Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And the Love of Most Will Grow Cold

"We labor and labor and labor for stuff that never satisfies us.  The market ideology is now the new form of imperial power and many of us, without any critical reflection, have signed onto that, and organized our lives in that way so we do not have any time, energy or capacity for the things that are rightly important to us, our human-ness."

Walter Brueggemann, Truth To Power


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

Matthew 24:10-14

There seems to be a crescendo of corruption and a storm of deceitfulness rising all around us.  How we react to these trials of the day will determine many things, not the least of which is the choice of whom we will serve, whether we realize it or not.

Be wary of the stories being woven that are designed to lead to your fearful acceptance of the unspeakable towards its intended victims.   And be especially wary of interpretations of the faith that are centered on worldly riches for the believer, as an end of faithfulness in itself.  Our Lord did not say, 'Pick up your big fat wallets and follow me to the mall.'

Stocks were attempting to rally today on supposedly good news about consumer sentiment and industrial production. The pundits on bubblevision are celebratory.   And the cash stock indices ended about unchanged.  However the futures sold off into the close, once the technical games in the market had been played for the day.

Gold and silver were off a bit again, most likely because of the stock option expiration and some additional Dollar strength.  After all, the latest addition to the three ringed circus in Washington, Larry Kudlow, said to sell gold and buy 'King Dollar.'   Let's see if those who are not clients and courtiers to the prevailing monetary powers will agree.

Next week we will have an FOMC meeting. There is a 99.95% chance that they will raise rates 25 bp.  And so the focus might be on wording moreso than actions.

Please remember to care for God's creatures, the least of these, during the hard winter months. And pray for your brothers and sisters,  all of whom are carrying heavy burdens and crosses of their own.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Waiting For Godot

I had an appointment this afternoon that went on far longer than anticipated.

So for tonight it is just charts.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - What Can I Do?

"Which of these three was a neighbor to him?  Go and do likewise."

"Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness.  If you want to be important—wonderful.  If you want to be recognized—wonderful.  If you want to be great—wonderful. 

But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  That is a new definition of greatness...  Everybody can be great,  Because everybody can serve.  You only need a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love.  And you can be that servant."

Martin Luther King


"Non serviam.  (I will not serve)."

Lucifer

Stocks were wobbly most of the day. An effort to take the big cap tech stocks fizzled, with the Dow and the SP 500 lagging most of the day.

Gold and silver were listless. The Dollar finished unchanged.

As a reminder there will be a stock option expiration on Friday.

We will see Jay Powell's first FOMC meeting as the Chairman next week.  A 25 bp rate hike is widely expected.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stinging Commentary on the Democratic Party Establishment

"There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past."

Ryszard Kapuscinski


Now we remember that it was Bill Clinton's administration that deregulated derivatives, deregulated telecom, and put our country's only strong banking laws in the grave. He's the one who rammed the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) through congress. Mass incarceration and the repeal of welfare, two of Clinton's other major achievements, are the pillars of the disciplinary state that has made life so miserable for Americans in the lower reaches of society. He would have put a huge dent in Social Security too, had the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal not stopped him. If we take inequality as our measure, the Clinton administration looks not heroic but odious.

Mounting a campaign against plutocracy makes as much sense to the typical Washington liberal as would circulating a petition against gravity.  What our modernized liberal leaders offer is not confrontation but a kind of therapy for those flattened by the free-market hurricane: they counsel us to accept the inevitability of the situation.

Thomas Frank, Rendezvous With Oblivion, 1 September 2006