Remembering the 50th Anniversary of the Execution of Martin Luther King

"And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak.  We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak."

Martin Luther King, A Time to Break the Silence, Riverside Church, 4 April 1967


"It is a dark day in our nation when high-level authorities will seek to use every method to silence dissent.  But something is happening, and people are not going to be silenced."

Martin Luther King, 'Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam',  Riverside Church, 30 April 1967


"But if not, I will not bow, and God grant that we will never bow, before the gods of evil."

Martin Luther King,  But If Not, Ebenezer Baptist Church,  5 November 1967


"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.  And I don't mind.  Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place.

But I'm not concerned about that now.  I just want to do God's will.  And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything, I'm not fearing any man.  Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Martin Luther King, Last Public Statement, 3 April 1968

The next day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee, 4 April 1968, exactly one year to the day after speaking out against the Vietnam War in his sermon, A Time To Break the Silence.

This was not an isolated action—  this was a message, and one that presidential candidate Robert Kennedy refused to obey.  And it has had a transforming effect on American political consciousness.

"He’s afraid of what happened to Martin Luther King Jr. And I know from a good friend who was there when it happened, that at a small dinner with progressive supporters – after these progressive supporters were banging on Obama before the election, 'Why don’t you do the things we thought you stood for?' 

Obama turned sharply and said, 'Don’t you remember what happened to Martin Luther King Jr.?' That’s a quote, and that’s a very revealing quote."

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst for Russian affairs


"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Ephesians 6:12

Are we not exceptional?   Are you not entertained?

"Those who are at present so eager to be reconciled with the world at any price must take care not to be reconciled with it under this particular aspect: as the nest of The Unspeakable. This is what too few are willing to see….

Shall this be the substance of your message?  Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God.  You agree?  Good. Then go with my blessing. But I warn you, do not expect to make many friends."

Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable


"Do you think he is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the truth? No; he offers you baits to tempt you... This is the way in which he conceals from you the kind of work to which he is putting you; he promises you illumination, he offers you knowledge, science, philosophy, enlargement of mind.  He scoffs at times gone by; he scoffs at every institution which reveres them.

He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He bids you mount aloft. He shows you how to become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you, and gets intimate with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his."

J.H.Newman, The Antichrist

I will not bow, and God grant that we will never bow, before the gods of evil.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Just Another Manic Monday - US Markets DeFANGed

“Don't panic.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Europe was closed today for the day after Easter holiday.

The US markets opened rather weakly, based in large part on continuing disappointments in the overvalued big cap tech stocks, and the mispricing of the risks in the international trade and geopolitical conflict scenarios.

Trumpolini is keeping things lively on the international trade front with China and Mexico.

The markets broke down to their lows in the mid-afternoon, but managed to rally back a bit into the close.

It will be interesting to see how Asia and Europe will react to this shaky tableau of pigs with lipstick.

There was an obvious flight to safety in gold and silver, and the US Dollar as well as all three moved higher.

There will be a Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

I have to say that despite the losses the US markets were rather well-behaved, and followed along with the support and resistance levels on my charts with a consistenty that made me a little surprised.

In other words, despite the deep selling with the DJIA down almost 700 points during the day, there was very little panic in the air.

It may take a bit of a selling panic and bull capitulation to finally strike a bottom in these whipsawing markets we have been enjoyed for the past few weeks.

We had a wonderful Easter dinner yesterday, with turkey and all the trimmings for ourselves and some extended family. We had the windows open as it was in the 60's with a very nice breeze and mild humidity.

Imagine our surprise when we woke this morning to about four inches of snow covering everything, even the roadways. Odd sort of snow for April.

More oddities may be seen in the days to come.

Have a pleasant evening.

Easter 2018

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."

John Paul II


"Without a doubt, at the center of the New Testament there stands the Cross, which receives its interpretation from the Resurrection."

Hans Urs von Balthasar

"Let us feel what we really are- sinners attempting great things. Let us simply obey God’s will, whatever may come. He can turn all things to our eternal good. Easter day is preceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that they only who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

The more we do, the more shall we trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.

May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.”

John Henry Newman

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - End of the First Quarter

"Greater love hath no one than this: to lay down their life for their friends. You are my friends if you do what I command...

And this is my commandment—  love one another."

John 15:13,17

Stocks managed to end the first quarter in very quiet trading with an afternoon rally.  Oh, well done.

Gold, silver, and the US Dollar were largely unchanged.

Bloomberg says that the Treasury Yield curve is the flattest it has been since 2007. You don't see that every day. lol.

Federal Regulators decided not to challenge a lower court ruling that exempts Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLO) from the 'skin in the game' rule of Dodd-Frank.

Like a dog returns to its vomit, here we go again.

Speaking of which, there will be a Non-Farm Payrolls Report for March next Friday.

Need little - Want less - Love more.

Happy Easter.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Renovated Eyes

"Beneath some burning, unknown gaze
I feel my very wings unpinned.
And give my name to the abyss
Which waits to claim me as its own.”

Charles Baudelaire, Lament of Icarus


"Even great men bow before the Sun; it melts hubris into humility."

Dejan Stojanovic


"But, what creates the most intense surprise,
His soul looks out through renovated eyes."

John Keats

Stocks just could not get much lift today, despite early rally attempts centered on the SP 500 futures.

Tech was just a dead weight, and the financials could not carry the ball when it was handed to them.

Tech and financials have been the lead sled dogs throughout this entire post-election rally.

And unless a substitute can be found, it is going to be difficult for stocks to be able to pick up the moment again.

I had to chuckle a little this afternoon. The pundits and spokesmodels were making the case that the problem with stocks is 'isolated' to the extreme overvaluation in the big cap techstocks and the mispricing of risks in constructing their future profit and cash flows.

Nice theory. But that is like saying that a fellow's health problems are limited to his failing heart.

Tech has been 'the market' for some time now in this parabola of pricing. And the big five are stumbling badly.

Not that they have gotten any worse per se. Rather, the assumptions about them are getting less ridiculous.

Gold and silver were lower today, in what looked like a technical cross-currency play with the US Dollar. I have included the chart for Uncle Buck below.

In other words, their price performance has nothing whatsoever to do with supply and the demand in the short or long term-- it is a pricing exercise carried from the currency markets, which are some of the most manipulated markets around.

So let's see what happens next, with attention towards Shanghai and Hong Kong in particular where the commodity markets tend to touch down to the earth a little more often. Comex NY price action is like a game of Liar's Poker.

Markets will be closed on Friday. Tomorrow may have just charts as it is Maundy Thursday.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Welcome to Financial Fantasy Island

"So the old shell game plays out once more. In, 2016 millions of average Americans enthusiastically signed up for a war on elites; with boisterous hurrahs they climbed aboard the Trump train; and after a few years’ journey they are going to find themselves deposited right back where they started, with inequality growing, more monopolies springing up, and Wall Street ideologues running everything."

Thomas Frank, Trump's War on the Elite Is Pure Fantasy

What provoked this latest column from Thomas Frank are the appointments of Larry Kudlow and Kevin Hassett as two of Trump's economic advisors. His column is worth reading.

Now, getting back to the day to day world of very short term investing, otherwise known as momentum chasing, that certainly was an instructive day in the equity markets.

Bully got his dip-buying, bouncy booty spanked but good as stocks, which had been showing a tell tale divergence between the SP and the NDX most of the morning, turned south with a vengeance, going out near the lows.

The decline today wiped out most of the rebound from yesterday.

This was not constructive to the jolly, booming recovery for the economy story.

Gold and silver got the anticipated 'gut check' for the new holders of April futures positions after yesterday's options expiration.

The US Dollar rallied slightly during the day. Was this a flight to safety? Maybe.

The Bond market is telling us that something is wrong in River City. Is anyone listening?

Brace yourselves, because this kind of whipsaw activity in markets tends to exhaust the players.

At some point if they keep trying to pump stocks up and big cap techs keep giving it up and not joining in, we could be in for one hell of a trip downtown.

Let's watch the action for the rest of this week.   I'm not convinced yet that the market is on the verge of a panic selloff, but I have a very open mind to the possibility after today.

According to the mainstream talking heads, spokesmodels, and pundits, the economy looks very good.

And as Fernando would say, "It is better to look good than to feel good, and darling, you look marvelous."

Have a pleasant evening.