Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Maundy Thursday - A Clear and Simple Message

 

"Jesus stood up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’

Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’

‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’

Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you will have no part with me.’

‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them.  ‘You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.   Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

A new commandment I give you: that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are mine— if you love one another.'”

John 13:1-15, 34

"It is because of the acts of a love so noble that many observers put a name upon us.  'See how they love one another'.  For they themselves are driven by mutual contention and even hatred."

Tertullian, Apologeticum, 39, 7 , 197 AD

"What we would like to do is change the world–make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe and shelter themselves as God intended them to do.  And to a certain extent, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute – the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor in other words, we can to a certain extent change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world."

Dorothy Day, June 1946

"And the rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham!  But if someone is sent to my brothers from the dead, then they will surely repent of their sins and turn to God.’  But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:30-31

Maundy Thursday:  The English word maundy in the name for the day is derived through Middle English and Old French mandé, from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase 'Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos'.   A new commandment I give unto you: that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you will also love one another.

You have free will, so that you may read what you want, say what you want, serve who you want, and do what you choose to do.   And there  may be no worldly power to stop you.

But unless you love the Lord through your fellows as yourselves, His children, your brothers and sisters, even the least of these, you are not his.  

And when you stand before Him alone in judgement, even though you cry out 'Lord, Lord,' as He promised He will say, 'Begone, I do not know you'.   And that will be that.  A tragic end, so unthinkable that most will not believe it, even though they have been plainly told otherwise, many many times.

Think on this, the next time you choose to play with the animal in yourself, to be unkind, harsh, to serve some worldly power for your pride and personal advantage.   For in the end they will claim you, and take you as their own.   And that will be that.

For what does it profit a man, indeed?

Most of the option expiration shenanigans were conducted yesterday.   

Today the adults left early for their Easter holiday, and the volume on the tape has become quiet.

Stocks finished mostly unchanged after another failed rally attempt into the long weekend.

Who would want to hold risk assets for any length of time now?

Gold and silver were under the usual option pressure, directed mostly at the miners and ETFs.

VIX fell a bit.   

The economic and geopolitical risks are being discounted heavily, and are rather underpriced. 

Have a joyous Easter.    He is risen.

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Selfies of the Malignant Lie - Gold All Time High

 

"Narcissists gravitate towards professions where they can control people and elicit adulation. They are more likely to work in politics, finance or medicine than in shoemaking.  They are aware of what they are doing to others - but they do not care.”

Sam Vaknin, Malignant Self Love

“It is not their sins per se that characterize malignant narcissists, rather it is the subtlety and persistence and consistency of their sins.  This is because the central defect of malignant narcissists is not the sin but the refusal to acknowledge it.  Rather than blissfully lacking a sense of morality, like the psychopath, malignant narcissists are continually engaged in sweeping the evidence of their evil under the rug of their own consciousness.  It is out of their failure to put themselves on trial that their evil arises.

"The narcissist looks down on everyone and exploits people all of his life. For many narcissists life is all about money and power."

Linda Martinez-Lewi, Narcissist’s Outrageous Self Entitlement

Evil is not committed by people who feel uncertain about their righteousness, who question their own motives, who worry about betraying themselves.  The evil in this world is committed by the Pharisees of our own day, the self-righteous who think they are without sin because they are unwilling to suffer the discomfort of self-examination.  The evil hate the light—the light of goodness that shows them up, the light of scrutiny that exposes them, the light of truth that penetrates their deception.”

M. Scott Peck, People of the Lie

“There's a reason narcissists don't learn from mistakes and that's because they never get past the first step which is admitting that they made one. It's always an assistant's fault, an adviser's fault, a lawyer's fault. Ask them to account for a mistake any other way and they'll say, 'what mistake?”

Jeffrey Kluger, The Narcissist Next Door

"Lack of accountability is a common problem with narcissists.  It’s hard to understand. What is so difficult about owning up to mistakes when we’re wrong?  We all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from each one.  

But, being accountable is difficult for a fragile self-esteem.  For the narcissist, who has not developed a solid sense of self, and is emotionally stuck at a six-year old level, confrontation does not work well.  In fact, when confronted, it is typical to see a six-year old temper tantrum that we call narcissistic rage."

Karyl McBride, Narcissists Are Not Accountable, August 2013


Tomorrow will be a stock option expiration.

US market will be closed on Good Friday.

Stocks slumped today, as the defiance of economic reality for the sake of policy unity falters.

It is hard to sustain markets in the direction opposite to the dominant trend.   But that never seems to stop them from trying.

Gold set a new all time high today, and went out near that high.

Silver also enjoyed a remarkable rebound from the calculated tariff drubbing.

The Dollar slipped back down to the lower rung of the 99 handle.

VIX ticked up a bit, but there was hardly a sense of panic in the air.

I am mindful of how I might want to position my portfolio into the long weekend.

So much of this is dependent on the seemingly random vagaries of the Donald.

I don't think logic is much of an aid in this, not with this current crew of supplicant enablers with which he has surrounded himself. 

And hope is a thin sauce to cover this coming banquet of consequences.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - So That the Thoughts of Many Hearts May Be Revealed

 

"The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, as a sign that will be opposed.  And a sword will pierce your heart, so that the thoughts of many may be revealed.”

Luke 2:33-35

"When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said, 'Woman, behold, your son.'  Then he said to his disciple, 'Behold, your mother.'  And from that moment the disciple took her into his home."

John 19:26-27

"When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  And Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:17-19

"And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

Revelation 12:1


It was a relatively quiet day of trading, with stocks finishing nearly unchanged.

VIX was slightly lower.

The Dollar bounced back to the 100 handle.

Gold and silver moved a bit higher.

There will be a stock option expiration on Thursday.

The hidden volatility beneath the surface of the markets is almost compelling.

The Treasury is doing its best to pour oil on troubled waters, until they can hopefully announce a deal with Russia over Ukraine, and take everyone's minds off the tariffs fiasco.

I spent much of the day getting ready for the kids and their little ones who will be coming over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner on Sunday.

Daisy and I abide.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - When the 'Truth' If Found To Be Lies

 

“Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946

"By October 1918, the city of Washington, D.C. became a breeding ground for the highly contagious H1N1 strain of the flu. As civilian cases multiplied, local health officials initiated bans on public gatherings in order to quell the spread of infections. Across the city, public schools and universities closed their doors. The infection caused life expectancy in the U.S. to drop by twelve years in 1918."

Sarah Fling, White House History: Spanish Influenza in the President's Neighborhood, October 2019

"While Wilson is usually commemorated as the US president who proclaimed that the US’s entry into the First World War was to make the world 'safe for democracy', he was ironically more inclined towards consolidating power by authoritarian means domestically.

When the US entered the First World War in 1917, Wilson immediately moved towards controlling the flow of information.  He began by issuing executive orders legalising the seizure of radio stations by federal and military authorities and establishing the Committee on Public Information (CPI).  Altogether, the suppression of information was immense.  

Most authorities used the influenza’s spread as a justification for the continued usage of widespread censorship.  The US’s slide into authoritarianism was only stopped once Wilson suffered a severe stroke in 1919, growing resistance within the federal government mounted against continued police actions."

Francis Shin, The 1918 Pandemic and the US Slide Towards Authoritarianism, La Gazette de la Paix, Geneva, April 2020

"The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention.  It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.  Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success."

Adolf Hitler Mein Kampf, Vol 1, Chap VI, 1925

“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.”

George W. Bush, Speech, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005


 Stocks tried to rally from early this morning, starting with the futures overnnight.

By the end of the day they gave those up, and hung on for just small losses from a gap up open.

Gold and silver were under a bit of pressure, with silver doing a little better on a ranging day.

The VIX continued to fall.

All is well.

I am not watching the bond market closely but keeping enough on an eye on it to watch for signs of problems that will appear long before they show up in equities.

The bond bros tend to be the adults in the room.   And they will let you know how well a new policy in politics or economics is being received.

It is relatively easier to paint the tape on equities than the global bonds market.

The Dollar is firmly planted on the 99 handle.  Low in the short term, but longer term its in no apparent trouble - yet.

This is Holy Week.  The markets will be closed on Good Friday.

There will be a stock market option expiration on Thursday. 

The back and forth and the increasingly outrageous whoppers being told by public figures and their own corrupt actions is very bad.  It contributes to an atmosphere of lawlessness,

More to my concern, it tends to drain the light of love out of people, leaving hardened hearts that are ironically more vulnerable to the dark forces of evil.  

Believe what you will, but try to love the truth in all that you do.  If you love the truth with a faithful heart, you may come out of this all right.  And that is what really matters, because it is what makes and keeps us human and not beasts.

"The most important problem in the world today is your soul, for that is what the struggle is about."     Fulton J. Sheen

You do not have a soul.   You are a soul.  

You do not belong to this world.  You are just passing through.

Have a pleasant evening.