Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Passing Through

 

"We should remember that this life is scarcely more than an accident of our being—that it is no part of ourselves, who are immortal; that we are immortal spirits, independent of time and space, and that this life is but a sort of outward stage, on which we act for a time, and which is only sufficient and only intended to answer the purpose of trying whether we will serve God or no. 

We should consider ourselves to be in this world in no fuller sense than players in any game are in the game; and life to be a sort of dream, as detached and as different from our real eternal existence, as a dream differs from waking; a serious dream, indeed, as affording a means of judging us, yet in itself a kind of shadow without substance, a scene set before us, in which we seem to be, and in which it is our duty to act just as if all we saw had a truth and reality, because all that meets us influences us and our destiny.

It is this view of life, which removes from us all surprise and disappointment that it is so incomplete: as well might we expect any chance event which happens in the course of it to be complete, any casual conversation with a stranger, or the toil or amusement of an hour. These are suitable feelings towards this attractive but deceitful world."

John Henry Newman, The Greatness and Littleness of Human Life, 23 Oct 1836


"He became what we are, that he might make us what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria


"The glory of God is the human being, fully alive; and the humanity of a person is found reflected in the glory of God."

Irenaeus of Lyons


"It is fair to question the notion that our bodies are temporary; in fact, the popularity among Christians of the ‘you are a soul, but you have a body’ sentiment, stripped of any nuance or context, indicates that a robust defense of the theology of the body is needed.  But nothing is more universal than death, and it is understandable that this quotation was, and is, widespread because people want to be assured of their future.  Christians need to be mindful, however, that they are embodied creatures with the promise of an embodied resurrection.  Jesus incarnated in a body and resurrected with a body, so Christians should be careful about minimizing their own."

Hannah Peckham, C. S. Lewis Never Said It


Newman is not denying the reality of our own incarnation, at all.  That would be a danger of falling into a kind of Gnostic or Manichean dualism.  What he is doing is placing us in the context of our relationship with the world itself, which is passing. 

Speaking of 'passing,' former Nasdaq high flier Novavax gave a surprise  'going concern' warning after the bell, which shocked their share price sharply lower, and took the equity futures down as well. 

I think that Novavax is down something like 95% from its 2021 high.

Stocks traded weakly today.

Gold and silver caught a bounce.

A huge 310,000 ounces of gold passed through the Hong Kong warehouses the other day.

Maybe they are using it for balloon ballast?   

Nothing is too fantastic for 'very serious people' to speculate about anymore.

The Dollar edged a little higher.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - God's Eloquent Silence - Blood and Profit

 

“As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests. Persuading the people to vote against their own best interests has been the awesome genius of the American political elite from the beginning. 

We are the United States of Amnesia, which is encouraged by a media that has no desire to tell us the truth about anything, serving their corporate masters who have other plans to dominate us.  We learn nothing because we remember nothing.”

Gore Vidal


"In a predatory economy, the rules imagined by the law and economics crowd don’t apply.  There’s no market discipline.  Predators compete not by following the rules but by breaking them.  They take the business-school view of law: Rules are not designed to guide behavior but laid down to define the limits of unpunished conduct.  Once one gets close to the line, stepping over it is easy.  A predatory economy is criminogenic: It fosters and rewards criminal behavior.

Today, the signature of modern American capitalism is neither benign competition, nor class struggle, nor an inclusive middle-class utopia. Instead, predation has become the dominant feature—a system wherein the rich have come to feast on decaying systems built for the middle class.  The predatory class is not the whole of the wealthy; it may be opposed by many others of similar wealth.  But it is the defining feature, the leading force.  And its agents are in full control of the government under which we live."

James K. Galbraith, The Predator State, May 2006


"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man a more clever devil."

C. S. Lewis


"For the moneyed interests, tragedy is a wonderful opportunity, because it greatly increases the lawlessness which they use as a cover and opportunity for their predations and depredations, bringing greater power and personal increase.   Vultures do not produce, but prey on weakness and tragedy. They believe themselves to be the center of all creation, superior and virtually immortal.   Their pride makes them blind."

Jesse, God's Eloquent Silence, 28 June 2018

Stocks had a bounce today after a fairly awful decline last week.

The Dollar declined.

Gold had a bit of a pop, silver slid a little further lower.

What we are seeing today is what happens when people think that they can act as they wish without any consequences.  

It is as old as Babylon, and evil as sin.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Need little, Want less, Love more

 

"The people ask, “Why should we fast if the Lord never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?”

The Lord says, “At the same time that you fast, you do what you want, and oppress your workers.   Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight.  Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?  When you fast, you act like you suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on.  Is that what you call fasting?  Do you think I will be pleased with that?

The kind of fasting I want is this: remove the burden of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.  Share your food with the hungry and provide homes to the homeless poor.  Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help those around you."

Isaiah 58:3-7

"And we have come to know and to trust the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them."

1 John 4:16-17

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.   And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.  I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.  But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.  Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private.  And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."

Matthew 6:16-18

The PCE inflation number came in a little higher than expectations today, so Wall Street decided to hang out the laundry.

The Dollar rallied.

Gold, and particularly silver got hit hard.

One data point, or even a few, do not make a trend.

I suspect the Fed will just stick to its 25 bp rate increases for now.

Crushing the real economy in order to correct for the Fed-induced inflation that benefited only the one percent and the financiers seems only fair.

Today is the first anniversary of the Ukraine-Russia war.

As George Orwell said,  'War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it.'

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

Have a pleasant weekend.