Degrees of Urgency
Monday was Veterans Day, a bank holiday in the US. The prices of gold and silver dropped $23 and $0.61 respectively. “But isn’t gold supposed to go up when…?”
Warren Buffet and Aragorn discuss what to do with the gold. Aragorn wants it, because he knows that even if it’s not today, “that day” will come. [PT]
The Mighty Gartman
Investment newsletter writer Dennis Gartman (a.k.a. “the Commodities King”) has been a target of ridicule at Zerohedge for a long time. His pompous style of writing and his uncanny ability to frequently make perfectly mistimed short term market calls have made him an easy target.* It would be quite ironic if a so far quite good recommendation he made last week were to turn into the call of a lifetime (see ZH: “Gartman: ‘We Are Officially Recommending Shorting This Rally'”).
A little collage devoted to the Commodity King. It is easy to see how he ended up being made fun of. Actually, by now he has garnered a quite sizable fan community at Zerohedge and other web sites that report on his frequently ill-timed flip-flops (often announced with great conviction). However, a major call on the stock market he recently made seems to have been perfectly timed.
Remaining Focused
A rousing display of diversions this week assured the American populace was looking every which way but right under its collective nose. Midterm elections. White House spats with purveyors of fake news. The forced resignation of Attorney General Sessions…
Old drug warrior (otherwise recused) on his way home to Alabama…
From Crash Danger to End-of-the-Year Ramp
[Ed note by PT: we are unfortunately a week late in posting this issue of SI, which didn’t reach us in time due to a technical problem. We decided to post it belatedly anyway: for one thing, the effect under discussion is normally in effect until the end of the year; for another, the statistical validity of this information goes beyond the current year, as it is a recurring phenomenon. Lastly we would note that we have a strong suspicion that the effect may actually be cut short this year – details to be discussed in a follow-up post]
Knock, knock… it’s Jack, from Wall Street
Crony Capitalism vs. Free Markets
Many of our readers are probably aware of the excellent work our friend Jonathan Tepper does for Variant Perception (VP)*****, a financial research boutique that really does bring a unique perspective to the table*. Jonathan (with co-author Denise Hearn) has just added a new book to his résumé, which is going to be released on 12 November: The Myth of Capitalism (MoC) – Monopolies and the Death of Competition** (a link to the official site is at the end of this post).
Jonathan Tepper and Denise Hearn: The Myth of Capitalism, an excellent plea for more competition and free markets.
The Last to Go
Terry Goodkind wrote an epic fantasy series. The first book in the series is entitled Wizard’s First Rule. We recommend the book highly, if you’re into that sort of thing.
An image from the title page of Terry Goodkind’s best-selling fantasy epic “Wizard’s First Rule”. We’d be at bit wary of standing around on that stone-slab bridge to be honest. [PT]
Economic Man Threatens to Leave You Alone if Elected
This one is mainly for readers residing in that glorious water source for California commonly known as Colorado. In case you are not aware of it yet, Roger “Economic Man” Barris, an occasional contributor to this site, is running for Congress in Colorado on a Libertarian Party ticket. We will briefly explain why you should vote for Roger, but first two pictures:
Roger Barris, Libertarian Party candidate for the House of Representatives, 2nd district.
Schemes and Shams
Man’s willful determination to resist the natural order are in vain. Still, he pushes onward, always grasping for the big breakthrough. The allure of something for nothing is too enticing to pass up.
From the “displays of disbelief, revealing touching old-fashioned notions” file… [PT]
Just a Little Avalanche or an Implosion?
A few years ago, we briefly discussed the dynamics of sand piles in these pages, which are a special field of study in mathematics and physics (mathematically inclined readers can take a look at two papers on the subject here:”Driving Sandpiles to Criticality and Beyond “ (PDF) and ‘Games on Line Graphs and Sand Piles “(PDF) – unfortunately two other studies that used to be available have in the meantime disappeared from the inter-tubes).
Waiting to crumble: a giant sand dune in the Namib desert.
While Not Saving The Planet, Let Us At Least Have A Good Time
The price of gold went up seven bucks, and that of silver rose eight pennies.
For many people, the attraction to gold and silver began with a desire to protect themselves from the monetary train wreck of 2008. That often grew into a sense that gold is the solution to that problem.
The post 2008 GFC monetary train wreck: US true broad money supply is expanded by more than 153% in a mere decade, as the Fed takes over “money creation duties” from a banking system reluctant to expand credit further. [PT]
Going All In
All people, of both good and questionable character, share a singular talent. They excel at taking something that’s tolerable in moderation, and then pushing it to the outer limits of absurdity. Why live with restraint when you can get radical?
A fairly famous stretch of LA riverbed graffiti… [PT]
Photo credit: saber
Smug Central Planners
Looking back at the past decade, it would be easy to conclude that central planners have good reason to be smug. After all, the Earth is still turning. The “GFC” did not sink us, instead we were promptly gifted the biggest bubble of all time – in everything, to boot. We like to refer to it as the GBEB (“Great Bernanke Echo Bubble”) in order to make sure its chief architect is not forgotten.
Naturally, we were premature in calling for the pompes funèbres and the grave diggers in order to inter the GBEB in late March, but the revival in US markets was a muted one and the funeral rites certainly continued in numerous emerging markets.
Image credit: Sharon Hatley
Most read in the last 20 days:
Pushing Past the Breaking Point
Schemes and Shams Man’s willful determination to resist the natural order are in vain. Still, he pushes onward, always grasping for the big breakthrough. The allure of something for nothing is too enticing to pass up. From the “displays of disbelief, revealing touching old-fashioned notions” file... [PT] Systems of elaborate folly have been erected with the most impossible of promises. That prosperity can be attained without labor. That benefits...
The Myth of Capitalism - A Book by Jonathan Tepper
Crony Capitalism vs. Free Markets Many of our readers are probably aware of the excellent work our friend Jonathan Tepper does for Variant Perception (VP)*****, a financial research boutique that really does bring a unique perspective to the table*. Jonathan (with co-author Denise Hearn) has just added a new book to his résumé, which is going to be released on 12 November: The Myth of Capitalism (MoC) – Monopolies and the Death of Competition** (a link to the official site is at the...
Three Cheers for James Riley!
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Crumbling Piles of Sand
Just a Little Avalanche or an Implosion? A few years ago, we briefly discussed the dynamics of sand piles in these pages, which are a special field of study in mathematics and physics (mathematically inclined readers can take a look at two papers on the subject here:”Driving Sandpiles to Criticality and Beyond “ (PDF) and 'Games on Line Graphs and Sand Piles “(PDF) – unfortunately two other studies that used to be available have in the meantime disappeared from the...
When Fake Money Becomes Scarce
Remaining Focused A rousing display of diversions this week assured the American populace was looking every which way but right under its collective nose. Midterm elections. White House spats with purveyors of fake news. The forced resignation of Attorney General Sessions... Old drug warrior (otherwise recused) on his way home to Alabama... Sideshows like these, and many more, offered near limitless opportunities to focus on matters of insignificance. Why...
Fun and Profit - Precious Metals Supply and Demand
While Not Saving The Planet, Let Us At Least Have A Good Time The price of gold went up seven bucks, and that of silver rose eight pennies. For many people, the attraction to gold and silver began with a desire to protect themselves from the monetary train wreck of 2008. That often grew into a sense that gold is the solution to that problem. The post 2008 GFC monetary train wreck: US true broad money supply is expanded by more than 153% in a mere decade, as the Fed takes...
Wizard’s First Rule – Precious Metals Supply and Demand
The Last to Go Terry Goodkind wrote an epic fantasy series. The first book in the series is entitled Wizard’s First Rule. We recommend the book highly, if you’re into that sort of thing. An image from the title page of Terry Goodkind's best-selling fantasy epic “Wizard's First Rule”. We'd be at bit wary of standing around on that stone-slab bridge to be honest. [PT] However, for purposes of this essay, the important part is the rule...
US Stock Market - Re-Coupling with a Panic Cycle?
The Mighty Gartman Investment newsletter writer Dennis Gartman (a.k.a. “the Commodities King”) has been a target of ridicule at Zerohedge for a long time. His pompous style of writing and his uncanny ability to frequently make perfectly mistimed short term market calls have made him an easy target.* It would be quite ironic if a so far quite good recommendation he made last week were to turn into the call of a lifetime (see ZH: “Gartman: 'We Are Officially Recommending Shorting...
Roger Barris for Congress!
Economic Man Threatens to Leave You Alone if Elected This one is mainly for readers residing in that glorious water source for California commonly known as Colorado. In case you are not aware of it yet, Roger “Economic Man” Barris, an occasional contributor to this site, is running for Congress in Colorado on a Libertarian Party ticket. We will briefly explain why you should vote for Roger, but first two pictures: Roger Barris, Libertarian Party candidate for the House...
Revisiting the Halloween Effect
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Degrees of Urgency Monday was Veterans Day, a bank holiday in the US. The prices of gold and silver dropped $23 and $0.61 respectively. “But isn’t gold supposed to go up when...?” Warren Buffet and Aragorn discuss what to do with the gold. Aragorn wants it, because he knows that even if it's not today, “that day” will come. [PT] Why? Because everyone else will bid it up. Why? Because they expect someone else to bid it up. Why? Warren Buffet is...
Austrian Theory and Investment
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