SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Transparency Games

"Hiding behind opacity, bankers rig the global financial markets for their personal gain. Today, seven large banks paid over $5 billion in fines for rigging the foreign exchange markets. These were the latest fines for bad behavior.

However, just to show that these fines will not change their bad behavior, yesterday a survey was released in which 1 in 4 bankers agreed that, hiding behind a veil of opacity, they would engage in illegal activity if they could make at least $10 million dollars.

In my book I show a solution for restoring transparency and ending rigged global financial markets."

Richard Field, Transparency Games: How Bankers Rig the World of Finance

 

Stocks were floundering most of the day, but tried to rally up through overhead resistance again off the Fed minutes which were released a bit early.

 

Alas, a rally was not meant to be.

 

Stocks feel a bit heavy here, and vulnerable to exogenous risk shocks of even a relatively mild kind.

 

Valuations of the big talk momentum nifty stocks are almost incredible. 

 

A few more of the career criminals, aka the Banks, were spanked lightly today for rigging yet another important global financial market. 

 

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

 

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

 

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Pullback

Gold and silver have been steadily rising, but today gave a piece of that up and fell back to near support.   The 1200 and 16-17 ranges have their allure.

What a surprise.

 

The dollar rallied off the 'better than expected' home starts and permits number.  Recovery!

 

There was intraday commentary about The Recovery™  here.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

 

 

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Teen Spirit

The markets were thrilled this morning with Housing Starts and Building Permits numbers that were far above estimates, stoking hopes that the economy is recovering.

I would like to know the target market for these homes, and how many are spoken for. You'll forgive me for wondering if these are going into the speculative overhang along with the home flippers and their existing homes inventories.

Walmart missed on earnings and revenues, and in that there is a message, and a very strong one.

ETSY missed after the bell, and the stock was getting monkey hammered. So go the 'hot IPOs' of bubbledom, that come out at prices like 30, and less than a month later are under 20.

Have a pleasant evening.

Retail Store Closings and Bankruptcies - Most American Shoppers 'Broke'

"We have almost no GDP growth...We are so overdone...

More chains are going bankrupt than I've ever seen, and more stores are closing.

Half of America doesn't have any money. The financial condition of most Americans is a train wreck."

Howard Davidowitz

"People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage."

John Kenneth Galbraith

Howard Davidowitz is one of my favorite analysts, and a maven of the retail sector.

And he tends to tell the facts, even to those who do not want to hear them.   But he is so good at what he does, so well known and respected, that they have to let him on.

Those who are profiting from the status quo do not want change, and being completely self-absorbed do not care if there is a recovery for the rest of America.

They do not care, as long as they can keep the music playing, and the economy dancing to their tune.  They've never had it better. 

And their enablers cannot address the problems.  They will not even acknowledge that their IS a problem, because of the credibility trap.

Cartoon source