Christmas Day 2019 - Implications of the Incarnation

Into the ancient holy land
Behold, the son of God is come to man.

For this is truly my body.

In Innocence fall all heroes and their creeds;
An age is done, an age from here proceeds.

And this is the chalice of my blood,
of the new and everlasting covenant.

What consuming pagan fires could not do—
A covenant of love, and Word made flesh, in You.

Which for you and for the many shall be shed
for the forgiveness of sin.

Sleep swells His breast, though heavy pressed,
By Golgotha, and Adam's sin,
And the hopes of he who signs his name herein.

Jesse



"He has shown you what is good. The Lord requires you to act justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8


"Only the humble believe in Him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that He does wonders where people despair, that He takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly.

God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; He loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.

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


Repentance - Forgiveness - Thankfulness

These are the greatest gifts that you may ever receive.


Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Christmas Eve

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined."

Is 9:1


"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were stricken with fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people. For this day in the city of David there is born to you a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men of good will."

Lk 2:9-14


"All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:3-5

Stocks traded essentially unchanged in very quiet trading.

A handful of big cap tech stocks have been the bulwark of the US stock market rally this year.

The Dollar was unchanged as well.  

Gold and silver are attempting to break out.  I have updated the charts.

The markets will be closed tomorrow for Christmas Day.

Have a very Merry Christmas.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Very Quiet Holiday Trade

"If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't hide the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.  Such things are worldly, carnal, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to make a way for others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no bias and is always sincere. And those who are peaceful will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness."

James 3:13-18


“God has ordered the world so that we may learn to help bear another’s burdens; for no one is without fault, no one is without their burdens, no one is sufficient in themselves, no one is wise enough by themselves; therefore we ought to bear with one another, comfort one another, help, instruct, and admonish one another.”

Thomas À Kempis

The trading desks are already on auto-pilot. The senior staff are on holiday.

The junior traders are just manning the desks, keeping the order flow moving for those last minute hedges of the closing year.

There is no sense in trading anymore this year, because the books are essentially closed. Job done, disaster averted once again.

Unless something happens.

The Fed poured literally billions in hot money into the markets to avoid another sell off such as we had this time last year.

And they have succeeded in inflating the bubble in financial assets even further. The transfer of wealth continues.

The reckoning has not been avoided, merely deferred.

Next year will be one of risings and fallings, of the revealing of what has been hidden, and especially, of how the mighty are fallen, and will be beaten into dust.

The foolishness of the maddened never ceases to amaze me.  Their shamelessness and misplaced pride is astonishing.

How gravely and carelessly we tempt the loving patience of God.   Perhaps now is a good time to step back, and examine our actions and our consciences. 

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Listen, And I Will Tell You a Mystery

"Fear not, little flock, for your Father delights to give you welcome into His Kingdom."

Luke 12:32


"And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.'

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'

So they left in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a manger. After they had seen the Child, they spread the message that they had received about Him. and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:10-19


"What does the modern world know of love, with its light touching of the surface of love.  It has never reached down into the depths, to the misery and pain and glory of love which endures to death and beyond it.  We have not yet begun to learn about love.  Now is the time to begin, to start afresh, to use this divine weapon."

Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, June 1946


"Listen, and I will tell you a mystery."

1 Cor 15:51


“We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him. We do not understand that His call is a thing that takes place now. We think it took place in the Apostles' days, but we do not believe in it; we do not look for it in our own case.

Every century is like every other, and to those who live in it seems worse than all times before it.

God's presence is not discerned at the time when it is upon us, but afterwards, when we look back upon what is gone and over. The world seems to go on as usual. There is nothing of heaven in the face of society, in the news of the day.

And yet the ever-blessed Spirit of God is there, ten times more glorious, more powerful than when He trod the earth in our flesh.

God beholds you. He calls you by your name. He sees you and understands you as He made you. He knows what is in you, all your peculiar feelings and thoughts, your dispositions and likings, your strengths and your weaknesses. He views you in your day of rejoicing and in your day of sorrow. He sympathizes in your hopes and your temptations. He interests Himself in all your anxieties and remembrances, all the risings and fallings of your spirit.

He encompasses you round and bears you in His arms. He notes your very countenance, whether smiling or in tears. He looks tenderly upon you. He hears your voice, the beating of your heart, and your very breathing. You do not love yourself better than He loves you. You cannot shrink from pain more than He dislikes your bearing it; and if He puts it on you, it is as you would put it on yourself, if you would be wise, for a greater good afterwards.

There is an inward world, which none see but those who belong to it. There is an inward world into which they enter who come to Christ, though to men in general they seem as before. If they drank of Christ's cup it is not with them as in time past. They came for a blessing, and they have found a work.

To their surprise, as time goes on, they find that their lot is changed. They find that in one shape or another adversity happens to them. If they refuse to afflict themselves, God afflicts them.

Why did you taste of His heavenly feast, but that it might work in you—why did you kneel beneath His hand, but that He might leave on you the print of His wounds?

God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission -- I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught.

I shall do good, I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me -- still He knows what He is about.

Let us feel what we really are--sinners attempting great things. Let us simply obey God's will, whatever may come. He can turn all things to our eternal good. Easter day is preceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that they only who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Contemplate then yourself, not as yourself, but as you are in the Eternal God. Fall down in astonishment at the glories which are around you and in you, poured to and fro in such a wonderful way that you are dissolved into the Kingdom of God.

The more we do, the more shall we trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.

May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.

Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.”

John Henry Newman


"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

Stocks drifted with an upwards bias on this quad witching expiration.

Gold and silver finished essentially unchanged, with silver show a little push higher. The Dollar also drifted just a little higher.

Next week will be the Christmas holiday week, and the markets will be closed early on Christmas eve and on Wednesday, December 25th for Christmas Day.

Expect trading to be light and variable, along with the morals of our leaders.

The young man is back from London after a long visit there. We will be having all sorts of guests arriving for the holidays next week.

Prime rib is on the menu, along with the usual suspects for sides.

One can do worse than a life of work and prayer, especially if it is seasoned by good friends and pleasant conversations now and then.  It is hard to lose one's best and longest friend, but there is another who is constant, in His loving kindness and tender mercies.

And then there is a joy which awaits us at the end of our days.  For all our passings here are reunions there.

The only real tragedy is not to be among the saints.  I will hold their coats and try to sneak in with the luggage.   The queen always went in first and saved me a seat, and hopefully will do so again.

Lord, pierce our hardened hearts, enlighten our minds, heal our blindness, and break the self-made chains of our pride and self-deception, so that we may choose repentance, forgiveness, thankfulness, and life.

"Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts."

Hebrews 3:15

Have a pleasant weekend.