Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Leaven of the Pharisees - Comex Option Expiry Nov 23

 

"As time goes on they get into a fair way of business or other mode of making money; then they marry and settle; and their interest coinciding with their duty, they seem to be, and think themselves, respectable and religious men; they grow attached to things as they are; they begin to have a zeal against vice and error; and they follow after peace with all men.

Such conduct indeed, as far as it goes, is right and praiseworthy.  Only I say it has not necessarily anything to do with religion at all; there is nothing in it which is any proof of the presence of religious principle in those who adopt it; there is nothing they would not do still, though they had nothing to gain from it except what they gain from it now: they do gain something now, they do gratify their present wishes, they are quiet and orderly because it is their interest and taste to do so; but they venture nothing, they risk, they sacrifice, they abandon nothing, on the faith of Christ's word." 

John Henry Newman

 

"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is a pious, hollow hypocrisy." 

Luke 12:1

 

"The problem Newman addresses here is with those long time believers who have grown in the faith, and may exhibit many of its gifts, but stop there without bearing the kind of fruit of which they are capable.  And why do they do this?  Simply because they never grow to fully love Him and His, more than they love their own fears, desires, and selves. 

They always hold some better portion of themselves back and in reserve.  They love God as they think that they must only in order to avoid punishment and to be comfortable, while being blinded to their own sinful shortcomings, never fully growing into the love which is the substance and the salvation of their true selves. 

And in the worst cases, they become self-righteous, being proud in their gifts and their selection as they think it in their own minds.  They may even harbor private hatreds, sins against the Spirit, judging others and seeing admonitions to take up the cross of His obedience with love as intended for all those others, but not for themselves.  They are imbued with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy and spiritual pride. And it is the road to a dwindling of the spiritual life, and a gradual erosion of faith as a vital element of our every action." 

Jesse, 5 April 2017 

 

Stocks were mixed again today, with a narrow group of tech names powering the NDX to new highs, while the broader market and mundane, non-tech muggle world was lackluster at best.

The Dollar powered higher, and took back the 96 handle.

Gold and silver were lower.

The VIX rose a little but is below its key moving averages.

There will be an important option expiration for the precious metals on the Comex next week on  Tuesday 23^rd.

Need little, want less, love more.

For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.

Have a pleasant weekend.

 

 

 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Why Do You Still Waver and Doubt - Option Expiration Tomorrow

 

"And when He had fed the multitudes and sent away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, battered by the waves, for the wind was against them. 

Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, 'It is a ghost!'  And they cried out for fear.   But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Take heart and have courage!  It is I; do not be afraid.'

And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is truly You, command me to come to You on the water.'  So He said, 'Come.'  And when Peter got out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was so powerful he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!'

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, 'O you of little faith, why do you doubt?'"

Matthew 14:23-31

 

"To have even a portion of illuminative reason and true philosophy is the highest state to which nature can aspire, in the way of intellect; it puts the mind above the influences of chance and necessity, above anxiety, suspense, unsettlement, and superstition, which is the lot of the many.  

Men, whose minds are possessed with some one object, take exaggerated views of its importance, are feverish in the pursuit of it, make it the measure of things which are utterly foreign to it, and are startled and despond if it happens to fail them.  They are ever in alarm or in transport.  

Those on the other hand who have no object or principle whatever to hold by, lose their way, every step they take.  They are thrown out, and do not know what to think or say, at every fresh juncture; they have no view of persons, or occurrences, or facts, which come suddenly upon them, and they hang upon the opinion of others, for want of internal resources."

John Henry Newman

 

The longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years will appear in the night sky late Thursday evening and early Friday morning.  According to NASA, the eclipse will last three hours and 28 minutes, making it the longest partial eclipse in 580 years. 

Too bad we have lines of storms making their way to us for tonight.

Stocks advanced with a narrow leadership, led by some of the usual suspects.

 The Dollar was lower.   The VIX was a bit higher.

Gold and silver was lower.  The miners were hit.

Tomorrow must be a stock option expiration.

Little children, love one another.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Exceptionals - The Downward Spiral of Dumbness

 

"Many of my colleagues tell the American people, day after day, how deeply concerned they are about the deficit and the national debt.  They tell us that we just don't have enough money to expand Medicare, guarantee paid family and medical leave, and address the climate crisis to the degree that we should if we want to protect the well-being of future generations.

Yet, tomorrow, the U.S. Senate will be voting on an annual defense budget that costs $778 billion—$37 billion more than Trump's last defense budget and $25 billion more than what President Biden requested.  All this for an agency, the Department of Defense, that continues to have massive fraud and cost overruns year after year and is the only major government agency not to successfully complete an independent audit.   

Isn't it strange how even as we end the longest war in our nation's history concerns about the deficit and national debt seem to melt away under the influence of the powerful military-industrial complex?" 

Bernie Sanders, Nov 16, 2021

 

"What grabbed our attention in that paragraph from the Credit Suisse report is that the Board of Directors is actually acknowledging that trading positions posed “catastrophic risk” to the bank.  What also grabbed our attention is that banking regulators in the United States have been reading this same kind of assessment of catastrophic risk within the mega banks on Wall Street since the financial crisis of 2008, while doing absolutely nothing meaningful to rein it in.

Even more striking, banking regulators and Congress continue to allow the majority of the largest trading houses on Wall Street to continue to own federally-insured deposit-taking banks where the taxpayer would be on the hook for bailouts if they blow themselves up." 

Wall Street on Parade, Congress, the Banks, and Catastrophic Risk, 11/17/2021

 

"No one today likes truth: utility and self interest have long ago been substituted for truth.  We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are.  Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality." 

Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev

 

"The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.  The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.” 

Hannah Arendt

Stocks caught the wobbles again today, but did not all out bed.

Except for the broader index, the Russell 2000.

Gold and silver bounced back up, as the Dollar fell off the 96 handle.

This is going to end badly, for most of us at least.   But great riches for a few.

First time, shame on you.

Second time, shame on me.

Third time's what again?  The charm?

And who could have seen it coming?

Have a pleasant evening.