“Depart from me, you accursed. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not comfort me.' They answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not care for you?' He answered, 'Truly I tell you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’” Matthew 25:40-46
The reason for the bailouts and the debasement of the currency is not to promote an economic recovery in the US. Far from it.
The objective is the same as it is in other countries around the world dominated by monied interests, such as Ireland.
The purpose is to save the banks and their bondholders, and the financial status quo. To this end the peoples' interests will be sacrificed if they allow it.
The US government is caught in a credibility trap. They cannot inspire confidence and re-establish the soundness of their economy, because they are not able to make the necessary reforms that would actually justify such a renewed confidence, to make it credible and real.
They cannot make these reforms because to do so would shatter the facade of the status quo which is corrupted and complicit, and includes far too many of them both directly and indirectly. This they fear more than anything else.
So they try to bluff their way out of it, hoping for a break, engaging in even more fraud and deception and debasement. And the financial looting continues while the real economy declines and the ordinary person suffers.
And it is working, because some vocal portion of the public shows itself to be easily led by slogans, faux news, financial carnies, and the manipulation of their lowest emotions, even to their own destruction. And the rest seem too often dulled by apathy and diversion.
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public..." Adam Smith
"Today was the option expiration on the Comex, and those options which are 'in the money' and have not been settled for cash are now converted to March futures positions.
Depending on the size and distribution of those conversions we may see some 'action' in the front month because they are sometimes notoriously weak hands and will receive at least one 'gut check.'"
And a gut check to run the stops was very obviously delivered in the afternoon trading session at the Comex and across the monthly contracts.
This is remniscent of the 'Dr. Evil' strategy that got Citi warned and fined in Europe a few years ago. Memories of Citi's Eurobond Manipulation At the time one of the defenses offered by an ex-pat trader was 'in the US everybody does it.' Has JPM taken up the trading strategy that Citi once made infamous? And why would banks be trading for themselves in markets with players they help to finance, and with public money?
Large players can come into a relatively small market and drive the price by selling in size, running the stop loss orders which they often can 'see' through probing orders and positional advantage, and essentially bomb the market, manipulating the price in the short term to their advantage. The profit is made through derivative and correlated bets that depend on the price of the metal, index, or bond such as shorts on mining stocks, currencies, bonds, etc.
This is why the 'uptick rule' in stocks served a purpose, and why regulators are in place to keep an eye on big players with deep pockets and a far reach. In a properly regulated market the CFTC would immediatly pull the trading records for today and track the big sellers, and inquire as to the reasons for their sudden selling in a quiet market.
It *could* have been a hedge fund margin call. It could even have been a margin call provoked by a bank tightening credit lines with one hand while playing the market with their other hand. There were rumours being spread all week keying in on the day after expiration. I do not have any inside information, no special knowledge, only the advantage of experience and a watchful eye on the markets.
And so there it all is. I was ready for it. I may or may not make money from it, but at least I had flattened my positions as I had said earlier this week and did not lose from it. But it sickens me to the heart nonetheless, to see a once great government fallen so low.
Let us pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil.
We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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