Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Fall of the Man of Sin

 

"A nation can be one or the other, a democracy or an imperialist, but it can't be both. If it sticks to imperialism, it will, like the old Roman Republic, on which so much of our system was modeled, lose its democracy to a domestic dictatorship."

Chalmers Johnson, Interview on Democracy Now, February 27, 2007

"History teaches us that the capacity of things to get worse is limitless.  Roman history suggests that the short, happy life of the American republic may be coming to its end.  [the US will probably] maintain a facade of constitutional government and drift along until financial bankruptcy overtakes it.  Of course, bankruptcy will not mean the literal end of the United States any more than it did for Germany in 1923, China in 1948, or Argentina in 2002-03.

It might, in fact, open the way for an unexpected restoration of the American system, or for military rule or simply for some development we cannot yet imagine.  Certainly, such a bankruptcy would mean a drastic lowering of our standard of living, a loss of control over international affairs, a process of adjusting to the rise of other powers, including China and India."

Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, 2007

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

Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, 2006

"So, what do I suggest probably will happen? I think we will stagger along under a façade of constitutional government, as we are now, until we’re overcome by bankruptcy.  

Bankruptcy would not mean the literal end of the United States, any more than it did for Germany in 1923, or China in 1948, or Argentina just a few years ago, in 2001 and 2002. But it would certainly mean a catastrophic recession, the collapse of our stock exchange, the end of our level of living, and a vast series of new attitudes that would now be appropriate to a much poorer country.  

Once you go down the path of empire, you inevitably start a process of overstretch, of tendencies toward bankruptcy, and, in the rest of the world, a tendency toward the uniting of people who are opposed to your imperialism simply on grounds that it’s yours, but maybe also on the grounds that you’re incompetent at it.  

There was a time when the rest of the world did trust the United States a good deal as a result of the Marshall Plan, foreign aid, things of this sort.  They probably trusted it more than they should have. Today that is almost entirely dissipated At some point, we must either reduce our empire of bases from 737 to maybe 37—although I’d just as soon get rid of all of them.  If we don’t start doing that, then we will go the way of the former Soviet Union." 

Harvey Kreisler, Talking with Chalmers Johnson, Counterpunch, May 6, 2010

"Jesus told this parable to those who were proud of their own righteousness, and looked at others with contempt.

Two men went up to the temple to pray.  One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.  The Pharisee took up his place, and spoke this prayer to himself:  ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or worse, like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and pay tithes on all my income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance, and would not even raise his eyes to heaven.   He simply beat his breast and prayed, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’  

This man, I tell you, went home justified, but the Pharisee did not.  For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14 


"Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance goes before a fall."

They are going to push these markets until they break.  And then loot the wreckage.  

Gaza seems to be the model for modern Neo-colonialism.   

And the Western elite are more like the British rule in colonial India, rather than the elected representatives of the people.   

The US financial system seems to be reaching peak hubris, and is heading for a nasty tumble.

Stocks rallied hard on a 'framework' for a solution to the trade dispute with China.

Gold and silver were hammered with program short selling hitting the miners.

The Dollar fell.

VIX has dropped to a low level.  It could go lower, but its nearing the area of a correction.

Try not to be among the fallen. 

I have been watching the new series based on Stephen King's book The Institute.  

It is classic King, and is very engaging. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

  

Stocks and Precious Metals - Terrible Visions

 

Jesus said to the crowds,
"When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites.
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?"

Luke 12:54-57

"While some were speaking in the temple, and remarking how lavishly it was adorned with costly stones and beautiful memorials, Jesus said, 'These things that you see — the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.'

And they asked him, 'Teacher, when will this be, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?' And Jesus said, 'See that you are not deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and rebellion, do not be afraid, for such things must happen first. But it will not yet be the end.' Then he said to them, 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place. And awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.'

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its desolation draws near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those in the midst of the city must leave, and those in the country should not return. For these are the be days of God’s judgement, so that all that has been written may be fulfilled.'"

Luke 21:5-11

"They asked, 'Where will this happen, Lord?' And Jesus said, 'Where death is, there a gathering of vultures will be.'”

Luke 17:37


And so my vacation continues.

Just a quick note for the end of the week. 

Risk assets rallied today when the inflation data this morning was seen as benign.

This is seen as opening the door for more Fed rate cuts.  

How is it that we are able to get inflation data, but not employment statistics with the government shutdown? 

The markets are broadly discounting the approaching recession and intensifying geopolitical risks. 

Be not deceived, for God is not mocked.  What a man sows, so shall he reap.

Galatians 6:7

And when the reckoning comes, as it must, who then will remain standing? 

Have a pleasant weekend. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Brood of Vipers

 

"The more power a government has the more it can act arbitrarily according to the whims and desires of the elite, and the more it will make war on others and murder its foreign and domestic subjects.  Power will achieve its murderous potential. It simply waits for an excuse, an event of some sort, an assassination, a massacre in a neighboring country, an attempted coup, a famine, or a natural disaster, to justify the beginning of murder en masse."

R. J. Rummel, Death by Government: A History of Mass Murder and Genocide Since 1900, 1994

"The Barbarian hopes — and that is the mark of him, that he can have his cake and eat it too. He will consume what civilization has slowly produced after generations of selection and effort, but he will not be at pains to replace such goods, nor indeed has he a comprehension of the virtue that has brought them into being. Discipline seems to him irrational, on which account he is ever marveling that civilization, should have offended him with priests and soldiers.

We sit by and watch the barbarian. We tolerate him in the long stretches of peace, we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence; his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creed refreshes us; we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond, and on these faces there are no smiles."

Hillaire Belloc, The Barbarians, 1912

"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. 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

"Surely, there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshalling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ as in a net, and preparing the way for a general Apostasy from it. Whether this very Apostasy is to give birth to Antichrist, or whether he is still to be delayed, as he has already been delayed so long, we cannot know; but at any rate this Apostasy, and all its tokens and instruments, are of the Evil One, and savour of death."

John Henry Newman, The Time of AntiChrist,

Just charts tonight.

Sometimes I just don't have the words.   

And besides, I'm on vacation. 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Gold and Silver Roaring Back from the Option Expiration

 

"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. And he asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have enough space to store my harvest?’ And he thought, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store my grain and other goods, and I shall say to myself, 'Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!'’

But God said, ‘You fool. This very night your life will be demanded of you. And all these things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself on earth, but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Luke 12:16-21

"But these people abuse what they do not understand, and the very things they do follow by instinct, like beasts, will destroy them."

Jude 1:10

“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. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

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

"The demon's target is not the possessed; it is us the observers— everyone in this house. The point is to make us despair, to reject our humanity, to see ourselves as bestial, vile and putrescent, without dignity, ugly, unworthy."

William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist, May 1971


I am still on vacation, but how could I not take note of the absolutely crushing comeback of the precious metals today, in their generational bull market. 

Gold and silver came roaring back after the take down on Friday for stock option expiration.

Risk was off the table as the VIX fell and stocks rallied back towards their higher highs.

Bitcoin bounced.

Kind of an odd day, with few of the usual cross market relationships resonating.

Maybe the markets were celebrating no outbreak of war over the weekend.

This is really going to hurt when it reverts to the mean.

All kidding aside, I am wondering what it is going to take to get a few of our leaders from around the world under adult supervision.   

It's like a flash mob of lies and lunacy.

Have a pleasant evening.