US Middle Class Wealth Has Collapsed, Consumed by the Gods of Finance

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods.

They kill us for their sport."

William Shakespeare, King Lear

“Reality denied comes back to haunt.”

Philip K. Dick, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Let's file this under 'why aren't people buying things and saving more?'

Yes I know that wealth is not income. That is a small consolation when you don't have much of either.

The Recovery™ is like Equal Justice™ these days of the Pax Americana and Pax Brittanica.

It is reserved for some, and keeps two sets of books.

Median Household Net Worth is back to what it was in the 1960's.

At least we had better music then.

So who are you going to vote for this time?  Bush, or Clinton?

And may the odds be ever in your favour.

The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up

Gold got quite a pop intraday, as repeated attempts to take gold below the key support at 1190 failed.

Oil was down, stocks were down, but gold was not going lower.

And so the metals bears seemed to throw in the towel, and gold rebounded sharply running almost straight up towards the 1210 level.

I thought this was almost certainly a 'technical bounce' with a little flight to safety sprinkled in.

Gold needs to break out of this pattern. I have included a closeup of the relevant part of the chart so you can see the levels.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - The Eternal Footman Snickers

Stocks were weak today, with a decided lack of new economic news, based I think on 'jitters' with stock valuations at these lofty levels, and yet so many hedge funds underperforming the indices.

Oil took a 4 percent hit, and concern is growing that this is a sign of slackness in aggregate demand, and not a over production move by the US and some of its allies to punish Russia, or the Saudis to give the shale oil crowd a stiff gut check on their long term viability.

But all in all, today was just a pullback. Let's see if we get any follow through anywhere in this market.

There is a surprising lack of liquidity in the market, despite the massive printing that has been done by the Fed.

If the markets get in trouble, it could develop into a blood bath. But that is a big *could*.

Have a pleasant evening.

NAV Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds - Another Sprott Gold Redemption

There has been another redemption of bullion from the Sprott Physical Gold Trust.

Someone has redeemed units in the Trust to obtain 36,915 ounces of gold bullion.

Physical gold is not plentiful in the West at these prices.

The premium on the Sprott Physical Silver Trust has moderated significantly from its recent levels.

Given the cash on hand for the Trust, it would not be unreasonable to expect a secondary offering for the Trust to raise some cash by sometime early next year.

How Andrew Jackson Killed the Second Bank of the United States

Jeremy Scahill: Inside America's Secret Wars

"You're ceding your conscience to a political figure. That's what a lot of liberals have done. They've ceded their conscience to Obama because they trust him. What better person for the Empire to have sell this to liberals than a Constitutional law expert, Nobel Peace Prize-winning, first African-American President. I mean, it's incredible.

Somewhere Cheney is sitting at that ranch, or fly fishing somewhere and at the back of his head he has to be thinking, "Thank God that Obama is president," 'cause the next time a Republican comes in, and they want to do all these things, liberals aren't going to have much of a leg to stand on in saying "We're against this," because they're going to have to admit, 'Well, we're only in favor of it when our guy is in office,' and that's a pretty shameful way to dictate your conscience."

Jeremy Scahill

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - It Is Whatever We Say It Is

“Now listen to the first three aims of the corporatist movement in Germany, Italy and France during the 1920s. These were developed by the people who went on to become part of the Fascist experience:

• (1) shift power directly to economic and social interest groups;
• (2) push entrepreneurial initiative in areas normally reserved for public bodies;
• (3) obliterate the boundaries between public and private interest -- that is, challenge the idea of the public interest.

This sounds like the official program of most contemporary Western governments.”

John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization

"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."

George Washington

 

Belgium has come forward and is considering whether to repatriate its gold reserves.

 

The Non-Farm Payrolls Report Day went largely as expected.

Vile creatures lie to us, and we pretend to believe them.

 

It is drafty and dangerous, living in a house of cards.

Have a pleasant weekend.