"A rogue does not laugh in the same way that an honest man does; a hypocrite does not shed the tears of a man of good faith. All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face."
Alexandre Dumas
It was capping all the way today as stocks rallied back from overnight lows to close on the highs, while gold and silver were pushed down and went out near the lows.
It is most likely that the ongoing opera buffo in the Congress will tend to overshadow the real economy for the duration. I provided a brief explanation of the Senate and House particular procedures in the stock commentary for my non-American readers. And probably quite a few American readers as well. The 'news' does not cast much light. They mostly offer spin, and opposing parties with agendas spinning at each other with all the indignation and prevarication they can muster.
There is a soft deadline of October 17th as put forward by the Treasury Secretary for a 'default' as the line in the sand by which the government in no longer to pay its bills.
Interestingly enough this is also a stock option expiration week.
The markets are acting as though a last minute deal will occur as it did the last time the government ran into such an impasse in 2011.
The question of a default is almost silly since the debt is all denominated in dollars, and the Fed does own a printing press. This is default, as opposed to a devaluation which is a more real possibility. What this utterly political 'default threat' affects is the full faith and credit of the government that provides the essential backing for any fiat currency. It is human nature to lack confidence in the obsessed, the ignorant, and the incompetent.
Have a pleasant evening.
