Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Wir Sind Uns Lang Verloren Gegangen - Counting Days

"I know nothing that I may say can influence you.  You have no souls to be influenced. You are spineless, flaccid things.  You pompously call yourselves Republicans and Democrats.   There is no Republican Party.   There is no Democratic Party.  There are no Republicans nor Democrats in this House.  You are lick-spittles and panderers, the creatures of the plutocracy.”

Jack London, The Iron Heel


“‘The dead will lie on open fields,
like sheaves behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.
So let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the wealthy boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know my ways.'"

Jeremiah 9:22-24


"Beauty is but a flower
Which wrinkles will devour;
Brightness falls from the air;
Queens have died young and fair;
Dust hath closed Helen’s eye.
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us."

Thomas Nashe, A Litany In Time of Plague

Stocks were rallying deliriously today, as they did the other day, before they were plummeting seemingly in a panic of despair.

Gold was off a bit and the dollar was slightly higher. Silver marked time in place.

The spokesmodels were calling this a relief rally, with Wall Street being relieved with the triumphant performance of Joe Biden in the primaries over Bernie Sanders.

There was a notable rally in the health care sector.

There is no surprise that the one percent love the status quo.

Now they are counting votes, with an eye to a triumph in November.

Let them count the days instead, so that they may know what they have squandered in their greed and in their pride.

We have been lost for a long time.

Perhaps we can find our way again.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Risk Off - And Back Down Stocks Go Again

"We looked into the abyss if the gold price rose further.  A further rise would have taken down one or several trading houses, which might have taken down all the rest in their wake.  Therefore at any price, at any cost, the central banks had to quell the gold price, manage it. 

It was very difficult to get the gold price under control but we have now succeeded.  The US Fed was very active in getting the gold price down. So was the U.K."

Sir Eddie George, Governor Bank of England to Nicholas J. Morrell, chief executive of Lonmin Plc, 1999

The Fed did a 50 basis point rate cut today because of the deteriorating economic conditions due to the coronavirus.  And the collapsing asset bubble, but that was unspoken.

The big risk on rally of yesterday and this morning, with the slaughter of the gold price last week, did a complete turnaround on the rate cut news, with the Dollar and stocks falling, and gold and silver rallying back much of what they had lost.

There is little doubt in my mind that the big knockdown on the metals the other day was to prepare the way for this rate cut.

Otherwise the price of gold may have broken through 1700, and some bullion banks carrying heavy to the short side positions might have been hurt, as the managed monetary marketeers lost their 'control' over the paper price of gold in NY and London.

Shortly after that big surprise rate cut, Trumpolini was complaining that it wasn't big enough, and the Fed should have cut more.

The Fed of course is not interested in getting anywhere near the zero bound again.  It seriously inconveniences them in their policy degrees of freedom.

And as always, the Banks.

Anyone who thinks that the dampening economic impact of the coronavirus is going to fade quickly in Asia is living in some alternative reality.

It is the knock on effects of the quarantines and closures on economic activity that is the biggest concern overall for the markets.

Today is Super Tuesday, and there will be a number of Democratic primary elections that may shed some clarity on the newly reduced field of candidates.  The Democratic Establishment is making its all out attempt to 'stop Bernie' and provide 'more of the same.'  The GOP is already in full pig-on mode.  No surprises expected there.

Rough seas ahead, mateys.   Now is not the time for non-professionals to get tactical and try to trade short term.

Get right and sit tight.  Values and reality still count for something, at least at the end of the month.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Risk On - Priorities and Consequences in the United States of Amnesia

"This slow and awful self-hypnotism of error is a process that can occur not only with individuals, but also with whole societies.  It is hard to pick out and prove; that is why it is hard to cure.  But this mental degeneration may be brought to one test, which I truly believe to be a real test. 

A nation is not going mad when it does extravagant things, so long as it does them in an extravagant spirit.  But whenever we see things done wildly, but taken tamely, then the State is growing insane."

G. K. Chesterton, National Madness


"For death has crept in through the windows, and has entered our strongholds."

Jeremiah 9:21


"The whole concept of sanity in a society where spiritual values have lost their meaning is itself meaningless."

Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable

Stocks were on a tear higher today, on the news that Team Trump, consisting of Mnuchin and Kudlow, are considering its response to the coronavirus. The two major contenders are Fed rate cuts and tax cuts.

I guess this is the one percent rescue effort. I was kind of hoping to hear some news about public health emergency plans etc.  I am sure we will get to that, once we work our way through a mountain of platitudes.

And so financial assets recovered with a vengeance, as we decided that we can't be concerned about any pandemics and their economic consequences, as least for today.   Markets and all that.

Whatever displeases us must be a hoax, for we are perfect.  Barely human, but perfectly obscene in our wanton egoism.

Gold rallied in the morning, and then took its lumps in the afternoon when the Merry Pranksters were calling the shots in the NY paper gold markets.

This is not going to be pretty, by any stretch of the imagination. 

The series Babylon Berlin has a new season, its third, posted now on Netflix.  It is a period crime piece set in Berlin in 1930.  It is well worth watching.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Worst Week For Stocks Since 2008 - Davos Man Springs Into Action

"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


"Paul turned the Emperor and said, 'When they permitted you to mount your father’s throne, it was only on the assurance that you’d keep the spice flowing. You’ve failed them, Majesty.  Do you know the consequences?'”

Frank Herbert, Dune

A healthy market correction this week, as it was called by some pundits, thankful that the lack of 'market collars' and 'circuit breakers' allowed buyers and sellers to find each other without interference. It's almost romantic sounding.

This was the worst week for stocks since 2008, with the SP 500 and Nasdaq down a little over ten percent.

But it did end on a kind of an upbeat note, as the stock futures recovered today's losses and managed to go into the weekend in the green.

Several factors contributed to this.

First and foremost, the odds of a rate cut in March jumped to 96.3% today from 8.9% a week ago, we hear.  I am struggling with the notion that cheaper benchmark rates are going to tempt people to ignore the coronavirus and go to the mall.   But it may put a little life back into the financial asset bubble.  Needs must.

The team of Kudlow and Mnuchin managed to rally the banks to smack the crap out of gold and silver, running the stops and triggering margin calls from the recently increased margin requirments on the Comex.  Since the Banks were struggling with an oversized short position it certainly helped out the financial system while dampening the enthusiasm for hard assets

No slackers here, there is a two prong effort across the established powers to manage and control the narrative, while ensuring boatloads of money continue to reach 'the right kinds of people.'

The spice must flow.

And in a bipartisan celebration of better news, Joe Biden is expected to crush the opposition (Bernie) in South Carolina this weekend, an all important victory for the forces of the status quo.

In all seriousness, let's remember those who are suffering with this virus around the world, struggling to go about their business while trying to protect their livelihoods and families.

Now is a good time to prepare, if you have not already done so, and to begin engaging in those simple procedures that may help us weather this.

Have a pleasant weekend.