Sandstorms and saliva (updated 9:46 am)

1:25 am (Hawaii) Traded just once on Thursday (small loss in TVIX, a truly wicked bitch of an ETF), just busy running errands, getting things done. No choice. Had to be done. Trading in a thin market that does nothing but eat its own vomit? Yes, I can take a pass on that even if I'm not running around away from from home.

This morning, CME mafia is lower margin requirements. I haven't kept track much of precious metals for months, so if this is a first this year or last, this might be huge news. Remember when CME kept raising margin requirements awhile back? They did it four times in nine sessions and gold spot price cratered.

So, my conspiracy theorists out there, is this an engineered move to get the market rolling higher?

MarketWatch: CME Group cuts margins for gold futures (May 25)
NY Times: In Spain, bank transfers reflect broader fears (May 25)
CBS News: EU summit ends with lots of uncertainty, few plans (May 24)
Bloomberg: Monti says Germany can be persuaded on euro bonds (May 24)

Update 8:43 am Back in FAZ at 26.91. I bought (impulsively) on a spike from 26.72 to 26.93. Soon as I re-entered, it sold off back to 26.75 or so. My stop loss was in place had it gone lower. Now FAZ is back to 26.91. Volume that spiked in the past 30 minutes. Roughly an hour and a half ago, both FAZ and gold rose and held their gain. Banks selling off and gold rising? Unusual.

AAPL also made a run during that time, from 560 to 563, but gave back all of it and more in short time. AAPL fell to 559+ and is now above 561. Thin market, unpredictable, a lot of games being played.

Not planning to hold FAZ over this three-day weekend. There's always the possibility of some form of compromise out of the euro zone. There's also the possibility of ugliness as tension rises in Greece and Spain.

Update 9:46 am Out of FAZ at 26.93 (+0.02/share) for a break-even trade. It ran a bit to 27.13, but I just raised my stop loss instead of selling for a smallish profit. The market is indecisive as ever going into the close.

Postmarket prognasticating

11:31 am (Hawaii) Well well. On TV, the jabbermouths at CNBC claim that EU leaders went into tonight's summit with an open mind about Eurobonds. Yet this story in Ireland's Journal notes that Merkel remains staunchly against such things.

“I believe that they are not a contribution to stimulating growth in the eurozone,” Merkel said, adding that such instruments were expressly forbidden by the EU’s own treaties.

Can't blame her. This story came out roughly at 5 pm Eastern (35 minutes ago), which may explain the little pop in FAZ after hours. It's at 26.85 on the usual thin volume. AAPL is smoking hot, now at 573. I'd love to re-enter, but anything negative out of that summit will knock the market down immediately.

Huge hump day (updated 9:55 am)

5:31 am (Hawaii) It could be huge. Or just a puff of smoke blowing by. Will anything really change with the "informal" EU summit?

Re-opened a position in FAZ at 28.05. With each passing day in May, it's easy to say in hindsight that it's better to just let a position run. Just hold it overnight; Europe is a long way from printing more euros. But I've been burned before on overnight holds of FAZ. And mornings like this when I can't get wake up before 5 am, too risky. There's time to catch any (Eastern time) afternoon runs.

RTE News: What can the EU summit deliver? (May 23)
Bloomberg: European Banks Unprepared for Greek Exit from Euro (May 23)

Update 6:44 am Stopped out of FAZ at 28.25 (+0.21/share). Tiny profit, I'll take it. Volume at its softest of the day as FAZ faded from its high. Indices are all roughly -1.3%. Nothing bullish (or bearish) out of the EU summit. Yet.

Update 6:58 am Re-entered FAZ at 28.24 as it bounced off a swing to 28.15. Stop loss as always is in place. Volume low, whipsaw action could get more drastic. Maybe at the top of the hour.

Update 7:23 am Stopped out of FAZ at 28.07 (-0.17/share) for a tiny loss. I'm now break even for the day. The chart looks like it's tiring and the indices are starting to rally a bit. (DJ -1.1%, Nas -1%, S&P -1%.) FAZ could jump from here, but I'm not going to force a trade.

AAPL back in the green, now 559.40, up more than $2. No idea if it will stick, though @TraderFlorida has a clear-cut view of where it will go.

Update 7:52 am The Fibonacci retrace from today's high (off yesterday's close of 27.03) is at 27.90. FAZ was at 27.88 just a minute ago, now bouncing to 28.03. Funny how that usually works. A little more volume and I might be convinced.

Update 7:58 am Back in FAZ at 28.06. Stop loss in place.

Update 8:03 am Need to check news far more frequently. This hit the wire at about 7:15 Hawaii time (45 minutes ago):

Bloomberg: Greek Capital Boost May Help Banks to Staunch Deposit Outflows (May 23)

FAZ was at 28.20 before this headline. Then it plummeted to 27.88, which I saw earlier. But I left my stop loss alone after buying at 28.06, and it's now back at 28.10 after wavering below 28. The injection of 18B euros ($23B in dollars) is a band-aid on the bank jog problem.

Update 8:34 am Stopped out of FAZ at 28.12 (+.06/share) for the teeniest of profits. It was up to 28.32 and yanking back violently in the past several minutes on strong volume.

Update 8:44 am That was ugly. Entered FAZ at 28.03, and the second it hit, it slumped to 27.98 and it got fugly after that. Dropped to 27.83 in a matter of 1 minute if that and I was stopped out for a small loss. Volume was big, and I should've taken the cue from a long red candle on the 3-min chart just 12 minutes ago or so. Trying a bit too hard here, time to step away.

Update 9:35 am In AAPL at 568.80. Passed on it earlier at 566. Stop loss is fairly tight. Strictly a day trade. Nasdaq crossed over to green a couple of minutes ago. The summit in Europe has the market bullish for the time being.

Update 9:47 am Out of AAPL at 570.80 (+2.00/share) for a tiny profit. I raised my stop loss a few times, but once it hit 572.80 and sold off fast, I needed to get out. I wanted to change the stop loss to a limit sell for a higher price, but it moved a little faster to the downside and I chose not to get too greedy. Just wanted to get out with a profit and took a price below bid due to the speed of price action downward. (Stop loss was at 570.30, so I did better making the quickie adjustment.)

No way I would've held AAPL overnight. Too much risk at the summit.

Update 9:55 am Euro madness? More like euro anxiety. Tempting to get a little position in FAZ here, being pessimistic on Greece, but probably staying out until we get some news from the summit.

Reuters: Eurozone tells members to make contingencies for Grexit (May 23)

Wednesday wind-down

2:39 pm (Hawaii) Not holding any FAZ, but the more I catch up on news, the more I wonder why I don't have at least a half-position. Chris Martenson's piece at Zero Hedge breaks it down best.

NY Times: Softening, Merkel says she is open to stimulus for Greece (May 16)

Zero Hedge: Martenson - 'We are about to have another 2008-style crisis' (May 16)

Washington Post: How a bank run could force Greece out of the euro (May 16)

BBC (video): Greek Syriza leader Tsipras attacks EU and Merkel (May 16)
BBC: Watch deposit flight, not the eurocrats (May 16)
CBC (video): Greek bank run (May 16)
NY Times: Flight of Euros Accelerates, Adding to Greece's Worries (May 16)
Zero Hedge: This is the Greek ELA Borrowing Capacity (May 16)
Zero Hedge: What Happens if Greek Payments Stop: Goldman's Thought Experiement on 'The Day After' (May 16)
RT (video): Greek bank run starts (May 16)
Bloomberg: Greek Presiddent Told Banks Anxious as Deposits Pulled (May 15)
Zero Hedge: Has the Greek Bank Run Started? (May 15)
Economic Collapse: Bank runs in Greece will be followed by bank runs in other European nations

Funny how CNBC didn't show any footage of Greek bank runs today. Nada.

Windup Wednesday (updated 12:29 pm)

3:34 am (Hawaii) Feels like a pitcher on the mound, finally out of the dugout and throwing his first few pitches. I had bet against that hurler, thinking he'd get hit and hit deep by Europe. But the market is net positive this morning. Green everywhere. It's probably more of a dead cat bounce than anything, but it was enough to chase me out of my position in FAZ at 24.60, taking a loss of 0.70/share. That's a small loss, but it's still a loss and the losses are racking up.

Of course, soon as I sold, FAZ bounced right up to 24.82. So this rally isn't going straight up. Looks and feels more like a range bound move. Still holding GSVC, down a dime or so, not bad.

Update 5:09 am Still holding GSVC, which rallied off its low and is hovering at 18.25. FAZ exploded in the past 7 minutes from sub-25 to 25.27. In other words, had I held, I'd be almost break even.

Dow Jones nearly gave back all of its gains, was at +7 a minute ago. Are the algos buying up dips today? AAPL barely in the green. GRPN exploded to 13+ before pulling back to 12.65.

Update 5:23 am Bloomberg reporting that the ECB will not enact stimulus until June or July. That may explain the jump in FAZ and the selloff in the indices. Or not. Long FAZ at 25.10.

Update 7:10 am Reggie Middleton talked about insolvency in the banksters long ago and he's still right. This video is from around New Year's. He'll continue to be right until the next QE.

 

Update 7:46 am Indices biting the dust again. This has been far more predictable than I ever imagined. Wish I'd noticed the pattern sooner. Interesting piece on a Lehman/Greece comparison. But seeing AAPL plunge from 551 to 546 in the last several minutes is a stunner. I've anticipated AAPL doing a Fibonacci retrace to 546 and here it is. 

Update 8:16 am FAZ running above 25.60 as traders pile on the banksters. Below, the string of afternoon (Eastern time) upswings by FAZ.

Indices are fractionally down, AAPL still holding on at 546.

Update 9:20 am JPM was in the green much of the day, now struggling to stay above 35. That's rock bottom and it will probably dip a little more and remain stagnant for some time. AAPL at 541 ... spooky. This morning, when I sold FAZ (for a small loss), 70% of my Debt Spiral Dance (banksters) list was green. Now? It's 19% green, 76% red. Fugly, indeed.

FAZ his at 25.99. That's green for me, but the downturn in the indices means GSVC sold off in a fugly way, so I'm net down for the day so far.

Update 9:32 am Out of FAZ at 25.95, locked in profit of 0.85/share. There's plenty of upside from here, but 1) there's a huuuge load of shares waiting on the sell block at 25.98, 25.99, 26.00, and 2) this will likely sell into the close as traders rake in profits, and 3) I don't want to hold this overnight again.

This puts me just barely over break even for the day on closed trades. I still have GSVC sitting out there at 17.78, down from my buy yesterday at 18.35. Fugggly.

Update 12:29 pm All kinds of coverage of David Einhorn at the hedge fund conference in NYC. He doesn't say anything about HLF and it spikes 9%. He pans a few other stocks, they crash (get halted too). He raves about AAPL and it goes from 542 to 546 in the final minutes before the close.

FAS vs FAZ

Coincidentally, with the 2,000th post on this little blog, I took a much-needed break. The string of losing trades, albeit with mostly tiny to small losses, wore me down. Couple that with a busy workload and blogging wasn't a priority for the past several days. I've known for a long time that I need to air out my thoughts in order to bring order. The clutter doesn't work for me, so I leave it all here for my own benefit. I wouldn't doubt it's the same for a lot of traders.

Looking at FAZ, FAS and DGP before the market opens wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. It's something I made myself do, at least to keep in touch with a small sliver of the market. I haven't made the time to keep track of the mess in the ECU or stateside and I frankly don't miss it. I'm sure the break will be extended.

FAZ daily

Breaking 42 wasn't something I assumed would happen.

35, I wrote awhile back, is where I'd really get interested.

Now we have a pennant for the first time in weeks.

I'll watch from the bleachers.

FAZ daily

Pre-premarket has FAZ trading below 40.

FAS daily

The run from sub-9 to 15-plus was sudden and severe. 

The banksters would not and will let Eurozone interests fail.

FAS daily

Like FAZ, a pennant has formed, which often indicates

a big move is coming soon.

DGP daily

Haven't kept track of gold and silver spot price in ages.

These trendlines are clearly bullish, but I've stayed out.

DGP daily

The trickeration of the puppeteers is a major reason

why I'm in no rush to leap into the fiery lake of gold

Monday cinema & library (updated Tue 200 am HST)

Saw Moneyball last night. Great flick. Great minds coming up with a better way to succeed.

11:47 pm (Hawaii) Late start on today's cinema & library. Busy work day, busy other stuff day. Just busy. But I'm nowhere as busy as gold and silver spot prices, which are both ripping higher overseas. If you were brave and/or logical enough to grab a load of physical gold and silver last night when prices were slashed  to remarkable discount levels, a standing ovation to you. If you stepped into AGQ below 100, more power to you. At this rate, with spot silver at 33 now (it was 26 little more than 24 hours ago) and spot gold at 1675 (it was at 1520 or so about 24 hours ago), this is either a sign of the "normal" volatility to come... or the Great Takedown has finally ceased.

Was it enough for the puppeteers to empty out the last of their naked shorts in silver? Probably not, and that's not really a concern in this moment. All I need to know is how to deal with my modest position in DGP once premarket trading opens in about 2 hours. If the market rallies (I have no idea), my eyes will also be peering in on FAZ and FAS. As there were discount prices on gold and silver, there will again be low, low prices on FAZ soon enough. I plan to ride that express from 55 or 50 or 40 to 100, but I won't pretend to know when that particular train is leaving.

Golden pukefest?No anxiety for physical owners

Hi ho Silver! Already 30% above yesterday's low. 

Update 2:02 am AGQ at 130+ (+14.9%) and DGP at 55.84 (+7%) as premarket trading opens. AGQ was available yesterday below 100. In and out is the way for traders. Quick and efficient preserves capital. Or as Robert Nesta Marley once said, "He who fight and run away live to fight another day."

Blogs

Zero Hedge: Key precondition to second Greek bailout has failed (Sept 27)

Michael Snyder: Fed plans to identify 'key bloggers', monitor Facebook, Twitter (Sept 27)

Zero Hedge: Silver soars 26% in 26 hours (Sept 27)

Turd Ferguson: Looking for a bottom (white-out edition) (Sept 26)

> Charts Gold Dec 15-minute | Silver Dec 15-minute

Jeff Berwick: Gold and silver bubbles, panics and stink bids (Sept 26)
SGS: Long GLD calls (Sept 26)
Zero Hedge: Presenting the mother of all European bailout flowcharts (Sept 26)
Zero Hedge: Gold, silver recover as EU doubles down (Sept 26)
Zero Hedge: 'Anonymous' alleges Hong Kong's HK$8.5 billion Chaoda is next Sino Forest (Sept 26)
Peter Tchir: EU goes from monetary union to suicide pact (Sept 26)
Reggie Middleton: I suggest Groupon offer coupons to IPO investors (Sept 26)
Golden Truth: It's getting very ugly out 'there' (Sept 26)
Dan Norcini: Gold charts and some comments (Sept 26)
Realist News: High court in Germany says halt all EU bailouts - Unconstitutional (Sept 26)
Le Fly: Ice cold (remix version) (Sept 26)

Vlogs

BrotherJohnF: Silver Update - Hidden bottoms (Sept 26)
Keiser Report: Pax Americana pyramid nightmare (Sept 26)
MoneyBags73: So many more people would want to have gold if they understood (Sept 26)
MoneyBags73: IMF may need bailout to bail out Euro nations (Sept 26)
drutter: Vancouver physical silver inventory update (Sept 26)
King World News: Why central banks smashed gold, silver (Sept 26)
Four Horsemen Film: Fiat Money (Sept 22)

Mainstream

Reuters: World stocks rebound on Euro bailout hope (Sept 27)

Business Insider: Greek Fin Min: If Europe can't save Greece, it can't save itself (Sept 27)

Business Insider: Geither to ABC: (Europe) foreshadowing escalation (Sept 27)
Reuters: Some sectors of China's economy may crash: Marc Faber (Sept 27)
Jim Comiskey: Daily market insights - Metals futures (Sept 26)

(video) BBC: Alessio Rastani: 'Smart money knows stock market is finished' (Sept 26)

Last time, this time, next time

9:25 am (Hawaii) This is the kind of morning when it's just easier and wiser to lay here in bed, enjoy the cool breeze and watch price movement from afar. Emotionally afar.

The last time AGQ sold off this drastically was from 382 to 178 over a five-day span. 53% from the high last spring. The recent movement in the chart is different. There was no parabolic rise and fall. AGQ had traded in a range before the selloff of the past two days. Since Wednesday's intraday high of 214, AGQ has dropped 45%. I'm not expecting more, as in 53%. But if we got that 53% decline, that takes price to 100.

When AGQ went from 382 to 178, there was little talk of a second recession* and the movement was built largely on speculation by traders and manipulation by banksters. This time, the speculators are largely removed from the equation and manipulation remains constant. Add to this a fugly economic climate and silver really has no upside in the near term aside from a technical bounce off this extreme move lower.

I still prefer the possibility of trading paper gold in DGP rather than AGQ (paper silver). But above both, I like the edge of FAZ. The banksters here may stave off repercussions for some time, but this will no be so in Euro land. Paper gold and silver will probably rally at some point, but holding the physical will always reign supreme.

Time and timing is the key factor. FAZ will move tremendously over time, but is dependent on headline-level action or inaction. All the chart can do is modify and challenge my notion of a good or bad entry point. The EU in conjunction with US banksters can drum up another batch of bullcrap measures to boost their morale, but nothing short of cleansing the toxins in the system will fix things. Until then, they'll keep begging for dollars by the trillions. The White House has indicated that these banksters have defiled their WH's by hoarding the trillions while issuing fat bonuses to themselves.

In other words, the pressure to keep shorting silver is massive. Gold will be contained for only a limited amount of time, just enough for central banks to continue accumulating at bargain prices. But there is no long-term safety net for banks in Euro land for much longer. I believe that enough to dabble in FAZ, but not enough to go long it here at 69-70. I want a better price.

Denise Milani

A great unload

8:34 am (Hawaii) That was dizzying, almost. The Dow Jones gained 100 points in four minutes, from roughly -450 to -350. I wouldn't have noticed except I've been watching FAZ all morning, and it went from just below 73 to sub-70 in that same time span. Huge 1-minute candlesticks, bearish, like someone with a major position had to unload regardless of price.

It was then that CNBC noted that a report in the Financial Times mentioned the possibility of the EU speeding up the whole process dealing with sovereign debt. From there, FAZ stabilized and the Dow sold off again. FAZ eventually ran back to 72+ and is currently at 71.44.

I don't think the unloading is over. FAZ gained 14% yesterday and even now is still up 9.4% for the day. The heavy selling in the past 20 minutes has been met by almost as heavy buying. This is probably going to turn out to be better to leave the minute-by-minute viewing and keep a stop order in — a very wide one. Just shows how eager traders are to cash in these profits on the slightest hint of bullish news for US or Euro banks.

Longer term, I'm convinced FAZ surpasses recent highs of 73+ and 81+ before hitting 100. For now, the fluctuations have me involved with a lot of tweaking in the near term. Adding more shares this morning was a possibility, but I left that alone. Getting out in the near term might work best. I didn't get in early (yesterday at 65) and the market is severely oversold at this point.

FAZ 1-minute chart

Truly a spaz, keep the hardhats on

Weekend cinema & library (updated Sun 200 pm HST)

2:20 pm (Hawaii) Geithner wasn't well received, apparently, in his "visit" to Poland. Guess nobody likes taking financial advice from American ponzi artists — not that Geithner invented the scheme. He's just another part of the machine.

10:20 am The FAZ chart never fails to intrigue my feeble mind.

• The last time FAZ had five down days in a row was June 27 to July 1. Price went from 50.79 (intraday high) to 42.06 (intraday low), a decline of 17.2%.

• Since then, price has been often volatile. The biggest declines: 81.50 (Aug 9) to 54.70 (Aug 12), -32.9%; 73.87 (Aug 23) to 50.10 (Aug 31), -32.2%; 66.84 (Sept 6) to 54.65 (Sept 7), -18.2%. (These are intraday prices.)

• The current fall from 66.81 (Sept 12) to 53.40 (today, after hours) is a 20% drop, right on the nose.

If FAZ needs to go to the lower trendline, that would be roughly 52. It already touched 52.12 earlier today and bounced a bit, running to 55.87 intraday. But there's no conviction by bears or bulls in the finnies right now. FAZ is meandering in this range. Again, if the world believed in the EU and the FED with any sense of conviction, FAZ would be well below 50 and back to early summer levels as low as 40.

Interesting how it trades occasionally. The 1-min chart showed yesterday a clear ceiling at around 57.70 that lasted several minutes. Right now (10:33 am Hawaii), it has stayed above 53.40 since the close (33 minutes ago), with the closing price for each minute at exactly 53.40 (while price goes as high as 53.83 in between). So there has to be a seller or buyer playing this area with a clear line across the sand at that price. Why? No idea. That's just what I'm looking at. Then again it's afterhours trading and volume is extremely thin.

As an ETF/ETN, FAZ is clearly at the whim of all these external factors and headline risks. It's really not an ideal thing to chart. But it's fun, keeps my eyes wide open and offers different perspectives as I watch and wait. Maybe I scale a little bit in here. Maybe I don't. Wait for that softball toss and delivering a home run swing would mean waiting for 50. Or 40.

Or maybe if FAZ breaks this trendline lower, all bets should be off and the market makes a huge rally based on a diet of cotton candy, whopper balls and big gulp sodas. Yeah. That'll last.

10:45 am Hawaii time, FAZ to bounce or break?

Blogs

(new) Le Fly: Futures open substantially lower (Sept 18)

(new) Zero Hedge: DSK says Greece is done (Sept 18)

(new) King World News: Jim Rickards: Secrets of QE, gold and currency wars (Sept 18)

(new) Peter Tchir: Is Sept 20 Greek default day? (Sept 17)

(new) SGS: Position limits back in play at CFTC (Sept 17)

(new) SGS: Chart of the month: AMZN (Sept 17)

(new) SGS: COT report, FOMC (Sept 17)

(new) SGS: Got gold? Austria limits purchases to $15,000 Euros (Sept 17)

Dan Norcini: HUI bounces from key support level (Sept 16)

Harvey Organ: Gold, silver rebound as expected (Sept 16)

> Huge news on silver fraud case against JPMorgan

Jesse's Cafe Americain: Antics abounding (Sept 16)

Golden Truth: Anybody still believe that Fed doesn't manipulate gold price? (Sept 16)

Zero Hedge: Forget Operation Twist (Sept 16)

> David Rosenberg says Bernanke will shock everyone

Zero Hedge/Brandon Smith: Is China ready to pull the plug? (Sept 16)

Turd Ferguson: (am) Macro (Sept 16)

> Charts Gold Dec 4-hour | Silver Dec 4-hour

King World News: Identities of JP Morgan silver manipulators exposed (Sept 16)

King World News: Rick Rule: Silver default possible (Sept 16)

King World News: Peter Schiff: Expect more inflation, printing, higher gold (Sept 16)

Reggie Middleton: Another RIMM job? (Sept 16)

Morris Hubbartt: Fall 2011: Gold breakout season? (Sept 16)

Julian Phillips: Effects of a major banking crisis on gold price (Sept 16)

(new) Class Action Complaint against JP Morgan (Sept 12)

Vlogs

Yeeeeah! Brother Jim read my comment! (10:05)

Jim Comiskey: Daily market insights - Metals futures (Sept 16)

SilverCircleMovie: Guest John Schaffer (Sept 16)

reason.tv: Peter Schiff on dismal future of US economy (Sept 16)

BrotherJohnF: Silver update - Correction (Sept 16)

Hit the Bid: Friday is huge (Sept 16)

drutter: Burning Man 2011 (first half) (Sept 16)

ScrapGoldBusiness: Gun and ammo sales go ballistic! (Sept 16)

Casey Research: American Debt Crisis - After Hours (Sept 16)

(new) Alex Jones: USB rogue trader, guest Max Keiser (Sept 15)

(new) Alex Schaefer: Protest (July 1)

Audio

King World News: Weekly metals wrap (Sept 17)

Peter Schiff Radio (Sept 16)

King World News: Guest Stephen Leeb (Sept 15)

King World News: Guest Michael Pento (Sept 15)

Kerry Lutz: Guest Robert Ian (Sept 15)

Financial Survival: Guest Bob Chapman (Sept 15)

Blog commentary

DarkPurpleHaze: Fried eggs (Sept 16)

> I agree with DPH that whatever Bernanke unveils next week, China will not be happy. If it's a bigass, unprecedented QE bomb, China will counter accordingly. In other words, timing is key in the paper trade. Price matters. Obsessing over price action? Unnecessary. I'm sticking to price levels no matter what the yakkers say on TV.

spiral_eyes: Shouldn't we be thanking Blythe? (Sept 16)

Economical Disaster: We are fast approaching... (Sept 16)

Mainstream

(new) International Business Times: Facebook teams up with Twitter (Sept 18)

(video) International Business Times: Gold, silver end week with strong gains (Sept 16)

(video) CNBC: Fallout from Euro solution delay? (Sept 16)

(video) Reuters: Nasdaq posts best week in 2 years (Sept 16)

(video) Fox: Peter Schiff - Fined for hiring too many people (Sept 16)

CNBC: Euro collapse could lead to war: Polish FinMin (Sept 16)

Reuters: China sets national gold standard (Sept 16)

Euronews: Strauss-Kahn to give TV interview on Sunday (Sept 16)

Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs shuts Global Alpha Fund (Sept 16)

The Telegraph: China to 'liquidate' US Treasuries, not dollars (Sept 15)

BBC: Central banks act as economy hits 'dangerous new phase' (Sept 15)

(video) CNBC: UBS: Lehman-type credit crisis unlikely (Sept 15)

(video) CNBC: Credit markets waving a red flag? (Sept 15)

Metal bling

BullionCatalogue: Silver - Australian Koala - 2011 - Berlin Privy - 1 oz (Sept 16)

BullionCatalogue: Silver - Australian Koala - 2011 - 1 oz (Sept 16)

US Mint: ATB 5-oz silver coin on sale Sept 22 (Sept 16)

> They've raised the per-household limit to 5 coins from 1. Is US Mint concerned that silver price may decline soon?

Eye candy

Alex Schaefer: Pasadena plein air (Sept 13)

PanicPoints: Tatiana Swidin Miss Reef Peru (Mar 5)

CHV: Miss Reef show it all (Nov 30 2010)

atatakech: Miss Reef Bikini 2010 (Oct 23 2010)

Reef Entertainment: 2011 Miss Reef Calendar (Sept 30 2010)

> Filmed in Panama

PanicPoints: Romina Cisneros at Miss Reef (July 18 2010)

Reef Entertainment: 2010 Miss Reef Calendar Spot #3 (Jan 26 2010)

> Filmed in Brazil

Reef Entertainment: 2010 Miss Reef Calendar Spot #2 (Jan 26 2010)

> Filmed in Brazil

NFL yadayada

dereksdiary: First-round QBs not starting this weekend (Sept 16)

Bankster art

3-year, weekly

SCGLY

BAC

AIG

JPM

Early Monday Mosh Pit

Bulls are stomping the bears on the ECU's near-trillion dollar package and US commitment to send dollars into battle. In premarket (no peons allowed for another 2 hours, 14 minutes), on very little volume:

Up

• AAPL 251.00 (+16.89 +7.16%)

• ABK 1.57 (+0.19 +13.77%)

• BIDU 640.50 (+1.01, +0.16%, no volume)

• C 4.31 (+0.34, +8.50%)

• F 12.28 (+0.77 +6.69%)

• FAS 30.76 (+3.91 +14.47%)

• GS 149.10 (+7.01 +4.90%)

• IMAX 17.54 (+0.18 +1.04%, no volume)

• NBG 3.25 (+0.78 +29.21%)

Down

• DNDN 43.63 (-0.39, -0.89%, no volume)

• FAZ 12.85 (-1.96 -13.25%)

• GLD 116.45 (-1.86, -1.57%)

• VXX 26.57 (-3.15 -10.77%)

• UUP 24.60 (-0.10 -0.40%, no volume)

Upon further review ...

... MQ would have been better off doing the following today in regard to VXX, a.k.a. the Shitkicker.

• Sell on the retrace back up to 31-plus rather than gloat in the awesomeness of VXX cutting through the tulumtuous Greek sea of crapola.

• Not only observe the intraday (2-day chart) retrace of 50% to the 27.50-27.70ish area; take a moment and freaking re-enter. Each time.

• Ride up on the good ship VXX and sell as proper indicators and common fucking sense dictate. Pocket profits for future purchase of Apple shares at dirt-cheap prices. (Not today, but soon.)

• Sell again with help of indicators and the sense to get the fuck out at the right time, i.e. the very second President Obama speaks to the planet on live TV. That man is more than president. He controls brains of all puny humans.

• Buy back in one last time, well after Mr. Obama concludes his incredible words of persuasion and calmness. (Shouldn't he have some words with the EU and the angry Greeks? Maybe he already has.)

• And, by God, hold this precious hedge through the closing bell without placing a single freaking stop-loss order.

That last thing would've ended this dismal week on a high note. Instead, well ...

With the EU figuring out a decision on the Toga Party Gone Bad bailout after the market closed, things might be looking up on Monday, and I mean looking up for more than 10-minute increments. Of course, the Greeks could look at the $140 million package and spit on it, seeing how much they hate accepting aid from the IMF.

A little more public wrath, a firebomb here and there, and it would be last week all over again in historic Greece. Who knows?

Upon further review, yes, I did a good thing buying VXX. Review again, and it's clear that buying it yesterday after hours was the wrong time. At 27.40, I didn't get the best deal. The best price came in premarket today when VXX zombie-walked below 27.00 for the entire duration.

Will it give me a chance to re-enter at a lower price on Monday? Will I still want it back? Even if they throw parties in London, Berlin and Athens and what's-his-face from that old TV show with the talking car sings live via satellite throughout the E-Union ... but there's this: supposedly the EU is forming a plan that would deal with the debt crises in the PIIGS sooner rather than later.

This would be a bad thing for ETFs that depend on global chaos and fat fingers that lower the S&P exactly to its 50-week moving average. The evidence mounts. I cannot buy VXX again, not today.

At sub-28 on Monday, that's a different story. That's a nice maybe.

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[Post-mortem: Should note, in VXX 27.40 Thursday, out VXX 28.91 Friday.]