Michael Parenti - Land of Idols: Lies, Wars, and Empire

"The [neoliberal] goal has been the 'Third Worldization' of the United States:

• an increasingly underemployed, lower-wage work-force;
• a small but growing moneyed class that pays almost no taxes;
• the privatization or elimination of human services;
• the elimination of public education for low-income people;
• the easing of restrictions against child labor;
• the exporting of industries and jobs to low-wage, free-trade countries;
• the breaking of labor unions;
• and the elimination of occupational safety and environmental controls and regulations."

Michael Parenti, Land of Idols, 1993

"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology."

Michael Parenti

"Plunderers of the world, when nothing remains on the lands to which they have laid waste by wanton thievery, they search out across the seas. The wealth of another region excites their greed; and if it is weak, their lust for power as well. Nothing from the rising to the setting of the sun is enough for them. Among all others only they are compelled to attack the poor as well as the rich. Robbery, rape, and slaughter they falsely call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."

Tacitus, Agricola

Iraq was not a unique event.  It is a modus operandi, a template.

Ideology serves to make people blind to their actions.  On one hand they can rail against the Banks, the obvious excesses of the multinational corporations, and the many abuses and corrupting influences of Big Money.

But on the other they can speak up stridently for the liberating principle of a 'free market capitalism' and the dispensation of the rule of justice in favor of might makes right which, in service to the mythical god of scientific economy, dictates that there be plunder and demands the pillage of the weak, who are objectified as being 'the other.' 

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Wind of Change

"How are the mighty fallen, and their weapons of war destroyed."

2 Samuel 1:27

As we might have expected, the gold that left the JPM warehouse yesterday magically reappeared, with an adjustment and then some. The record of their antics is in the report below.

The pattern held today, as gold and silver were hit in the early hours, and then kept under pressure most of the day. Gold recovered a bit more than silver into the closing hour. As you may recall August is an active delivery for gold, but not for silver. You have to wonder why this would matter, since the metals seems to be there primarily for show, but apparently it does.

Change is coming.  Uncertainty is the only certainty.  It may be a long time coming, but when it does appear it will be like a thief in the night.

Keep in mind that we are in a currency war, and what it is about and why it is happening, and some of the things that are happening may make more sense.  What has been hidden will be revealed.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Bei Mir Bist du Schön

"How can such episodes of such savage cruelty happen? The heart of man is an abyss out of which sometimes emerge plots of unspeakable ferocity capable of overturning in an instant the tranquil and productive life of a people."

Karol Józef Wojtyła

The 'better than expected' economic numbers this morning had stocks on the bounce, but this proved to be short lived as reality seemed to intrude on the recovery fantasies of Wall Street's verkäufers zu Scheiße.

It was acceptable for stocks to dip back down to test support again, but they really must find their footing and climb back again, or risk losing hold of their channel and begin a real correction. I still think that the machers have the money, compliments of the Fed.

But with the political Federals continuing to poke the Russian Bear with sticks for whatever reasons they may have, the markets can remain understandably nervous.

I have to admit that there are many things that would not make sense to me if I do not allow for the reality of a currency war, and some unfortunate decisions on the part of the Anglo-American central banks that may have compromised the politicians in a scheme to manage the price of gold, gone horribly wrong. 

And history tells us that there is no advantage that the pampered princes will relinquish willingly, without paying dearly to keep it, with other people's money and blood.

Have a pleasant evening.

The Swing Kids Swingkinder were jazz and swing music lovers in Germany in the 1930s, mainly in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and Berlin. They were composed of 12 to 18-year-old boys and girls, most of them middle or upper-class students, but with some apprentice workers as well. They admired modern Western fashions and thought, defining themselves in the style and jargon of swing, and were opposed to the fascist nationalism of the Nazi Party, especially the Hitlerjugend.  They were swept away in the madness and tides of war, a brief flicker of light and life before the deluge.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Just Another Series of Unfortunate Events

If you look at the warehouse report for Friday you will see that almost 600,000 ounces of gold took a hike out of the JP Morgan Comex metals warehouse.  That was almost half of their total gold.  Let's see where it turns up, since nothing seems to actually leave the Comex metals warehouses anymore these days.

Do you think that the charges that JPM was fudging its reports to the CFTC on trader's metal positions was any factor in this?  Probably not.  But there seems to be a decided erosion of confidence in the process as it exists in the New York metals market, at Madame Tussaud's on the Hudson.

The big dogs holding gold for the Comex in their warehouses now are HSBC and Scotia Mocatta. 

So far this month of August, approximately 226,000 ounces of gold have been stood for delivery, as compared to a total of a little more than 968,000 ounces registered for delivery at these prices.  As we have seen lately, it does not bother the banksters to allow the inventories to shrink down to a small percentage of the global metals market.  And so price discovery is divorced and diverges from pricing.

The metals were mildly hit on the New York open, and then capped pretty much for the rest of the day.  The exercise seems to be protecting the psychologically important levels of 1300 and 21 for gold and silver respectively.

If I were of a mind to hold gold and silver in some venue for trading for a quick buck, I might consider keeping it at some Comex warehouse, or holding it in some ETF like GLD or SLV.  After all, it is a relatively low cost venue.

But if it was for anything except a quick trade, I would personally be inclined to get it out.  At my earliest convenience.  But that is just my preference.

When it is too late to move your wealth, they will most likely be blaming no one in particular, just a series of unfortunate events.  Like MF Global. 

Or the Hotel California.  You can check out, but you can never leave:  except on their terms.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Be Careful With a Fool

Stocks caught a bounce today, which was a little weaker than one might have expected given that it is a bounce off strong support.

I think part of the problem that the pros are having here is that they are having difficulty handing off their positions at these higher prices.

Those that have money are all in, and there are few bears. Those that don't have money, or who are eschewing the markets, are chasing new bubbles in housing, which looks like a fairly risky bet.

And underpinning it all is the very artificial and narrow 'recovery' that is leaving Main Street behind.  I see great danger ahead.

You might hope that these jokers in New York, London, and Washington will wise up before they reap the whirlwind.  And you might be wrong.   Be careful with a fool.

Johnny Winter was professionally active until the time of his death near Zurich, Switzerland, on July 16, 2014.  He was found dead in his hotel room two days after his last performance, at the Cahors Blues Festival in France on July 14, at the age of 70.

RIP Johnny.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Good Vibrations

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together, in the same direction."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

As it is in love, so it is in most endeavors involving groups of people.  There must be a meeting of the minds, and a commitment to common goals despite any differences.  

 

More simply, it is the priority of caring.   It is torn apart and rendered helpless by stubborn grudges, obstinate pride, and the indifference of selfishness and injustice.

I have seen even venerable organizations torn apart by the willful selfishness and jealousy of a relative, but powerfully articulate, few.  They took the ship itself down, fighting for every last perk, every last vestige of power.

 

Gold had a bounce back today, while silver tended to linger near the lows for the week.   For some reason I had a very good feeling about the action in gold as I watched the tape.

 

There was nothing particularly remarkable in the price action, except for the obvious capping which is back on, keeping gold below the psychological level of 1300 and silver below 21.

 

What was surprising is that in the first report for the month of August almost 20% of the registered gold in the Comex warehouses was stood for in delivery at the price of $1281. We won't see what happened today until next week.

 

This is not to say that the Comex will run out of gold, or that this is some kind of default scenario. As we have seen, the Comex is no longer a delivery market, and most of the metals there just move around the plate within the warehouses and the ETFs and Funds.

Rather it was an indication that a price level of 1281 brought out a lot of buying. So we will take it for what it is worth.

 

It appears that the silver inventories in Shanghai are exceptionally low.

 

Geopolitical jitters will continue to dominate, and the US economy will continue to stagger on, given the life support trickled into it by the Dr. Feelgoods at the Fed, and the Dr. Frankensteins in the Congress.

 

Remember the innocents, and all those who suffer in quiet with their own burdens and trials everywhere.  Harshness is the easy course, and a strong temptation, to finally become what we hate.   Love is the way of all goodness, and life.

In the beginning, a man will marry a woman because he thinks that she will not change.  And a woman will marry a man because deep down she thinks that she can change him.   As they get older, a man grows sentimental, and a woman grows much more practical.

But in the end, it is all the same if they are still together, as one looking outward at life together.

 

Have a very pleasant weekend.

 

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Key West and the Weekend

Today's Non-Farm Payrolls report was mediocre, and the lack of wage growth was discouraging.

Markets had big swings up and down early on before they settled into their own form of low volume mediocrity.

The big resistance is fairly obvious underneath this pricing action here, and I suspect strongly that the next moves will be determined by the course of geopolitical events, or the lack thereof.

Some years ago I used to take the occasional trip down to Key West when I was in the southern Florida area on a long business trips, and visiting friends in the Miami and Tampa areas. My wife often came with me before the children arrived.

On one trip we rented a big green station wagon we nicknamed 'The Shark' and drove down the keys to Key West.  It was a wonderful, generally unspoiled place.  I wanted to see Hemingway's house down there, which is a great stop, and also wanted to stand at the beginning of US Route 1, and the southernmost point of the US.

I had a chuckle or two at Hemingway's.  The receptacle he had tiled and turned into a fountain for the cats from the original Sloppy Joe's Bar is a hoot.  And the way in which they constructed the brick fence and the backing for it made me laugh out loud. I won't give anything away. You'll have to go down to see it.   I was never much of a Hemingway (or Fitzgerald fan) much past high school, but he was certainly interesting, and I liked his house there quite a bit.  It would have suited my tastes quite well..

 I flew in one time, and the airport was a one room building with a little area for baggage. It was remarkably simple.  We had been there a few times a year, but on the last few visits in the late 1990's the town and beaches seem to have gotten much more built up and touristy, like Las Vegas. The housing prices had gone through the roof, and hotel and resort developments have changed the character of the place.  From the pictures it looks like they have jammed the place up with condominiums.

Still, I am sure that it is still nice to have some fresh lobster and conch chowder, and go down to the quay at Mallory Square for the sunset if you get a chance, and watch the natives gather.  lol.  We still have some baskets of shells which we had gathered while walking hand in hand on the beaches in the 1970's. 

It's the weekend.  Have a good one.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Into the Storm: Sharknado II - Embracing the Con

Today was not unexpected.  Let me repeat.  I was not surprised. 

The markets today were so boring, in the manner of a staged match in professional wrestling, that I actually broke down and watch a DVR'd copy of 'Sharknado II.' 

 

It was absurd to the point of being clichéd and campy but without genuine laughs, just like the current US Congress.

This was the 'wash and rinse' that was being written all over the charts.

Stocks dropped about 2%, and gold and silver were under continuing pressure for most of the day.

It did not seem like a panicky sell off, based on the Argenine default, although the VIX spiked pretty hard.

 Rather, it looked like the type of very cynical market move that has characterized almost everything we have seen from the equity markets Matrix for some time now.  Now that we have run them up, let's do a quick dump of stocks to once again try to skin the pension and mutual funds, along with mom and pop.

The gold and silver sell off, despite the big drop in stocks, ahead of the Non-Farm Payrolls report tomorrow, was just too much.   Wow, precious metals hit ahead of a Non-Farm Payrolls Report.  What a surprise.

Well, let's see how things progress. This *could* turn into something else, but for now it seems about as manufactured and orchestrated as the crisis in the Ukraine, and the neo-con beating of the war drums with Russia. 

 

The markets are not as invincible as this newest crop of the Masters of the Universe think that they are, even though they have been on quite a market-rigging, justice fixing roll.

Doesn't this whole thing with Russia seem about as weird as the sudden push for war in Iraq that we saw in the Bush Administration?  Its pretty clear what the motives were then in terms of making the most of a phony crisis.  I wonder what they are up to now?

Have a pleasant evening.