Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - A Rendezvous with Destiny

"The Unspeakable.  What is this?  Surely, an eschatological image.  It is the void that we encounter, you and I, underlying the announced programs, the good intentions, the unexampled and universal aspirations for the best of all possible worlds.

It is the void that contradicts everything that is spoken even before the words are said; the void that gets into the language of public and official declarations at the very moment when they are pronounced, and makes them ring dead with the hollowness of the abyss.  It is the void out of which Eichmann drew the punctilious exactitude of his obedience..."

Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable

Gold, represented below as the continuous futures contract, is bouncing just below the big resistance at 1300.

The reason that the 'spot' prices quoted by sites such as Kitco are lower is that they are discounting the December contract back to August.

The spot price is really a derivative of the Comex futures market, calculated in much the same manner as 'fair value' is calculated from the SP 500 futures front month contract.  Most people are surprised to find this out.  The paper market really does direct the retail physical market.

If we get a clean break of 1300 higher, it might be difficult for the wiseguys to keep it under control. That is the crux of the matter.

And if we fail to break out, we can always go back down to the bottom of the trend channel.

Stocks are wobbly. This is of growing concern to the powers that be.

The demi-gods like anything that they can create almost at will:  stock certificates, paper money, paper gold, complex derivatives.

Let's see how long these jokers can keep treading water.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Essere Umano - Being Human

"What has become of King Don Juan?
And the Princes of Aragon,
What has become of any of them?
What remains of our handsome nobility?
And of the many fads and fashions
They brought with them?
What remains of their jousts and tournaments,
Gilded ornamentations, fancy embroideries
And feathered tops?
Was all this insignificant waste?
Was it anything but a season's fleeting touch of green on the fields?"

Jorge Manrique


"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and achievements, and also looked down upon and despised others who were less accomplished, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ''God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.''

‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’"

Luke 18:9-14

Pride, intended as a recognition of our achievements and superiority, ironically diminishes our fullness as human beings, and often quite dramatically so.   Pride can make people act in ways that, from a distance, seem very pompous and silly.

And among these proud ones there are often those who not only go beyond a simple agnosticism and indifference to the vastness of creation, but actively refuse to acknowledge anything greater than themselves.  And they do so almost with a kind of fervor, aggressively despising any forms of observance among others as a weakness of mind and character.

Worldly pride is easier for us to perceive.  We see it clearly in the self-proclaimed elite of our time.   But less obvious perhaps is the spiritual form of pride, that reduces us into an insidiously distorted order of things. Spiritual pride blinds us to our own faults. But even worse, it leads us to magnify and fix ourselves upon the faults of others.

In doing so we seek to magnify our own imagined achievements, and at the same time dismiss our bad treatment and low regard for others. There is no person who is spiritually proud whose heart will serve as a home for the Holy Spirit, the spirit of humility, and mercy, and of love. They are too full of the law, and of judgement, and the trappings and ornaments of worldly observance, and of themselves.

Spiritual pride leads to a lingering spiritual death. It turns the living being into a living tomb, all bright and polished on the outside, proudly ornamented with scrupulous attention to detail, and ostentatious adherence to the letter of the law— but inside full of corruption, and festering foulness. This is all too common among those whose love is directed to the rituals and the forms of religion, but wanting nothing to do with the human realities of it, the acts of mercy to others which are the second great commandment. It is a sickening romance with the self, unto death.

But Jesse, isn't this just what it means to be human?   If Mother Teresa had decided to heck with the poor and the dying, and run off to join a reality cooking show in Hollywood, to seek her own fame and fortune, wouldn't that only be human?

No.  There is a difference is between the things that people may do that are beneath their calling to be fully human, and what they do that strives to achieve the fullness of their humanity.  It is the general lack of moral aspiration and the glorification of that perversion of individuality which is selfishness that marks our generation, as it has done so many times in the past.  It distorts our vision, and makes the saints incomprehensible, laughable, almost repulsive and contemptible to us.   And it is a sickness, unto the lingering death of a soul and of a society.

Gold tried to break out above 1300 on Friday and was turned back toward support.

Stocks had a 'dead cat bounce' on the Friday option expiry after the big decline of the day before.

See you next week.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - We're Going Wrong

"And then many will fall by the wayside, and hate and betray one another.   False prophets will arise, and lead them astray.   And because of the increase in wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.   But those who stand firm to the end will be saved.  

And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come."

Matthew 24:10-15

Winning...

As you can see from the schedule below, there will be a stock option expiration on this Friday.

The next Comex option expiration is on the 28th, and will be more significant for silver rather than gold for that option month.

A stock option expiration offers an opportunity to play with the prices of the mining stocks, and of gold and silver indirectly thereby.   Whatever is hot and 'overbought' on leveraged options by small speculators will generally get hit in advance of the expiry.

Have a pleasant evening.

15 August - Assumption

"Most fundamentally, let us call all Americans to repentance for our failure to internalize the simple truth that none of us is more human than any other, and none of us is less so. Then, and only then, will we really be worthy of being considered genuine leaders (and people) of faith."

Shai Held


"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter any attack, even on the least of men, is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all.   Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer


"When they had seen him, they spread the word about what had been told about the child, and all who heard it were amazed.   Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:18-19

Here is the Greek celebration of the feast of the Assumption at a chapel to Mary on the island of Ikaria.

Perfectly human.

My own Mary received the anointing of the sick earlier this evening.

I hope to have some charts for you tomorrow.

May the Mother of God, Θεοτόκος, always hold you, and protect you, and keep you close to her sacred heart.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Weekend Edition - These Violent Delights

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume."

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Stocks bounced back a bit on Friday after the big selloff, while the metals continued their upward push into what could be some fairly stiff resistance.

The task for told this week is to take out the psychological 1300 resistance and stick a close above it.

As for silver, the 18 handle looms above.

I have been noticing a bigger than usual divergence between the spot price of gold from Kitco, for example, and the quotes I am receiving live from the Comex.

For example, the Kitco spot price quote right now is 1288, whereas the Comex gold continuous contract and December contract quote is 1294.

Well, it would be more of an issue if I was striking a price for a physical sale.

Stocks need to hang on to the bounce.

With Twitter Man predicting that a trade war with China will commence on Monday, we'll have to see what happens.

Relatives came over from Maryland and Pennsylvania this weekend. I was able to obtain some much appreciated sleep, the time to go to the store and browse a little, and a long, hot shower.   And it was nice to have some company in the evening to talk and watch a movie.

Periods of illness of a loved one can become isolating experiences.  A visit from a friend, or a kind word and a smile or gesture from a stranger, become very welcome when keeping the long vigil of duty and love.

It is funny how little things can become such welcome luxuries.   These are God's tender mercies.

See you tomorrow.