Spiritual pride leads to a lingering spiritual death. It turns the living being into a tomb, bright and polished on the outside, proudly ornamented with scrupulous attention to detail, and ostentatious adherence to the letter of the law — but inside full of corruption, and festering foulness. They love the rituals and the worldly forms of religion, but want nothing to do with mercy and love. It is a sickening romance with the self, unto death.
Jesse, Essere Umano, 20 August 2017
Just about everything was bouncing up a little hgher today.
Biden says that 100 million stimulus checks will be sent out in the next ten days.
That might put a little pep in the economy's step.
There will be a quadruple witching option expiration for March this Friday.
Have a pleasant evening.
Stocks managed to claw back their losses from earlier in the day.
Gold and silver did as well.
The US Dollar DX finished 21 cents higher, but still well short of the 92 handle.
We had another day of 70+ degrees weather.
So it seemed a good time to pack away the snowblower and fire up the lawn tractor and rototiller.
I turned over a small backyard garden, about 40'x25' and worked in a fairly large compost pile we had cooking since last Fall.
Now it's time to snuggle down with Dolly.
Have a pleasant weekend.
Teddy KGB, Rounders
"It hurts doesn't it? Your hopes dashed, your dreams down the toilet. And your fate is sitting right besides you."
Teddy KGB, Rounders
"You're right Teddy, the ace didn't help. [pushes chips towards the center and flops down his cards] I flopped the nut straight."
Mike McDermott, Rounders
Stocks were on another run higher today, as it was risk on de luxe.
Gold and silver continue to climb out of the hole that the bullion banks and hedge funds hammered them down into.
Miners seem to be pacing the way up.
I would not rest too easy in any new long positions.
These jokers love to come back for seconds and thirds. It's a sociopath thing.
Rounders was one of my favorite 'gambling' movies.
We used to go out to Las Vegas three or four times a year in the 70's and 80's.
I liked to stay at the Frontier, so I could hang out in the Stardust Sports Book during the day.
But that was before they ruined the town, and turned the it into a corporate theme park.
It breathed easier when there were big stretches of desert between the clubs.
I got married in Las Vegas, in an actual church that used to be out in the desert all by charming self.
The last time I went out there that little Spanish style desert church was surrounded by condos and new houses.
Let's see how the rest of the week goes.
We are heading for a Minsky Moment.
Third time's the charm. Or is it four now?
Timing will be everything.
Just a series of booms and busts.
Who could see the next one coming?
The Fed reserves the right to splash the pot whenever they wish, on behalf of their benefactors.
But in this real life version of the film, Teddy doesn't pay off when he loses. So grab it off the table while you can.
Have a pleasant evening.
Martin Zweig
"The real collapse of our currency began when it became evident that certain industrial circles were more powerful than the government."
Adam Fergusson, When Money Dies
Tech continued to be a bit of a drag on the equity market.
The broader, non-weighted indices are gaining on what the pundits and their spokesmodels claim is the anticipation of a broad based economic recovery. As if.
It seems to this gimlet eye that it might also be a broad inflationary trend buoyed by historic money printing.
Gold and silver continued to rebound a bit after the trouncing they took from the Banks.
There was a to-do about the newly empowered Democrats lambasting the moneyed interests and their personal ATM and wealth transfer machine called Wall Street.
They always talk a good game, but then hide behind the GOP Senate filibuster, and do little or nothing.
I will become optimistic when I see the Democrats begin to actually do something, which they can.
As for the Republicans, they have a moral cancer, and are likely beyond redemption.
And the band played on.
Slouching towards Harare to be born.
Have a pleasant evening.
