wrongdoings of the rich and powerful, which makes every lie bigger and widens its destructive path.”

Reed Albergotti

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...

And what rough Beast, its hour come 'round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1919

Stocks had another ranging day but managed to finish mostly unchanged.

Gold and silver took early hits, but drifted back during the day to mostly unchanged.

I suspect this is the tail end of the expiration shenanigans.

We may have a bit of a breather until the Non-Farm Payrolls next Friday.

The Dollar soared higher back on to the 105 handle.

Until sound regulation in the public interest is restored there will be no sustainable recovery for the real economy and irregular plunges and peaks in financial assets. 

Don't hold your breath for this to happen.

Have a pleasant evening.

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.