Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Quadruple Witch Option Expiration

 

"All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die."

W. H. Auden, September 1, 1939

 

"To know and to serve God, of course, is why we're here, a clear truth, that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily discernible but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it hard.  But a little faith will see you through. What else will do except faith in such a cynical, corrupt time? 

Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids — all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through. Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people." 

Garrison Keillor

 

So where was the risk perception today? 

The Dollar moved lower. Gold and silver moved lower. 

The miners were smacked much harder. 

VIX moved higher. 

Stocks in general were weak, except for the tech bubble and story stocks. 

Must be a quadruple witch option expiration ahead of a major holiday-shortened week.

Ho ho, ho.

The northeast and Middle Atlantic are expecting a major nor'easter this week, carrying a potentially very heavy snowfall with it.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Hardened Hearts

 

"The constant, obvious flattery, contrary to all evidence, of the people around the Tsar had brought him to the point that he no longer saw his contradictions, no longer conformed his actions and words to reality, logic, or even simple common sense, but was fully convinced that all his orders, however senseless, unjust, and inconsistent with each other, became sensible, just, and consistent with each other only because he gave them.” 

Leo Tolstoy

 

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when adults are afraid of the light.”

Plato

 

"Be strong enough to stand alone, be yourself enough to stand apart, but be wise enough to stand together when the time comes."

Mark Amend

 

“To what shall I compare this generation?  They are children playing games in the marketplace, distracting one another.  ‘We played the flute but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’  John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’  But wisdom is vindicated by her works.” 

Matthew 11:16-19

 

Stocks were mixed today with techs and story stocks doing better than the rest of the crowd.

Gold was up a bit and silver continued to show some weakness.

The dollar is still stuck below the 91 handle.

 VIX ticked higher.

There will be an option expiration next week.  The last one of this year.

Have a pleasant weekend.

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - IPO Mania May Be Marking Another Stock Bubble Top

 

"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable." 

John Kenneth Galbraith 

 

Stocks were dragging in the early going overnight. 

But lo and behold, AirBnB brought out its IPO and scored a fabulous opening price over the initial offering. 

And so tech once again led the exuberant way. 

This looks like late stage bubble action. 

There will be a quad witch option expiration next week, just in time for a Santa Claus rally. 

Or is it Santa Fed? 

Gold and silver were running hard but then were smacked down in the early NY going. 

They did manage to take some of that back off the lows, but finished a bit off. 

The Dollar lost the 91 handle, again. 

Light action with plenty of trading gimmicks. 

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

Stocks and Precious Metal Charts - Trading Antics of the Usual Suspects - Gold Futures 50% Rally Leg Retracement

 

Gold and silver got hit today. 

The reason that was spread around on the wire service that this was because of optimism of an economic recovery because of the covid vaccine was funny.

Especially in light of the reaction of the equity markets and VIX.

So gold fell intraday to a low that was almost exactly 50% retracement of the recent rally off bottom.

And settled around 38.2% on the close.

This is what I like to call a 'technical trade.' 

Big cap tech got hammered.

The Doordash IPO came in and soared on the first trade. 

As I had noted previously, this is going to be light holiday trading dominated by the antics of a few major players. 

After their recent record near billion dollar fine for manipulating the precious metal and bond markets I wonder if JPM is laying back on these obvious trading antics. 

Well, there are others ready with the will and the means to take the lead.

Funny how little conversation there is these days about monopolies, cartels, and the crying need for regulatory reform, other than to demolish it.

Mission accomplished by the audacious oligarchy.

We had about 1/2" of snow today, but the public seemed to take it in stride.

As for all the rest of it, it is shocking how easily people can fall prey to those who have no honor or scruples, especially when it comes to money and power.

Truly, men go mad in herds, but come back to their senses slowly, and one at a time.

Have a pleasant evening. 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Holding the Line

The Dollar managed to scrape a little rally together today, but failed again to take back the 91 handle.

VIX dropped.

Stocks were rallying, in somewhat lackluster action.

Gold and silver managed to hold their recent gains.

Trading will be growing increasingly quiet and 'technical' from now until the year end unless something dramatic, and most likely exogenous, happens.

With the election settled and a viable vaccine on delivery now two major risk factors seem to have been dampened down.

We are expecting *maybe* one-half inch of snow tomorrow in the NYC area.

Time to raid the grocery store for bread and milk.    

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Metals Rebound from the Recent Price Suppression

 

"Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me: for you are the God of my salvation; and I wait for you all the day. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and loving kindness, as they have ever been of old." 

Psalm 25:4-6 

 

"Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say, rejoice; show patience and consideration to all, for the Lord is always near. Let nothing make you anxious; but with prayer, and by supplication, and with thanksgiving, let your needs be made known unto God; and the peace of the Lord, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds, in Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 4:4-7 

 

"Those who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him forever, in love; for grace and mercy await those whom he has chosen." 

Wisdom 3:9

 

Gold and silver popped today, after the recent drubbing that the wiseguys were handing out in observance of the Comex metals option expiration and the Non-Farm Payrolls report. 

I was particularly glad to see this, as I came into this morning very heavy in the minters of gold and silver, by far my biggest position in them this year.  I believe I mentioned this buying last week.

I did trim them back as gold hit the overhead resistance of the bullish trend.   Now I will  feel more comfortable in holding them.   I am in the established dividend paying names.   Maybe I will look at the lottery ticket juniors later on if this continues.

Stocks were trading a bit heavily today, weighed upon by the threat of hard Brexit and the surging cases of Covid-19.

Let's see how the rest of this week goes.  This is a seasonally favorable period for metals and stocks.  But we might see some sector rotation and profit-taking particularly in the high flyers that are up 40+% on the year.

Have a pleasant evening.