Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Risk On Trump

After the bell there was a magnitude 6.9 earthquake off the cost of Fukushima prefecture, about 160 miles from Tokyo .  A tsunami warning has been issued.

I hope that all of you in the affected areas will be listening to instructions carefully.  I will be remembering you all in my prayers, as I do for all readers of Le Cafe each week, without fail, in addition to all the special intentions of my correspondents and their families.

We had the first snowfall of the season this weekend past.  It was quite the surprise to see an inch of snow on the ground in the early morning after heavy rains the night before.  I am glad I am keeping up with the yardwork.   Some places north of here in the higher elevations had six inches of snow.

Winter is coming.

Gold and silver were largely marking time today ahead of the Comex precious metals option expiration tomorrow in this holiday-shortened week.

The dollar was not quite as exuberant today as it has recently been.  This is understandable because it has come very far in a short period of time off the US election results.

We picked up a new car on Saturday, and so far it seems quite nice.   We chose a Subaru Forester.  We took a little drive in it today to the doctor's office, and took a swing back through the nearby 'horse country' to drive past the mighty Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster which I had never seen before.

My father-in-law was an avid golfer, and when he visited us I sometimes took him to see the USGA golf headquarters and museum in the next town over in Far Hills, NJ.  There are collections and memorabilia on display which are substantial and significant.

There is also the official testing facility for balls and clubs which is fascinating.  I don't know if the test lab is still open to the public.  I am not a golfer but I liked to take the visiting relatives to see it.

The association is housed in what had been the private residence of Averell Harriman, of Brown Brothers Harriman.  Some of the mansions around the Somerset Hills are fairly impressive, both old and new.  The higher elevations provided cooler weather in Summer, with easy access by train to NYC.

When we first moved here the train line to NYC was still running the DC electric trains that Edison had created, with old time wicker seats and big wooden ceiling fans.   The Gladstone line was the last leg of NJ Transit to get upgraded to AC current service and modern cars.  But that was long ago.

Speaking of which, turkeys are certainly in vogue this week.  We picked ours up for .99 per pound for a fresh Butterball turkey at Costco.  I am sure it will do the job for our family dinner this Thursday.

Let's see how gold and silver do into the long holiday weekend, with the option expiration under their belts after tomorrow.

The delivery report for gold showed another big customer disgorgement, but otherwise all was quiet.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Trump Rally Continues to New Highs

It was rally time and risk on again today as all the major indices were climbing to new highs, with some lagging in the big cap tech names.

The expectations of the benefits of the Trump Administration for US business interests are quite high.

This will be a holiday shortened week.

Have a pleasant evening.

Why the Democratic Establishment Lost the Election In One Picture

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Just Charts at 2:30

"While Democrats point fingers at anyone they can find, the evidence mounts that all critical sectors of their party’s apparatus fundamentally failed. Their renowned strategic geniuses were blinded with arrogance and error:  David Plouffe, who ran Obama’s 2008 campaign, said that Clinton was a ‘one hundred per cent’ lock and advised nervous Democrats to stop ‘wetting the bed, reports The New Yorker’s David Remnick this week.

The party’s operatives and pundits used bullying tactics to clear the field for an obviously weak and vulnerable candidate, and then insisted on nominating her despite those weaknesses, many of which were self-inflicted, and in the face of mountains of empirical evidence that her primary-race opponent was more likely to win...

And the party is widely perceived to be devoted to elite Wall Street tycoons and war-making interests at the expense of pretty much everyone else, and chose a candidate who could not have been better designed to exacerbate those concerns if that had been the goal."

Glenn Greenwald, The Democrats Blame-Everyone-Else Posture

We have a quiet stock option expiration this Friday, as stock prices were already driven far and fast higher after the presidential election lows.

The day is beautiful and warm, and the duty of yardwork calls.

Have a pleasant weekend.

What Did Draghi Know About Potential Loss and Abuses at Italy's Largest Bank

Apparently lax and/or incompetent regulation of systemically important banks by bureaucrats, central bankers, and politicians may not be just a recent American phenomenon.

As we read this, it could imperil the soundness of the financial system in Europe as well, as is still apparently the case with The Banks in the states, despite assurances to the contrary.

My understanding is that there was little to no coverage of this bank whistleblower's testimony in the US, a video of which is included below.

Golem XIV asks some very good questions in the article below, recently posted on his blog here.

Whistleblowers Testify in EU Parliament

By Golem XIV on November 17, 2016 in latest

Yesterday a very high-powered panel of international banking whistleblowers met and told their stories in the European parliament.  The questions raised were important. Among them was the Irish Whistleblower, Jonathan Sugarman, who when UniCredit Ireland was breaking the law in very serious ways reported it to the Irish regulator.

He related how he was not only ignored by his bank, the Irish regulator but also all the major political parties.   He then pointed out that the Irish regulator claims that it always – and it is the law after all –  informs the regulator of the home country of banks which have subsidiaries in Ireland, about any serious problems.

In the case of UniCredit that would mean the Italian Central bank would have been told that Italy’s largest Bank was in serious breach of Irish law in ways that could endanger the whole banking system. The head of the Italian Central Bank at the time was a certain Mr Mario Draghi.

Mr Sugarman suggested Mr Draghi should be asked point-blank of he did or if he did not know. If he did not then the Irish regulator was at least incompetent, and may have lied, misled  and perhaps even broken Irish laws. If he was told and did know, then Mr Draghi has serious questions to answer regarding his own dereliction of duty.

Surely not I hear you say.  Well perhaps someone might ask him? Or is he above the law?

http://www.guengl.eu/news/article/whistleblower-protection-what-must-be-done

Related: Studies Show Fed Stress Tests Merely 'a Placebo'

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - A Metals Tap Off Yellen and Mexico

Gold and silver took a hit around noon EST as Mexico's Central Bank raised its interest rate by 50 bp, and Fed Chair Yellen said she sees a rate increase in our own future.

Nothing about either of those two events was unexpected. The Mexican CB wants to fight the peso weakness for their own reasons, and the Fed has been keen on raising rates for their own policy purposes for quite some time.

Part of their excuse for doing so will be the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and the fiscal stimulus package on infrastructure that he has promised.

All of this will be justified by 'dynamic modeling' which will assume that tax cuts and fiscal stimulus will pay for themselves with increased GDP.

Where have we heard this before?

Well, I am keeping an open mind. But I have a very bad feeling about all of this.

Of course, when you are picking between two evils, what else might you expect?

The speculation of who will staff what Cabinet positions under The Donald continues to be in a bull market, with the emphasis on 'bull.' So far just about any Republican with an even number of arms and legs seems to be in the running. I think he is just playing nice with the denizens of the swamp for now.

Tomorrow is a stock option expiration.

Next Tuesday the 22nd is a key Comex option expiration.

Need I say more?

Have a pleasant evening.