SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Ancien Régime - Here Comes the Sun King

Stocks managed to build on their rally, despite some particularly ugly macroeconomic news this morning.

I seem to recall saying that it is hard to be too cynical about this market. It is running on low volume and algorithms that are largely focused on the short term technicals.

It is going to take something of significance to shake Wall Street out of its narcissistic love affair with itself.

Today President Obama announced that he is relaxing the restrictions against lobbyists directly occupying positions of power on Federal advisory boards for government policies. 

Perhaps he just wants to cut out the middlemen.  Or line up a few more post-electoral $100K speaking engagements.

How fitting that the Sun King announced this from Martha's Vineyard. 

Is there any promise or progressive policy that he has not carelessly thrown under the carriage of his imperial convenience for the pleasure of the moneyed interests?

As a reminder, tomorrow is an option expiration for stocks.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Cap, Cap, Cappity Cap

It was silver's turn in the barrel, as gold held its ground a little better.

 Silver was under modest pressure throughout the NY trading day. 

As you know this is an 'active month' for gold and an off month for silver in New York.

Nothing meaningful happened on the Comex delivery front or in the warehouses yesterday.  Active month-wise.

Why waste words?   Just another day with the Flim Flam man.   

We have the illusion of calm and efficient markets.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Alibaba and the 40 Underwriters

Stocks managed to rally despite economic numbers this morning for retail sales that sucked out loud, no ifs, ands, or buts.  This does not bode well for Q3 GDP.

I think my skepticism of the week before last about the stock market action being the rinse cycle in a wash and rinse has a little more street credibility, given the U-turn that equities made right on key support levels.

I grow old, I grow old, I will ladder Treasuries and have them rolled.

I hear Alibaba's IPO, which will be the largest IPO ever and a real bell ringer, will be coming out on September 16th, with the road show starting in Asia on September 3rd. Unless something really happens, it will surprise me very much if stocks are going to take a dive during that time period.

As a reminder this Friday is a stock option expiry. The next stock option expiry will be on September 20th.

Stocks are jammed up into short term overhead resistance right now from a down sloping trend channel also known as a bull flag. IF they can move higher from here they have a good chance to run higher to the top of the intermediate trend before Friday expiry and take out the bear option players.

Then we might get another test downwards, but the cynical me says that the Street will try to smooth the way for the mother of all IPOs in September, at least until the 20th or so.  Unless Alibaba snubs one of the big Wall Street machers in the underwrite and ability to dole out the spoils and take their vig. Then all bets are off.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - No Silver Money For Mexico, But Perhaps Gold For Eurasia

The amount of gold ounces stopped so far in August reached 478,800 the other day.  That is a sizable chunk of gold at the Comex warehouse.  But fortunately as you can see from the warehouse report, gold only enters, and rarely leaves.  Don't look at all that other precious metal flowing to Asia, probably never to return in our lifetimes. 

I don't want to beat it to death, but I think you know that I hold the Comex  in rather low esteem as a market for price discovery.  On the surface it looks like a confidence game, and there is plenty of collateral and circumstantial evidence to suggest that might be the case.

But what surprises me are those who believe the same thing, and then go and put their money down in that casino, and get taken for a ride. 'Oh yeah, silver is a rigged market.  And I just bought some November options on the Comex futures.'  Huh?  Its like the old story about a cowboy complaining about the crooked faro game in the local saloon, and then going there to lose 'because its the only game in town.'  Well, the Comex is not the only way to play.

I heard an interesting statistic today. It seems that more people in the U.S. die from suicide than from homicide. A sad toll of collateral damage in an empire of deception, death, and despair.

There was a report about Mexico being 'on the verge of tying their currency to silver.'  I quite frankly will not give it any credibility unless my friend Hugo Salinas-Price, who is the dean of the monetary metals for Mexico movement, tells me so in reply to the question I asked. I just do not see it happening, since Mexico still has such close ties to the Anglo-American banking cartels. 

So for now, let's say it is a scenario, and not particularly likely. (later: Hugo says "wishful thinking by someone")

More likely is gold assuming some sort of monetary reemergence which is as yet undefined, originated in the Eurasian economic complex.  That could go several ways, and not all of them favorable.  So let's see what happens with that.

And as for the Anglo-American central banks, you never give us your money, you only give us your funny paper.

Have a pleasant evening.