24 April 2014

A Comex Options Expiration 'With a Twist' - Where the Elite Meet to Cheat


"Tomorrow is an option expiration for the May precious metal contracts on the Comex. As May is not an active month, and the greatest contract activity is already moved to June, we may see an expiration with a twist."

When we were kids, we used to join hands in a line, and then swing hard around a pivot and play 'crack the whip' outside.  Once we got going the people on the end of the line went flying.

If you look at the distribution of calls and puts in silver in particular the 'price discovery' this morning makes some sense.  They were discovering what it would take to shake out the calls and puts for losses before they settled the price where it returned the greatest profit.

Oh no, you obviously do not understand the intricate processes of the market,  say Shill & Troll. This is not cheating. This is hedging. Look at the Dollar and the cross markets. And besides, there has always been cheating so this is nothing new. And you can't stop it, they will always find a way. This is just business. No one made you buy those options.

What we saw this morning is a classic shake-out fake-out.  These guys make carnies look sophisticated.

If it were not for manipulation and a foolhardy few, there might be no interest left for the Comex.







23 April 2014

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - El Camino Real


“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Gold and silver continued to be capped just below 1300 and 20 respectively.

Tomorrow is an option expiration for the May precious metal contracts on the Comex.  As May is not an active month, and the greatest contract activity is already moved to June, we may see an expiration with a twist.

There was no movement in the Comex gold warehouses yesterday.

An additional 51 contracts for April gold stood for delivery, bringing the monthly total to 481,400 ounces.  There has been little visible movement of gold as a result of those warrants changing hands, at least so far.

Someone asked me today how it was that the prices could be 'capped' so effectively given the continuing pressure on physical supply by buyers from Asia.

The paper markets are where the price is set, and they have only tenuous connections to fundamentals like supply and demand for real products, especially because they are oriented to the short term and their own internal systems.

In a genuine global market, Chinese firms would be taking large positions on the Comex, and then standing for and taking delivery of bullion products from there.  And miners would be taking their products there for price discovery.

That is not what is happening in New York these days.   The London and New York markets are dominated by a relatively few but very powerful financial firms, and some very large speculators. 

At some point the paper and physical will have to reacquaint themselves and converge, and I suspect that will be a notable reunion indeed.

Have a pleasant evening.






 

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Bonfire of the Inanities


"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes...

In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society — the farmers, mechanics, and laborers — who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government."

Andrew Jackson, Veto of the Second Bank of the United States
AAPL is the big tickle after hours.   That modern Leviathan is increasing its stock buyback program to $90 billion, is raising their dividend to 3.90, and is declaring a 7 for 1 stock split.  As they are saying on Bloomberg, now 'mom and pop' will be able to buy the stock. Huzzah!  Let's party like it is 1999, and let the fat lady start to at least begin to warm up if not actually start to sing.

Meine Damen und Herren, Mesdames et Messieurs Ladies and Gentlemen,  I am afraid that 'mom and pop' are living from hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, and can barely afford to buy food, shelter, gasoline, and basic health services.  It is the wealthy few that are acquiring assets with their Fed subsidized paper.  When you see the common people coming, it will not be with stock market orders in their hands. 
 
Here is another joke:
Everyman: Knock knock.

Benanke: Who's there?

Everyman: A living wage, the middle class, and human decency.

Bernanke: Who? What? You're not in our rolodex or our model.
And the real joke is that the Fed has had 'the man in the Street' foremost in mind when they bail out and 'regulate' the Banks.

In twenty years the Federal Reserve, under Greenspan and Bernanke, with their friends and servants in Washington and abroad, have managed to destroy one of the great icons of modern Western civilization, that was forged with sweat and blood in two world wars and the Great Depression: the US middle class.

Have a pleasant evening.







The US financial system appears to have a global image problem.


22 April 2014

Bernanke Talks Up the Bankers' Balance Sheet Boogie Woogie - The Truman Sparks Award


Sometimes when I just don't have the words someone more articulate than me on the subject says it all.

Confounded Interest
Bernanke: QE Was For “The Man On The Street”
(Wall Street, That Is!) and Their Electrical Parade
By Anthony B. Sanders

Zero Hedge has an amusing story today based on former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech to the Economic Club of Canada (for a cool $250,000).

*BERNANKE: FED ACTIONS DIDN’T FAVOR WALL STREET OVER MAIN STREET (QE Was For “The Man On The Street”)
* Bernanke Says US Economy Is Heading Towards Complete Recovery

Huh?  The lime colored box shows the rewards of Quantitative Easing to the Man on the Street. In Kingman Kansas, perhaps. Stagnant real household income, employment to population ratio and YoY growth in hourly wage income. And flat-lined mortgage purchase applications.

mainstreetberanke

But for Wall Street, it has been roses, cigars and snifters of cognac.

wallstreetbef

Of course, retirement funds for workers and investors in the stock market do benefit from The Fed’s quantitative easing. Yet, the jobs market remains stalled while creating low-paying and part-time jobs.

Perhaps Bernanke wants Disney World to rename the Main Street Electrical Parade as the Wall Street Electrical Parade!

fedwselecprar

Fed policy under Greenspan and Bernanke in two and one half minutes.

Presenting the 'Truman Sparks Award' for Orthogonal Banking Regulation and Obtuse Monetary Policy. - Jesse