Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Dancing on a Volcano

 

"Do not fear your enemies.  The worst they can do is kill you.  Do not fear your friends. At worst, they may betray you.  Fear those who do not care; they neither kill nor betray, but betrayal and murder exist because of their silent consent."

Bruno Jasieński, Spiknutí lhostejných, Praha 1958

"We're talking about an ideology marked by the selling off of public goods to private interests; the attack on social provisions; the rise of the corporate state organized around privatization, free trade, and deregulation; the celebration of self interests over social needs; the celebration of profit-making as the essence of democracy coupled with the utterly reductionist notion that consumption is the only applicable form of citizenship.  But even more than that, it upholds the notion that the market serves as a model for structuring all social relations: not just the economy, but the governing of all of social life.

That's a key issue. I mean, this is a particular political and economic and social project that not only consolidates class power in the hands of the one percent, but operates off the assumption that economics can divorce itself from social costs, that it doesn't have to deal with matters of ethical and social responsibility, that these things get in the way.

And I think the consequences of these policies across the globe have caused massive suffering, misery, and the spread of a massive inequalities in wealth, power, and income.  We see the privatization of public services, the dismantling of the connection between private issues and public problems, the selling off of state functions, deregulations, an unchecked emphasis on self-interest, the refusal to tax the rich, and really the redistribution of wealth from the middle and working classes to the ruling class, the elite class."

Henry Giroux, On the Rise of Neoliberalism, 19 October 2014


The precious metals futures options expiration today was rather quiet.

FOMC on Wednesday January 31^st and a Jobs Report coming on Friday, February 2^nd.

The mispricing of risks in the equity markets remains pronounced.

"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

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - At the Hands of a Savage Few

 

"When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome.  There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar. Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long.  Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.

But everywhere there was something else, too.  There was oppression — for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar.  There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses.  There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed.  What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts.  There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage.  And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life.  What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.'   And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God.  'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'   And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.

So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders."

Vermont C. Royster, In Hoc Anno Domini, December 24, 1949

"Truth dies from the neglect of many, and thereafter liberty, at the hands of a savage few.

Jesse, Liberty Dies at the Hands of a Savage Few, 3 July 2023


Stocks did a bit of a pop and flop today, led by the 'Magnificent 7' tech stocks.

Gold, silver, and the Dollar all drifted higher.

VIX rose.

There will be a precious metals futures option expiration on Friday.

Stocks of physical gold in the Comex registered Hong Kong warehouses have dropped significantly.

The markets seem to be jogging in place.

At some point they will break.  Perhaps they may progress a little more. 

But the mispricing of risk is profound.

Stop spreading lies and hate, creating divisions, and slandering others.

Stop oppressing and murdering the innocent.

Simple commandments.   

Widely ignored though, amongst our stiff-necked generation that thinks it is above judgement, for whatever reasons and manners of privilege.

A banquet of consequences is awaits.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Industrious Lunatics with One Vast Vision of Imbecility

 

"These are peoples that have lost the power of astonishment at their own actions. When they give birth to a fantastic fashion or a foolish law, they do not start or stare at the monster they have brought forth.  They have grown used to their own unreason; chaos is their cosmos; and the whirlwind is the breath of their nostrils.   These nations are really in danger of going off their heads en masse; of becoming one vast vision of imbecility, with toppling cities and crazy countrysides, all dotted with industrious lunatics.”

G.K. Chesterton, In Defense of Sanity

"Your adversary, the devil, prowls the earth like a roaring lion, seeking those whom he may devour."

1 Peter 5:8

"The essence of God is existence, and He defines Himself as: 'I am Who am.'  The essence of the devil is the lie, and he defines himself as: 'I am who am not.'  Satan has very little trouble with those who do not believe in him; they are already on his side.”

Fulton Sheen

"There was war in heaven.  Michael and the angels fought against the dragon.   The dragon fought back, but he did not have the power, and so lost his place in heaven.  The great dragon was thrown down – that ancient snake called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.   He fell to the earth, and his angels with him."

Revelation 12:7-9

The Fed is the pivot man in the axis of oligarchy.  They failed miserably in their stewardship during the era of Arthur Burns and Alan Greenspan.   Now they are just going through the motions of bubble-bust cycles and looting.

Stocks were doing a major rally to a new all time high today...

And then flopped hard into the close.

Earnings reports from the likes of Tesla after the bell were not helping.

Gold fell, as did the Dollar.

Silver put in a hard rally after being pummeled earlier in this week.

VIX rose.

Comex option expiration on the futures for precious metals on Friday.

I am not very excited about the upcoming Presidential election.

I would never even consider voting for Trump, but I also would not vote for Biden, the Clinton-Obama-Biden clan, and the Reagan-Bush-GOP cult of Molok.  

And I don't like the idea of being shamed into voting for the 'lesser of two evils' which has been the core Democratic strategy since 1990.  Tough to make a meaningful pick for the national level.

But this doesn't seem to be just a US phenomenon.   If one starts naming leaders around the world, the 'leaders' do not inspire much confidence.  Actually, it gathers in the throat, like a sour mix of dark humor and horrified astonishment. 

Maybe I am too picky, but perhaps it also says something about those that are drawn to great power.

Hard times to come.

Have a pleasant evening.