Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Damned, Not for the World, But For So Little

 

"Faustus, who embraced evil and shunned righteousness, became the foremost symbol of the misuse of free will, that sublime gift from God with its inherent opportunity to choose virtue and reject iniquity. Faustus had advanced beyond the level of a scarlet sinner — he was a conscious follower of the Prince of Darkness.  For what does it profit a man— but for a notorious name, the ethereal shadow of a career, and a brief life of fleeting pleasure with no true peace?

Hell for all eternity for so little in exchange.  The fact he could publicly project an Antichrist image with pride, having no fear of reprisal, and his seeming diabolical art of escaping all punishment, would certainly signal that an unnatural individual walked in their midst.

It is true in many respects he assumed the role of the charlatan, yet how apropos, considering his willingness to follow the Father of Lies and deception. A life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the choice between these two absolutes also falls to us.

The lofty mind of man can be imprisoned by the artifices of its own making. If there are damned souls in Hell, it is because men blind themselves.”

E.A. Bucchianeri, Faust: My Soul Be Damned for the World

"For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.  It will be too late then to choose your side.  It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not.   Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance.   It will not last for ever.  We must take it or leave it."

C. S. Lewis, 1944

"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my father in heaven."

Matthew 7:21-23

The economic data this morning was apparently good for the US Dollar and not so good for Europe.

So the Dollar soared, and interest rates on US Treasuries climbed.

The broad stock market, such as the Russell 2000 and the SP 500 sold off hard.  

The Tech heavy Nasdaq 100 managed to climb into the green.

Gold and silver were hit hard.

What do we make of this?

The market moves were so out of proportion to the data that it seems more like a hangover from last week's market moving expiration and end of quarter.

Since the brinksmanship of the House brat pack has passed without effect once again, we may be receiving a Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

Let's see where they are going with all these.

I can only express disappointment that once again the corporate Democrats have felt our pain, but done little to nothing to promote financial or market reforms.  

Disappointments all around really.  But such are the times.

When you think back on things that were very important to you at the beginning of your career, or in college or high school, do you now see in retrospect how inconsequential and relatively trivial and unimportant these things were?

And when you stand at the end of your life, without embellishment or ornament or baggage, before the unfailing eye of eternity and judgement, what then do you think will matter to you most?  

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Painting the Tape - End of Third Quarter

 

"There was war in heaven.  Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.  The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven.  The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:  'Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of God and the authority of his Anointed.   For the accuser of our brothers is cast out.  They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.  Love for life did not deter them from death.  Therefore rejoice you heavens, and you who dwell in them.  But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows his time is short."

Revelation 12:7-12

"People forget that God is the Maker of all things, visible as well as invisible; that He is the Lord of our bodies as well as our souls. There are not two Gods, one of matter, one of spirit.  There is one God, and He is Lord of all we are, and all we have; and therefore all we do must be stamped with His seal and signature. We must not give up this visible world, as if it came of the evil one. We must manifest the kingdom of heaven upon earth. The light of Divine truth must proceed from our hearts, and shine out upon everything we are, and everything we do. It must bring the whole man, soul and body."

John Henry Newman

"To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell is to be banished from humanity.  What is cast (or casts itself) into hell is not a man: it is 'remains.'  To be a complete man means to have the passions obedient to the will and the will offered to God: to have been a man – to be an ex-man or 'damned ghost' – would presumably mean to consist of a will utterly centered in its self and passions utterly uncontrolled by the will."

C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, 1940

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Ephesians 6:12

And so the third quarter ends, with a slight loss off of a down month in September.

We had a one day wash and rinse in the equity markets, but especially in silver, which soared in the morning and then cracked down, to a new low for the week, into the close.

One can only wonder.

We may be getting a Non-Farm Payrolls report for September next Friday, if the US government remains open for business, or closes in observance of the visceral goofiness of the House GOP.

Ugly people doing dumb things.  Yay us.

VIX fell and then bounced back.

The Dollar chopped sideways.

The small specs may have decided that today was a good day to pull the trigger on gold and silver, and they got smoked in the afternoon.

It's tough to win when the house gets to see your cards as you play them, and can bet against you with almost unlimited access to funds, while artfully hiding their own hands.

It's always something.   But some things matter much more than others.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.  Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.  May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and may you, Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl the world seeking the ruin of souls.

And that's the name of that tune.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Rise of the Anti-Human - Théâtre du Grand-Guignol

 

"Mega banks on Wall Street and other bad actors are particularly hostile to the fact that the CFPB [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] allows consumers who have been victimized by financial firms, even where small amounts of money are involved, to file a complaint with the CFPB, who then demands a timely written explanation from the alleged wrongdoer. Bad actors dislike the fact that these complaints go into a permanent database at the CFPB, which can be mined by the public, reporters, class-action attorneys and prosecutors looking for patterns of fraud.

The hatred of the CFPB is so strong by predatory financial actors that another front group, American Action Network, launched a $500,000 ad campaign during the November 10, 2015 Republican presidential debate, comparing the advocate for the little guy to a communist organization. The advertisement was a masterpiece of misinformation, overtly suggesting that the job of the CFPB is to deny car loans and mortgages to regular folks seeking credit. The agency, in fact, has absolutely nothing to do with approving credit applications. Its job is to root out and punish financial institutions that are ripping off customers."

Wall Street on Parade, Kochs Push To Smother Agency that Protects the Little Guy, 28 September 2023

'What is truth?'  Sometimes people ask this question because they wish to do nothing. Generic cynicism makes us feel hip and alternative even as we slip along with our fellow citizens into a morass of indifference. It is your ability to discern facts that makes you an individual, and our collective trust in common knowledge that makes us a society.  Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.

To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights. You submit to tyranny when you renounce the difference between what you want to hear and what is actually the case.”

Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny

Stocks managed to pull themsevles together for a bounce today.

VIX declined.

Gold and silver were hit hard again today as an after-effect of the recent expiration, but especially for the end of quarter tape painting by the big metals shorts.

The Dollar dropped sharply giving up its gains from yesterday.

Wash-rinse-repeat.

Lawlessness is becoming fashionable among those who have hardened their hearts, playing heedlessly with the darkness.

The potential shutdown of the Federal government continues to draw near.

There is no way to have a rational discussion with those who have given themselves over to the irrational impulse of the anti-human.

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

Have a pleasant evening.