Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Whited Sepulchers, Legions of Swine

"Those among the rich who are not, in the rigorous sense, damned, can understand poverty, because they are poor themselves after a fashion; but they cannot understand destitution.   Capable of giving alms, perhaps, but incapable of stripping their own souls bare, they may be moved to the sound of beautiful music, to Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them."

Léon Bloy


“Woe to you, learned scribes and the elite— hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all corruption.  You outwardly look righteous, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

Matthew 23:27-28


"My name is legion, for we are many."

Mark 5:6

The Fed raised its benchmark rate by 25 bp today.  The market had indicated a 100% probability of this according to the common measures.

They also removed the word 'accommodative' from their statement, which means pretty much nothing.

Stocks initially rallied higher, strongly.

And then Jay Powell, the Fed chair, conducted his press briefing.  And the stocks plunged, led by the banking stocks.

Gold and silver finished a bit lower, while the Dollar was slightly higher after an initial plunge.

Tomorrow the boob tube will be transfixed with the testimony with regard to the Supreme Court nomination of Kavanaugh, and accusations with regard to his character.

Someone on MSNBC today said that this was 'unprecedented.'  Are you kidding me?  They seemed too young to remember the Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill testimonies in 1991.  And who bothers to read history these days in the United States of Amnesia.

The testimonies absolutely transfixed the nation each night on television, and in prime time.  One night the people were given one perspective of things that happened, and the next night it was a a complete denial and reversal of opinion.  I was old enough to have followed it.  It was like a soap opera.

Our elite, and the pampered princes of privilege, are a legion of swine, infesting cities of whited sepulchers.

Need little, want less, love more.  For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - FOMC Tomorrow - Quiet Option Expiration on the Comex Today

"Most American investors unaware rehypothecation is widely practiced inside US, but more limited.   Rehypothecation will be the problem!

US law permits moving US client accounts from parent company to subsidiaries in other nations,which enables their use as collateral for loans usable to invest in other securities. Now, clients can specify their assets may not be transferable to a foreign jurisdiction. 

Jon Corzine used MF Global to transfer US client accounts to a subsidiary entity in London, where UK rules permitted much higher levels of rehypothecation (i.e .leverage up to 4X, US rule less than 1.5X). A iming to build giant enterprise w/other people's money, it blew up."

Dr. Harald Malmgren


"Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue
is chasing a bubble over deadly snares.

The soul of the wicked man desires evil;
his neighbor finds no pity in his eyes.

When the arrogant man is punished, the simple are the wiser;
when the wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.

The just man appraises the house of the wicked:
there is one who brings down the wicked to ruin.

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor
will himself also call and not be heard."

Proverbs 21:6, 10-13

Stocks were listless to weak today ahead of the FOMC rate decision tomorrow.

Gold and silver were higher on a sightly weaker dollar.

Housing prices seems to be cooling.

Nike came in better than expected on earnings, and in-line with revenue. The stock was slightly lower after the bell.

Non-Farm Payrolls next week.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Black Swans a-Surfing - The Sorrows of Empire

"In my view it [QE] failed, 100 per cent.  It caused the stock market to go up because people took all that liquidity and invested it in the stock market, but it did not cause the economy to grow even 10 basis points faster. I  like to nickname quantitative easing monetary policy for rich people.

Steve Eisman


“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt


“Four sorrows are certain to be visited on the United States.

First, there will be a state of perpetual war.

Second is a loss of democracy and Constitutional rights as the presidency eclipses Congress and is itself transformed from a co-equal ‘executive branch’ of government into a military junta.

Third is the replacement of truth by propaganda, disinformation, and the glorification of war, power, and the military legions.

Lastly, there is bankruptcy, as the United States pours its economic resources into ever more grandiose military projects and shortchanges the education, health, and safety of its citizens.”

Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire, 2005

Stocks opened lower this morning, and were weak most of the day.

Most of the stock losses evaporated in the afternoon, with the Nasdaq 100 turning green, and the SP loses only a little ground.

The metals were largely unchanged despite an early attempt to rally as the Dollar moved sharply lower.

There will be an option expiration for the precious metals on the Comex tomorrow. The contract month is more significant for gold than silver.

And because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Is Flowing From West to East - Often Via Switzerland's Refineries

You have often heard me say that 'gold is flowing from West to East.'

Much of that gold flow is through the refineries of Switzerland, where London good and NY gold bars are converted to the kilo specifications demanded by the Asian markets.

Most of the gold into Switzerland, by far, is coming from the London bullion market. With lesser amounts coming from the US and from Turkey. I noted here the other week that Turkish banks were selling gold reserves to support the lira.

You have seen the estimates of the physical gold floats in London shown here from time to time. That float has dwindled considerably. And this is why it is important.

And where does the gold go after it leaves Switzerland? As you can see below, it is by far flowing into China, India, and then Thailand, Singapore, and the UAE.

Physical gold is flowing from West to East.  And the West is scraping the bottom of the barrel, at least at these prices.

Gold and Silver Fund and ETF Flows and the Commitments of Traders Market Positioning

Physical gold continues to come out of the funds and trusts.  Silver shows no such withdrawals.

When gold starts to rally again, that physical gold is going to have to be bought back, and probably at increasing prices on the market.  Much of this physical gold has already made its way to the markets and vaults in Asia, and not likely to return anytime soon.

With regard to the commitments of traders, the readings for both metals are at some historical extremes, suggesting a rally ahead when the positions revert to the mean.

We have a slam dunk FOMC meeting and an option expiration on the Comex this week ahead, and another Non-Farm Payrolls report the following week.