NAV Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

Silver is still a 'bit cheap' compared to gold, but not as much as it had been with a gold/silver ratio of 68.

Interestingly the Sprott Silver premium still lags Sprott Gold.

FOMC tomorrow.  The metals are in kind of a 'lockdown.'

Just Charts - All Market Eyes on the FOMC Meeting This Week

We ended up at the neurologist's office most of the afternoon and ran late with EEG testing.

All eyes are clearly on the FOMC decision on rates on Wednesday the 21st at 2 PM.

If they do nothing this week, then December is the next most likely opportunity for them to get their increase in basis points so they can lower them again when their latest asset bubble collapses.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - FOMC Next Week - Little Finger and Cersei

Gold and silver gave up a little today, which was not as much as one might have expected from the little rally up in the US douleur du monde.

Gold in particular has an interesting formation in the making, and as can be seen on its chart, is approaching an area of key support.

Next week could be 'interesting.'

I won't assign odds to what the Fed might do next week. There are obviously two factions on the board, the hawks and the doves. Yellen is the dove-in-chief, with Fischer presumably the hawks'.

The warehouses and clearing were relatively quiet for the precious metals.

The currency war continues. That rather impressive fine levied on Deutsche Bank by the DoJ was clearly a shot in the war of some sort. Perhaps Frau Merkel is not toeing the line sufficiently.

The US election is an interesting one, with both candidates having very high unfavorable ratings. This is sure to be a divided, contentious four years ahead no matter who wins.

One twist, which may not seem likely now, is that for some reason the lady Hillary would have to drop out, presumably for health reasons. The Democrats would have to show their true colors then.

As for the Republicans, they are stilll the loyal servants of the corporate moneyed interests as they have long been, only for a different faction of the one percent compared to the Wall Street Democrats.  In corrupting the DNC, the Clintons did a great damage to the political balance of the country and government by the lesser of two evils.

These two candidates remind might remind one more of Lord and Lady Macbeth, rather than the standard bearers of ideological contrasts.  Or in keeping with the current tastes in literature, like Little Finger and Cersei.    All the people seem to need to decide is a lot of name-calling and a good show, and the caricature of their humanity to beat upon.

We have only just begun to sit down and eat at that banquet of consequences.

The weather is taking on a definite flavor of Autumn, and at night it is even a bit chilly.  There are plenty of leaves already on the ground, not from the changing of the weather, but from the almost unbearable heat and lack of rain we have had over the past few weeks.

Well, it will be raining here on Sunday.  And it will be welcome.  All good things come to those who wait.

Winter is coming.

Have a pleasant weekend.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Quad Witching - Dreadnoughts

Today was the September 'quad witching' option expiration for equities and their futures.

The volume was high, but the volatility dampened quite a bit, as the gyrations of the past four days shook out as many speculators as possible.

And so the markets took to the weekend as quietly going out as loudly as this week had come in.

Deutsche Bank seems to be in a fair amount of trouble, as they do not have the reserves to cover that rather impressive fine levied by the US Department of Justice, at $14 billion.  That would eat into their capital, which they can hardly spare.

Interesting that the US seems to be so tough on 'foreign' banks, but so accommodating for its own.  Well, that is just what happens in a currency war, when the domestic Big Banks of Wall Street act as financial dreadnoughts.

The abuse of the markets is becoming a commonplace.   One wonders how far it can go.

All eyes on the FOMC next week.  

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - A Full Heart, A Heavy Mind

"While Elizabeth Warren attempted to deliver her keynote speech at the Democratic Convention in July, which included an unabashed endorsement of Hillary Clinton after Warren had failed to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders during the critical primary campaign, chants of 'we trusted you' could be heard reverberating through the cavernous hall in Philadelphia...

It’s long past the time for the U.S. Senate to stop conducting isolated, piecemeal investigations and undertake the type of in-depth hearings that the Senate held from 1929 to 1932 that led to the public’s understanding of the serial criminal activities on Wall Street that had produced the Great Depression and which led to the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act — legislation which protected this nation for 66 years until its repeal in 1999 during the Bill Clinton administration."

Pam and Russ Martens, Elizabeth Warren Opens Up Pandora's Box


“You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.

I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words compelle intrare, compel them to come in, have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them; but, properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy.

The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”

C. S. Lewis, Surprised By Joy

For those of you who have asked, the queen's MRI was good, as good as it gets for someone with an incurable but 'manageable' illness, and I thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

We were discussing vacation with one of the doctors earlier this week, and we shared some stories about our own trips to the same places in Canada years ago. And she said that 'it is nice that you have such memories to remember in a time like this.'

And I thought, but did not say it so as not to be too cheeky, 'What do you mean, these times now are among the best!'    We have never loved each other more, and so enjoyed doing every little thing as a couple. A trip to the local farm stand together is as enjoyable as a deluxe trip to Paris.

The words 'sacrament of the moment' take on a new meaning when written, not in a book, but in the heart stripped bare of its illusions.

At times it does feel a bit like having open heart surgery without anesthetic and a dull knife. That is the only way to describe this. I imagine the illness of a child is even worse. Watching a loved one suffer is a torment truly known only to those who have known it.  This is a pain more 'intimate.'

And so now I think, or I at least hope, that I see and perhaps even understand the depth of life a bit better, and know more of my own failings and shortcomings more clearly, and regret them in a way that is hard to describe. And for this I am grateful.

On the darker side, I have pretty much given up hope that there will be any meaningful reform initiated or even willingly accepted by the privileged class in the US. The money is just too good, and their pride and greed suppress all caution and fears.  Although it is clear that a few are waking up to the possibilities, and are attempting to paint a better picture of themselves for history.

So we will likely see the sorts of things that we saw during the protests, and even riots, of the 60's and 70's before some meaningful change occurs.  No one who really remembers what it was like will wish this, but I am afraid that it now seems too likely.

And what concerns me the most is that I get the impression that the rich and powerful feel that they are ready for it, and that it even presents an opportunity, as do all conflicts for the soulless moneyed interests.   And so therefore their response will be hard-line and stupidly self-destructive.

Tomorrow is the stock option expiration, and the next week we will have the Fed's FOMC meeting for September on Wednesday the 21st.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Risk On - One Question For the Candidates

For whatever reasons, probably the poor economic data making the marketeers doubt that the Fed will be increasing rates anytime soon, it was a risk on day in the equity markets.

Tomorrow will be the September options expiration.   Notice the big 'wash and rinse' swings we have been getting in the past few days after a couple week of a sideways chop snoratorium.

Have a pleasant evening.