FEAR took over the wheel again today. News reports claim that investors are worried about Italy's sale of long term debt tomorrow. News reports do not say why they weren't worried about it yesterday, when it was every bit as big a problem. If Diogenes thought he had a tough time finding an honest man 2,500 years ago, that couldn't compare to the difficulty of finding a rational man today. Stocks bounced off the fatal 12,300 level by 139.94 points (1.14%) to close at 12,151.41. S&P500 ricocheted also, down 15.79 (1.25%) to 1,249.64, and "in negative territory for the year" as the current prating & prattling mantra expresses it. Fear is fatal to stocks, and fear won't go away. The specter of Europe is haunting stocks. The new year will not exorcise the demon. US dollar index today rose 0.9%, 70.2 basis points, to the top of its recent range at 80.499. Once it cleared that 79.80 mark, it shot up like a bottle rocket. Fear will also drive the dollar higher, even though that's like fleeing a lion and finding safety in a bear's den. Euro dropped 0.98% today and hit a 15 month low at 1.2941. 1.2000 doesn't look so far away now, does it? Japanese Yen climbed today as if it meant to gain ground, but at day's end was lower than yesterday by 0.12% at 128.28c/Y100 (Y77.95-$1). Dollar is king in the land of scrofulous, scurvy, scruffy, & scary fiat currencies. Gold fell 2% ($31.30) on Comex to $1,562.90. If it had only stopped there, it wouldn't have been so bad, but it lost another ten bucks in the aftermarket. Meanwhile silver lost 5.2% (150.5c) to close at 2719.2c. Low came at 2689c. Low for gold at $1,549.66. No surprise here, since we all knew that if silver & gold broke support, they would fall a good piece. Silver must now reckon with 2615c and gold with with $1,535 - $1,500, maybe even $1,475. The break today for gold came around $1,582. For silver it was 2850c, whence it fell a dollar and a half. Silver's condition is more precarious. Below that 2615c shelf lies very little support to catch silver. Oh, there's a little bit at 2500c, and another little bit at 2250c, but below that it's 2000c or lower. Here's a little straw in the wind. The premium on US 90% silver coin, a reliable indicator, has risen. Generally that means silver is nearing some bottom or getting ready to rise, since it implies that sellers are becoming much more reluctant to part with their silver. Silver's RSI is also very low & oversold, but of course oversold can always get more oversold.. Big success story is the gold/silver ratio, which reinforces for us the wisdom of trading the gold/silver swapping strategy. Our customers who this time last year swapped out of silver into gold, even though later events showed that we swapped too early, can now swap that gold back into silver and realize gains of more than 25% in silver ounces. You think they're crying? Not much. Market played with our 57.50:1 ratio target today, but never really climbed above that. Comex closed at 57.476. Unless silver gives a dead cat bounce tomorrow, we ought to see our ratio target met at 57.5:1. If you do not have an open order with us, I can only say, "Please take a place in line." We were swamped today, & I apologize for the delays, but if we had 200 people working here it wouldn't suffice at times like these. Leave a message, be patient, we will get to you. Adding to the frenzy were people who have been waiting for silver & gold to hit these levels to BUY. I can't argue with them, because I've been here so many times before. Surest way to lose is to keep holding out for just another dime lower. You never get it, because greed is never satisfied. Best to pick a number you can live with, and buy when the market hits that number, sucking in your gut and outraging your fears. Remember the proverb, "Bulls get rich, and bears get rich, but pigs get slaughtered." Today is Holy Innocents, commemorating the Herod's slaughter of the innocents when Christ was born. On 28 December 1065 was consecrated Westminster Abbey in London, even as King Edward the Confessor, who had begun its construction, lay dying. On 28 December 1832 Vice President John C. Calhoun became the first US vice-president to resign his office. He stepped down over disagreements with President Andrew Jackson, who, by the way, was wrong. Once upon a time Integrity lived in America. On 28 December 1945 the US congress officially recognized the pledge of allegiance, which had been written by a socialist unitarian in 1892. Until the rise of Nazism & Fascism made it too embarrassing, the pledge was said with the little kiddies' right arms raised in the fascist salute. I don't know -- did that mean anything or not? I'm so dumb I can't tell. Of course in today's America, after 100+ years of indoctrination, I'd be better off questioning the existence of Santa Claus or evolution than to question the pledge. And speaking of evolution . . . Never mind, I've run out of space.
Argentum et aurum comparanda sunt —
Silver and gold must be bought.
— Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
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