The eurocrat imposed on Italy, Monti, to bring the country down into austerity, is done for. Silvio Berluscone & his party have withdrawn support fro him, so he will resign. Interest rates the Italian government has to pay responded by rising since Berlusconi is already campaigning on an anti-Germany, anti-austerity program. Never mind all Berluscone's baggage, longer & gamier than the baggage train of the Khan's Golden Horde, the point is that opposition is surfacing, & making enough waves to drive out the technocrat. Euro remains imperilled. US dollar index gave ground today, losing 21.4 basis points to 80.318 (down 0.28%). If this little reflex (upward) reaction hasn't already sputtered out, it might yet reach the 200 DMA at 80.80. If it can't cross that line, dollar is just marking time until it falls again. US$1=Y82.37=E0.7726=0.030 030 oz Ag=0.000 584 oz Au. [Short Exchange Rate Lesson: The US Dollar exchange rate in Euros can be expressed as (a) dollars per euro, today $1.2944 or (b) euros per dollar, today E0.07726. Likewise, silver can be expressed in "dollars per ounce," today $33.30, or "ounces per dollar," today 0.030030 oz.] Stocks have surely embarked on a rally. For the second day the Dow closed above its 50 DMA (13,142), & already stood above the 200 & 20 DMAs. Higher. Not clear yet whether it wills top around 13,300 or reach higher, but 'tis clear that this peak likely will be the final disaster dénouement, the last peak, & then the flood. Today the Dow rose 34.14 (0.26%) to 13,189.27. S&P500 gained 2.06 (0.15%) to 1,420.13. Yet only the unwary would gauge stocks' performance by their mere, un-inflation-adjusted numbers. Only measuring them against gold & silver tells us whether they are gaining purchasing power (value). Against gold, stocks ran over Victoria Falls in November, then rallied back about 3/4 of the way. Now they've stalled & are rolling over. Against silver stocks have painted the same picture, only worse. Rebound off November low has only been about 1/3 of the foregoing loss. What, what, what does this say? That regardless what stocks do, high or low, silver & gold are both set to outrun them speedily. Today silver added 24.7 cents & shuttered Comex at 3330c an ounce. Gold picked up $9.00 to score $1,713 at close. No question this was a better day. Five day chart shows two bottoms at $1,685, one on Wednesday & one Thursday, followed by a sharp rise. If the chart is accurate & not sporting an artifact, there was a very short spike to $1,685 on Friday, too, but that may be a misprint. Thereafter gold climbed steadily at 45%. Today it put in a little peak at $1,716.74, & never fell below critical $1,705 support (low was $1,705.18. Now look at silver. The bottoms Thursday & Friday was successively higher, 3250c & 3260c. After Friday's low, silver continuously climbed toward today's 3341.5 high, then rolled over. Silver & gold may well have posted their lows, but I've been slapped on both sides of my face too often in this range for me to call a bottom yet. Silver needs to close above 3350c or below 3250c and gold above $1,725 or below $1,685. I'd buy in either of those places, but only when silver & gold exceed those numbers, up or down, will we have a clue what the very short term holds. By "very short term" I mean till year-end. If they haven't dropped by then, the new year will kick in and take them up. You see, with silver & gold there is no "Fiscal Cliff" because long decades ago the Fed & the US government pushed the US dollar over that cliff, & the faster & harder it falls, the faster & harder silver & gold will rise. Really not any more complicated than that, folks. Only reason I can grasp that is that I have no Harvard MBA, no MIT Economics PhD (Piled Higher & Deeper), no cushy job losing other people's money on Wall Street while pretending to "manage" their money. Since I'm only a natural born fool from Tennessee, why, I don't know no better than to call a fool a fool, and to name a thing for what it is. Wish I could get educated, but just as soon as I see idiocies, I recognize we're kin & the words just POP out of my mouth. That's why I can't visit the White House or congress. WABI-SABI The term "Christian music" generally rouses the same thrilling anticipation & trembling excitement in me as "local ballet," "cricket championship," or "non-elective surgery without anesthesia." Most of it is plain old vanilla rock sprinkled with Bible verses, & if I wanted to listen to rock, I'd want it straight. But I have a friend, Nathan Clark George, who is a musician's musician & a grand performer with a pleasing voice, and deep and thoughtful imagination. He & his ensemble presented a concert of Christmas music at our church last night. He and his mandolinist, Mark Stoffel, & his bass player, Ross Sermons, have produced two Advent/Christmas CDs, "Still" and "A Midwinters Eve." If you think "Jingle Bell Rock" is perfect Christmas music, don't even bother to go look at www.nathanclarkgeorge.com/store/ because you won't find it there. Nathan has gathered classic Christmas songs & carols from all over the world, both well-known & new. These are two of the best Christmas albums you'll ever find. Www.nathanclarkgeorge.com MORE WABI-SABI When I see things like this, the Landfill Harmonic, http://vimeo.com/52711779, I feel pretty sure that despite what all the central banks, governments, oppressors, & hateful, evil people in the world can throw at at mankind to kill, cripple, and deprive us, a soul will still stretch a hand up to heaven. Can't be stopped.
Argentum et aurum comparanda sunt —
Silver and gold must be bought.
— Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
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