Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Pop Goes the Weasel

Gold and silver rebounded today from the artificial smackdown yesterday.  It seems likely that this was a raid designed to flush out amateurs who had taken safe haven positions ahead of the government shutdown, both in downside stock protection and precious metals. 

There was intraday commentary on financial journalism and the Banks here.

Someone brought 31,000 or so ounces of bullion into customer storage at HSBC yesterday, otherwise there was no activity for the first day of October.

As I mentioned in the stock commentary, barring a deal, the Street has its eye on the October 17 debt ceiling discussion, moreso that the shutdown which they really don't care about. I suspect that trade will be 'unsettled' until then.

There is an interesting movie on Netflix streaming called Surviving Hitler: A Love Story.  It is fascinating to see a well done documentary of how ordinary human lives separate and come back together again in a time of momentous and dark historical events.  I won't give away the ending, but if this was not a true story it would be hard to believe.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Wax On, Wax Off

Stocks dropped and VIX spiked as the screw-the-specs trade from yesterday reversed, and then reversed again a bit to trim its losses into the close.

Ok, you were warned.

I think the market keeps oscillating in a highly technical gaming trade until we get closer to a deal or to the debt ceiling deadline of October 17, which as a reminder is a 'soft' deadline given as an estimate by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

We will probably not get the Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday if the government shutdown continues.

Have a pleasant evening.

Seder and Taibbi Discuss JPM and the SpokesModels of the Financial Press

"There's no such thing as good money or bad money. There's just money."

Charles 'Lucky' Luciano

"Why is JP Morgan getting so much heat? Maybe because it is a massive international crime syndicate."

Matt Taibbi

It may be unfair to take the measure of these news channels as journalists.  For the most part they are not journalists, and these are not news channels, although they do sometimes display facts in small boxes on their screens.

In defense of CNBC, Fox and Bloomberg are no better.    I have heard the same meme about money and Wall Street there many, many times. 

There is a mind set that puts the Wall Street and their embedded entourage of enablers apart from the shared reality of the public.  And the same thing is occurring with the press and politicians in Washington.

The financial press are too often spokesmodels acting in extended infomercials, talking about current events with financial graduates of the Charles Luciano School of Economics,  produced and put forward by the corporate interests and billionaires that own them and their careers. 

And this same problem of corporate cronyism is infesting the mainstream news departments as well.

Enjoy.

Here is a link to Taibbi's column on this video in which he makes a few additional comments.

COMEX Warehouse Gold Bullion: Price Moves Smell of Desperation As Inventory Remains Thin

'O sir, to willful men,
The injuries that they themselves procure
Must be their schoolmasters.”

William Shakespeare, King Lear

There were 3,215 ounces of gold bullion taken out of the HSBC warehouse.

The JPM warehouse had 7,143 ounces changed from deliverable to eligible. 

Perhaps the price action freed up some bullion from the GLD ETF.  They need it badly. The levels of gold bullion backing up the leveraged COMEX paper claims on gold exchange remain remarkably thin and oversubscribed.

The international monetary regime is changing.  Nothing could be more clear if one listens to what is being said, and sees what is being done. 

The European Central Banks have made their intentions quite clear, and the Asian monetary powers are in full preparation for their plans, whatever they may finally be.

The forces driving this change are powerful and founded in time and nature. We are watching history unfolding.

Today we saw the familiar methods of the past in a blatant pricing exercise that smelled of desperation. They can set the price by force in the markets in the short term, but they cannot produce that which they have taken, or fulfill that which is owed.  

Weighed, and found wanting.

Stand and deliver.