“Depart from me, you accursed. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not comfort me.' They answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not care for you?' He answered, 'Truly I tell you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’”
Matthew 25:40-46
When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart
But now it's gettin' late
And the moon is climbin' high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin' in your eye
Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.
Buoyant growth in the economy makes the financials system more fragile, in part due to the demand for capital and in part due to the tendency of some institutions to take on more risk than is prudent. Leaders in government and the financials sector implement policies that advertently or inadvertently increase the exposure to risk of crisis.
An economic shock hits the financials system. The mood of the market swings from optimism to pessimism, create a self-reinforcing downward spiral. Collective action by leaders can arrest the spiral, though the speed and effectiveness which they act ultimately determines the length and severity of the crisis."
Robert Bruner and Sean Carr, The Panic of 1907
Stocks did a mild pop 'n flop, or a wash and rinse as you may prefer, in honor of the stock market index options expiration.
Gold, silver, and The Dollar were lower.
The VIX was slightly elevated.
Outside of algo-driven trading shenanigans, I am not confident that The Street has a better idea of what's going on, or coming over the horizon, than most others who are at least mildly informed.
Nonetheless, something of note is coming, and it looms closer by the day.
Have a pleasant weekend.
Isaiah 29:13
"The U.S. went off the gold standard in August 1971. With no benchmark, central banks could print money and debase currencies. That opened the door for huge bailouts after big banks screwed up in a big way. Taxpayers—not incompetent bankers—paid the price.
By [the late 1980’s], the Federal Reserve Bank and large U.S. banks had established a pattern to control the public relations damage each time banks had a major screw-up: accountants and regulators let banks lie about the size of the problem to stall for time; the Federal Reserve blew smoke at the media; finally, the Fed would bail out the banks in a way that most taxpayers would not understand.
Banks didn’t have to get smarter or more competent. The Fed trained the banks that uninformed taxpayers would eat the losses, and fake accounting would let bank officers keep their positions and their money."
Janet Tavakoli, Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street
"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hollow hypocrisy. There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden, that shall not be made known. Whatever has been said in the darkness shall be heard in the light: and what has been whispered behind closed doors shall be shouted from the roof tops."
Luke 12:1-3
Stocks were off to a rocky start today, but managed to gain back much of their losses into the close.
The cheerleaders and spokesmodels for Wall Street were pleased.
Gold and silver and the Dollar all rallied today.
If you are not going to be careful about what you read, what you take into your minds and hearts, at least be wary of spreading lies and snares to your friends and children.
For I have rarely seen such zealous behavior than from those who wish to share their self-deception and sins with others.
And if you ask them nicely to stop sending this sort of thing to you they say, don't you want to be informed? And they are angered, because they are not motivated by love, but by anger and self-love and pride. And they cannot bear to see themselves in the light.
They wish to persuade others in order to ease the voice of their own conscience, that whispers to them, 'this is wrong.' And so they seek distractions, and wallow in them, while they give their hearts away.
Have a pleasant evening.
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
"I warn you, as I have warned you before, that those who join in this lawlessness will not inherit the kingdom of God. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
Galatians 5:21-22
"Maintaining silence about a dirty truth is another way of lying, a common practice in high places."
Michael Parenti
"The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been exposed, because it was so well done and hidden."
Honoré de Balzac,Le Père Goriot
Stocks were struggle to digest the irrational exuberance, when Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announced that there is unlikely to be any stimulus package anytime soon.
Why should there be? All the people that matter to the elite have already been amply rewarded for their financial crimes and craven service to injustice. Only those who are lost in darkness will still listen to them.
The Dollar slumped, and gold and silver rallied.
Wax on, wax off.
This is the cycle of the con game.
Not the sophisticated schemes you may imagine, or see in novels and movies.
Rather they are like street cons: simple, brazen, thuggish.
They are just embellished with fine words and payoffs.
There will be a stock market option expiration on Friday.
Have a pleasant evening.
