Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - We Come In Peace - Winning...

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Ephesians 6:12


"A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater.  I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from those who believe it's just a joke.”

Søren Kierkegaard

Stocks drifted higher today, setting new records.  Huzzah!

Gold and silver drifted largely sideways.

It was risk on, or at least timidly so, ahead of the start of the new earnings season which I believe begins this coming Friday.

The Trump Administration has a plan to give marching orders to US diplomats and military overseas to promote greater sales of arms to other countries, and non-government organizations as well I would imagine.

Up to this point, the US has been employing 'loss leader' sales strategies, giving arms to al-Qaeda in Syria in the name of freedom, and one of their more radical offshoots which rebranded themselves as ISIS.  This has been very good for business, but is not really maximizing sales and carnage despite some localized successes in Syria and Yemen.

The plan now is to engage a total effort of our presence overseas to sell much larger orders of arms to other countries, and let them fight each other. Then the US can come in the name of peace and humanitarian relief, wreck havoc on the country by destroying their arms and infrastructure.  After the dust settles, our Banks can give them loans to buy our products to rebuild. 

Wash, rinse, repeat. The fruits of instability.  Business genius.

Of course this is just a retread and expansion of the infamous 'economic hit men' strategy that was well documented by others, including John Perkins.   But its nice to see this approach become more open and institutionalized as policy, without hiding our evil works in the darkness.

If you do not wish to hear things as I may see them, that may disturb your view of the world, don't come to Le Cafe.   Attendance here is voluntary.  And there are more than enough sites on the internet that may cater to your particular tastes. 

I will accept the loss of your patronage if that is what it takes for us to remain friends.  I have accepted becoming persona non grata at several sites that I respect, just for believing as I do about some things even though we had a common cause in most others.

No matter what,  you will remain in my prayers. But I cannot betray my own conscience to please you.  I have been open with my assumptions and logic, and reasonably civil about it.  Money is truly the root of all evil.

If  I may be so bold to suggest, if you are so shaken that you cannot bear anyone to disagree with your views in the slightest, even when stated clearly and fairly politely, then perhaps you need to reconsider the foundations of your beliefs.   But it is fair to say that our perspectives can honestly be different.  And I accept that.

That is your choice to make, and it will be accepted here.  But not so much that it will be imposed, as long as there is freedom of will and conscience, and enough people willing to stand up for it.

And if that seems unreasonable, well, it is a sign of the times as had been expected. It would be easy to give in to gloominess, almost eschatological, but there remains too much to be done. 

Have a pleasant evening.

“Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice.

He has forgotten to add:  the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.”

Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Name of the Rose

"O Rose, thou art sick.
The invisible worm
That flies in the night
In the howling storm

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy."

William Blake


"Where does the truth lie?   Should one go off and build a little house with flowers outside the windows and a garden outside the door and extol and thank God and turn one’s back on the world and its filth?   Isn’t seclusion a form of treachery, of desertion?   I am weak and small, but I want to do what is right."

Hans Scholl


"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

The Non-Farm Payrolls number came in quite a bit light this morning.

Stocks finished up the week with a surge higher on very light volumes.

The ruling class rejoices, and points to this of a clear sign of God's favor on our undertaking.  Or whatever gods they happen to be following these days.

Abandonment of principle is a small price to pay, for an elite group of people determined to be every more powerful, and rich.

And for an exceptional people, exceptions must be made.  The ordinary rules do not apply, to those who have risen above the law.  For them, it is a heavy burden, but someone must rule the common people.  Is this not always what is said, especially afterwards, when the proud and mighty have been crushed, and fallen? 

Be wary of being caught in illiquid markets.   What is coming may not be so much a correction as a train wreck.

Gold and silver held their ground.  If they can continue to do so this may be a sign of a stronger bid to the precious metals in the new year.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metal Charts - Non-Farm Payrolls Tomorrow

"Children, do not allow anyone to deceive you about this:  when people do what is good, it shows that they are righteous, even as our Lord is righteous.  But when people repeatedly do what is sinful, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been evil since the beginning of time... Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love their neighbor does not serve Him, does not belong to God."

1John 3: 7-8,10

This is a useful prescription to apply to all those in power, not just the clumsier and more obvious ones, but especially the very clever, who are highly skilled at saying one thing, and doing another.

Stocks were on the move higher again today, with the Dow Jones 'Industrials' breaking through 25,000 for the first time.

The dollar was lower, giving back that little bounce rally it caught yesterday, and thereon gold and silver continued to rally higher.

The winds were howling today, blowing the newly fallen snow into drifts.  The air is very crisp and cold, and will be getting much colder over the weekend.

Tomorrow we will have the December Non-Farm Payrolls Report.

Someone described the Trump Administration today as 'a Star Wars cantina full of odd creatures.'  lol  By all accounts, they are a fairly colorful bunch. 

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Government By Organized Money

Gold and silver gave up a small amount of their recent rally today, being short term overbought.

And conversely, the dollar bounced up off its own losing streak from a short term oversold condition.

The putative reason was that the Fed minutes released at 2 PM revealed that 'some' would like to see interest rates increase more quickly.

The move may have been timed off the FOMC release, but it was a trading gimmick. How can such overbought and oversold trends not correct, given the slightest encouragement? I am sure the specs were starting to lean into them.

The moves were quite subdued, however, so unless we see something develop with the Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday it looks like we are just fooling around here in the light and largely inconsequential early year algo trading.

It will be interesting to see if stocks can hold these lofty levels, especially if the shorts have been cleared out a bit. The VIX was pounded down to an 8 handle today, settling just over 9, which is about as low as she goes.

I wish there was a way, short of opening a futures account again, to go long VIX without having to buy a dodgy ETF that is designed to lose. I spent too much time dodging failing futures firms in the past, dodging a bullet or two, to dip back into those waters again.

The Democrats should/could run the board in the midterm elections this year.  Except they seem to have a fatal attraction for identity politics without a broader economic progressive policy, backed up by real programs and not just platitudes.  They will not do it, not because they do not know what to do, but because they are beholden to and willfully serving organized money.  And that is the Republican's turf, and they do it much better having had so many more years of practice.

A nor'easter is going to be roaring up the East coast tonight.  It looks like it will miss us to the west, but move north and clobber New England with snow and high winds.  The deep freeze comes back this weekend.

I was watching the critter factions fighting over the ground below the hanging squirrel buster bird feeder today.  I had thrown some seed on the ground there last night, to give them a little more to brace them for the storm and cold.   It was the squirrels vs. the blue jays, vs. the sparrows, in some of the most pointless squabbling I have ever seen.   These birdbrains must be from Washington.

A short video is included below as a history lesson on how to be a leader after a long period of economic abusiveness.  The only thing the current crop of Democratic leaders and FDR have in common is that they are both 'traitors to their class.' Maybe change will come some day.

Have a pleasant evening.