SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Revision of First Quarter GDP Tomorrow Morning

Stocks held their ground today, as the big tickle will be the revision of the 1Q GDP numbers.

As you know when it first came out I suggested it was artificially high, and would be revised lower. I think we may see that tomorrow. Keep an eye on the deflator.

Even if it is negative, which is probably will ultimately be, it will be blamed on the weather, and the attention will be directed to 2Q GDP which is expected to be a high positive number. Or at least expected to be so by those who are touting stocks.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Metals Hit For Comex June Options Expiration

"The new America, instead, is fast becoming a vast ghetto in which all of us, conservatives and progressives, are being bled dry by a relatively tiny oligarchy of extremely clever financial criminals and their castrato henchmen in government, whose job is to be actors on TV and put on a good show."

Matt Taibbi, Griftopia

As I reminded several times last week, today was an option expiration on the Comex for the precious metals, for the important June contract.

The metals were hit in an attempt at a 'mini-puke' in the manner of the Barclays digital options two-step, and for much the same reasons.

Who buys these metals options one might ask, given the sheer amount of deceit and manipulation that has been exposed in so many instruments and situations?  

That is a good question.  Probably the same people who buy many of Wall Street's bearish ETFs, IPOs, and other flawed products that are so adverse to wealth and value in their design.

And who are these people and the venues that continue to attempt to justify and excuse the inexcusable, and make the obvious seem improbable?

If it were not for the gullible, the naïve, and the careless, scoundrels would be otherwise obliged to find productive employment.

This too shall pass.  Nothing has changed.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Record High On the SP 500

Stocks were in rally mode today. purportedly off 'better than expected' economic news this morning.

This looks a lot like an end of month rally and a short squeeze. Let it run for now, but it does not seem to be sustainable by the economic news, but rather a child of the Fed and dodgy accounting. 

Revised GDP out later this week.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Option Expiration and An Active Contract Month

There will be an option expiration for the June contract on next Tuesday, and the active June contract will take center stage from the relatively quiet month of May.

Speaking of options expirations, a small fry at Barclays was tossed over to the FSA when he went out of his way to cheat a large and presumably important customer on an options position. You may read about it here.

Manipulation of the precious metals markets is often as blatant and obvious as what this junior joker from Barclays did.  One can see it on the tape, but the omerta that surrounds the scams in the world of crony capitalism generally prevails, and nothing comes of it unless a 'very serious player' is harmed. 

There are laws, and then there are the real, unwritten rules, and it is getting more blatant as nothing is done about it. It stops being an outlier and becomes 'accepted.'  That is what is called moral hazard. And it is corrosive to markets and to government.   

Nothing important happened yesterday in the Comex gold warehouses.

June may be an interesting month for the metals, and more likely more interesting than May.

As a reminder, the business and government of the United States will be closed for business on Monday, for Memorial Day.  Try to carry on without their guidance.

Have a pleasant weekend.