Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Lazy Days of Summer

The markets were ranging again in a listless sort of way, finishing almost unchanged.

Low volumes and lack of interest.

It must be a Friday in mid-August.

While there was some excitement promoted by the spokesmodels for this morning's retail numbers, the story behind the numbers continued to be lackluster and weighed upon by the ongoing pandemic.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Chart - Then the Flood Came - Fed Underpins Global Financial Assets

“The mob believes everything it is told, provided only that it be repeated over and over.  Provided too that its passions, hatreds, fears are catered to.   The grosser, the bigger, the cruder the lie, the more readily is it believed and followed.   The mob has no memory; no need to pretend to any truth: the mob is radically incapable of perceiving the truth: the mob can never comprehend that its own interests are what is at stake.”

Alexandre Koyré, Réflexions sur le Mensonge, January 1943


“Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, or even a duty."

Simone Weil


“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory, or one of unthinkable horror.”

C. S. Lewis

Stocks tried to reach a new high note again today, but fell back as the wanton disregard for risk failed to sustain the punters, and draw in more innocents to take the handoff of overpriced financial assets at the top.

Gold and silver continued to rebound after the calculated and fairly blatant price smackdown.

Even the spokesmodels took note of silver's impressive rebound.

The dollar has drifted sideways.

And because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts -Den of Vipers and Thieves - Risk On

"Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.

When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank.  You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families.  That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin!

Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves.  I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out."

Andrew Jackson,  The original minutes of the Philadelphia bankers meeting from Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the United States (1928) by Stan V. Henkels


“Believe in truth.  To abandon facts is to abandon freedom.  If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so.  If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.  The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.  Fascists rejected reason in the name of will, denying objective truth in favor of a glorious myth articulated by leaders who claimed to give voice to the people."

Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny

Gold and silver had bounces that faded by the end of the day, after yesterday's brutal mugging.

The Dollar and the VIX were both lower.

It was a risk on day in the markets.

Financial TV had the pom poms out in force, cheering on the SP 500 a recovery of its previous blowout bubble high.

Alas, this was not to be. Although the index is within fairly easy reach, helped by slight volumes and high speculative fever.

Techs were off a bit, although APPL is burning bright in the overvalued firmament.

And despite the numbers this morning for core inflation growth, which was the greatest increase since 1991, the spokesmodel Bloomberg noted that gold has failed to rise, so there must not be any inflation, or it just does not work as a safe haven.

I guess we can forget the all time high its price hit in Dollars within the past week.

What a fix we are in.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Gold and Silver Mugged By Wall Street Insiders - Because They Can

"Day by day the money-masters of America become more aware of their danger, they draw together, they grow more class-conscious, more aggressive. The [first world] war has taught them the possibilities of propaganda; it has accustomed them to the idea of enormous campaigns which sway the minds of millions and make them pliable to any purpose.

American political corruption was the buying up of legislatures and assemblies to keep them from doing the people's will and protecting the people's interests; it was the exploiter entrenching himself in power, it was financial autocracy undermining and destroying political democracy. By the blindness and greed of ruling classes the people have been plunged into infinite misery."

Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check

Today was hardly a risk on day, judging from major stock indices and the VIX.

And the dollar itself was up only slightly.

But gold and silver were just hammered lower.  What's up with that?

The reason was hardly the announcement of a Russian vaccine.

Rather, it was almost certainly a measured 'technical' hit on a metals market that was very overextended to the buy side, with small specs and punters piling on the longs.

And then there were the trailing stops, which the Wall Street insiders get a peek at, which most likely presented a very tempting target, easy to hit and trigger a slide.

Gold and silver were bound to correct. They were starting to go parabolic.

I was sitting in cash waiting for this, and took the opportunity to pick up some trading positions.

Let's see how things go from here.

Have a pleasant evening.