Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Modern Prometheus - Another Comex Options Expiration

 

"By the late 1970s, after fifteen years in the business, Bob Hare knew what he was looking for when it came to psychopaths.  They exhibit a cluster of distinctive personality traits, the most significant of which is an utter lack of conscience.  They also have huge egos, short tempers, and an appetite for excitement -- a dangerous mix.  

'A lot of white-collar criminals are psychopaths,' says Bob Hare. 'But they flourish because the characteristics that define the disorder are actually valued.  When they get caught, what happens?  A slap on the wrist, a six-month ban from trading, and don't give us the $100 million back.  I've always looked at white-collar crime as being as bad or worse than some of the physically violent crimes that are committed.'"

Robert Hercz, Psychopaths Among Us


"A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all."

Tacitus


"Many of the characteristics displayed by psychopaths are closely associated with a profound lack of empathy and inability to construct a mental and emotional 'facsimile' of another person.  They seem completely unable to 'get into the skin' of others, except in a purely intellectual sense.  They are completely indifferent to the rights and suffering of family and strangers alike.  If they do maintain ties, it is only because they see family members as possessions."

Robert D. Hare, The Charming Psychopath


Stocks managed to oscillate today, not quite sure what to do with their recent outsized gains from last Friday.

Gold and silver were hit lower, in honor of the metals futures options expiration on the Comex.

What a surprise.

The Dollar moved lower slipping off the 104 handle.

I suspect that a cadre of the initiated would like to keep the equity markets moving higher.

The better to eat you with, my dear.

Europe has banned the imports of Russian gold.   A symbolic gesture at best.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Go Go Godzilla - Metals Options Expiration Monday

 

""Psychopaths often come across as arrogant, shameless braggarts—self-assured, opinionated, domineering, and cocky.  They love to have power and control over others and seem unable to believe that other people have valid opinions different from theirs.  What makes psychopaths different from all others is the remarkable ease with which they lie, the pervasiveness of their deception, and the callousness with which they carry it out.

Wherever you find money, prestige and power you will find them.   We are far more likely to lose our life savings to an oily-tongued swindler than our lives to a steely-eyed killer."

Robert D. Hare, Without Conscience


"Maintaining silence about a dirty truth is another way of lying, a common practice in high places."

Michael Parenti


"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."

Walter Brueggemann

Fear can turn to greed in a second, and concerns just melt away n the passion to gamble and not miss out.

The markets *finally* got together and gave us an impressive bear market rally that they were able to take out near the highs.

If all goes well this weekend then we *might* be able to see them extend the gains next week.

All bully has to do is take out that second high on the charts.  

And as you might expect the risk averse plays retreated somewhat, such as the Dollar, gold and silver.  

Gold and silver took a sharp hit this morning, no doubt with a nod to their Comex option expiration on Monday.

And the meme today was wow, look at that Consumer sentiment number and its implications for inflation expectations.

And besides, the recession is already here and its not so bad, right?   

Why, it's practically over already.

Don't ask why, time to buy.

I seem to recall that they said the same thing a couple of weeks ago.  

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Earnings season dead ahead.

Have a pleasant weekend.

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Dancing on a Volcano - Metals Option Expiration

 

"I am willing to believe that history is for the most part inaccurate and biased, but what is peculiar to our own age is the abandonment of the idea that history could be truthfully written.  In the past people deliberately lied, or they unconsciously coloured what they wrote, or they struggled after the truth, well knowing that they must make many mistakes; but in each case they believed that ‘the facts’ existed and were more or less discoverable.

In Spain, for the first time, I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie.  I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed.  I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as the heroes of imaginary victories, and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened.  I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various ‘party lines’."

George Orwell, Looking Back On the Spanish War and Other Essays


"The whole town and all its inhabitants are quite drowned in carnival din, masks and confetti. And on top of that the news of the Reichstag fire. 

Dancing on a volcano."

Alban Berg, Letter from Berlin, September 1, 1933


"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, The Origins of Totalitarianism


"Never relinquish your ability to love, to love others and to love the truth, whether it be from fatigue, or confusion, careerism or expediency.  For in that simple act of the will to love we maintain a critical linkage to our humanity.  

The real capitulation of a people to the will to power occurs, not in the mob as one might think, for by then it is an almost forgone conclusion.  The guardians of the public conscience are in the professional class, for they are the enablers of a moral voice and caution.  They possess a platform and provide an example, and therefore bear a heavier than normal responsibility for speaking for the truth."

Jesse, The Great Temptation and the Rise of the Will to Power, January 1, 2017

 Stocks managed to rally despite some weaker economic news early on.

The bulloney boys were cheery today, managing to turn that frown upside down, and the market strategists were out hawking their (be)wares.

The recession was a topic of interest, with the general line being that stocks have already discounted it and now is nearly the time to start putting that cash to work.

I would say that a recession, as concerning as it may be,  is among the least of our more serious concerns. 

Keep an eye on Europe, and also on the Asian Pacific rim.

Contagion is a very serious concern given the shoddy and poorly regulated nature of our financial system.

But not to worry, after the close the Fed says that all the banks have passed their stress tests.  LOL

Time to head for higher ground.

The Dollar was higher, and gold and especially silver were lower.

There will be a Futures options expiration for the metals on Monday the 29^th.

Never has so much self-serving baloney been fed to so many by so few.

And they seem to be getting better at it.   Bernays would be pleased. 

Tell us lies, tell us sweet little lies.

This is going to be a memorable year.

Have a pleasant evening.