Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - A Carnival of Beasts

 

"Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.  We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in.  Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.  Our knowledge has made us cynical.  Our cleverness hard and unkind.  We think too much, and feel too little.  More than machinery, we need humanity.  More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.  Without these qualities life will be violent, and all will be lost."

Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator, October 15, 1940

"The great failure that was made by so many was the assumption that as the leader of a great and educated nation, Hitler was rational, and would eventually make the most rational decisions.  So they believed his many assertions of his peaceful intents, and good wishes, even as he turned Europe into an abattoir.  Like the efficient market hypothesis, people were blinded to reality by a theory about the natural goodness and rationality of politicians."

Jesse, The Garden of Beasts: Die Nacht der Langen Messer, 26 September 2011

"The men who locked their wives out in the snow, because the snow of twenty-nine wasn't real snow.  If you didn't want it to be snow, you just paid some money."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Babylon Revisited, February 1931

“When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano preceding the outbreak.”

Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 1941

"Of course, there are many days in this age of anxiety when a human being feels awfully low and discouraged.  I myself find consolation at such moments by two means: trying to develop a sense of history, and renewing the quest for inner life.

I find that most true happiness comes from one’s inner life; from the disposition of the mind and soul.  Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times.  It takes reflection and contemplation.  And self-discipline.  One must be honest with oneself, and that’s not easy.  You have to have patience and understanding.  And, when you can, seek God.  But the reward of having an inner life, which no outside storm or evil turn of fortune can touch, is, it seems to me, a very great one."

William L. Shirer, author of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 1951

Power corrupts, but power attracts the corruptible.

Our politics are bought by money, covered by a thin veneer of lies.  And so our hypocrisy is shameless, and knows no bounds.  

I don't want to single out any particular wing of the duopoly. 

They are both sick at heart, but with varying degrees of social grace and smarmy political charm.

Stocks were weak today and went out near the lows.

Gold and silver were hit hard.

The Dollar rose, taking back the .50 it recently lost.

Powell's speech tomorrow from Jackson Hole *might* be notable.

And in the background, the abyss the violence of empire continues.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - What Sorrow Awaits the Shepherds of Lawlessness

 

"This word came to me from the Lord: 'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel.  Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord:  What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks.  Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?  You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. 

You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured.  You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost.  Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.  So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.  They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal.  And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost.  You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. 

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.  This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my adversaries, and I will hold them to account for what has happened to my flock.  I will take away their right to care for the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves.  I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey."

Ezekiel 34:1-10

"No one screams against this hell. No one protests. And if they abhor what they see, they do not have the courage to damn the damned. One alone would not have failed us. Péguy would have spoken, I hope, he would have let loose his scream. He is not here, and there is no one else."

André Suarès, 1939

"He who does not shout the truth when he knows it makes himself the accomplice of liars and frauds."

Charles Péguy, Lettre du Provincial, 21 December 1899

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Ephesians 6:12

"They do not see the image of Almighty God before them, and ask themselves what He wishes.  And, for the same reason that they do not please Him, they succeed in pleasing themselves.  

Hence, they become both self-satisfied and self-sufficient; they think they know just what they ought to do, and that they do it all; and in consequence they are very well content with themselves, and rate their merit very high, and have no fear at all of any future scrutiny into their conduct.  The more secret God's hand is, the more powerful— the more silent, the more awful."

John Henry Newman

Stocks managed to wobble higher today, in the usual up and down session.

VIX crept a little higher.

Gold and silver managed to hold their ground, with silver even gaining a little.

The Fed is meeting in Jackson Hole.

Expectations are running high for a Fed rate cut, especially after the big downward revision in the Jobs number this morning.

Powell will be speaking later this week.  If there is to be some announcement, that maybe the time.

I can't help but wonder if the Fed does finally cut, in September perhaps, the markets will give us a dramatic 'pop and flop.'

And in the background, the rolling boil in geopolitical events continues.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Plague of Illusion and Madness

 

“Foolishness is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice.   One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force.   Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease.

Against such foolishness we are defenseless.  Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the foolish person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental.

In all this the foolish person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.   For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a foolish person than with a malicious one.  Never again will we try to persuade the foolish person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Prisoner for God: Letters and Papers from Prison, 1944

“War, a struggle between 'our people' and 'the enemy,' creates a polarized world in which 'the enemy' is easily objectified and removed from the community of human obligation.  What the conservatives conceived of as sufficient measures overlapped with what were for the Nazis scarcely the first steps.  Only a minority of nonconformists managed to preserve a beleaguered sphere of moral autonomy that emboldened them to employ patterns of behavior and stratagems of evasion that kept them from becoming killers at all. ”

Christopher R. Browning, Ordinary Men, 1992

"When we are the victims of an illusion we do not feel it to be an illusion but a reality.  It is the same perhaps with evil.  Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty.  As soon as we do evil, the evil appears as a sort of duty. Once a certain class of people has been placed by the temporal and spiritual authorities outside the ranks of those whose life has value, then nothing comes more naturally to men than murder. As soon as men know they that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers with approving smiles."

Simone Weil, La Pesanteur et la Grâce, 1947

"When a war breaks out, people say: 'It's too stupid; it can't last long.' But though a war may well be 'too stupid,' that doesn't prevent it from lasting. Foolishness has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves. In this respect our townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words they were exceptional humans: they did not believe in plagues.

A bubonic plague is not made to fit in a man's mind; therefore we tell ourselves that plagues are a mere bogey of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away. But it doesn't always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away, and the exceptional first of all, because they haven't taken their precautions.

Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be human, that was all, and thought that everything still was possible for them; which presupposed that plagues were impossible. They went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views. How could they have given a thought to anything like a plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views. They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are plagues."

Albert Camus, The Plague, 1947

Stocks backed off a bit from their nearly parabolic rocket rally today.

We start getting a little more information as the BLS revises, and some say severely lower, the jobs data.

The Fed is meeting starting tomorrow at Jackson Hole, and the jawboning from there may move markets.

Gold managed to bounce higher while silver held its ground.

The Dollar fell to a yearly low  I have included a second Dollar chart so one might see this.

The madness spreads like a plague, overwhelming some and silencing many.

The madness serves none but itself.

Lord, my brothers and sisters are sick, with a sickness unto death.

And I struggle with what to do, as the madness grows, and they surrender themselves to it.

All we can do is provide a little oasis of kindness and sanity, a light in the darkness. And continue praying for us all.

And to remain standing, even in fear and trembling, because that is what this is all about.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Prayer in The Land of the Lotus Eaters

 

"The blessed John the Evangelist lived in Ephesus until extreme old age.  His disciples could barely carry him to church and he could not muster the voice to speak many words.   During individual gatherings he usually said nothing but, 'Little children, love one another.'

The disciples and brothers in attendance, annoyed because they always heard the same words, finally said, 'Teacher, why do you always say this?'   He replied with a line worthy of John: 'Because it is the Lord's commandment, and if it alone is kept, it is sufficient.'"

Jerome, Commentary on Galatians, 4th century

“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.

God beholds you.  He calls you by name.  He sees you, and understands you, as He made you.  He knows what is in you, all your peculiar feelings and thoughts, your dispositions and likings, your strengths and your weaknesses.  He views you in your day of rejoicing and in your day of sorrow.  He sympathizes in your hopes and your temptations.  He interests Himself in all your anxieties and remembrances, all the risings and fallings of your spirit.

God has created me to do Him some definite service;  He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.  I have my mission — I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next.   I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.  He has not created me for naught. 

Therefore I will trust Him.  Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.  If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.  If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.  He does nothing in vain.  He knows what He is about.   He may take away my friends.  He may throw me among strangers.  He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me -- still He knows what He is about.”

John Henry Newman

"Watch therefore and pray always, that you may escape all these things that will come to pass, and be among those standing with the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:36

It was risk on, and stocks were in rally mode, going out near their highs.

The Democratic convention starts today, and the Fed will be meeting in Jackson Hole later this week.

A gathering of vultures.

The Dollar fell back down to the lower bound of its recent range.

Gold and silver gained in the overnight and managed to hold on to some gains.

Everyone has forgotten about the confrontations of escalation overseas.

"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, we are not going to be judged.”

Czeslaw Milosz

Why would we care?  

Not when our mages of the media and high priests of power and finance can prophesy illusions.

Have a pleasant evening.