Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Destructive Egoism of Divisive Ideology

 

"This kind of person finds fault, complains constantly and sows discontent to promote their own desires and preferences.  If you listen they are arrogant, and they use flatteries to gain advantage.  Remember the predictions of His apostles, that in the last age there will be scoffers driven by their own desires, creating divisions and controversies, worldly, and devoid of the Spirit."

Jude 1:16-19

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to be wary of those who sow divisions among you, and undermine the faithfulness of the people with controversies concerning the teachings that you have received.  Avoid them, for these people do not serve the Lord, but their own passions and objectives.  By their lying tongues and smooth flattering they deceive the naive and the unsuspecting."

Romans 16:17-18

"Avoid foolish controversies, and detailed analysis and pedigrees, and arguments and quarrels about our teachings, because they are unprofitable and useless.  Warn a divisive person once, and then a second time.   After that, have nothing to do with them.  You may be sure that these people are disturbed and sinful; by their actions they condemn themselves."

Titus 3:9-11

"There seems to be a crescendo of corruption and a storm of deceitfulness rising all around us.   How we react to these trials of the day will determine many things, not the least of which is the choice of whom we will serve, whether we realize it or not.

Be wary of the stories being woven that are designed to lead to your fearful acceptance of the unspeakable towards its intended victims.   And be especially wary of interpretations of the faith that are centered on worldly riches for the believer, as an end of faithfulness in itself.  Our Lord did not say, 'Pick up your big fat wallets and follow me to the mall.'"

Jesse, And the Love of Most Will Grow Cold, 16 March 2018

Today we saw retrenchment and consolidation in the markets that were rallying enthusiastically yesterday.

The Dollar bounced higher.

Gold and silver fell a bit.

The major stock indices ended up largely lower or unchanged after a volatile day.

The VIX fell.

Earnings reports will be coming now in earnest.

There will be a stock index option expiration next week, but not as significant as this most recent quad witch option expiration.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Fed Pistols - Dollar Slumping, Silver Rampaging

 

"The whole town and all its inhabitants are quite drowned in carnival din, masks and confetti. And on top of that the news of the Reichstag fire.

Dancing on a volcano."

Alban Berg, Letter from Berlin, September 1, 1933


"When we look back on this period in time with the perspective of history, we will see markets dominated by control frauds and mispricing of risk that will seem painfully obvious.  Bubbles have a surprising resiliency, as does evil in a hardened heart.  And for the same reasons."

Jesse, April 2021


"Once more, let me remind you what fascism is.  Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege."

Thomas Clement Douglas


"From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold.  Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain.  Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned."

Émile Durkheim, Le suicide: étude de sociologie, 1897

The Dollar slumped hard, as the markets celebrate, perhaps prematurely, the end of the Fed's fight against inflation.

Stocks went on a tear higher.  

What do you think happens when they get most of the short hedges unwound?

Yeah buddy.

Silver continues to rocket off its recent option expiration lows.

They were carrying the silver shorts out of the pits today on stretchers.

Gold moved slightly higher.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

The St. Louis Fed's Jim Bullard is resigning as of August 14th, and will be heading the business school at Purdue.   Jim was the longest-serving Fed President, and a rare instance of clarity amongst a disgraced profession.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Hi Yo Silver!

 

"Unapologetic in its implementation of austerity measures that cause massive amounts of human hardship and suffering, neoliberal capitalism consolidates class power on the backs of young people, workers, and others marginalized by class, race, and ethnicity.  Neoliberal capitalism appears to no longer need the legitimacy garnered through its false claim to democratic ideals such as free speech, individual liberty, or justice—however tepid these appeals have always been.

In this widely accepted, yet dystopian world view, collective misfortune is no longer interpreted as a sign of failing governance or the tawdry willingness of politicians to serve corporate interests, but attributed to the character flaws of individuals and defined chiefly as a matter of personal responsibility. In fact, government-provided social protections are viewed as pathological. 

As corporate power is consolidated into fewer and fewer hands, ideological and structural reforms are implemented to transfer wealth and income into the hands of a ruling financial and corporate elite."

Henry Giroux, Days of Rage: The Quebec Student Protest Movement, August 28, 2012

"It is sometimes said that since everything is for sale under the rule of The Market, nothing is sacred. The Market is not omnipotent— yet. But the process is under way and it is gaining momentum."

Harvey Cox, The Market as God, March 1999

"I know from a good friend who was there when it happened, that at a small dinner with progressive supporters – after these progressive supporters were banging on Obama before the election, 'why don’t you do the things we thought you stood for?'  Obama turned sharply and said, 'Don’t you remember what happened to Martin Luther King Jr.?'   That’s a quote, and that’s a very revealing quote."

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst

"We suspect strongly that history will view the last 20 years as a period of collective madness in the United States. It is a madness brought on by the gods to the proud and those who would be as gods, but stumble and fall through a tragic flaw, an error in judgement. Often that flaw is related to the strength that had made them great. The US can fall from greatness through pride and imbalanced judgement, and therein lies the recipe for tragedy."

Jesse, 15 April 2008

The US Consumer Price Index data came in lighter than expected this morning.

And stocks and precious metals were off to the races.

The Dollar got hammered.

Silver in particular was impressive in its turnaround from the recent price decline it had taken for the Comex option expiration and Non-Farm Payrolls boogie woogie.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Earnings are going to start coming in, perhaps with a dose of reality.

Have a pleasant evening.