Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Walk in darkness and trust in the light of the Lord

 

"We are sinners, attempting great things.  Love is our benchmark, our touchstone.  It is how we are able to know if what we say or do or hold dear is founded in goodness and life, or in a destructive snare, a willfulness, the cult of the self, and death.  Love takes us out of ourselves and completes us.  The opposite of love is not hatred, but the selfishness of self-love, and the dark angel's first sin, pride."

Jesse, 2 December 2012

“I think that the depth of Satan's pride is difficult for humans to understand, and therefore it is easy to fall into this error and partake of it, thinking, all the while, that we are instead doing something great and beautiful.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“Man has places in his heart which do not yet exist— and into them enters suffering, in order that they may have life.”

Léon Bloy

"Suffering is a means by which God saves us, afflicting us so we do not lapse into vain self-sufficiency, a pride and a perverse individualism that gathers us blindly into ourselves, and separates us from His own.   To suffer is how we grow in humility, and conform ourselves to do what He commands, rather than as we may will.

Prayer is how we sustain ourselves in times of both suffering and joy, with humility in this life, as we resort not only to ourselves or to the world, but to all things with God.  And so we find comfort in His will, and the conversations that we keep with His many tender mercies.   The world can not see this, and in not seeing does not understand.   To the world we are fools.

His consolations and comforts are hidden, delivered to us in quiet moments, heart to heart.  And so He gathers us together to Himself, and keeps us safe, and slowly takes us from this world and the dark powers therein, that search endlessly for souls to make their own, and to devour."

Jesse, 15 May 2018

 Stocks rallied today in a risk on rally founded on wash and rinse serendipity.

The FOMC rate decision and accompanying verbiage is tomorrow and will likely drive the market. 

The Dollar ticked lower.

Gold and silver were higher.

The VIX fell.

A risk on day most likely with nothing much behind it than the usual

Let's see what Joltin' Jay and his Merry Pranksters at the Fed have to say for themselves tomorrow.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Empires of Lawlessness: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt - The FUD Factor

 

"Franz Neumann’s book Behemoth, details how the Nazi regime came about, how you could have this really advanced, highly educated, industrial society suddenly be ruled by this imperialist, vicious regime – how is this possible?  And when looking at the ways that the economic elites collaborated, the end result is you have the German establishment supporting Nazism basically as a way to crush any leftists that might want a social revolution or serious reforms to German capitalism."

 Aaron Good, author of American Exception

"Day by day the money-masters of America become more aware of their danger, they draw together, they grow more class-conscious, more aggressive. The [first world] war has taught them the possibilities of propaganda; it has accustomed them to the idea of enormous campaigns which sway the minds of millions and make them pliable to any purpose.

American political corruption was the buying up of legislatures and assemblies to keep them from doing the people's will and protecting the people's interests; it was the exploiter entrenching himself in power, it was financial autocracy undermining and destroying political democracy. By the blindness and greed of ruling classes the people have been plunged into infinite misery."

Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check

“A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Henry Wallace

"The totalitarian doctrine of the state thus satisfied the various traditional partisans of German reaction: university professors, bureaucrats, army officers, and big industrialists.  It was also acceptable to the western world in general.

Totalitarianism also served the practical needs of the moment.   The situation was difficult and Hitler was prompt to use the weapon of the totalitarian doctrine.  The revolution was to proceed in an orderly fashion—in so far as property, the civil service, and the army were concerned." 

Franz Neumann, Behemoth: The Structure And Practice Of National Socialism 1933-1944

"When humanity, subjugated by the terror of crime, has been driven mad by fear and horror, and when chaos has become the supreme law, then the time for the empire of lawlessness will have come."

Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse

Stocks were sluggish and weak today, going out near the lows.

We are facing a big week of central Bank interest rate decisions, notably the Fed and ECB, and also the important Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

Gold and silver traded weakly, with silver showing a little bit of upside.

The VIX ticked higher.

The Dollar edged up a bit.

The same jokers who for years have been chanting 'blockchain, blockchain' and '5G,5G' are now intoning 'AI, AI' and 'reverse aging, reverse aging.'

Bread and circuses.

Old as Babylon, and as evil a Faustian bargain as sin.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Full Faith and Credit

 

You may be reading more and more commentary about the platinum coin solution, and arguments why it doesn't really matter if the US does it or not.

To summarize the concept, the Treasury creates one special platinum coin, with a stated face value of $500 billion [Now a trillion they say] or so.

They trot down to the Fed and deposit the special coin(s), redeeming that amount of US notes and voila. It is an overt monetization [of debt], but the platinum coin adds a novel touch, and a bit of shiny misdirection...

But what people forget, or rather, what they would like us to forget, is that a modern fiat currency is based on the full faith and credit of the issuer, and the willingness of people in the market place to trust them, their word as contract, and the integrity of their actions.

Trust is a funny thing. One can bend it, twist it, and strain it by their actions over time. But at some point it may break.

And trust is gone, broken.  And retracing one's steps to regain it is not a simple matter of a apologizing for and remediating their latest transgression, but a long slow climb back through what in many cases are years of continuing abuse and broken promises.

It is good to note that when dealing with people's resistance to accepting this monetization and artificiality of value, the MMTers quickly resort to arguments that involve the use of force, legal but even physical, in order to stifle dissent to an arbitrary monetary power.

That is the significance of taking the step of overt monetization at will, which is what the gimmicky platinum coin solution is all about.  And those who promote it best understand that this is what they are doing, and be prepared for the consequences.

Jesse, Platinum Coin: Crossing the Monetary Rubicon, , 6 January 2013


Joe Weisenthal (pro) and Michael McKee (con) were discussing the 'trillion dollar platinum coin' solution to a debt ceiling impasse this afternoon on Bloomberg.

It's a goofy idea promoted around the time of the occasional 'debt limit' brinkmanship that occurs when the GOP has control of the House.  I think of it as goofiness fighting goofiness.

The real solution is to eliminate this 'debt ceiling' completely, since it is dealing with programs that have already been passed by the House.   It is a political circus wagon.  An alternative to real legislation wielded by those who prefer hostage-taking and fear-mongering to thoughtful work.

The House always has the option of trying to limit programs through legislation.  But that requires discussion and measured thinking, which is not an enhancement to demagoguery. 

"The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots."

H. L. Mencken

And the Democrats have the ability to try and change things when they are in control of both houses, but they never do it seems.  Everyone likes a good circus to keep the people distracted.  And not every servant to the corporate and moneyed interests is as obvious as some.

Perhaps this is why some others are always cheerleading and promoting almost unthinkable wars every few years. 

War is a racket.  It's good for a few, and a tragedy to most.

It's old as Babylon, and evil as sin.

So stocks rallied today.  

Gold and silver took the usual volatility ride after an option expiration.

VIX fell.

The Dollar edged just a little.

FOMC and Non-Farm Payrolls this week.

Have a pleasant weekend.