Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Fearful Odds

WESTMORELAND

Of fighting men they have full three score thousand.

EXETER

There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.

SALISBURY

God's arm strike with us! 'tis a fearful odds.

William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 4 Sc 3

As I am sure you have heard the NY Stock Exchange was closed for technical problems from 11:32 AM to 3:10 PM today.  There was a problem with their 'FIX' system.  This was localized to the NYSE, but there were failures also at the Wall Street Journal site and at popular blog spot Zerohedge.

 

As you know there are about 11 stock exchanges here in the US now.   And they are wrapped within a web of conscious complexity sparked by high frequency trading, which is an abuse of honest markets.

Over 70+% of the stocks on the Shanghai Composite have halted trading for a more fundamental reason: no buyers, at least not at these lofty prices.

Gold and silver continues to be capped.

At this point it seems to my taste that cash, gold, and silver are the preferred investments. But that is just my opinion and I could be wrong.

I would not listen for one minute to stock touts and analysts at this point. They are accomplished liars, but liars nonetheless.

It is quite entertaining to traffic in rumours and fears, and to drink deeply of the sick cup of despair. But this is not for us.

 

Security is a practical issue of course.  But the only real tragedy is to trade our souls for the illusion of it.

 

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Brood of Vipers, Farcical Fed

 

If you have stock gains, now might be a good time to consider raising some cash on any rallies, and sitting on it for a while, until this global equities situation sorts itself out.

 

As you can see below, stocks are finding a footing near the lower bound of the 'trading range' I suggested that might try to establish.   If they slip this range, barring intervention from the Fed and the Exchange Stabilization Fund, it could be a rough ride here, following China and Europe.

 

China *might* be finding a footing here.  I am watching the Shanhai composite.  This is not unknown in the pattern by which a bubble breaks.  And have no doubt, China stocks were in a bubble.

 

I have heard that approximately 70+% of China stocks are no longer trading, having been halted to stem their losses.  I am also seeing the usual abuses of any bubble, wherein people have leveraged up, pledging hypothecated real estate to buy stocks, and companies using their own stocks to secure loans.  

 

The US kicks off earnings season tonight with Alcoa.  I am told that the rules prohibit US companies from buying their own stocks during the earnings quiet period.  If this is so, then this will remove one of the bigger bullish factors from this distorted market.

 

The Fed minutes released this afternoon were 'hawkish.'   As if.  

 

The Fed wants to raise rates off zero by about 50 bp just for their own purposes.  They stopped caring about the real economy quite some time ago.  They make noises to the contrary, but at the end of the day they are the servants and creatures of the Banks first, and the government second.  And the devil take the rest.

 

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

NYSE Suspends All Stock Trading... Reopens at 3:10 PM EDT

 

NYSE suspends trading on all issues because of 'technical issues' according to Bloomberg as of 11:32 AM EDT.

All open orders have been cancelled.

Other exchanges remain open, such as Nasdaq and BATS, and stocks continue to trade there.  NYSE ARCA and options are still open for trading.

There are eleven stock exchanges in the US.

It is not yet known whether the stock market indices which obtain data from the NYSE are being calculated correctly.

Federal officials have found no evidence of a cyber attack. 

NYSE has disclosed 'gateway connectivity' issues at the open.  The problem may be centered around the FIX (Financial Information Exchange) software engine.

Bloomberg reports that the Wall Street Journal website is also down.

More news as it becomes available will be listed here.

Shanghai Composite Index Compared To Nasdaq 'Dot Com' Bubble

This could prove to be an interesting comparison.

Let's see if it stays on track.

There are quite a few protracted distortions in the global markets. 

And quite a few of them have nothing to do with Asia.

Here is a picture of the 2008 Shanghai stock bubble collapse.

'Owners Per Ounce' of Gold at the Comex

The trend of the 'owners per ounce' on the Comex is climbing as the amount of paper bets increases and the ounces of gold bullion for sale at these prices decreases.

There is more than sufficient gold in private hands to satisfy the demands of the increasingly paper leveraged Comex. Just not as these prices perhaps, despite the heavy handed attempts to knock the open interest out of the hands of the longs.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - No Soup For You

The fingerprints of the Exchange Stabilization Fund and their Banks, presumably JPM and Citi, were all over the markets today, from commodities to equities.

Stocks were rallied hard off the bottom, as some fearless buyer stepped in and sparked a short covering rally.

Gold languished, but silver managed to take back the 15 handle at least.

Have a pleasant evening.