Christmas Eve

 

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined." 

Is 9:1 

 

"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were stricken with fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people. For this day in the city of David there is born to you a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 

And this shall be a sign; you shall find the babe 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." 

 Lk 2:9-14 

 

“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?” 

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?” Scrooge trembled more and more. “Or would you know,” pursued the Ghost, “the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!..." 

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. 

Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” 

Charles Dickens,  A Christmas Carol

 

“We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him.  We do not understand that His call is a thing that takes place now.  We think it took place in the Apostles' days, but we do not believe in it; we do not look for it in our own case."

John Henry Newman

 

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:5 

 

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you,
I have called you by name;  you are mine."

Isaiah 43:1 

"They will be moved, to the sound of beautiful music, at Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them.  They want it all out of gold, bathed in light, costly and of little weight; pleasant to see, hanging from a woman’s beautiful throat. 

In the end, the only real tragedy is not to be a saint." 

Léon Bloy

 

 ... à vous tous, et spécialement à tous mes amis de la Cène de l'Agneau, et du sang de l'alliance nouvelle et éternelle, qui a été répandu pour vous et pour la multitude— joyeux et béni noël.

 

  

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Blessed Are Those Called to the Supper of the Lamb

 

"In the beginning was the Word,
    and the Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
    and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
    and this life was the light of the human race;
    the light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:1-5

"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." 

John 1:29 

 

“And in the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Henceforth any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all that bears a human form.

Through fellowship and communion with the Incarnate Lord, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time we are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and retrieve our solidarity with the whole human race.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

 

The unsustainable will not be sustained.  It ends in flamboyant deceits, and a spectacle of vulgarities.

The US markets will be closed tomorrow in observance of Christmas eve.

God bless us, everyone.

 

 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And They Would Be As Gods

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." 

Aleister Crowley 

 

“Religion used to be the opium of the people. But now we are witnessing a transformation: a true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, that we are not going to be judged.” 

Czeslaw Milosz, The Discreet Charm of Nihilism 

 

"Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.  ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  And Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law?  What do you read there?’ And the lawyer answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ 

But wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’

 As you know, this passage above is the introduction to one of the greatest and most memorable of the parables from our Lord's own lips, that story of The Good Samaritan.   And the introductory passage itself is therefore sometimes overlooked, but it ought not to be. 'Do this, and you will live.'

It might be better to never have had any knowledge of His word and His commandments than to hear His words and His most solemn commandments, and then hypocritically parade in them and His sacraments, as a call to hatefulness, pride, division, self-justification, and oppression of others.  This is the leaven of the Pharisees, and a sin against the Spirit, about which our Lord himself warned when He walked on this earth.

We are a generation made drunk with power and a perverse individualism, that has been foretold for increasingly dark times.  Do not worry so much about the wealth you may gather up on this earth, so that you forget the only real and enduring possessions you may take with you to the next.   Examine your own actions and thoughts and behaviors first and foremost.  For you will not be called upon to answer for what others do, but what you have done. 

May God have mercy on any who provide provocation and false teachings to others, and scandalous example to their brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, especially because of their willful selfishness, stubborn greed, and foolish pride.

Jesse, 19 January 2015

 

No risk, no consequences, for anything.

That was the theme of the US markets today.

Stocks were higher, and went out near their highs.

Gold and silver rallied back from their recent suppression.

The Dollar slid back down to the 96 handle.

VIX dropped to the bottom of its moving averages.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Winter Solstice - The Endless Wash and Rinse of Financialization

 

"I urge you, brothers and sisters, to be wary of those who cause divisions and undermine the faithful, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned.  Do not associate with them.   For such people do not serve our Lord, but their own appetites.  And by clever words and flattery they deceive the hearts of the innocent and naive." 

Romans 16:17-18 

 

"Wonderful providence indeed which is so silent, yet so efficacious, so constant, so unerring.   This is what baffles the power of Satan.   He cannot discern the Hand of God in what goes on; and though he would fain meet it and encounter it, in his mad and blasphemous rebellion against heaven, he cannot find it." 

John Henry Newman 

 

“The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned...
Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!” 

Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus 

Today the risk cycle was on, and stocks managed to shake off all concerns and rallied higher, with broad gains on light volumes.

The Russell 2000 has risen to its down trending resistance for this trading range.

Yes I was tempted to dip back in on the short side, but this kind of light holiday market, with the wiseguys looking to mark their gains for the year into the books, is a tough trade.

Gold and the Dollar were off a bit with the refreshed taste for risk.

Silver rallied on the positive correlation with stocks and risk.

Today is the first day of Winter.

The first picture below is an early illustration from my old blog, in 2001. 

Have a pleasant evening.