"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, Mass Murder and Genocide, 1994
It's an old Wall Street saying that 'bears make money, bulls make money, but pigs get slaughtered.'
I think that observation might also apply to those who make public policy, those in the political and professional classes. And brother, they seem to be wanting to go whole hog.
I am afraid a lot of people who thought they were going to get one thing and going to get another, and in spades. Well, as noted here often, one makes their choices, and then takes the consequences. Not that I have any special talent for being right. But if you do all things with love, I think the consolations of even the poor decisions makes it all come out better in the longer run.
Today Wall Street paused after the 'Fed is dovish' rally yesterday. The Fed will make hawkish noises because they are starting to fear their latest bubble, but their resolve is thin. They can look at the real numbers as easily as we can, and they do not support a recovering real economy by any means.
Gold and silver made another push higher on the weaker dollar, and then fell back a bit into the close on profit taking. Not everything has to be manipulation. But there is certainly enough of that going around that only the willfully blind or naive cannot see, and I no longer have any patience with that sort of behaviour.
But why argue with scoundrels. We'll let the market sort it all out, eventually.
I like the chart action so far. Let's see what happens next.
The Fed did what was entirely expected today, and did it with a pedestrian view towards the future increases. Slow and steady.
And so the markets were 'surprised', the dollar dumped hard, stocks rallied, and gold and silver got some legs higher.
Today was more a 'technical event' than anything else. In other words, it had all the looks of a setup designed to skin the buy side.
This is what the financiers do when the real economy is lagging badly, and they have little incentive to make productive, long term commercial and industrial loans.
Their preferred methods of making fat profits are centered on collecting more consumer fees and finagling financial assets up and down in a series of bubbles.
Until the banking system is reformed, there will be no sustainable recovery.
We are still in the first one hundred days of Trump's presidency, so I am trying to restrain making any strong forecasts based on his performance. But it does seem like an administration with a split personality, saying one thing and setting up to do other things.
And if I had any hopes for the outcome, it is fading rapidly. If and when failure comes, the blame game and paranoia is going to get almost unbelievable.
Speaking of inept leadership, in a recent poll the Democratic establishment (party leaders) were rated LOWER than Trump, Pence, and the mainstream media. They were roughly on par with the GOP.
But on the brighter side, they did poll slightly higher than Hillary herself, and the Congress. You may look at it here.
I mention this simply because one might think that the fruits of this epic failure in leadership in general is going to coalesce around the next collapse of the financial asset bubble. And if so, it could get rather messy.
Rutte is projected to beat the far right Wilders in the Dutch elections. We'll see the results tonight.
Let's see if gold and silver can extend their gains. I suspect that with some back and forth action that they may do so.
As for stocks, the Cafe is becoming watchful for another short term bearish entry point. This will not sustain and cohere around the policies, both fiscal and monetary, that the philosopher-kings are providing for us. Not unless the trickle down starts trickling down a little harder in terms of real wage increases. Too many families are living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck.
Postscript: We had about ten inches of snow. There was a period of sleet that kept the totals down, but made the snow very heavy and packed. And we had a blizzard for a while this morning, so there were some fairly substantial drifts across the drive.
I bought a Toro 826 OXE at the end of last year, and it just tore that snow up, and did not clog once. I may only use it a few times a year, but it is worth it.
"The world would be better off if people tried to become better, And people would become better if they stopped trying to be better off. For when everyone tries to become better off, nobody is better off. But when everyone tries to become better, everyone is better off.
Everybody would be rich if nobody tried to become richer. And nobody would be poor if everybody tried to be the poorest. And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to be what he wants the other fellow to be."
Peter Maurin
As you may have heard a nor'easter will be blowing up the coast and through the northeastern US late tonight and tomorrow. They are talking about a foot and a half of snow with blizzard conditions nearer to the coast.
Fitting that the usual FOMC snowjob also begins tomorrow, with an expected rate hike of 25 bp on Wednesday. They must raise rates to keep the economy and particularly wages from overheating, or else we might experience inflation.
This from the Daily Kos: According to CBO, a 64-year-old with income of $26,500 pays $1,700 for ACA coverage. Under Ryan's bill that person would pay $14,600. That is more than half their income.
I am going to be posting some updates tomorrow, storm conditions and snow shoveling duties allowing.
As you may recall I purchased a Subaru Forester last fall. We are very pleased its feature set, and the 32 MPG mixed city and highway mileage it is getting, despite having a very responsive engine and all wheel drive. I am glad I made the change.
Sprott Offer For Central Fund of Canada Press Release dated March 8
Sprott Asset Management LP (“Sprott”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprott Inc. (TSX:SII), today announced that it has filed an application (the “Application”) with the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (the “Court”) to formally commence proceedings which, if successful, would result in the Class A shareholders of Central Fund of Canada Limited (“CFCL”) (NYSEMKT:CEF) (TSX:CEF.A), effectively, exchanging their Class A shares for trust units of a newly-formed Sprott Physical Gold and Silver Trust (the “New Sprott Trust”) on a net asset value (“NAV”) for NAV basis pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”). The aggregate value of the proposed Arrangement is approximately US$3.1 billion and stands to unlock $304 million in shareholder value as a result of CFCL’s persistent discount to NAV.
The New Sprott Trust would be managed by Sprott and be substantially similar to the existing Sprott Physical Gold Trust (NYSE Arca:PHYS)(TSX:PHY.U) and Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSE Arca:PSLV)(TSX:PHS.U) and would include Sprott’s best-in-class physical bullion redemption feature.
"No one can serve two masters, for he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one, and be neglectful of the other; and so you cannot serve both God and Mammon."
Matt 6:24
"What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power in a man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? All that is born of weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power is growing, and that resistance is overcome."
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist
It's time for a new New Deal.
But it is not going to happen. The corporate Democrats won't back it, or even mention it. And the Republicans are busy rolling every shred of the old New Deal back, from sound financial regulation to basic safety nets for the weak, the sick, the unfortunate, and the old.
Why?
Because their Big Money master, Mammon, would not be pleased.
News flash.
Not everyone who suffers misfortune does so because they are lazy and purposely made bad choices.
Not everyone who is working a full time job or several part time jobs is in good financial shape, because too many jobs are paying poverty wages with inadequate benefits.
One half of the US population is now living below the poverty level, and are one unfortunate event away from impoverishment and possible homelessness.
Free market competition of the fittest, and might makes right, appears to be the theme of the US elite of both parties. And they are fine examples of the best getting what they deserve, which is the most. Of everything.
And if they have the most because they deserve it, it follows that those who have a hard time of it, the unfortunate, the underprivileged, the other 90% of the country, have less because they deserve that too. How can I be a real winner if there are no losers?
The fortunate think that the others are unworthy, are not human to the same degree as the best and the brightest. They are flawed, disabled, stupid, and they deserve to be deprived, and then eliminated by the market forces. Unfortunate, but necessary. This is the law of nature.
Everyone can cite some example of people that cause all their own problems. And so everyone who has problems is just like them. Losers. If they could only be like me, so good, so virtuous. Winning....
How is this all that essentially different from some of the worst, most vile civilizations in history, except they have not carried this perversion of justice to the next level— yet?
Many do not have healthcare not because they make bad choices, or eat wrong, or don't act like you do. They have problems because it is a dirty rotten system that rips the financial hearts out of people all for the sake of a fortunate few. It is like the financial system that weaves a series of traps for the common person, and then despises them for their weakness.
Here's another news flash.
We are not all that much by ourselves. We may think that we are, but we are not. We may have worked hard, yes, but many people work hard. Most I would say, although we like to imagine some example of unworthiness, and then think ourselves victimized, deprived in some way, by their mere existence.
'All I want it so be left alone.' And so it will be given to you, and that long loneliness will be yours.
The 'lesser of two evils' is not a strategy. It is a convenient rationale to accept a form of evil.
We are making our own choice in this, just as one might judge others harshly to 'make their choices as well.' Just know whom it is that you serve by that choice. Because you will take the consequences of that choice, as it has been promised to you. No one can serve two masters.
Such pride, such perverted justice, such hypocrisy is as old as Babylon, and as evil as sin.
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."
Let us pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil.
We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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