Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Tom and Daisy or Lord and Lady Macbeth

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby


"Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty!"

"Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see."

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Stocks were led higher by expectations of higher oil prices based on some proposed price and production collusion between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Gold and silver initially rallied, but were bucking a stronger dollar.  The cross trades in FX can be quite strong at times.  Totally divorced from the fundamentals with their eyes closely focused on their own very short term technicals, but that is how it goes.

I did not watch the debate between Lord and Lady Macbeth.   I am so disappointed in all of this self-serving hypocrisy, crude wit, and sly prevarication that is all the fashion among our ruling elite.

Let's see if the precious metal chart formations can sort themselves out after the latest Non-Farm Payroll sequenced smackdown.

The delivery reports were thin to nil.

The warehouse reports were nothing of note, but I did include those for completeness and future reference.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - All About Oil

Stocks rallied today on higher oil prices, as Russia and Saudi Arabia said that they *might* agree on some limitations in oil production.

That is not good at all for the real economy, but as we have seen so many times by now, the stock market is no longer tied to the real economy.

It exists in the bubble zone. Along with its denizens, who are living in a world of their own delusions.

Have a pleasant evening.

Reading for a Sunday Afternoon

"For ourselves, we know full well that much as we may have attempted, we have done very little, that our very best service is nothing worth, — and the more we attempt, the more clearly we shall see how little we have hitherto attempted.

Those whom Christ saves are they who at once attempt to save themselves, yet despair of saving themselves; who aim to do all, and confess they do nought; who are all love, and all fear, who are the most holy, and yet confess themselves the most sinful; who ever seek to please Him, yet feel they never can; who are full of good works, yet of works of penance.

All this seems a contradiction to the natural man, but it is not so to those whom Christ enlightens. They understand in proportion to their illumination, that it is possible to work out their salvation, yet to have it wrought out for them, to fear and tremble at the thought of judgment, yet to rejoice always in the Lord, and hope and pray for His coming."

John Henry Newman

Remember me, O Lord.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - 'Goldilocks' and The Recovery®

The Jobs Report came in weakly this morning, almost surprisingly so, all things considered.  It was heavily touted on the financial infomercials that pass as business news as a 'goldilocks' report.

If the Fed did not want to get off the ZIRP boundary so badly I would be guessing that they would be doing nothing much until there was a real indication from the economy that it was warming up. But since they do want higher rates for their own policy purposes then a one-and-done in December still feels like a viable option.

Gold and silver were hammered this week. The notion that this was normal market action is risible nonsense if one looks at the actual tape of the huge sales at market in quiet hours. It was classic market manipulation.

The problem for the bullion bullies was the huge overhang of longs in the October and December contracts, stacked up against the steadily shrinking supplies of freely available metal.

This week was opportune for this sort of 'technical trading' because he largest physical market in the world in Asia was closed for a holiday week. It was also a Non-Farm Payroll Report week, which is one of the signal events for gold selling.

Andrew Maguire says this was an opportunity for the wiseguys who were trapped in naked shorts by the Brexit event to get out of their losing trades. That makes much more sense to me than Rickard's notion of the Western central banks conspiring to knock down the price to give China a chance to buy more gold.

But time will tell.

Speaking of time, it looks like after five years the guy at the center of the MF Global looting of customer accounts is going to be held to a wristslap (for him) fine and no trial. I think his executive insurance is covering most of the legal fees and perhaps any fines.  It pays to be friends with the Wall Street Democrats.  Their hypocrisy in pursuit of money apparently knows no bounds.

The clearing reports from yesterday were quite, as were the warehouses although I did include those figures just for reference.    The Comex is not a very good measure of what is going on in the metals anymore.  Perhaps it was at one time.

The key price level supports held, and next week we will see if Asia has a taste for the metal at oversold prices.

The American League Divisional Series have been entertaining so far, although the coverage by TBS is not nearly as sophisticated as the playoff coverage from ESPN.  I preferred watching it today to this nonsensical market rigging puppet show.

Have a pleasant weekend.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

Although it was heavily promoted as a 'goldilocks' jobs report by some of the financial infomercial channels, today's Non-Farm Payrolls Report showed the weakness in the underpinnings and the core of the economy.

I really do not have anything good to say about this.  So I won't say anything,

The US bond markets will be closed on Monday for Columbus Day, but the equity market will be open.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Thomas Frank: How the Democratic Party Betrayed and Abandoned the Middle Class

"The Democratic Party has turned its back on working people and now pursues policies that actually increase inequality.

The first piece of evidence is what’s happened since the financial crisis. This is the great story of our time. Inequality has actually gotten worse since then, which is a remarkable thing. This is under a Democratic president who we were assured (or warned) was the most liberal or radical president we would ever see. Yet inequality has gotten worse, and the gains since the financial crisis, since the recovery began, have gone entirely to the top 10 percent of the income distribution.

This is not only because of those 'evil Republicans,' but because Obama played it the way he wanted to. Even when he had a majority in both houses of Congress and could choose whoever he wanted to be in his administration, he consistently made policies that favored the top 10 percent over everybody else. He helped out Wall Street in an enormous way when they were entirely at his mercy.

He could have done anything he wanted with them, in the way that Franklin Roosevelt did in the ’30s. But he chose not to.

Why is that?


Thomas Frank