"They defended him, verbally and physically, every time he committed one of his criminal acts. They went blithely on past the suffering of all the bombing victims, the prisoners in the concentration camps, and the religious persecutors, because a different regime would have meant the end of their power. 'You made this monster, and as long as things were going well you gave him whatever he wanted. You turned Germany over to this arch-criminal.'”
Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen, 1947
"There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hopes soon to be swept away. The British people can face peril or misfortune with fortitude and buoyancy, but they bitterly resent being deceived or finding that those responsible for their affairs are themselves dwelling in a fool's paradise."
Winston Churchill
“Those entrapped by the herd instinct are drowned in the deluges of history. But there are always the few who observe, reason, and take precautions, and thus escape the flood. For these few gold has been the asset of last resort.”
Antony C. Sutton
Just charts tonight.
The futures reversed and are selling off after hours as the US says it will increase China tariffs on Friday.
"What these experiences have taught me is that even when people are warned of a previously founded case or even a conviction, they still routinely underestimate the pathology with which they are dealing.”
"Anyone who bought stocks in mid-1929 and held onto them saw most of his or her adult life pass by before getting back to even.”
Richard M. Salsman
"Ordinarily, the financial risk in a market, and hence the risk to the economy at large, is limited because the assets traded are finite. There are only so many houses, mortgages, shares of stock, [bars of gold], bushels of corn or barrels of oil in which to invest.
But a synthetic instrument has no real assets. It is simply a bet on the performance of the assets it references. That means the number of synthetic instruments is limitless, and so is the risk they present to the economy. Synthetic structures referencing high-risk mortgages garnered hefty fees for Goldman Sachs and other investment banks. They assumed an ever-larger share of the financial markets, and contributed greatly to the severity of the crisis by magnifying the amount of risk in the system.
Increasingly, synthetics became bets made by people who had no interest in the referenced assets. Synthetics became the chips in a giant casino, one that created no economic growth even when it thrived, and then helped throttle the economy when the casino collapsed."
Carl Levin, US Senator
"From the least to the greatest, all of them are greedy for unjust gains;
and from prophet to priest they all deal falsely.
They have treated the suffering of my people carelessly,
saying, ‘all is well’ when there is no safety.
They act shamefully, they commit terrible offenses;
and yet they are not ashamed,
and do not even know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall."
Jeremiah 6:13-15
"We can all agree that AMERICA is now #1. We are the ENVY of the WORLD — and the best is yet to come!"
Donald J. Trump
"Easy is the descent into hell;
The door to death and darkness stands open, day and night.
But to retrace one's steps, to return once more
to the pure clean air, and cheerfulness and life:
That is our task, that is our true labour."
Vergil
Maybe it won't be so bad this time. The Fed does own a printing press, and the rationales for using it freely are becoming increasingly persuasive to those who would deceive and be deceived.
Gold and silver may have found a bottom here, now that the antics of the bank which has been driving prices lower to make good on their short bets are almost done.
The available physical supply at these prices has continued to tighten, especially for gold.
Stocks are soaring to highs. Or as Bloomberg noted today, stock buybacks from corporations flush with tax cut money are fueling an 'endless rally.'
"If individuals aren’t enthusiastic, who’s buying stock and pushing prices up? It’s impossible to know precisely, but one set of usual suspects is clearly doing a lot of the heavy lifting: corporations themselves. They’ve had plenty of profits in recent years, which have been boosted by federal tax cuts, and have used a chunk of them to buy back their own stock. Share repurchases rose 22 percent in the first quarter, to an estimated $270 billion, according to Bank of America Corp., easily eclipsing the amount of money withdrawn from mutual funds. That companies don’t see more opportunities to invest in their actual businesses—say, in factories and research and development—instead of shares may be a bad omen for growth, but for now it’s keeping the party going."
Michael Regan, The U.S. Stock Market Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Its Endless Rally
This could be quite impressive, both in the extent of the high, and in the ferocity of its descent.
As I seem to recall, those who bought and held stocks in 1929 did not break even again until most of their life was past, in the 1950's.
Have we truly given ourselves and our childrens' futures over to such reckless and arrogant characters? It appears to be so.
Sooner or later a crash is coming. And it may be terrific.
What has been hidden wll be revealed. What is secret will be made known.
"You have to hear all the truth,
Even if they do not like it."
Sebastian Brant, Ship of Fools
"Now in vessels which are in a state of mutiny and by sailors who are mutineers, how will the true pilot be regarded? Will he not be called by them a star-gazer, someone who speaks foolishness, and a good-for-nothing?"
Plato, Republic
"Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right...
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you."
Stealers Wheel, Stuck in the Middle with You
"You'll never find the solution if you don't see the problem."
Gilbert K. Chesterton
And if you don't see any of the problems, well, then all must be well.
The problems are ignored by the many, who lose themselves in distractions and animated outrage and madness. And reform is ridiculed, cheated, and spurned by the comfortable few, who do not care if the ship is sinking as long as they have first class seats.
The registered, or deliverable gold at these current prices in the Comex warehouses has fallen back to historic lows. I have included a chart below that is current as of Thursday of last week. We had a further decline reported today. I have included that clearing report below as well.
US stocks plunged today as Jay Powell spoke glowingly about the strong economy.
This sort of skittishness is typically seen in markets that are topping, because of thinly justified, and rather high, valuations that make it difficult for people to be 'investors' rather than speculators for the moment.
This is what the Fed and our regulatory system have created and nutured: not an efficient capital allocation system, but a casino, and a dodgy one at that.
Let us pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil.
We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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