15 August - Assumption

"Most fundamentally, let us call all Americans to repentance for our failure to internalize the simple truth that none of us is more human than any other, and none of us is less so. Then, and only then, will we really be worthy of being considered genuine leaders (and people) of faith."

Shai Held


"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all.   Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer


"When they had seen him, they spread the word about what had been told about the child, and all who heard it were amazed.   Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:18-19

Here is the Greek celebration of the feast of the Assumption at a chapel to Mary on the island of Ikaria.

Perfectly human.

My own Mary received the anointing of the sick earlier this evening.

I hope to have some charts for you tomorrow.

May the Mother of God, Θεοτόκος, always hold you, and protect you, and keep you close to her sacred heart.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Weekend Edition - These Violent Delights

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume."

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Stocks bounced back a bit on Friday after the big selloff, while the metals continued their upward push into what could be some fairly stiff resistance.

The task for told this week is to take out the psychological 1300 resistance and stick a close above it.

As for silver, the 18 handle looms above.

I have been noticing a bigger than usual divergence between the spot price of gold from Kitco, for example, and the quotes I am receiving live from the Comex.

For example, the Kitco spot price quote right now is 1288, whereas the Comex gold continuous contract and December contract quote is 1294.

Well, it would be more of an issue if I was striking a price for a physical sale.

Stocks need to hang on to the bounce.

With Twitter Man predicting that a trade war with China will commence on Monday, we'll have to see what happens.

Relatives came over from Maryland and Pennsylvania this weekend. I was able to obtain some much appreciated sleep, the time to go to the store and browse a little, and a long, hot shower.   And it was nice to have some company in the evening to talk and watch a movie.

Periods of illness of a loved one can become isolating experiences.  A visit from a friend, or a kind word and a smile or gesture from a stranger, become very welcome when keeping the long vigil of duty and love.

It is funny how little things can become such welcome luxuries.   These are God's tender mercies.

See you tomorrow.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - We'll Meet Again

"Many people think of our times as being the last before the end of the world. The evidence of horror all around us makes this seem possible.

But isn't that an idea of only minor importance? Doesn't every human being, no matter which era he lives in, always have to reckon with being accountable to God at any moment? Can I know whether I'll be alive tomorrow morning?

A bomb could destroy all of us tonight. And then my guilt would not be one bit less than if I perished together with the earth and the stars.”

Sophie Scholl, Munich, 1942

The markets caught a whiff of fear, and the air started quickly coming out of the excess liquidity fueled bubbles in financial assets.

Gold and silver caught a bid in a pretty clear 'flight to safety' trade.

But at the same time the drops in the markets were long expected and fairly controlled, despite the hike in the VIX which we also saw today.

The wiseguy rally into the close in equities yesterday had me laughing a bit. I went into today fairly short stocks and very long gold and even some silver.

I only mention the short stocks positions to let you know that I took most of them off into the close. I don't like to hang on to these leveraged index shorts for very long.

We *might* have more downside action in stocks coming. That is pretty much up to the latest from Twitter Dum and the Kim Chi Kid.

If the markets get any indication that this whole thing is hot air, then expect a rocket rally.

They don't learn their lessons all that easily.

Let's hope for the best in any case.

As for gold, we will know when real fear is in the markets. We will see the physical inventory at the Comex listed warehouses in Hong Kong empty overnight.

The big resistance remains around the 1300$ level.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Still On the Line

“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky


“There are only two kinds of people in the end—  those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'   All that are in Hell, choose it.”

C.S. Lewis

Or as I have heard elsewhere, the door to hell is locked—  from the inside.

Here are the updated charts as of about 10:30 EDT this morning.

Stocks were jumpy and the precious metals caught a bid off the war of words last night between the US and N. Korea.

The queen is at home in a visiting nurses hospice program.

When we were first dating I was working in a union job for the Ohio Bell telephone company.

See you tomorrow.

Have a pleasant day.