Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Elite Culture of Dishonesty - In the Relentless Pursuit of Profit

 

"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."

Charles H. Ferguson

"The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty.  And that can become a vicious, downward cycle."

Stephen Covey

"The system of corruption depends on another factor beyond secrecy, one that is perhaps even more important: impunity.  Impunity means that the rich and powerful escape from punishment even when their malfeasance is in full view.  

It is a system foisted on us by the rich and powerful, and it continues to work its magic.   Our major institutions, the ones that should know better, are often gross enablers of impunity."

Jeffrey Sachs, The Age of Impunity, 12 May 2016

"Because they see most people as weak, inferior, and easy to deceive, psychopathic con artists will often tell you that their victims deserved what they got."

Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, Snakes in Suits

"The historic Perth Mint is facing a potential $9 billion recall of gold bars after selling diluted or 'doped' bullion to China and then covering it up, according to a leaked internal report. The mint started 'doping" its gold as a cost-saving measure.  When it got caught for some of its gold dipping below Shanghai Gold Exchange standards, it kept it quiet  

While the gold remained above the 99.99 per cent requirement, it exceeded the amount of allowable silver in Shanghai.  Four Corners has uncovered documents charting the WA government-owned mint's decision to begin 'doping' its gold in 2018, and then how it withheld evidence from its largest client in an effort to protect its reputation. 

One Perth Mint insider, who asked not to be named as they could face five years' jail if their identity is revealed, says it is a 'scandal of the highest level.  I don't know if I've ever seen one this big,' they say.  It is the only mint in the world that has a government guarantee.

But in recent years the 124-year-old institution, officially known as Gold Corporation, has been plagued by a series of scandals."

Angus Grigg, Perth Mint sold diluted gold to China, got caught, and tried to cover it up

The Perth Mint made a fairly bad error in judgement, and betrayed its word to customers, in the pursuit of profits.

Practically a 'dog bites man' story for the official financial sector these days.

So let the official spin machines begin to dismiss, diminish, deflect, distort, and distract. 

After trying to bury it in some blue ribbon investigation.   

Works well in the States for any number of cases of market manipulation.

Just ask the Fed's leadership which spent several years busily engaged with insider trading.

Let's see if any of the US financial media like Bloomberg or the Journal or Fox covers this, and in what manner. 

Or perhaps they will be too busy contemplating the spitball that Fed Chair Powell tossed the markets today with an impromptu revelation that interest rates may have to go higher than anticipated.

The Dollar soared, gold and silver tanked.

Equity markets took a nosedive.

Jay continues testifying to the House tomorrow.  Yay.

Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - La $Douleur$ du Monde - Jay Powell Before Congress

 

“Keeping international reserves in dollars means recycling dollar inflows to buy U.S. Treasury bills — U.S. government debt issued largely to finance the military spending that has been a driving force in the U.S. balance-of-payments deficit "

Michael Hudson, The Bubble and Beyond

"If at the start this cancerous growth in the nation was not particularly noticeable, it was only because there were still enough forces at work that operated for the good, so that it was kept under control.  As it grew larger, however, and finally in an ultimate spurt of growth attained ruling power, the tumor broke open, as it were, and infected the whole body."

The White Rose, Second Leaflet, Munich 1942

"Though justice often moves slowly, it seldom fails to overtake the unjust."

Horace, Odes

“O Lord, our great and awesome God, who keeps his promises with mercy to those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and judgements. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land."

Daniel 9:4-6

“The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology."

Michael Parenti

 

It started as a 'risk on' day with stocks surging higher and the havens lower.

But by the end of the day stocks were back to about unchanged.

Gold and silver recovered much off their intraday lows, and were just a bit lower.

The Dollar slid lower again.

I suspect markets are trying to anticipate the next two days of testimony by Fed Chair Jay Powerll to the US Congress.

So 'positioning' with a little wash and rinse thrown in.   How could they resist.

Big Jobs Report on Friday.

FOMC meeting coming in March.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Pied Pipers of the Apocalypse

 

"Institutions become political weapons, wielded forcefully by those who control them against those who do not. This is how elected autocrats subvert democracy—packing and 'weaponizing' the courts and other neutral agencies, buying off the media and the private sector (or bullying them into silence), and rewriting the rules of politics to tilt the playing field against opponents. The tragic paradox of the electoral route to authoritarianism is that democracy’s assassins use the very institutions of democracy—gradually, subtly, and even legally—to kill it.”

Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die

"The undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria."

Frank Herbert, Dune

"Anyone can be misled by a clever person, and no one likes to readily admit that they have been had. It is a sign of character and maturity to realize this, and admit your were deceived, and to demand change and reform.  But some cannot, even when the facts of the deception are revealed.  The more incorrect that the truth shows them to be, the louder and more strident they become in shouting down and denying reality:  cognitive dissonance.

The more extremely held the views, left or right, the more ardent the self-deception and surrender of individual identity.  Because at the extremes, it is no longer about justice, but about the objectification and irrelevance of the individual, the elevation of ideology over truth, and the dehumanisation and demonisation of 'the other.'"

Jesse, The Economic of Demagogues, 18 June 2012

“What comes out of a person, that is what makes them unclean.  From within people, from their minds and hearts, come wicked thoughts, immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.  All these evils come from within and they make one unclean.”

Mark 7:20-23

Stocks ended the day in rally mode, spreading that green around to kick off the month of March.

Smells like a wash, preceding a rinse to me.

Next week we will have Jay Powell's testimony to Congress, and of course the Friday Non-Farm Payrolls report.

Gold and silver rallied higher.

They are coming into some important overhead resistance.  

They need to take it out and stick it with several closes to confirm an intermediate trend change.

The Dollar chopped back down.

Have a pleasant weekend.