"For I behold the heavens, the works of your fingers: the moon and the stars which you have made.
What is man that you are mindful of him? or the Son of Man that you dwell with him?
You have made us a little less than the angels, and you have crowned Him with glory and honour,
And have set Him over all the works of your hands."
Late breaking news says that President Obama has refused the offer of a six week extension of the debt ceiling.
The precious metals, especially gold, were under pressure and being capped all day, with silver holding its own a little better.
Once the day session ended and we went into electronic after hours trading the algos came out and starting hitting gold and silver fairly steady, along with the related products like the Funds, ETFs and miners. If you were looking on Level 2 tradebook you saw a steady stream of sell 100, sell 100, sell 100 transactions nibbling away at the bid positions.
It may just be a coincidence, but once the stats are known for the daily Comex warehouse transactions it seems as though the action picks up a bit.
Yesterday we saw little movement on the warehouses. Typically we do not see a lot of deliveries in the first half of an active month, except perhaps in the first few days.
As you know the central bankers and finance ministers of the G20 are meeting in Washington DC today and tomorrow. There was an old story about China calling for a new world reserve currency that went around but I am pretty sure it was an old story that reappeared on a web site without a date.
China has been making high level public calls like this since at least 2009. The progress of great events seems painfully slow to those involved in them. In the history books it would be compressed to a few pages or paragraphs.
One thing that hardship and experience teach is patience, and an appreciation of the little things in life, if we are but open to learning those lessons. I was very happy today that my wife was feeling well enough to go out for a simple Japanese lunch and a little light shopping. She is in the middle of her chemo treatment cycle again, although I have to say that the last scan was clear, so that in itself makes everything one endures much better. This kind of treatment is all about waiting, and hoping. Although there is no cure, they consider these things to be 'chronic illnesses' that can be treated for quite some time. They have made progress but there is still so much to be learned, so much that they cannot do and do not know yet. But there is much room for hope.
It is funny to see her getting out the wig again, so that the little old housebound ladies she visits and helps each week will not know that she is sick, although they don't seem to notice the portable pump she wears for a few days during the week as a fanny pack. They live from day to day, and almost any change seems to frighten them. I help deliver the groceries, and fix the little things around their homes, and look in on them when the weather is bad. I get a kick out of their adherence to 'name brands' when we buy them food and medicine and personal things.
Even if something is exactly the same thing and less expensive it seems as though any change is too much for them to bear. These are people in their late 90's who are well enough and stubborn enough to wish to live at home, but who are 'fragile' and whose families are at a distance from them. They cling to their homes. It is a common enough thing from what I have seen.
It seems as though I have spent quite a bit of time in hospitals these past three years. One gets to know the staff, and the hours that the cafeteria is open, and the best place to sit and have a cup of coffee while using your laptop with access to a power outlet. There are the familiar faces, and the opportunities to comfort people whose family member is in for surgery.
And everywhere there is a depth of humanness and kindness, a forebearance for one another and a common sympathy that is all too rare in the hustle and bustle of life. There are the angels who help the disabled to make their visits for some meager payment, many of them from the Caribbean. It is interesting to speak with them and to hear their stories, and to learn about their families back home. And to thank them for what they are doing for 'the least of these.'
In its sadness even such trials impart their beauty, and show the resilience of faith and creation.
Have a pleasant evening.
