03 November 2020

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Let the Games Begin

 

“The main problem in any democracy is that crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage and whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy—then go back to the office and sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece.” 

Hunter S. Thompson 

 

“A country that tolerates evil means—evil manners, standards of ethics—for a generation, will be so poisoned that it never will have any good end.” 

Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here 

 

"Tell the world that you're going with truth.  You're going with justice, you're going with goodness, and you will have an eternal companionship.  And the world will look at you and they won't understand you, for your fiery furnace will be around you, but you'll go on anyhow.  But if not, I will not bow, and God grant that we will never bow before the gods of evil." 

Martin Luther King

 

Stocks had a risk on day today, that faded into the close. 

The Dollar was markedly lower. 

Gold and silver were nominally higher. 

VIX dropped. 

Today is the national election day in the US. 

Let's see how things go, and how the markets react tomorrow.

Life is a school of probabilities, and consequences.

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

02 November 2020

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - A Chill Wind Blows

 

"People can become so morally weak that they lose their free will.  We are not dealing with a small matter but a apocalyptic life and death struggle that has already begun.  Yet in the midst of it, there are many, who still go on living their lives as though nothing had changed.  

I am convinced that it is still best that I speak the truth, even though it costs me my life.  If we hope to reach our goal some day, then we, too, must become heroes of the faith.  Discipleship to Christ requires heroism.  May God accept my life in atonement not only for my sins, but for the sins of others as well.”

Franz Jägerstätter, Executed in Brandenburg Prison, August  9, 1943

 

“Although I know well, Margaret, that because of my past wickedness I deserve to be abandoned by God, I cannot but trust in his merciful goodness.  His grace had strengthened me until now, and made me content to lose goods, land, and life as well, rather than to swear against my conscience.

And, therefore, my own good daughter, do not let your mind me troubled over anything that shall happen to me in this world.  Nothing can come but what God wills.  And I am very sure that whatever that be, however bad it may seem, it shall indeed be for the best.” 

Thomas More, From the Tower of London to Margaret Roper 

 

"The fact that the foolish person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him.  He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being.  Having thus become a mindless tool, the foolish person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings.” 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers From Prison  

 

Stocks were showing some volatility again today, and managed to hold on to some gains into the close. 

Gold and silver moved higher. 

The Dollar was largely unchanged. 

Continue to expect volatility driven by the coronavirus and the US national elections. 

It's gotten quite chilly here.  The garden has all been harvested and taken down.  The compost pile is full and cooking away.

I was out cutting up large tree branches earlier that had come down in the storms and winds that blew through here.   Now Dolly and I are snuggled down under a warm blanket.

With the clocks turned back now, it gets dark here around 5 PM or so.

 Have a pleasant evening. 

 

30 October 2020

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Whistling Past the Graveyard

 

Election 2020
“Freud used the term [narcissist] to describe persons who were self-absorbed, and psychoanalysts have focused on the narcissist’s need to bolster his or her self-esteem through grandiose fantasy, exaggerated ambition, exhibitionism, and feelings of entitlement.”

Donald W. Black 

 

“A narcissist paints a picture of themselves as being the victim or innocent in all aspects.  They will be offended by the truth.” 

Karla Grimes 

 

“Imagining that you are deep and complex, but others are simple, is one of the primary signs of malignant selfishness.” 

Stefan Molyneux 

 

"I was being called to surrender the very citadel of my self.  I was completely in the dark.  I did not really know what repentance was or what I was required to repent of.  It was indeed the turning point of my life.  God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own nothingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn.  I was no longer the centre of my life, and therefore I could see God in everything." 

Bede Griffiths 

 

October is over and stocks went out with a whimper. 

Gold and silver and the Dollar rallied slightly. 

VIX climbed as markets were more volatile, largely from exogenous factors like the national elections and the coronavirus. 

And of course, that the story stocks are priced for fantasy. 

The US national election will be next Tuesday. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

29 October 2020

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Wash and Rinse - A Reckoning and Reboot Is Coming, Slowly but Surely

 The GDP number came in (relatively) hot this morning, as expected by everyone.

Stocks were in a ranging mood, finishing to the upside.

Wash and rinse.   As expected.

Same for gold and silver.   

Neither plague nor recessions can stay these Wall Street curs from the swift completion of their appointed shenanigans.

The Big Cap Tech club was coming in with 'beats' on their earnings announcements after the close.

Except for Twitter which missed badly on new active users.

Let's see if the bulls can carry this risk on mood into the election.  I am skeptical.

Physical gold is scraping the bottom of the barrel in Hong Kong Comex. 

Let's see how that situation resolves.

Maybe these price shocks can shake some physical out of the big name gold ETFs.

Have a pleasant evening.