Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Empire Without Limit - Non-Farm Payrolls Tommorw

"Is this a sign that the Germans are brutalized in their simplest human feelings, that no chord within them cries out at the sight of such deeds, that they have sunk into a fatal consciencelessness from which they may never, never awake?"

Sophie Scholl, The White Rose, Second Leaflet, Munich 1942


"Many will become addicted to hateful and malicious thoughts and hateful words. Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, angry despisers of what is good and right. With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and blinded by clouds of conceit.

They will demand and find their delight in the pleasures of this world, and ignore their need to serve God. They may act religious, but they want to serve themselves."

2 Timothy 3:1-5


"If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”

William Law


"When humanity, subjugated by the terror of crime, has been driven mad by fear and horror, and when chaos has become the supreme law, then the time for the empire of lawlessness will have come."

Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse


"And yet Virgil could also present the Roman Empire as a gift from the gods themselves.  At the very beginning, Jupiter, the king of the gods, prophesies Rome's future power. 'I have given,'  he says, 'I have given the Romans imperium sine fine. I have given them empire without limit.'  It hadn't really started that way."

Mary Beard, History of Rome

Stocks were once again reaching for new highs today, shaking off concerns about pandemics, wildfires, plagues of locusts, and all those other acts of God to which our new era of endless prosperity is now apparently impervious.

The dollar finished a bit higher, as did gold and silver.

We watched the movie Joker last night.   It is a very dark psychological study of a disordered mind spiraling out of control, and a very cleverly woven origin story for the Batman series.   It is bleak, and there is virtually no comic relief.

It is also a dark social commentary on the course of public events in our age of arrogant inequality.  In that sense it can be thought of as a 'message movie.'

Joaquin Phoenix is a powerfully effective actor.  I am informed that the movie has received a number of Academy award nominations, and is wildly profitable.

There will be a Non-Farm Payrolls report tomorrow.  Optimism is running high because of the low unemployment report and strong ADP Payrolls Report.

This Fed-fueled bubble is going to end badly.

Our audacious oligarchy is in for a steep, gut-wrenching fall.  If only there were not so many innocents involved as collateral damage for their greed and madness.

No matter how things may become, no matter how lawless and hysterical it may seem to be, try to remember who you are, and whom you serve.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Weighed, and Found Wanting - Non-Farm Payrolls Report on Friday

"Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits impatiently for her meeting with us."

Chalmers Johnson


"The Capitol stuffs its ears when it hears you; the world reviles you.  I can blush for you no longer, and I have no wish to do so.  The howls of Cerberus, the dog of the underworld, though resembling your speeches, will be less offensive to me, for I have never been associated with Cerberus, and I need not be ashamed of his howling."

Titus Petronius, Last Letter to Nero


"When a man takes an oath, he is holding his own self in his own hands, like water.  And if he opens his fingers then, he need not hope to find himself again."

Thomas More


“Religion used to be the opium of the people.  To those suffering humiliation, pain, illness, and serfdom, religion promised the reward of an after life.  But now we are witnessing a transformation: a true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, that we are not going to be judged.”

Czeslaw Milosz, The Discreet Charm of Nihilism

Stocks were in rally mode this morning on the false rumour that China is close to finding a cure for the coronavirus.

The safe havens were hit early, but managed to come back a bit.

After the bell the Senate held its vote on the two charges in the impeachment of Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Trump was acquitted in a vote that was strictly along party lines, except for the vote to convict of abuse of power by Senator Mitt Romney.

There will be the Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Davos Man Triumphant - Fanfare for the State of the Union

“Today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups.  So I ask, in my writing, 'what is real?', because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms.  I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power.  They have a lot of it."

Philip K. Dick


"You shall not offer your children as a sacrifice to the fires of Moloch, and profane the name of your Lord."

Leviticus 18:21


“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”

Plato


"All the world marveled at this, and gave their allegiance to the Beast. And they worshiped the dragon for giving such power to him. as they also worshiped the Beast. 'Who is as great as the Beast?' they exclaimed. 'And who is able to resist him?'   And the Beast was allowed to commit great blasphemies against God."

Revelation 13:3-5

Stocks, led by big cap tech and Tesla, went parabolic today in part momentum trade and a large part short squeeze.

As for the coronoavirus and the economic slowdown, tomorrow is another day for such relatively trivial concerns.

I am an admirer of Elon Musk and the work he has done with Space X.

The valuation of Tesla Motors is insane.

All we are missing now are the cannons shooting gerbils.

The safe havens were hammered as one might expect in such an immolation of risks and cares.

The coverage of the Iowa caucus voting last was so badly done on MSNBC that for a while I watched CNN, which I think is the first time since the Iraq War I.   The lesser of two evils, to borrow a meme.

Someone at the DNC should step down.  Tom Perez might be a start. 

The State of the Union address will be tonight.   The stock market has provided the proper fanfare for the Donald.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And a Haughty Spirit Before a Fall - Lies and Imperial Madness Rising

“To put it baldly, there are two ways to become wealthy: to create wealth or to take wealth away from others. The former adds to society. The latter typically subtracts from it, for in the process of taking it away, wealth gets destroyed. A monopolist who overcharges for his product takes money from those whom he is overcharging and at the same time destroys value. To get his monopoly price, he has to restrict production.”

Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality


“I had noticed that both in the very poor and very rich extremes of society the mad were often allowed to mingle freely.”

Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye


"Evil will sometimes seems good to a man whose mind a god is leading to destruction."

Sophocles, Antigone

After the bell 'Alphabet' posted some negative results, such as operating margin, which caused the stock to decline, despite much better than expected earnings.

Like patriotism and honor, earnings are often a very flexible concept in our current financial discourse and halls of political power.

Stocks rebounded this morning, and the metals were under pressure.

This despite the cratering in the newly opened Asian markets after their long lunar new year holiday.

In the interests of preventing panic, lies and associated looting appears to be the order of the day for our guardians of freedom.

But it would be poor form for Trumpolini to have to give his State of the Union as an impeached president with a cratering stock market.

This is going to end badly, make no mistake about that.

As the force of the economy continues to decline, the fraud of its representations and of most public speech will increase, shamelessly.

Have a pleasant evening.