Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Shock and Awe in the Currency Wars - Silver Shenanigans

“This is an orchestration (the smash in gold). It’s been going on now from the beginning of April. Brokerage houses told their individual clients the word was out that hedge funds and institutional investors were going to be dumping gold and that they should get out in advance.

Then, a couple of days ago, Goldman Sachs announced there would be further departures from gold. So what they are trying to do is scare the individual investor out of bullion. Clearly there is something desperate going on....

I have assumed from the beginning that it is the Fed’s concern with the dollar because the dollar is being printed in huge quantities at the same time that other countries are abandoning the use of the dollar as international payment.

The exchange value of the dollar is (being) threatened, and if that collapses the Fed loses control over interest rates. Then the bond market blows up, the stock market blows up, and the banks that are too big to fail, fail.

So it’s an act of desperation because they’ve got to establish in people’s minds that the dollar is the only safe place, it is the only safe haven, not gold, not silver, and not other currencies.

And to help protect this policy they have convinced or pressured the Japanese to inflate their own currency. The Japanese are now going to print money like the Fed. They are lobbying the ECB to print more. So I see this as a dollar protection policy.

...I know where the gold is coming from in the market, it’s just paper. It’s naked shorts, there is no gold there. If somebody wanted to take delivery on those contracts nobody would be able to provide it. I don’t know what the source of the (physical) gold is. Some people are saying that the actual stocks available for possession are rapidly declining...”

Paul Craig Roberts, Fed Orchestrated Smash in Gold

I am not so sure that Paul Craig Roberts is right in manner of degree.  But it does make some sense, certainly more sense than the theories being put forward by the mouthpieces of the status quo.

I am sure this metals action was a lively point of discussion at Jim Sinclair's talk in Toronto today.

I do not see anything related to option expiration.  The next stock option expiration is next week on the 19th, and the next Comex expiration is the Thursday after that on 25 April.

Personally I think the wheels are falling off the economies of the West, and the financial engineers are hitting the panic button in advance. The BRICs are going to be in open rebellion if the rest of the G7 joins Japan in massive printing.

The Anglo-American banking cartel is doing what they do best: engaging in opaque market operations to shift the pain to the broad mass of innocent people when their schemes start to fall apart.   They have used their usual resources to spread the word in advance.

The kind of mass selling we saw today was not designed to be profit maximizing.  It was designed to flatten price to affect market sentiment and provoke additional selling.   I would imagine we will see some more activity along those lines before this is done.

Andrew Maguire says that there is no physical gold for sale at these prices.  I did check a few websites that post decent amounts of gold and silver for sale and the premiums over spot are widening.

This assault on property and savings is not all that different that what is occurring in Europe, except it is happening on a global scale.  Time for a grand bail-in, and the mechanism will be the yen, pound, euro and dollar.  The banks must be saved and all must pay.

All we can do is be on our watch, and remember who we are, what we know, and what we believe.  

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Overturning the Last Remnants of the New Deal

"Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget proposal released April 10 included language that said the sale of the TVA and similar programs that have achieved their original objectives and no longer require federal participation, can help put the nation on a sustainable fiscal path.”

I see where Obama's budget considers the privatization of one of the last remnants of the New Deal, the Tennessee Valley Authority.

To say Obama is no progressive is an understatement.   

Today's Gold Smackdown Portrayed on a June Futures Chart, 5 Minute Intervals

Why would the government turn a blind eye to this?

Well, in addition to allowing your cronies to make boatloads of money by gaming the markets, there is a not so subtle message wrapped within this chart from the financial engineers of the current banking system.  This is all a part of the currency wars.

"One of the central facts about modern America is that everything is political; on the right, in particular, people choose their views about everything, from environmental science to gun safety, to suit their political prejudices. And the remarkable recent rise of “goldbuggism,” in the teeth of all the evidence, shows that this politicization can influence investments as well as voting.

What do I mean by goldbuggism? Not the notion that buying gold sometimes makes sense. Gold has been a very good investment since the early 2000s, and it’s probably not all bubble. One way to think about this is that gold is like a very long-term bond that’s protected from inflation; and actual long-term inflation-protected bonds have also seen big price increases, reflecting a general perception that there aren’t enough alternative good investments.

No, being a goldbug means asserting that gold offers unique security in troubled times; it also means asserting that all would be well if we abolished the Federal Reserve and returned to the good old gold standard, in which the value of the dollar was fixed in terms of gold and that was that. And both forms of goldbuggism soared after 2008."

Paul Krugman, Lust for Gold

You see, gold is not an investment decision, it is a 'lust.'  And since it does what Mr. Krugman does not wish it to do, it is irrational, and something from his evil adversaries on the right. 

There is nothing quite so cheaply formed as this type of toss off piece from an establishment economist in defense of the status quo. 

This is the common thread I see amongst financial engineers and theoreticians.  The weakness in their theories and models always seems to turn to the brute force of financial market repression when their schemes get into trouble, based on some inherent weakness or false assumption that makes them unstable.  That certainly is the picture in Europe. 

Here is a piece I wrote some time ago about the 38 Year Cycle in Monetary History

Here is a detailed picture of the gold trading on the Comex today. You can look at it and judge for yourself.

There was no news to provoke this kind of a massive sell off in a quiet market and on heavy volume. 

This is just shock and awe in the currency wars.  And everyday people are collateral damage.  And there are always those who will beat the drums, on cue. 

Elizabeth Warren: How the Regulators Are Protecting the Banks From Disclosure of Fraud

"Fraudus est celare fraudem." 
The concealment of fraud is a fraud.

Take a careful listen to Senator Elizabeth Warren pulling out the truth from Daniel P. Stipano, Deputy Chief Counsel, Comptroller of the Currency, and Richard Ashton, Deputy General Counsel, Federal Reserve.

"You have made a decision to protect the banks but not to help the families who were illegally foreclosed on. Families get pennies on the dollar for being the victims of illegal activities. And you know of cases where the banks broke the laws, but you are not going to tell the homeowners.

People want to know that their regulators are watching out for the American public, not the banks."

Senator Elizabeth Warren

Other people are doing a much better job of covering this than I am, notably Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, and I regularly include their links on my site.

It is a shame and a scandal that is representative of what is wrong with the current structure of the economy and the markets, the regulatory capture that favors insiders and special financial interests over basic law and justice for the public.

And I think it is a failure of the liberal agenda that calls blindly for stimulus, but at best pays lip service to significant reform.  As for those who call for austerity without reform, they are at best useful for the one percent, and of harm to most everyone else. 

The genuine reformers are found on both the right and the left, and might best be called progressives.  Unfortunately they are a group without a party or a portfolio these days, except for a few shining lights like Warren and Sanders.  From what I hear the situation in the UK and Canada is equally as bleak.  Oligarchies abound elsewhere.  As for Europe, it is just a mess of conflicting interests that one might strain to call a governing body of the most powerful special interests and their outside supporters.

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Funds and Trusts - Part II

I normally don't post this twice in one day, but I do wish to document this price action for future reference.

Heavy selling in paper has triggered a water fall decline that is seriously testing some very long term lows today, going back to gold's original ascent out of the cup and handle.

The selling in the related sectors such as the miners has been particularly brutal. As one of the paid pundits said today, 'They are clearing out the casual allocators.'

This is Street talk for skinning the little guy and the non-insider, the average, frightened investor.

Intraday gold tagged 1491.

I have gone back and marked the current chart with past support and resistance figures. Those are indicated on a segment of a chart from 2011 included below. The current chart will come out at the regular time.

Watch silver for an indication of a subsidence in selling.

Don't even ask, because I will not tell you when to sell or to buy. At most I may occasionally give some indication of what I am thinking.

And today I am thinking that this is a major test of the bull market by some very determined hedge funds and bullion banks who are overpowering the real physical markets. And they are doing so almost fearlessly because they know that the punishments, if any, are a minimal share of the profits.  And they most likely have the approval of the Anglo-American banking establishment. 

If you believe that the monied interests will only apply their financial repression to the weak, the disabled, the elderly, the poor, and immigrants you are kidding yourself, and falling for the oldest ruse in the book.

If you wish to do something, support the efforts for reforming the financial system.

Michael Hudson: Obama's Cat Food Social Security Budget Strategy and Stealth Tax Increases

What some of the 'conservatives' have figured out is that 'chained CPI' is also a threat to those who rely on incomes.

The chained CPI would also apply to the income tax brackets, to adjust for 'inflation creep.'

By seriously understating inflation, the chained CPI would also result in steady, hidden tax increases on non-privileged income by allowing inflation to push income levels higher without adjusting tax brackets.

Remember how the AMT was originally pitched as a way of forcing the wealthy to pay taxes despite loopholes, and instead became a snare for the middle class?

It's a win-win for the crony capitalists and liberal statists.  Because in corporatism the state is the corporation and the corporation is the state.  And it takes care of its own.

Less money for the elderly, and more income taxes from their working children.  And the government can mask their inflation while continuing to deliver wheelbarrows of money to the Wall Street banks and their friends, while providing a blind eye to their tax loopholes and havens.

The oligarchs maintain a tight control on any investment opportunities and returns, driving savings where they like using the power of their exchanges and the Federal Reserve. And it is easy to game when you are included in a stream of privileged information and dark pools of trading. 

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

The hedge funds seem to be having their way with the metals market.

This makes us wonder how relevant the paper market is to the physical market.

It must be very difficult to be a retail provider of gold and silver in market where your base pricing is set by such fluffy nonsense. 

Jim Cramer offers what could be at least a partial explanation although I am sure the mainstream pundits will be quick to defend the system as it is.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Metals Hold Up While Miners Trounced Again

"Every president needs to deal with the permanent government of the country, and the permanent government of the country is Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats and the questions becomes what is the relationship between that president and Wall Street."

Cornel West


"Fraus est celare fraudem. It is a fraud to conceal a fraud...And the regulators may wish to consider that when they continually turn a blind eye to glaring instances of market manipulation they foster a climate of lawlessness that opens the door for widespread fraud amongst normally law abiding market participants. It becomes a competition in larceny and a moveable feast of fraud. “Poverty wants, but greed wants everything, and more.” Customers run for safety, from one place to another, not sure what or whom they can trust."

Jesse, MF Global: The Issue Is Fraud and the Cover Up


“Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”

Louis D. Brandeis

As it turns out the Cyprus 'gold sales' touted yesterday were merely an idea floated by a politician, that had never been discussed at all with the central bank of Cyprus that controls ownership of the gold.

There are spot shortages of physical bullion on the retail level with silver of various types in particular commanding decent premiums over spot.

EMU Seizes Cyprus' Gold Reserves

Let's see how this develops.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Complacency in Pig Heaven

I think that stocks are in a bubble now.

Earnings season should prove to be quite interesting.

It is not central bank policy failing so much as the complete lack of serious reform in the financial system that is thwarting a sustainable recovery.

What is a sustainable recovery? One that is not reliant on $85 billion per month in Fed purchases at non market prices in the debt markets. It is a recovery marked by growing demand support by a rising median wage, and not fueled by credit bubbles.

Background Music for Today's Market Culture and the Risk On Trade - Derivatives Agonistes

"Why tell you these things, since you are fully aware of them - or if not of these, then of other equally grave crimes committed by this frightful sub- humanity? Because here we touch on a problem which involves us deeply and forces us all to take thought.

Why do German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? Hardly anyone thinks about that.

It is accepted as fact and put out of mind. The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals; they give them the opportunity to carry on their depredations; and of course they do so.

Is this a sign that the Germans are brutalized in their simplest human feelings, that no chord within them cries out at the sight of such deeds, that they have sunk into a fatal consciencelessness from which they will never, never awake?

It seems to be so, and will certainly be so, if the German does not at last start up out of his stupor, if he does not protest wherever and whenever he can against this clique of criminals, if he shows no sympathy for these hundreds of thousands of victims. He must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt.

For through his apathetic behavior he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do; he tolerates this "government" which has taken upon itself such an infinitely great burden of guilt; indeed, he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all."

The White Rose, Second Leaflet


"Which shall I first bewail, thy bondage or lost sight?"

John Milton, Samson Agonistes

Gold And Silver Registered Comex Ounces - On Notes From the Bailout Boys

These are the registered ounces of bullion in the Comex warehouse.  Tightness is appearing in the retail physical market, but nothing is showing up here, yet.

If you need a reminder, a brief explanation of what registered and eligible ounces on the Comex means is here.

Janet Tavakoli is a very witty person, as well as being derivatives expert, a financial writer and a noted novelist.

She just sent me this via email:

Notes from the bailout boys:

Goldman 2013: With our economists expecting few ramifications from Cyprus.

Goldman 2007:  AIG presents no counterparty risk.

Insider Sales on the Sprott Physical Silver Trust

Someone emailed me about this, and I wanted to get the actual data so you can see it.

It appears that Eric Sprott has sold about 3 million shares of his Silver Trust so far this month.  That is quite a bit of selling, but certainly not unheard of for someone who is a billionaire.

I have it second hand that the sales are related to a commitment that Eric Sprott has to a charitable obligation, and has nothing to do with his views on silver or the Trust.  I obviously do not know with any certainty if this is the reason.

A similar search shows no such insider sales on the Sprott Physical Gold Trust.

I do have current positions in both of  these funds, and some of their rivals. 

I did not find anything about this on the Silver Trust homepage.  I would think that some comment should be made given the size of the sales. 

Insider Sales Data for PHS (PSLV in the US)

Note:  Ed Steer reports that he called Eric Sprott and that the sales are being conducted for a charitable obligation, and that the sales are also related to his belief that miners will outperform bullion so he is shifting his assets accordingly.

One might obverse that a simple press release stating one's intentions for a very large sale or purchase is customary for the actions of a significant insider in a substantial public organization.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Goldman Says 'Sell' and It's a Risk On Day

Intraday commentary here.

It is worth reading.

Goldman made a big bear call on gold today.  Let's mark it, and see how it turns out in six months.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - The Fed Let's the Dogs Out - Bubble On Ben

The Fed leaked the minutes of their last meeting early today, and some discussion by some members about ending QE this year had the market leaning to the bull side, and then encountering little resistance, it was a sky hook day as resistance fell by the wayside.

Let's see how the real economy acts, as we are now in earnings season, albeit with lowered expectations.

 The Fed has proven, over and over, that it cannot see those bubbles it creates, and blithely ignores looming dangers on a regular basis. It is hard to think of a forecasting outfit with a worse record, except perhaps Townsend, Greenspan & Co.

This is a bonfire of the mediocrities.  Try not to get burned.  But since they control the currency one has to respect their power, if nothing else.

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds - Selling On Fear

Goldman Says to Short Gold

If Goldman said it would be sunny and clear I would wear boots and bring an umbrella.

Cyprus Forced To Sell Gold As Part of Bail In

The rape of Cyprus continues.

CBC: The Secret World of Gold

I have bought selectively here with an eye to cash flows and dividends, with a long timeframe. 

There is increasing anecdotal evidence of shortages of bullion on the periphery.

Michael Hudson on the Thatcher Legacy

I have avoided the subject, but I thought Mike Hudson's review of Thatcher's economic impact to be interesting.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Metals Rally Along With Equities and Miners Outperform

The recently acquired miners, particularly in silver and the better pedigreed gold producers, provided a welcome change of pace today.

I was a little bothered that the metals rallied with stocks, but that they were oversold was unmistakable.

So what next? I bought a little more volatility to go along with the metals holdings as I think we are far from clear of the current troubles. I trimmed a little off the miners today, as one ought never to look at a gift horse in the mouth, and am holding what I would like to see become a 'core' of holdings for quite some time.

Let's see what the FOMC minutes bring tomorrow afternoon, and how the markets in Asia and Europe do overnight.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Obsessive Compulsive Complacency

Not much in the way of economic news today, and stocks tried to rally up on technicals but failed at the big resistance around 1565 to 1570 which as you know is our intermediate target.

Tomorrow we get the Fed's FOMC minutes at 2 PM, and additionally its now going to be all about earnings and the employment numbers. It will be interesting to see what we get in new claims for unemployment on Wednesday and how the markets react to this.

IF the markets cannot take out 1570 and hold it I suspect they will fall back and try to consolidate in some likely area, as one might easily see on the charts.

Reggie Middleton: Bailouts, Bail Ins, and Continuing Insolvency of the Irish Banks

"Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.

When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin.

Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out."

From the original minutes of the Philadelphia bankers sent to meet with President Jackson February 1834, from Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the United States (1928) by Stan V. Henkels

Middleton: Ireland May Very Well Be Bust

Stephen Colbert: You Will Truly Serve Only What You Love

"In my experience, you will truly serve only what you love, because service is love made visible.

If you love friends, you will serve your friends. If you love community, you will serve your community. If you love money, you will serve your money. And if you love only yourself, you will serve only yourself, and you will have only yourself.

So no winning. Instead, try to love others, and serve others, and hopefully find those who will love and serve you in return.”

Stephen Colbert

Moyers: Martin Luther King's Dream of Economic Justice

Theologian James Cone and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch join Bill to discuss Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of economic justice, and how so little has changed for America’s most oppressed.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Cap Cap Cap

A little retreat in the metals today after the big rally on Friday.

The markets settle back quite easily into complacency.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - No Memory, No Fear

Earnings season starts tonight with Alcoa Aluminum announcing after the bell that they beat on earnings, but missed slightly on revenues.

The market shook off the bad Jobs report rather easily but on light volumes.

After the bell J.C. Penny bid adios to CEO Ron Johnson.

Real News: Investigation Finds Trillions Stashed in Global Tax Havens

Only the little people pay taxes.

Linus Torvald Is NOT Joining Microsoft

Linus Torvald suggest some market positioning for Microsoft Windows

Some may have inadvertently mistaken what I think is an April Fool's day article at F.O.S.S. for the real thing.

Linus Torvald, the creator of LINUX and a prominent proponent for common standards and open source software, is NOT joining Microsoft to work on anything.

Microsoft represents the kind of clumsy monopoly that is inimical to everything Torvald believes in and stands for.

When I first read that article at a reputable financial site I spit out my coffee and almost fell out of my chair.  As a former boy programmer who left the 360 gulag to work on the Unix operating system I was stricken.  What the heck is going on in the world? Has everyone gone crazy?

I did not realize that the article was a few days old, and it was printed on April Fools. Well they got me.   This is how bad things have gotten. And I did forget that the next windows is not going to be Windows 9, but Windows Blue.

Torvald joining Microsoft would be like Chris Hedges becoming a salesman for Goldman Sachs, or Noam Chomsky enlisting to pilot drone strikes on domestic peace marches. Or even Pope Francis I resigning his pontificate to join Dancing With the Stars and HRM Queen Elizabeth abdicating the throne to become the new house driver, aka The Stig, for the BBC's Top Gear. Although I must admit it would be thrilling to see her daintily execute her famous hand wave through the window of a Ferrari as she cleared the last sharp turn into the finish.

Not everyone has become a complete whore to their principles, although it may often seem that way if you read and watch the financial media and the observations of very famous establishment economists that fraud is freedom and privation is prosperity.

Here is a recent example of what Torvald thinks about Microsoft, that may have helped inspire the goof from FOSS.    I need a dose of reality.  Time to go out and work in the garden.

(Caution: the following article contains harsh language)

Linus Torvald: I Will Not Change Linux to Deep Throat Microsoft
This is not a d**k-sucking contest," says Linux's benevolent overlord.
by Jon Brodkin
Feb 26 2013

The Linux kernel development process may welcome all those who love open source software and have the right coding chops, but one man remains the ultimate authority on what does and doesn't go into Linux—and he isn't afraid to let everyone know it.

The rants of Linux creator Linus Torvalds often become public through the Linux Kernel Mailing List archive. That's the open source way, and it gives us a glimpse into the thinking of the people behind one of the world's most widely used technologies.

The latest example comes from an argument between Torvalds and other Linux developers over whether the Linux kernel should include code that makes it easier to boot Linux on Windows PCs. This goes back to Microsoft requiring that PCs designed to run Windows 8 use UEFI firmware with the Secure Boot feature enabled.

This has complicated the process of booting Linux on PCs that shipped with Windows 8, but it hasn't prevented people from doing so. There are workarounds, but some people are looking for a solution in the Linux kernel itself...

Read the rest here.

The Fruits of 'Free Markets' and Inequality: Female Mortality Rates In the US

"There is a frightening graph in a recent article in Health Affairs by David Kindig and Erika Cheng. Kindig and Cheng looked at trends in male and female mortality rates from 1992–96 to 2002–06 in 3,140 US counties.

What they found was that female mortality rates increased in 42.8% of counties (male mortality rates increased in only 3.4%). The counties are mapped below: red means that female mortality worsened.

You can see a strong regional pattern: just about every county showed had worsened female mortality in several southern states, while no county showed such decline in New England. There are many questions about what explains this pattern. For example, did healthier women migrate out of the south from 1992 to 2006?

Nevertheless, the map depicts a shocking pattern of female hardship, primarily in the southeast and midwest."

Read the rest from Bill Gardner posting at The Incidental Economist here.

And although they are certainly not the same as overall female mortality rates, here are the latest CIA World Factbook figures on maternal mortality rates (MMR) per hundred thousand. Obviously the lower the number the better.

Hey, don't complain, thank God we're not like Chad or Somalia right?   And how come all those socialist single payer countries are nearer the bottom, and they do it so much more cheaply?

Perhaps some neo-liberal hack can explain the economic principles of freedom involved to the child of a dead mother.

I know what comrade Stalin's or Herr Hitler's answer would have been about deaths and large numbers with regard to the needs of the state. Funny how the extremes tend to converge

SP 500 June Futures Daily Chart - A Closer Look at Support and Resistance Levels

"This is what has been written: ‘M’ne! M’ne! T’kel ufarsin.’

And this is its meaning:

Numbered — God has numbered your reign and will end it.
Weighed — you are weighed on the scales, and found wanting.
Divided — your power will be divided and given to others.

Daniel 5:25-28

A well-tempered stock market rally/bubble.

The various support and resistance levels are apparent as well as the macro trend.

Take a look at the second chart below. If this is not a 'market operation' to inflate stock prices I don't know anything. 

At least you should have no trouble finding where we are on this road map, and when the wheels start falling off.  This is like a thrown rope.

A stock bubble financed by the Fed is a great way to transfer more wealth to the financiers. 

The US is a tale of two economies.  

Moyers:  Poverty in America Today.

Let's see how things go next week.

Very well-tempered, indeed.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Bounce on a Dose of Reality

"It is hard to tell where Hollywood ends and the DT's begin."

W. C. Fields

Washington and New York, like Hollywood, have become the land of illusion, excess, and make believe.

Non-Farm Payrolls was a dose of cold water on their la-la land, which they quickly shook off.  It is the tale of two economies.

Gold and silver bounced up after the incredible pounding they took from short selling hedge funds and momentum players.

I think the metal bears are one unforeseen sovereign crisis away from getting circumcised with a baseball bat, but that is just my opinion and I could be wrong.

Have a pleasant weekend.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Hope Floats

The Jobs number was quite bad and a big miss from expectations.

I believe that the economy is floundering, but there is such a bifurcation between the fortunate and the rest that the financiers and politicians are not seeing it, and are in denial.

So let's see how the trend goes over the next couple of months.

It is not a surprise that the wiseguys bulled the number up into the close to cut the losses quite a bit.