Advent 2021

 

"There were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.   The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. 

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people.  Today in the city of David a savior has been born for you, who is Messiah and Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men of good will." 

Luke 2:8-14

 

“Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous.  And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly. 

God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in.  He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them.   God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.

The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reflections on Advent

 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit you may be rich in hope.” 

Romans 15:13 

“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart?   Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.  It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.” 

Teresa of Calcutta

"For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning – not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last. 

Frederick Buechner

 

“Exiled from the earth, our Lord is born under the earth, for the stable was in a cave, and there he shook the earth to its very foundations.  Because he’s born in a cave, all who wish to see him must be bend, must stoop, the stoop is the mark of humility. 

The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity.  Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but they are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.” 

Fulton Sheen

 

“Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.  We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.  We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.  We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.  We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.  We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, 'Come Lord Jesus!'  The Lord is coming, always coming.  When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life.  Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.” 

Henri Nouwen

 

"He became what we are that he might make us what he is."

Athanasius of Alexandria

 

"Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;  So that, at the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal."

Book of Common Prayer

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Here Comes Santa Claus

 

"All the truth of my position came flashing on me; and its disappointments, dangers, disgraces, consequences of all kinds, rushed in in such a multitude that I was borne down by them and had to struggle for every breath I drew." 

Charles Dickens 

 

"Jim, lad, there be consequences an' then there be consequences.  Devil take 'em all, says I, and pass aft the rum." 

Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

 

"A credibility trap is when the managerial functions of a society have been sufficiently compromised by corruption so that the leadership cannot reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without implicating a broad swath of the powerful, including themselves.  The moneyed interests and their servants tolerate the corruption because they have profited from it, and would like to continue to do so.  Discipline is maintained by various forms of soft financial rewards and social and organizational privileges." 

Jesse 

 

"Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits impatiently for her meeting with us." 

Chalmers Johnson 

 

Stocks were wobbly today, and despite taking back some of their losses in the quieter afternoon trading, they still managed to go out near the lows.

Gold and silver were initially strong, but lost ground as the Dollar rallied in the afternoon.

The markets are signalling many contrary things about risks and rates.

Indeed, the predictive value of the US financial markets is about as reliable as Hunter Thompson on a three day road trip.

Short and possibly quiet holiday week dead ahead.

Have a pleasant weekend.

 

 

Recipe for the Holiday Week: Sweet and Sour Meatball Soup

 

As the latest wash and rinse cycle in stocks kicks in as expected for the quad stock option expiration, I wanted to share this old recipe with you again. 

I had to look up the recipe, which is an old paper written in my godfather's hand, God rest his soul.

It is something that was handed down from his family, in Prussia, where his father was a blacksmith.

I have modified the recipe a bit over the years, but here is the basic idea.  

Once you get the hang of it feel free to experiment with things that suit your taste. 

If you do not use pork, other bones can be substituted. 

I find that blanching the bones first and then discarding that liquid makes for a 'cleaner' soup.  

I learned this from making tonkotsu ramen broth.

There is a less sweet seafood version of this that I make with cod, hold the chicken wings.


Süße und Saure Suppe

Into a large pot add four quarts of light chicken stock. Add four stalks of celery. If it is green clean the outside to remove any bitterness by scraping it with a knife.

Add one pound of cleaned pork neckbones. This will add 'richness.'
One or two cloves of garlic.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove the bones and celery.

Take 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound ground pork and 8 to 16 oz. of plain bread crumbs in a large bowl.  

Add one tablespoon celery salt and pepper to taste.
One well diced onion.

Mix in two eggs. If the mixture seems heavy add up to 1/2 cup milk to soften the bread crumbs.
Salt and pepper to taste. Add some garlic powder if you are of that persuasion.

Bring the stock back up to a boil. Make the meatballs and add them to
the stock. Cook them until they float to the top on a slow boil.
Remove them and put them on the side in a bowl.

Add one cup of diced celery, one diced leek or sweet onion, one large potato, and five or six sliced carrots.
Slice one lemon into disks, remove the seeds.
Add one package of cleaned and separated chicken wings or wingettes.
Bring to a slow boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Turn the heat down very low.

Add 2 pints of sour cream. Add one cup of sugar or sugar substitute.

Mix lightly without breaking up the carrots and other things in the soup.
Add some stock to the sour cream container and let it cool off.
 

Add 1/4 cup flour to the stock in the container and mix it well.
Add this back to the soup to thicken it. A rue can also be used. Or cornstarch.

Now taste the soup broth and add sugar  or a substitute to suit your taste. Do not overdo
but it should taste slightly sweet. 

If it is not sour enough add some cider vinegar to bring the sourness into balance with the sweetness.

Add back the meatballs and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes. Don't burn.

Add some chopped scallions for color, and ground pepper. Add salt if needed.

Serve in a bowl with a crusty bread.

The meatballs tend to absorb the liquid overnight. Add some chicken stock if needed.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - See-Saw

 

"The period of financial distress is a gradual decline after the peak of a speculative bubble that precedes the final and massive panic and crash, driven by the insiders having exited but the sucker outsiders hanging on hoping for a revival, but finally giving up in the final collapse."

Charles Kindelberger, Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises 

 

"The loveliest of the Devil's tricks is to make you believe that he does not exist." 

Charles Pierre Baudelaire

 

"And they said to him, 'Where will this happen, Lord?' And He said to them, 'Where death is, there a gathering of vultures will be.'” 

 Luke 17:37

 

Gold and silver rebounded sharply, with several of the mining stocks showing outsized one day gains. 

Newmont Mining was a good example. 

Stocks themselves struggled with big cap tech leading the way lower.

VIX was higher.

The Dollar fell, hanging on to the 96 handle by its fingernails.

There will be a stock option expiration tomorrow.

Have a pleasant evening.