Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - The Fashionable Habits of the Plutocracy

 

"Tyranny becomes a habit, and scenes of suffering, often repeated, render the heart callous. We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right of trampling on them forever, because they are prostrate.”

Lydia Maria Child, 1861

"Why do German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race?  Hardly anyone thinks about that.   It is accepted as fact and put out of mind.  The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals; they give them the opportunity to carry on their depredations; and of course they do so.

Is this a sign that the Germans are brutalized in their simplest human feelings, that no chord within them cries out at the sight of such deeds, that they have sunk into a fatal lack of conscience from which they will never, never awake?  It seems to be so, and will certainly be so, if the German does not at last start up out of his stupor, if he does not protest wherever and whenever he can against this clique of criminals, if he shows no sympathy for these hundreds of thousands of victims.  He must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt.

For through his apathetic behavior he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do; he tolerates this 'government' which has taken upon itself such an infinitely great burden of guilt; indeed, he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all."

The White Rose, Second Leaflet, Munich, 1942

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our present policies.  On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act.  One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be changed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway.  True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar.

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth with righteous indignation.  It will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, 'This is not just.' 

Now it isn't easy to stand up for truth and for justice.  Sometimes it means being frustrated.  When you tell the truth and take a stand, sometimes it means that you will walk the streets with a burdened heart.  Sometimes it means losing a job— means being abused and scorned.  And I've long since learned that to be a follower of Jesus Christ means taking up the cross."

Martin Luther King, Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam, April 30, 1967

Why do we have this current state of 'forever war' that has become the norm for the past 40 years or so?  Why are we seeing this violent and hysterical assault on freedom of speech and peaceful protests, not only the most recent examples, but going back to the brutal, bipartisan repression of the Occupy Wall Street moment?

These are the trappings of the industrial-security state, of the lawless plutocracy which now dominates our professional and political class so thoroughly.  

It has not been this bad since the military-industrial complex started persecuting people and murdering key public figures in the 1960's, in order to firmly establish and perpetuate the cold war, and global covert wars of regime change and repression.

This is not sustainable.   The winds of change are gathering strength.  And the powerful few are afraid.

Stocks were under a bit of pressure early on, but found their footing and rallied into the close.

The VIX fell.

The Dollar fell.

Gold and silver were under pressure recovered into the close, with silver showing its usual resiliency.  

The demands for silver in high tech industrial applications are fueling increased use of bullion.  And the central banks and the paper constructs of the Banks cannot substitute leverage for the metal in use.

But this is all prelude, to the Non-Farm Payrolls report tomorrow.

“We are little flames poorly sheltered by frail walls against the storm of dissolution and madness, in which we flicker and sometimes almost go out.”

Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 1928

Babylon, Babylon.  What are we becoming?

Have a pleasant evening.

Interlude for a Quiet Afternoon: Why do I blog?

This is a reprise of a posting from July 27, 2011 

I regret using the word 'I' so much, but that is hard to avoid when you are trying to introduce who you are and why you are doing something. 

I had completely forgotten about this, and came across it when I was looking for something else. 

That's one of the benefits of old age.  You are like a traveler in time, but slowly.  And you can look back and see what has gone before.

You can remember places and people vividly, that to the young are just pages in books.  

And you can look back and see what you were like at a different place and time.   Cringe-worthy experience, but it helps to ground you, and remind you why you are standing on the ground that you are.   

And to help you remain standing.

 

A Brief Apologia of Sorts

 Why do I put forward these thoughts? Why don't I charge for it, or take ads? Why don't I do interviews and speak at rallies, and direct a group of followers to promote messages in comments and 'pile on' to those who do not agree with us?

As I recently answered to a fellow blogger, because I do not need the money. So why bind myself to some agenda, even if a little, by taking it? I give out of the excess and abundance given to me. Yes, there are definite sacrifices and self-limitations, and they extend to family. And that is sometimes a cause for unease. But the necessities are covered.

Why do I witness to my beliefs, and alienate some worldly and influential people, and even believers with different viewpoints and prejudices, and incur the consequences of diminished opportunity? It limits the acceptability of my message in many sites and areas. You might be surprised, but it does. And it hurts. And the ability to see the ugliness for which people can be capable is discouraging. But then there are the consolations that seem to come, as they are most needed, from the most unexpected sources, the kind word, the occasional graciousness of the spirit.

This is not some incidental thing, it is what I am, it defines me. I am not my own, to do as I will. I owe a triple allegiance to the truth and what is most human, the very pinnacle of existence, by creation, by redemption, and by continuation. If I do not do good when there is a price to be paid that is in reality very slight as these things go, how could I expect to pay the price when the stakes are high?

What is it that I want? I don't want anything. This is why I shun the spotlight. I want neither money nor followers, nor recognition or fame. I want to be a simple, honorable man. Husband and father. And that is work enough for anyone.

What makes me think I can know the Truth? Why do I sound so much like a leftist lately? By the way, I find that particularly ironic, since I am a life long pragmatic conservative in the tradition of Edmund Burke, with a tinge of the libertarian.  It just shows how far things have shifted from center.

I have a scientific mind, so I do not proceed from the assumption that I know the truth in this world, as truth is a never ending journey, a way of life that one never reaches until the very end of this world. So I start at the bottom and slowly, carefully, work up from there, taking things where they lead me, constantly reviewing the landscape, continuously learning, pursuing an ever-retreating horizon, with the occasional view from the peaks.

If I have any fear, if there is any recurrent theme in my energy and my prayer, it is not to mislead people and myself, even unintentionally. I not only do not seek to promote a point of view with the misuse of facts, I beat my own conclusions bloody, almost every day, looking for any weakness and misapprehension, constantly absorbing new data and ideas. I expose myself to a wide variety of thoughts and opinions, almost to exhaustion.

Forecasting the future here is exceptionally difficult because there are so many exogenous, and yet outcome critical, variables. There are powerful forces promoting certain ends for their own benefit, but there are other forces working against them. It is a conflict, and the fronts are not always easily seen through the fog of war.

And so even at best, I know I am not and cannot always be right, so it is never an easy place to be thinking, wrestling with the uncertain and taking its measure, much less acting upon it. But this is where I am, and must be. Going forward, one step at a time, in fear and trembling at my own weakness and insufficiency.

When my site was improbably recognized as among the ten most influential [international financial blogs] by some very kind people, links to pieces on my site dropped off a cliff. Those in the blogosphere probably figured that since I was already 'successful' that there was no need to encourage it, since I was no longer a colleague, but the competition. There is only one competition that counts in these times, and that is to stand for goodness and justice in a terrible class and currency war.

And I also continued to strike out on a line of thinking that people in the financial world and the fortunate may not favor. And so it is not popular. If you want to be popular, tell people what they wish to hear, not what they may need to hear. And the greater a person becomes in the favor of the world, the less tolerant they are of contradiction.

Good fortune and wealth can be a terrible trap, the most ponderous of burdens, because we are so unwilling to let go of them, even a little, as they drag us down into the abyss.

And so the temptation to change my approach, to post hysterical (and not just hysterically funny) headlines and pieces that are misleading, to fan the flames of passion and prejudice become high. I can understand that. Isolation is no picnic, and the crowd has its allure. Everyone desires to be liked. I am human.

And it is because I seek to be truly human that I cannot be otherwise. People seem to have lost their sense, their voice, of humanity. How can I remain silent, when good and innocent people become prey? Who am I to do this, why me?

I do not seek this. At times I wish to run away, to hide in my library or the kitchen, rather than be taken where I do not wish to go. I came to the study of money for a blessing, but I have found a work. And I cannot leave it, because this is where I am meant to be. And so I am here.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - From Enemy Occupied Territory

 

"Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil?   Why is He not landing in force, invading it?  Is it that He is not strong enough?  Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when.   But we can guess why He is delaying.   He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely.

God will invade.   But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does.  When that happens, it is the end of the world.  When the author walks on to the stage the play is over.   God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else - something it never entered your head to conceive - comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left?

For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.  It will be too late then to choose your side.   There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up.  That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not.   Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.  God is holding back to give us that chance.  It will not last for ever."

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1944

"This is how we know who are the children of God and who are the children of Satan: anyone who does not do what is good is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their neighbor."

1 John 3:10

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and the host of angels with him, he will sit on his righteous throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left.

‘Then the Lord will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

‘Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you ill or in prison and go to visit you?” and the Lord will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

‘Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the torments prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill and in prison and you did not look after me.”

‘They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?”  He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

‘Then they will go away to their chastisement, but the righteous will enter into eternal life.’

Matthew 25:31-46


The Fed sat on its hands, as expected.

Powell gave a fairly dovish press conference, dismissing the notion of rate hikes, and also of stagflation.

And the markets took off like a moonshot.

But wonder of wonders, we were treated to an afternoon wash and rinse.

Stocks lost their moonshot in the last hour and dumped back all the way to unchanged with a vengeance.

Gold and silver managed to hold on to some of their gains, but well off their highs.

The Dollar lost some ground.

Bitcoin is wallowing below the 60k level.  

Now on to the Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.

I can't believe the utter repression being self-righteously leveled at university campuses and the thought police actions of the cancel culture.

This reminds me very much of the McCarthy era.   It is hard for anyone who did not live through it to know how intense the recriminations, name-calling, and hysteria had become.

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party of the United States?"

This is America today.  

Left or right, these pin-headed ideologues have no shame, or respect for the law and the Constitution.  

Ever. None. 

It's all about money and power— from the US to the UK, from Germany to France.

These are the household gods of the Western elite.

What are we becoming.

Have a pleasant evening.