Memorial Day 2020

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863


"The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries.  It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest', but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is."

Sydney J. Harris


“Can we actually suppose that we are wasting, polluting, and making ugly this beautiful land for the sake of patriotism and the love of God? Perhaps some of us would like to think so, but in fact this destruction is taking place because we have allowed ourselves to believe, and to live, a mated pair of economic lies: that nothing has a value that is not assigned to it by the market; and that the economic life of our communities can safely be handed over to the great corporations."

Wendell Berry

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Holiday Weekend - Tempting Fate

“Berlin. I used to love this old city. But that was before it had caught sight of its own reflection and taken to wearing corsets laced so tight that it could hardly breathe. I loved the easy, carefree philosophies, the cheap jazz, the vulgar cabarets and all of the other cultural excesses that characterized the Weimar years and made Berlin seem like one of the most exciting cities in the world.”

Philip Kerr, Berlin Noir: March Violets


“Love is hard to find, hard to keep, and hard to forget.”

Alysha Speer

Stocks were weak once again, but managed to climb up in the very lightly traded afternoon, as they have been often wont to do.

Gold and silver fluctuated ahead of the June option expiration on Tuesday.

There will be a three day holiday for Memorial Day.

Consequences to follow.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Golden Age of White Collar Crime - Metals Option Expiration on Tuesday 26th

"So, in a curious lurid calm which could not last and yet, it seemed, could not end, the days went by.”

Iris Murdoch


"An entrenched, unfettered class of superpredators is wreaking havoc on American society. And in the process, they've broken the only systems capable of stopping them."

Michael Hobbes, The Golden Age of White Collar Crime

Stocks were slack today, although the broader Russell 2000 futures held up to close unchanged.

Gold and silver were hit hard ahead of the three day weekend with a key futures option expiration coming on Tuesday the 26^th.

Let's see how we go into the three day Memorial Day weekend.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Silver Takes the 18 Handle - Here We Go Again

Non Serviam - I Will Not Serve

“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.”

George Orwell


“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."

Luke 10:18


“We fear men so much, because we fear God so little.  One fear cures another.  When man's terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God.”

G. K. Chesterton


"Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the great falling away comes first, and the lawless one is revealed, the man of sin who is destined for destruction."

2 Thessalonians 2:3

Big cap tech has decidedly closed the old gap that was left when the last bubble blow off top collapsed.

This is a monument to the reckless disregard for sound economic principles in the financial system, the fortunate few, and the government particularly of the Republican party and the corporate Democrats.

Silver took the 18 handle. It is amazing once it starts to move.

The Dollar edged lower down to 99.

They have sown the wind, and will reap the whirlwind. I pity only the innocent who will suffer for their arrogant pride and lawlessness.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Technical Reactions - Introspective Market

"Nothing is more steady than the journey into the abyss."

Juli Zeh, Spieltrieb


"All empires fall, eventually.  But why?  It’s not for lack of power. In fact, it seems to be the opposite.  Their power lulls them into comfort.  They become undisciplined.  Those who had to earn power are replaced by those who have known nothing else.  Who have no comprehension of the need to rise above base desires."

Max Barry, Lexicon


"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 lack of conscience from which they will never, ever awake?"

The White Rose, Second Leaflet

Stocks soared yesterday, and today they were able to strike a new high note, and then fell back for a loss in the afternoon.

Surprisingly enough the NDX closed that old gap in the blow off bubble top of a few months ago.

Well done Fed.

Gold and silver, which were smacked down yesterday, gained it back today.

The Dollar lost some more ground.

The vaccine from Moderna, which was so highly touted for the rally yesterday, seems less substantial today.

And the selling by insiders of their stock certainly raises an eyebrow or two.

People are foolish. They think that they are winning. But they no longer understand the nature and the wagers of the game that they are playing.

Stick a fork in Donny— he's done.

Weighed, and found wanting.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Risk On! - For Now, As Optimism Balloons

“Faith is rare because fear is rampant.  For faith will demand that I step into places that fear itself fears to go.”

Craig D. Lounsbrough


“When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.”

Timothy Snyder


"If economies collapse and lawlessness rules and resources are scarce, many people who claim with their mouths that they follow Jesus will abandon him with their lives.”

Brandon Andress, And Then the End Will Come


“We're going to meet a lot of lonely people in the next week and the next month and the next year. And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering. That's where we'll win out in the long run."

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

It was risk on all the way, today.

Moderna put out a news item that waxed optimistic about a coronavirus vaccine. While we can hope, the markets seem to be far exceeding the near term promise of an effective vaccine and its effect on the economy.

At least the Trump coronavirus vaccine czar should be happy, given his equity position with Moderna.  Ca-ching!

So stocks soared, and the dollar fell.

Gold and silver reached for a high note early on, and then were sold off hard for losses.

I suggest that we wait to see how the week progresses.  That looked like just another gut punch ahead of the almost inevitable breakout.

Lawlessness and hysteria are both in the air.

People are trying to fill the emptiness of their lives with sensations, and sensationalism.

I will remind all of us to think first, and keep our priorities in order, with first things first, as always.

It is always tempting to toss reason aside and jump into the fray.

Much easier than thinking and sorting things out.

Do what you will, but be aware of the consequences to yourself.

There is no saving someone who is determined to serve the madness.   And the madness serves none but itself.

Remember who it is that you are, and whom it is that you serve.

Have a pleasant evening.