Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Churn and Burn

 

“Never was the victory of patience more complete than in the early church.  The anvil broke the hammer by bearing all the blows that the hammer could place upon it.  The patience of the saints was stronger than the cruelty of tyrants.”

Charles H. Spurgeon


“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”

Fredrick Douglas


"This is the Golden Age of fraud, an era of general willingness to ignore and justify the wrongdoings of the rich and powerful, which makes every lie bigger and widens its destructive path.”

Reed Albergotti

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...

And what rough Beast, its hour come 'round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1919

Stocks had another ranging day but managed to finish mostly unchanged.

Gold and silver took early hits, but drifted back during the day to mostly unchanged.

I suspect this is the tail end of the expiration shenanigans.

We may have a bit of a breather until the Non-Farm Payrolls next Friday.

The Dollar soared higher back on to the 105 handle.

Until sound regulation in the public interest is restored there will be no sustainable recovery for the real economy and irregular plunges and peaks in financial assets. 

Don't hold your breath for this to happen.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Wash, Rinse, Repeat - The Great Transfer of Wealth

 

"It is possible to make people contented with their servitude.  I think this can be done.  I think it has been done in the past.  I think it could be done even more effectively now because you can provide them with bread and circuses and you can provide them with endless amounts of distractions and propaganda.

Aldous Huxley


"It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that tolerates or even encourages systematic fraud.  

The behaviour that caused the mortgage bubble and financial crisis of 2008 was a natural outcome and continuation of this pattern, rather than some kind of economic accident."

Charles H. Ferguson


"The preposterous claim that deviations from market efficiency were not only irrelevant to the recent crisis but could never be relevant is the product of an environment in which deduction has driven out induction and ideology has taken over from observation.  

The belief that models are not just useful tools but also are capable of yielding comprehensive and universal descriptions of the world has blinded its proponents to realities that have been staring them in the face.  That blindness was an element in our present crisis, and conditions our still ineffectual responses.

Economists – in government agencies as well as universities – were obsessively playing Grand Theft Auto while the world around them was falling apart."

John Kay, An Essay on the State of Economics


Stocks reversed an early rally, and failed badly, going out on the lows.

This is not constructive action for a bear market bottom.

Gold and silver especially were slammed lower in a follow up to yesterday's expiration.

Let's see if they can find a bottom around support here.

The VIX rose.

The Dollar rallied sharply higher in what looked like a 'risk off' reaction.

"The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery."

Jesse, May 2009

The high ground right now is cash.

The winner in a grinding bear market, if that indeed is where we find ourselves now,  are those who lose least.

Have a pleasant evening.

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.