Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Quad Witch Tomorrow, Comex Metals Option Expiry Next Week

Moloch, God of Wealth and Child Sacrifice

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

C. S. Lewis


"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.  They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning


“The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love.  And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”

Maximilian Kolbe

Stocks managed to close nearly unchanged today, although there was still a fairly impressive range from top to bottom in the futures markets.

Gold closed lower, while silver managed a little rally.

The Dollar DX Index rally is amazing, a clear example of a flight to safety continuing. At the close it was hovering around 102.78.

Surgical masks are of limited effectiveness, mostly to prevent someone who is already affected from spreading the coronavirus by coughing or sneezing.  N95 masks, however, are effective and are worn by healthcare professionals who are working with patients.  But they are in short supply, which is shameful.  And are not necessary for most people, if they are practicing physical distancing and hand and surface washing.

Keep in touch with each other, and encourage and help one another. And for those who are so inclined, pray for each other.

The Madness serves None but Itself

The usual suspects and con men are mocking peoples' efforts to protect themselves and their families, often because they are negatively affecting the stock market.  Really?

And there are those who would sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals, in order to maintain their own exorbitant worldly privileges.

You might use this as an opportunity to see the quality and character of people who are speaking to you, where they are standing, whether knowingly or foolishly or hysterically.   Be careful what you allow into your minds, or even worse, what you spread around to your friends and family.

People whose hearts are sickened and minds are disordered enjoy shocking and manipulating other people.  It gives them a feeling of worth, and power.  And some of these jokers thrive on sensationalism and panic, without caring what damage they may do, in order to obtain 'clicks' and thrills.

And dare we say it, there are those who traffic in fear and hatred and lies, in order to manipulate people to maintain their power over them.   This is the great lesson we have seen from the aftermath of the Crash of 1929.

There is no need to panic. We have seen worse than this, or at the least our parents and grandparents have. And we will endure.  Act sensibly and responsibly, and keep your eyes on the prize.

Need little, want less, love more. For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.

Have a pleasant evening, and stay safe.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Stocks Suffer Historic Declines - Crash of 2020 - Quad Witch on Friday

The Bankers Save the Market - October 24, 1929

"On October 24, Black Thursday, the market lost 11 percent of its value at the opening bell on very heavy trading.  Several leading Wall Street bankers met to find a solution to the panic and chaos on the trading floor. They chose Richard Whitney, vice president of the Exchange, to act on their behalf.

With the bankers' financial resources behind him, Whitney placed a bid to purchase a large block of shares in U.S. Steel at a price well above the current market. As traders watched, Whitney then placed similar bids on other 'blue chip' stocks. The tactic was similar to one that had ended the Panic of 1907, and succeeded in halting the slide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered, closing with it down only 6.38 points for the day."

Wikipedia, Wall Street Crash of 1929


"A common feature of all these earlier troubles [panics such as 1907 and 1921] was that having happened they were over.  The worst was reasonably recognizable as such.

The singular feature of the great crash of 1929 was that the worst continued to worsen. What looked one day like the end proved on the next day to have been only the beginning.

Nothing could have been more ingeniously designed to maximize the suffering, and also to insure that as few as possible escaped the common misfortune. The fortunate speculator who had funds to answer the first margin call presently got another and equally urgent one, and if he met that there would still be another. In the end all the money he had was extracted from him and lost.

The man with the smart money, who was safely out of the market when the first crash came, naturally went back in to pick up bargains. (Not only were a recorded 12,894,650 shares sold on 24 October; precisely the same number were bought.) The bargains then suffered a ruinous fall.

Even the man who waited out all of October and all of November, who saw the volume of trading return to normal and saw Wall Street become as placid as a produce market, and who then bought common stocks would see their value drop to a third or a fourth of the purchase price in the next twenty-four months.

The Coolidge bull market was a remarkable phenomenon. The ruthlessness of its liquidation was, in its own way, equally remarkable."

John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash of 1929

For those of you who are not fans of financial history, the market later crashed badly on October 29.

A few years later saw the bankers' hero Dick Whitney in prison, after it was discovered that he had been stealing from the NYSE Widows and Orphans Fund.

The story today was bailouts for corporate America.  Zimbabwe Ben went all in on 'cash for trash.'

Companies that blew billions on stock buybacks and bonuses are now lining up saying that they need cash to keep on going.

And it looks like they are going to get it, and then some.

I hope we put a few strings on those bailouts, like warrants and restrictions on their spending priorities, which generally have been putting more money into the wealthiest pockets, and the least into product value and workers' wages.

Despite the determined opposition by some GOP Congressmen, who are afraid that paid sick leave will make workers 'lazy', there might actually be something coming for the working public.

Giving money to badly managed and essentially corrupt companies without reforms, and fairly stiff conditions, this will do little for us in the long run.  But it does let some zombie companies keep shambling along unchanged.

 This is a demand shock. Meaning the solutions would well be centered on the consumer.

A recovery may be found from the bottom up.  But alas, that is not where the power and money reside these days, in this rotten system.

But why keep saying the same old things to the corrupt and willfully blind, when they have placed themselves beyond reason, and redemption.  And I'll leave it at that.

Stocks cracked down to new lows today.

The Nasdaq 100 finally broke the 30% decline level, and the SP 500 was there and then some.

This is no bear market. This is a crash. The bear market may come later on.

I would not be too quick to buy into this, to buy the bounces.  We should see at least one multi day bounce that sucks a lot of eager dip buyers back in.

And then bang, it will be down into the abyss, bounce a few more times, and then down to the floor of hell. 

Silver was beat senseless today.  I would let that one go for a little while since it is a weaker safe haven play, and a certain Bank who will not be named is just having its way with it.

Gold took some shots as well, in part because of an amazing Dollar rally, almost to the 101 level.

But this is also the lead up to the quad stock witch, and the Banks are keen to maximize their short position returns on the miners.

And certain financial bigwigs and their compadres in government and the Fed view gold as a dangerous competitor to their monetary fraud.  Especially now that the frauds have worn so thin.

Try not to listen to the usual suspects, with their goofy theories about how this coronavirus is all just a hoax, and some quirk of human nature, or the Deep State.  Try not to become a statistic.

There seems to be some perverse version of Gresham's Law going on. People readily pass around bad information and awful advice, sometimes truly outrageous nonsense. But realistic advice and sound information are not to be found except in a few neglected places. Chaos is exciting. And so chaos multiplies.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Choice - Economic Cargo Cults - Quad Witching Stock Option Expiration

"Whenever you pray, forgive if you have anything against someone else, so that your Father in heaven may thereby forgive you."

Mark 11:25


"When we forgive, we do not simply put up with the person’s hurtful behavior, blame ourselves for the person’s behavior, pretend that we weren’t hurt, or say the person didn’t mean to hurt us.  Instead, we acknowledge that we are all imperfect humans.

 Forgiveness is a moral decision to see the other person’s worth, let go of anger, and offer compassion, benevolence, and love toward the offender."

Robert D. Enright, Forgiveness Is a Choice


"And forgive us the debts of our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us."

Matthew 6:12

Repentance means seeing and being sorry for our own mistakes, sins, and foolishness.   It must come first.  Perfect people can never forgive others, or accept themselves as they are, only some distorted version.

This is why God does not forgive us unless we can forgive others.   Not to punish us.  It is for our sake, not His.  If we are unable to forgive others, we are dead to love.  He gives us the great courtesy of freedom of will, and grants us our refusal even for what is for our own good.

Forgiving others is hard.  That is why we were given such an extravagant example of sacrifice and forgiveness for others.  Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

For God so loved the world.

Stocks bounced today, off short term oversold conditions that were almost incredible.

Gold and the Dollar also bounced today, and the VIX remains in a very high risk level.

To say that the markets remain fragile would be an understatement.

There are a number of stimulus plans and initiatives being considered, now that a few of the Congressional knuckle-draggers have shambled back to their corporatist compounds.

This is a demand shock.

It is not a run-of-the-mill recession in the business cycle. It is more like a market crash due to some global event like a world war that is only loosely under our control.

The focus of the administration and the financial powers should be to soften the blow to the consumer, and keep the spark of demand alive.  And once the medical crisis has eased, to engage in serious stimulation to bring back the recovery.

But there are many powerful constituencies lining up for bailouts and handouts.  In the last crisis the  consumer was given the short end of the stick as the moneyed interests settled down at the public trough.

And they are lining up already to do it again.   The privileged become hysterical when they see the status quo in peril.

As a remined, this Friday will be a stock market quad witching option expiration.

Do I think the stock market has bottomed?   No.  Not yet.

We have not seen the kind of shattering drop after a brief 'relief rally' that is generally multi-day.

Governor Cuomo today said that the peak of the virus will not be seen in New York for 45 days.  That might be optimistic, depending on the actions that are taken.

The usual suspect were back to their old antics pretty shamelessly today.  And I have been surprised to see some of the old names from crashes past coming on to once again render their foul nostrums.

They will never learn.  The question is, will we?

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Fed Shock and Aw Shucks - Be Still, And Know That I Am God

'The least of these...'

"Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth, and teach me: for you are the God of my salvation; and I wait for you all the day.  Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and loving kindness for us, as they have always been of old."

Psalm 25:4-6


“To escape the pain caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good Providence, and give the present wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.”

Jean-Pierre de Caussade


"Wonderful providence indeed which is so silent, yet so efficacious, so constant, so unerring. This is what baffles the power of Satan.  He cannot discern the Hand of God in what goes on; and though he would fain meet it and encounter it, in his mad and blasphemous rebellion against heaven, he cannot find it."

J. H. Newman


"God has a way of standing before the nations with judgement, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America 'You are too arrogant! If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power! And I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still, and know that I am God.'"

Martin Luther King


"Indeed, the truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt.

Despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a person deliberately turns his back on all help from anyone else in order to taste the rotten luxury of knowing himself to be lost.

It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we so this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations."

Thomas Merton

Gold held up today on support, first at 1450 and then around 1500, after another crushing liquidation and bear raid.   Silver was hit hard.  Mining stocks were hammered.   And then they bounced back.

The powerful trading houses on Wall Street have no concern for anything but their own personal greed.  Several are serial felons who break the rules and bend the regulations and spread corruption at every opportunity.

Stocks were hammered, and after a rebound, smacked down into the close into the lows.  They were massively overvalued.   Many saw it coming, and warned you.

There are rumours going around everywhere. And this is understandable.

The government is going to shut everything down for two weeks.  The market is going to close.  There is going to be martial law.

Let's keep dealing with the reality of the situation as it is, and let the fears of the future and all the nonsense that surrounds it go its own way.

There is a new version of the influenza going around, and it is a bad one. We know what to do about it. We socially distance, which means not going out and about for the time being, except perhaps as one must.

We wash our hands, and guard against becoming infected and passing the infection on to others.

We saw exactly what was happening in China.  I told you here, and said to be prepared to shelter in place. We knew it, but many ignored it, as we have ignored so many other signs and warnings.

Many listened to lying and incompetent conmen, and the stooges of the moneyed interests, and so now are surprised and shocked at the state of affairs.   This is the oldest story in the world.

Get right, sit tight, take care of yourselves and your families.  And try to remember who you are, and who it is that you serve.

I remember you in my prayers, as I did so today, and will tomorrow.  Dolly and I had an espcially tasty lamb stew with rice for lunch and after a nice walk on a beautiful day, we both fell asleep.

We were up late last night. There was a scare with one of the little ones, six months, who could not breathe.  A trip to the ER and a test, and it was all handled well, and the proper medication for something not the Covid-19 was given.

I am grateful that we are not in the middle of a hard winter, with ice, power outages, and impassable roads. I am very grateful that I was able to rig up a temporary fix and get my internet, phone and cable tv back. Being out of touch for the weekend was hard.

People were shocked today when Trumpolini said that this might last a while.  Duh.  How did we not know that?  Because we listened to lies.  

Life goes on.  We are not exceptional.  But we can strive to be human, to be kind and thankful and sensible, even if others do not.

Do not allow them to bring you down, and avoid them if you must, but love them anyway, and remember them in your prayers.

Have a pleasant evening.