Wednesday cinema & library (updated)

Abigail Doolittle: Runaway day likely to fail (June 6)
Keiser Report: Paper money collapse (June 5)
David Fry: Big Wednesday short squeeze (June 7)
The Guardian: Spain calls for new tax pact to save euro (June 6)
Wall Street Journal: Lockhart says Fed must stand ready to provide more support (June 6)

CNBC: Market's fate 'in Bernanke's hands' (June 6)

Le Fly: 'We are going the fuck higher' (June 6)

Reuters: Fed more upbeat on economy in Beige Book (June 6)

Turd Ferguson: 'DO NOT be surprised by a dip/profit-taking' in metals (June 6)

Financial Post: Gartman admits he made bad call on gold (June 6)

Barron's: Hedge funds have gotten extremely bearish (June 6)

Scott Bleier: Pressure valve day (June 6)
Forbes: JPMorgan's other messy problem: MF Global's missing money (June 4)

Jim Rogers: 'Please get worried' (June 4)

Turrbl Tuesday (updated)

7:00 am (Hawaii) Turns out Monday was no big deal compared to Tuesday's open. I slept through the first 3-4 hours, woke up to find that the indices are down 1.3 to 1.5%, and that my lone position, GSVC had dropped all the way to 17.50. But seeing it at 18.30 now was a relief ... until I refreshed my browser and realized that I'd forgotten that stop-loss order at 17.76.

In other words, I got GSVC at 17.72 a week ago, saw it run to 19.71 by late Friday, held it ... and sold it today for a 4-cent gain. Yeah. That sucks. The defensive measure, the "insurance" I had in case the market cratered, turned into a paper loss. In hindsight, I should've sold above 19, but frankly I imagined GSVC bolting above 20 this week with Facebook on its IPO tour.

It's something else to see a net account value rise nicely on just one fairly small position, then see it evaporate into a non event. Now the question is, do I re-enter GSVC at 1830? (Now 18.38.) Or is a play on the financials better? Or too late. FAZ is near its intraday high, up 4% to 23.02 as the finnies are in a bloodbath.

I'm going on the road in a few minutes, so managing anything will be almost impossible. Best to be neutral/flat in this market. But the GSVC trade today will take awhile to get over. It's just very difficult to manage things when the market opens at 3:30 am (Hawaii time) and I can't sleep early enough or stay up long enough.

Could be worse, of course. GSVC could be at 17 or 16. Then I'd be wishing I had a stop loss. Or I might be getting more shares.

Update 9:59 am Back in GSVC (moderate/half position) at 18.35. It held up on a selloff day, though vulnerable like nay other stock (as this morning showed). Still on the road, so I haven't had a chance to catch up on the market news. Looking at FAZ as a possibility (again).

Biggest question is not whether the EU and US get stimulus (stimuli?), but when the big money will flow back into the markets.

Felt real good to have GSVC the past week at 17.72. From this point on, though, for the next few days (or weeks), strict price discipline is required. Or I can have one position as a long-term hold and another for swing trades. I tried that with AAPL a few years back and did decent. Just couldn't hold on long term from 96 and 215. A woulda coulda.

Update 10:31 am AAPL bottomed today (for now) at 558.73, closed at 568.17. Lowest point since April 24, when it hit 555+ — the day before the earnings report. Is 558+ going to do it? Has it really filled the gap? I still look at 546 as the real test (Fibonacci retrace from 396 to 640).

Can't blame anyone for picking up some AAPL down here though. Nothing is wrong, nothing has changed (really) since the earnings blowout. But the worst in Euroland is yet to come, probably, and I would love to get some apples below 550. Is that greedy?

Which comes first for AAPL: a catalyst or big money simply having nothing left to sell any more?

Update 11:23 am Added a handful of FAZ. I realize the Greece/EU pile of shit news may be done (for now), but it's a little protection against my long position in GSVC. What I really want is to nibble into AAPL ... but without a real catalyst in the near future, there may be enough time to be patient.

As Germany, Greece and the EU, Germany is finally telling Greece that it is S.O.L.

National Post: Germany to Greece: No austerity, no aid

streetmoney21: Fed, ECB and ponzi

FAS vs FAZ

3:10 am (Hawaii) Been awhile since I stayed up for the opening bell and kept the TV on. I haven't examined FAS and FAZ in almost two days, I think, and it feels more like two years. The market leaps up. The market sinks down. Futures this morning, pre-opening bell, are slightly negative. No real huge news to either direction, just near-term skittishness about a possible delay to the Euro crisis solution. Blahblah.

FAS daily

The run to (near) 15 was almost inevitable. Let's face it - Geithner

didn't travel across Europe for a week to do sightseeing. 

Strings were pulled and everybody was on board

for the latest chapter of Fiat Dreamland.

FAS daily

When the EU announces that it will print fiat by the trillions,

14 will be a distant memory.

FAZ daily

Held support at 42 and is bouncing a bit this morning.

FAZ daily

Nothing much to feel bullish about here.

All that's preventing a crash through thin ice at 42

is the lack of a QE-ish announcement in Euroland.

It's hard to enter FAZ here. The deck is rigged, the dealer is cheating and people betting in a pair of deuces are somehow raking in big profits. People? Okay, let's just say they're under orders to stack the deck. Under orders to bet on crap. They're all the same and logic has nothing to do with the results.

The market could melt up through the rest of the year. Or we could see another huge rally get kneecapped with a couple of incredible flash crashes. I'm still all cash.

Wednesday cinema & library (updated Thur 200 am HST)

2:00 pm (Hawaii) Watched Fast Money on the DVR and was surprised just a bit that Dick Bove is back to shilling for the banksters. A few weeks back he said the market was in trouble, flat out bad place to be. Now he's touting Bank of America without a trace of shame. The FM guys blistered him about the tens of thousands of layoffs and the sellout deal with Buffett. But it's clear Bove is playing a bounce to come. BAC closed near its low at 6.39.

The banksters on my Debt Spiral list all closed near lows of the day and it'll be rather easy for them to drop below recent lows. For BAC, that would be 6.01. FAS (11.17) has already traded below the recent low of 11.34. These are borderline criminals and it shouldn't surprise anyone if they hatch something to save their stock prices near term. Longer term, they're going lower. They got the White House to give them trillions over the table and under the table. They're hoarding most of that cash. They pissed off the WH, they pissed off the general public, and they've passed on their toxic assets to Euro banks. They're running out of places to hide.

Seeing Whitney Tilson on FM is a little funny, a little sad. He was right about NFLX long term. He just didn't know it would go to 300 in the meantime. Now that NFLX has gone from 200 to 130 in days, he is probably past the point of remorse.

Blogs

(new) Scott Bleier: You want a trillion? Ok, maybe at Dow 10k... (Sept 21)
(new) Le Fly: Bargains or value traps? (Sept 21)
> "They are all showing signs of extreme panic. Incidentally, extreme panic leads to jubilation, as bottom feeders eat the carcasses of those being liquidated via margin calls."
(new) Le Fly: Dr. Obvious: We're in a bear market (Sept 21)
(new) Le Fly: Operation Make Me Sick (Sept 21)
> "This move to the downside is especially worrisome because it is occurring at oversold levels. We could get a real fucked up sell off soon, firmly placing us in the 4 digit range for the Dow. ... pricing in a recession puts the S&P at 850 to 900."
(new) Le Fly: The greater recession is upon you (Sept 21)
> "Look at WLT's earnings warning today. That is unassailable proof that China is slowing down, drastically. ... We are heading for a most heinous economic downturn."
(new) Cain Thaler: Fed is helping Treasury, not housing (Sept 21)
(new) Cain Thaler: It's about damn time: Behemoth banks in sights (Sept 21)
(new) Rajun Cajun: Last night's short selection (Sept 21)
> "If this lone of inquiry continues, it would mean that the Fed believes the likes of JPM, GS, C and friends to be too big."
(new) chessNwine: Today, we saw mustard seeds for new era of Islamic finance (Sept 21)
Reggie Middleton: And the European bank run continues (Sept 21)

Reggie Middleton: Ratings agencies are only a year and a half late (Sept 21)

Reggie Middleton: BNP bust up: Why BNP Paribas still ripe for implosion (Sept 21)

Zero Hedge: IMF to Bernanke: Thanks for nothing as threat to intl monetary system looms (Sept 21)

Peter Tchir: Disappointment with the Fed (Sept 21)

Turd Ferguson: Lots of choices, all of them bad (Sept 21)

Reggie Middleton: Most headlines now show French bank run has started (Sept 20)

BrotherJohnF: Silver updated - Holding (Sept 20)

Vlogs

(new) Fox: Marc Faber: 'Bigger financial crisis on the way (Sept 22)

(new) Peter Schiff: Operation Twist will hurt (Sept 21)

(new) drutter: silver, fall harvest (Sept 21)

(new) Stellaconcepts: What did Bernanke just do??? (Sept 21)

(new) Ron Paul: Speech at LPAC - 'Don't steal, the govt hates competition' (Sept 21)

streetmoney21: Ben starts operation trickeration as banks bleed to death (Sept 21)

Jim Comiskey: Daily market insights - Metals futures (Sept 21)

Realist News: Stock market crash alert! (Sept 21)

silverfuturist: Have I heard of David Icke? (Sept 21)

Hit the Bid: Live from the Occupy Wall St rally (Sept 21)

SGS: 'The F***job Candle" - Trading bottom on Morgan Stanley (Sept 21)

Chris Duane (Silver Shield): 8 reasons why Great Depression is best-case scenario (Sept 21)

george4title: Raising a family in Recession: Sharing and cooking at home (Sept 21)

ScrapGoldBusiness: Inflation - Consumers facing rising prices (Sept 21)

stowmaker1945: UK set to increase QE (Sept 21)

Endlessmountain: The Silver Log (Sept 21)

SGT Report: Which criminal bank hates SGT Report? (Sept 18)

Audio

cfini72: Ethnic cleansing: How banksters are approaching African markets (Sept 21)

Blog commentary

ScottJ: Gold SuperCycle... thoughts continued (Sept 21)

Reports

(new) Bloomberg: US stock futures drop on signs global financial system risks growing (Sept 22)

(new) Bloomberg: Greece cuts wages, pensions to cinch aid (Sept 21)

Reuters: Jim Rogers: Next global recession will be worse than 2008 (Sept 21)

WSJ: Bank of America, Wells Fargo: The downgrade shoe finally drops (Sept 21)
Bloomberg: Vatican says Islamic finance may help Western banks in crisis (Mar 4 2009)

Video

BNN: Harry Koza: Keeping rates so low penalizes successful economies (Sept 21)

Metal bling

BullionCatalogue: Silver - Mexican Libertad - 2008 - 1 oz (Sept 21)

Cowabunga

Reef Entertainment: Salty Summers (full length) (Sept 21)

(new) Extreme Autofest 2011 (Aug 26)

(new) Island Foxes: Christine Mendoza's shout out (Dec 6 2010)

(new) Jaula das Gostosudas (Nov 1 2010)

Japanese car wash (Sept 22 2010)
Night Marcherz Production: Bar 7 (Aug 6 2010)

Spocom Long Beach 2010 (July 19 2010)

Ho Brah Entertainment: Jessica & Tina (July 17 2010)

(new) Island Foxes: Jenny Chu's 1st island shoot (July 17 2010)

Bite Me TV: SpoCom 2009 (Feb 8 2010)

Car wash (Aug 9 2007)

Onward ho!

FAZapalooza (daily, July 7 to present)

A surprising goose egg from the Fed and FAZ is now pushing hard on its current resistance level

in the megaphone pattern. Without an intervention by the Fed, recent highs of 73 and 81

are in plain sight.

FAZ 1-minute chart

Action got fiery starting at 2:25 pm Eastern when the Fed

said "No mas trillones."

11:46 am (Hawaii) The market tanked. The market stank. That's why it's always wise to steer clear when Helicopter Ben takes the podium. Have not turned on the TV this morning, but from what I gathered from Le Fly and Turd when I got up around 9 am here (3 pm Eastern), the Fed laid a goose egg.

This precaution is better long term for the economy than printing a trillion Bernanke bucks, no question. But the market didn't respond well, of course. When I got up, the Dow Jones was down about 90 points, hovering in that area. But in the final hour, el-crasheroo! I kept track of FAZ, which opened today above 57 — up from yesterday's 55, though I was busy working and didn't check on the market at all. By the time the Fed/FOMC announced a paltry boost to the economy, FAZ went up immediately. At 2:25 Eastern, FAZ began its rise from 57 to 61.

It came back to 60 or so, and when I woke up, it was in the 61+ area. I almost scaled in at 61.50, but I kept my distance as it kept climbing, waiting for a pullback. There was no real pullback from the point. FAZ hit 62, then 63, then 64 and kept going. I knew FAZ would eventually get back to 66 per my megaphone pattern on the chart, but I didn't get in at 55 as I probably should have when the opportunity was there. I expected a lot more from the Fed, and a possible dip in FAZ to 50 or below.

Instead, FAZ went to 66+ today. Today! As for the recent high of 81, it's coming unless the Fed makes an unprecedented move real soon. I've said before, FAZ is going to 100 eventually. At this rate, if the Fed doesn't print another trillion in fiat dollars, 100 is coming to FAZ this year instead of next year. It could happen extremely quickly, as the chart indicates. Wild, parabolic swings from 60 to 100 to 70 to 120 to 80 to 140. But it's going up. Our lazy-ass lifestyle perpetuated this ponzi monetary system. It worked just fine when our soldiers returned from WWII and worked their asses off to build this nation's economy. But 60 years later, work ethic has largely yielded to grab-and-run. Whether that means unions have forced jobs overseas or banksters/corporate owners are greedy, I don't know.

All I know is FAZ is going to keep rising, slowly or quickly, but probably the latter. I scaled in too late today, but it was time to scale in at 65. I'm willing to let this go at 63 or 62 on a pullback and get back in at 60 or 55. At some point, I'll be on board for the ride higher.

Gold and silver tanked with the market, though I admit being stunned at seeing AAPL near 420 earlier. Goldman Sachs upped its target to 520. AAPL's recent run had me thinking that it would lead a rally, as it usually does. But AAPL sold off in the final hour, perhaps the last psuedo-safe haven big boy on the block.

My Regular watch list is 21% green, 79% red, which is as bearish as it gets. Winners were TVIX (+15.5%), FAZ (+14.2%), EDZ (+12.7%), HGSI (+12.5%), TZA (+11.9%), VXX (+7.9%), QID (+3.5%), TLT (+3.1%), ZSL (+1.3%). Big losers included YOKU (-10.8%), CHG (-9.8%), RLOC (-8%), FSLR (-7.5%). FCX (-8.2%) and X (-6.1%) may have reflected a severe slowdown coming to copper and steel, ie China's economy.

All in all, precious metals didn't falter too badly. My Metals list was 32% green, 66% red, 2% neutral. DGP is actually flat (+0.1%) and AGQ is down only 1%. That's good news considering both were muc hlower earlier. DGP's low of the day was 64.08 and AGQ's low was 200.26. That's the second time I can recall AGQ bouncing off 200 in recent days.

The market has all kinds of weird responses to Fed meetings. Can gold and silver break higher tomorrow? Brother Turd had been looking for a move up by gold. In a dollar-friendly environment, maybe gold struggles, but it has moved up with the dollar at certain times in the past few months. With the Euro nowhere near stability and the general climate there favoring austerity, it may take longer than expected for spot gold to hit $2,000 and silver to reach 50 again.

Last hour of the session, Dow went from about -90 to a close of -283. S&P 500 finished -35 to 1,166. Nas down 52 points to 2,538. Scott Bleier called for S&P at 1140 when the Fed news hit. That's possible by tomorrow morning, but is everything priced in? The recent rally probably lured in a lot of traders to the long side, and they're still marching out the exits.

Bottoms up! Less is more

Much ado

Sophie Reade

9:12 am (Hawaii) 45 minutes to the close. Then a long wait until President Obama delivers a much-anticipated speech on the economy. Is this the first official step of commitment toward an infrastructure bank? If it operates like municipals or bonds or whatnot, what will it mean for 1) the market, and 2) the economy? Unless there's some breakthrough commitment to real assets rather than digital currency, wouldn't any so-called infrastructure entity just be a new branch of the Fed, ie fractional/fantasy units?

Whatever the case, I've been watching for a couple of hours. Since Bernanke delivered his non-speech an hour or so ago, AAPL has gone from 384.12 to 383.69, AGQ from 233.68 to 234.10, DGP from 69.72 to 70.75 and FAZ from 57.70 to 58.33. It's interesting that the market was slightly bullish during Bernanke's speech, with AAPL slightly up, AGQ, DGP and FAZ slightly down. That changed with the end of his speech, which had no hints whatsover of QE3.

I'm willing to scale into DGP here, but only on an intraday dip. Might stay all cash until Obama's done talking. But if spot gold bottomed at 1800 yesterday, it's got some work to do going back up. Asia bought the hell out of gold overnight, which has been the common behavior over the past month. Price gets knocked down by the puppeteers of the West, and then Asia steps in with full buying force. Or maybe it's far less than full force. Wouldn't surprise me that the biggest buying from the East is yet to come. We still don't have PAGE open just yet. That operation will allow China bank customers to buy gold directly. No bullshit or flim-flam from the power elite. With inflation a major issue in the Middle Kingdom, savers will keep flocking to hard, golden assets.

AGQ closed at 225.39 yesterday, opened today at 235.49 and has kept most of those gains so far. With puppeteers like JP Morgan bullish on gold ($2,500 forecast), I still believe they are short silver with all the ammo they can grab. I'll touch AGQ only on a severe dip and ride that out. 233 is a bit high for now.

Wednesday cinema & library (updated 1200 am HST)

Blogs

(new) SGS: Silver coiling like a cobra (Aug 31)

Turd Ferguson: The PAGE is turning (Aug 31)
Business Insider: Former Reagan adviser: US debt is actually $211 trillion (Aug 31)

Zero Hedge: Is it time for the financial world to panic? (Aug 31)

Dan Norcini: Monthly gold charts, August 2011 (Aug 31)

King World News: Louise Yamada - Critical levels to watch on gold, silver (Aug 31)

King World News: Michael Pento - Here is why gold shorts are worried (Aug 31)

Zero Hedge: Lockhart of Atlanta Fed hints at more QE (Aug 31)

Zero Hedge: Greece ridicules Europe's lies of Greek 'stability' (Aug 31)

Goldcore: Silver ready to break out - Technicals, fundamentals suggest $50/oz early autumn (Aug 31)

Financial Times: China and copper (Aug 31)

Coin World: Mint reprices gold commenms, resumes sales (Aug 31)

Gonzalo Lira: Mr. Cheney's victory lap (Aug 31)

Rob Dietz: Why do so many believe in fantasy of infinite growth on finite planet? (Aug 31)

Reggie Middleton: What's new in the 'avoid debt destruction by any means' soap opera (Aug 30)

SGS: Perth Mint rebuttal (Aug 30)

Deena Stryker: This is why we do not hear about Iceland anymore (Aug 30)

Money Morning: Why gold will replace US Treasuries as world's last risk-free investment (Aug 30)

Coin World: Maple Leaf sets silver record (Aug 30)
Reggie Middleton: Banking industry still looks dismal despite rising share prices (Aug 29)

Coin World: Liberty dollars may be subject to seizure (Aug 29)
Reggie Middleton: US follows Japan into balance sheet recession (Aug 26)

(new) Jason Hommel: 10 biblical skills for managing wealth (Aug 22)

Vlogs

(new) Heretic Productions: Shit and shinola on banks of river of darkness (Aug 31)

(new) Christopher Greene: Time to acknowledge that US is collapsing (Aug 31)

(new) BrotherJohnF: Silver update - Jobama (Aug 31)

(new) Endless Mountain: The Silver Log (Aug 31)

(new) ScrapGoldBusiness: Talking about gold and silver (Aug 31)

(new) Alexiscom1: Why paper silver is in danger, T-bond crisis, bank insolvency (Aug 31)

(new) GuildF40: Metal and channel update (Aug 31)

(new) george4title: Costs of working in US creep upward (Aug 31)

(new) MoneyBags73: Chicago Fed president says QE2 worked but was not big enough (Aug 30)

Tony Sagami: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Profits (Aug 30)

Audio

(new) Peter Schiff Show (Aug 31)

> 1 hr, 14 min

King World News: Stephen Leeb (Aug 30)

King World News: Gerald Celente (Aug 29)

Reports

WSJ: Choice for EU: Bail out Greece or bail your banks (Aug 31)

CBBC: World's biggest gold reserves (Aug 31)

China Business News: State Bank of Vietnam to mobilize more gold from public (Aug 31)

Forbes: US elites begin to confront paper dollar (Aug 29)

Gallup: Americans choose gold as best long-term investment (Aug 25)

Video

CNBC: ETF volatility playbook (Aug 31)

Thursday cinema & library (updated 1030 pm HST)

Blogs

(new) Zero Hedge: Caution: Another gold margin hike imminent (Aug 25)

(new) Jake Gint: Hello darkness my old friend (Aug 26)

(new) Jim Sinclair: Selling against the angels expected (Aug 25)

> "For heaven's sake, stop barfing into weakness. Stop selling weakness and buying strength. That is a kindergarten type error."

(new) Monty Guild: Market commentary (Aug 25)

(new) SGS: WWSD (Aug 25)

(new) Le Fly: Prepare to get (Jackson) holed (Aug 25)

(new) Le Fly: The great showdown is near (Aug 25)

(new) Le Fly: Position update: GSVC (Aug 25)

(new) Le Fly: The Buffett deal is defensive (Aug 25)

Chris Duane (Silver Shield): Silver Shield's final warning (Aug 25)

> "We are on the knife's edge of a major shift that will make silver untouchable if you do not secure your metal right now."

Turd Ferguson: (pm) Looking better (Aug 25)

> Charts Gold Dec 15-min | Gold Dec 4-hour | Silver Sept 15-min | Silver Sept 4-hour

Turd Ferguson: (am) This ain't horseshoes (Aug 25)

> Charts Gold Dec 3-hour | Gold Dec 6-hour | Silver Sept 8-hour

Vlogs

H1INC: Warren Buffett: The retarded fuckery continues (Aug 25)

James Turk: Peter Spina interview at GATA (Aug 25)

APMEX: What will Fed chairman Ben Bernanke say tomorrow? (Aug 25)

Endless Mountain: Trading in paper rectangles (Aug 25)

Endless Mountain: Three silver charts I rely on the most (Aug 25)

Storm Clouds Gathering: Why we left the US (permanently) (Aug 25)

george4title: Sacramento powder coating company APC interview (Aug 25)

Christopher Greene: Buffett Bashing 101 (Aug 25)

Christopher Greene: Buffett strikes again! (Aug 25)

Keiser Report: Chris Martenson (Aug 24)

Wide Awake News: The 'LIE' of the storm (Aug 24)

Christopher Greene: 'The End of America' a tale of deception and misinformation (Aug 24)

Scrap Gold Business: Gold falls - Is gold and silver being manipulated? (Aug 24)

Audio

Reports
Rick Munarriz: There's no place like Zillow (Aug 25)

Video

Fox: Schiff: 'Bernanke is going to keep printing money!' (Aug 24)

Blog commentary

Metal bling

Alexiscom1: 999 silver bullion coins for UK, Canada and US (Aug 25)

Level headed

11:52 am (Hawaii) It's too bad I didn't trust the technicals, even 24 hours before Jackson Hole. Shortly before I fell asleep early this morning (4 am or so Hawaii time), I saw FAZ between 56 and 57. What I failed to see (I was dozing before that) is that it was below 53 to open. That should have and would have triggered alarm bells in my head. FAZ has consistently moved up after dipping that low for the past several weeks. Clockwork? Maybe.

This morning's buy-in by Buffett did the real work for FAZ dip-buyers. I don't have the total conviction necessary to scale in below 55, but it would've been a considerable possibility. I lean more toward staying status quo (all cash) until or through the Hole. But whoever bought FAZ at 55 or 57, watching it climb to 63 was a nice victory. Now trading at 61.50 after hours. I still believe FAZ goes to 100 eventually. By then, many of the large banksters in Euroland will be on the canvas, woozy and unable to continue. They'll get bought out by the biggest sharks in the industry.

AGQ is at a fascinating level — 220 — once again. I've noted before that a run from 220 to the previous high of 382 occurred when spot silver went from 40 to 49+. That's a 74% gain in AGQ and 25% gain in spot price. I don't know what AGQ does here; it's already gone from 250 (last week) to 200 (today's low). But 220 remains my magic level in AGQ, and depending on what transpires tomorrow, it may be the right time to re-enter a small position.

DGP was beastly as gold bounce off the 1700 level. DGP closed yesterday at 63.35, fell to 60.33 at today's open, dipped to 59.50 and there was reason for traders to be fearful. For physical gold (and silver) owners, it was another bump in the road. DGP rallied through the day and is at 64.00, near it's high. This is the level I entered at last week before the run to 72+, so my attention is piqued. (I got out at 68+.)

While I was away very early in the day, watching DGP below 60, of course I thought, well, this might be a rare opportunity to get in below a key level. But, I passed. Scaling in would've been okay too. But I knew I was about to hit the sack, and leaving stop-loss orders to the slimy tentacles of this market does not appeal to me.

DZZ was in good territory early, naturally, hitting a high of 5.19. All downhill from there. Same with ZSL. With the indices down (DJ -170.89, Nas -48.06, S&P -18.33) nearly 2% each by the close, volume was low and momentum was one-directional rather than chaotic. In fact, there was a point early in the session when all three indices were trading just a few points up or down as if this were a 19th century market.

Back to the banksters. BAC was at nearly 9.00 early, but sold off and is at 7.62 (+9%) today on a deal that the TV chatterheads are saying is a lopsided deal in Buffet's favor (of course). Funny how FAZ benefited from this and the Euro banks tanked. Clearly, the market smells the b.s. and steers clear more than ever.

This is what the market is saying more and more:

• Bernanke will say little but that he has his weapons on hand to maneuver when necessary. Some say he has only one bullet left. This would leave the market yawning, as the moves this week have priced in this expectation.

• Bernanke could say absolutely nothing, mention no bias toward action, and the market (and precious metals) would tank. He has never leaned toward austerity. Ever. Pure Keynesian. This would hurt both the bulls and bears. Unlikely, but you never know.

• Bernanke could say that a renewed, global, coordinated effort is underway to restructure debt, create a new form of transaction (currency?) and include the possibility of a truly sound fiscal system, i.e. backed by a combination of commodities (gold?). This is almost an impossibility since he prefers printing dollars to all other options. It's almost as if he's been told from above (not necessarily Obama) that if he does not print dollars, the coming explosion in unemployed ragers (people about to go off unemployment checks) would decimate cities, and there isn't enough security to contain a nationwide series of riots and looting.

So, how can he not print more fiat? Today's move in gold is a tell. The market knows Helicopter Ben has no choice, and if someone else were in his shoes yodeling to the hills that there are other options besides fractional reserve banking, that fella would be extinguished promptly.

In other words, the system is focked, I'm glad some of my dollars are now hard metal, and there is some peace of mind in being unmarried to stocks at this turbulent, unpredictable time.

Note: GSVC up strong today on news of investment developments, including one in Twitter. Le Fly has noted that this was coming, and GSVC is up 14% to 16.05. Makes me wish I hadn't sold at 12+, but I won't chase here. If the market gets chaotic tomorrow, it could easily sell back down to 14 and lower. I'd love to scale back in below 14. Downside in a worst-case post-Jackson Hole scenario could be 12. Best case would be a quick run to 19 (all-time high) and beyond.

Buffett can't save the banksters

4:06 am (Hawaii) No matter what "they" do, they can't save this market while it is still filled with toxins. Buffet has purchased, what, five or six billion dollars worth of BAC preferred shares. This prolongs the inevitable, but for now, that has most financials in green this morning. Yet, the indices have drifted from break even to negative. I have no hate for Buffett. In fact, I'll be thanking him maybe. FAZ is now down to 56+ and once it hits 55, it'll be at support. 55 is where FAZ drifts to before some Euro bank craps out a load of bad news once every two or three weeks.

Not planning to automatically buy FAZ at 55, but now that price is on the radar thanks to Buffett, I'm keeping a close eye on it.

Gold and silver are down again, and I don't even care what the spot price is. I'm all cash, saving in physical and not selling that. DZZ was at 4.90 or so after hours yesterday, was at 4.95 in premarket today, and has gone as high as 5.19 already. Now at 5.04.

DGP (60.87) and AGQ (206.09) are at attractive levels, but that's not enough for me to scale in yet. I'm content to wait through tomorrow's Jackson Hole bizness. The lack of stress from being untethered to this space alien machine market is refreshing.

Wednesday cinema & library (updated Thur 2 am HST)

Waimea South Mechanics Library Institute

Tasman District, New Zealand

Blogs

(new) Jesse's Cafe Americain: 'Looks like an option expiration week' (Aug 24)

(new) Dan Norcini: HUI once again retreats below 580 (Aug 24)

(new) King World News: Ben Davies: 'We see unprecedented physical gold demand' (Aug 24)

(new) King World News: Louise Yamada: Gold, silver still solid, but avoid stocks (Aug 24)

(new) King World News: John Embry: $2,500 gold to end the year wouldn't shock me (Aug 24)

(new) SGTbull07: PMs pummeled, brutalized, left for dead — what a joke (Aug 24)

(new) SGS: Talk about timing! (Aug 24)

(new) The American Dream: 14 conspiracy theories that media now admits are conspiracy facts (Aug 24)

James Altucher: 7 things I learned from the first blogger (Aug 24)

> Charles Schultz

Le Fly: How 'bout a late summer rally (Aug 24)

Turd Ferguson: (pm) Turd tips his hat (updated for margin hike) (Aug 24)

Le Fly: The refiners are buys (Aug 24)

Jim Willie: Panic and anxiety swirl a storm (Aug 24)

> "Prepare for $2100 gold by January, and $60 silver by January. Like last year, the months of September through January will be ones for the history books."

(new) Philosopher's Stone: US Mint suspends all numismatic (eagles) gold coins (Aug 23)

> "Proves no physical gold to be had? No silver eagles available either."

The Fundamental View: Time to take a closer look at gold (Aug 23)

SGS: JP Morgan and Bank of America? Where did you hear that first? (Aug 23)

Gary North: Roubini, Marx and Keynes (Aug 20)

Vlogs

(new) Man of Truth: On the beach for 30 minutes in Carmel (Aug 24)

(new) Silver Futurist: Gold, silver way down, what is the fair price? (Aug 24)

(new) george4title: Becoming an economic nomad: G4T in Vegas (Aug 24)

David Morgan: 10 rules for silver investing (Aug 24)

H1INC: $8000 gold? $500 silver? (Aug 24)

Endless Mountain: BAC technical analysis (Aug 24)

Endless Mountain: The Silver Log - More lower prices (Aug 24)

Keiser Report: The fainting bankers of Wall St (Aug 24)

Realist News: Why do precious metals get hit at the end of the month? (Aug 24)

Alexiscom1: Silver is -4%, Bank of America is +8%, is QE3 announcements coming? (Aug 24)

Realist News: Ready for big crash, part 2 - Bank of America in deep doodoo (Aug 23)

(new) Silver Futurist: $1900 gold!!! Now Suze Orman is saying sell gold (Aug 22)

Larry Edelson: Video market update (Aug 22)

organicheed: Epic meal time str8 from backyard organic garden (Aug 21)

James Turk: Egon von Greyerz interview (Aug 6)

Blog commentary

Turd Ferguson: Bottom projection? (Aug 24)

lakedweller2: Horror story of the minute (Fidelity) (Aug 24)

Audio

King World News: Peter Schiff (Aug 24)

> "50 is going to become the new support (for silver)."

Peter Schiff: Making money is controversial? Ron Paul's profitable portfolio (Aug 24)

Reports

Money News: Gold prices plunge 5.6% as economic fears ease (Aug 24)

Video

(new) NASA: Hurricane Irene from ISS (Aug 24)

Yahoo: Scott Bleier: How to find the market bottom (Aug 23)

Yahoo: Bleier: 4 reasons a bear market looms (Aug 22)

Yahoo: Bleier: Don't buy stocks until everyone turns bearish (Aug 22)

Efficiency vs Frequency

11:00 am Lame. I entered FAZ at 69.35 and stopped myself out at 68.40. It's at 69.38 after hours. I've had some profitable trades in FAZ, but more and more, I just end up clipping myself out with break-evens or small losses. Today was a series of silly attempts to chase FAZ even though I had a specific price level (67.50) in mind. I was unwilling to buy AGQ below 229 and add DGP below 69. AGQ is now 242.52 and DGP is 69.22, both holding most of their gains and then some. So why chase FAZ? That's something I need to just avoid, period, by sticking to price points. It's the simplest, most efficient way for me. Technicals and trend lines are all great, but when I have stuck by targets, I've done far better overall by staying out rather than chasing.

What threw me off, in hindsight, was seeing FAZ drop all the way to 63.00. Had my doubts — emotion — after that even as it rose back to 67 and 68. Instead of a discounted price, I paid higher, logic losing out to emotion.

Long term, I'd be better served, in all probability, by not trying to trade in and out of these vehicles intraday. Example: The Fed could unveil some new form of QE on Sunday night and spark a bull run. FAZ could tank back to 55, even 45. But as we saw recently, every dead cat bounce is sold off. FAZ would eventually return to 70 and then 80, and then 100.

It might be time for me to adjust time frames and shoot for longer swings rather than quick putts. Or just limit quick momo trades to days when there is a major catalyst, like Euro bank destruction.

Adjusted game plan

I. Longer-term holds: physical PMs.

II. Short-term holds: gold and/or silver ETFs.

III. Quick trades: FAZ (on debt crisis headlines), FAS (if and when QE3 is announced), TVIX (on major riot headlines).

I've been 50% to 100% cash for most of this year.

I probably won't bother with FAS and TVIX since I'm asleep through a good portion of the session on most days.

As for today, it was good to be disciplined when the vehicles on my radar gapped up. Not good to avoid them as they dipped. I'm going to examine why I sometimes refuse to buy low and sometimes prefer to buy HIGH.

Phil Town is a master of that. He entered AAPL back in 2009 at 80 or so, precisely calling a bottom in what had been a devastating correction. AAPL has pulled back during the current pullback from 400+ to 356, but I'd say Town has done fairly well.

The only things I can see making a run similar to that are physical gold, physical silver, DGP, AGQ. Maybe FAZ. The AGQ/spot silver relationship is still on my mind. When silver went from 40 to 49+, AGQ went from 220 to 382. That's a 74% gain in AGQ and roughly 25% in spot silver.

Today, silver gained roughly 5.2%. AGQ is up 10.3%. There's reason to believe AGQ is worth trading to net more dollars and buy more physical — much more — even with spot price eventually at 50.

So that's FAZ which I am convinced will hit 100 (while bouncing all over like a pinball). There's AGQ which I have to say will bust through 300 and possibly 400 because spot silver at 50 is a high probability.

Of course, there's DGP. This is proof that ignorance can be costly. Just a year or two ago, I had no clue about real money, sound money, historical money. I viewed gold as a rich man's hoard, something heiresses and gold-digging hotties cared about. Something only a richass rapper could afford. Turns out they were all wiser than me. The instinctive attraction to gold is almost embedded in our DNA. It is internationally understood. Wave some bars of gold around wherever you are in the world, and 99.9% of people won't need to understand a word you say.

It'll be weird one day to see gold out of favor again, when the 30-year cycle turns over, as Mike Maloney points out in his book. If enough gold and silver can transform into farmland and a home, and provide ample resources completely independent of the grid, it's all anyone can ask for.

In due time

Panic of 1873

6:56 am (Hawaii) How much of this has to do with that? Chavez's insistence on physical delivery could, as Brother Turd Ferguson and Tyler Durden scribe, be the biggest domino to fall in the handful of PM vaults that exist from Europe to the US.

In a room full of greedy pigs, it's the bully that gets his way while the others cower. But they're still all pigs. SocGen is taking a major hit (-11.1%) after riding higher in recent sessions with the rest of the banking sector. Reggie Middleton's analysis goes way over my head, but the one fact I gathered from his work is that SocGen and many Euro bigbanks are f**ked. Will this lead to bank runs in Europe and then the US? Let's just say the picture doesn't look pretty whether people line up at banks or not. So many jobless, so much tension ... it explains to an extent why the Fed is quick to put the spotlight on Europe while Chavez is playing one of his trump cards.

Update 7:22 am (Hawaii) Got interrupted by a phone call and FAZ is pushing above 66.00. Trying to at least. This was available at 55-59 just a few days ago. The near term is chaos. The long term is 100. It went to from 44 to 81 to 58 to 76 to 55 or so. All in a few weeks. Someone got some FAZ at 45 and has ignored it since then while on vacation. That's one way to handle the turbulence.

Tuesday evening cinema & library (updated 2 am HST)

Waikiki

12:00 pm (Hawaii) He's right about this.

Cramer: Bernanke just shot Treasury bonds in the back of the head, making equities the most attractive place to go. He guaranteed that CDs won't keep pace with the rate of inflation.

Update 1:40 pm (Hawaii) Really tempted to start scaling into AAPL and/or add to DGP. I had this dilemma yesterday with DGP at 60.27 and opted to not add. DGP now at 63.25 as Asia trading begins. Asia has been big on gold lately while price comes down stateside, though hardly enough to stop this gargantuan run.

I won't mind staying put here and saving some powder for tomorrow, but the possibility of Bernanke staying quiet for 17 more days (Jackson Hole) could permit upside momentum to go wild. There's also the possibility that further chaos in Euro and/or US banks could lead to another series of crashes. For now, the momo is rising, so ... then again, the robot space alien machines put the turbo boost into final hour of trading. These evil machines could easily take the market back into the red before the opening bell tomorrow.

It's a maddening environment. I'd like to run my fingers through a treasure chest of shiny gold coins and be done with the lunacy.

My Regular watch list is 84% green going into the close of after hours trading. Metals list is 72% green. Volume is fairly strong across the board. Machines?

Update 2:00 pm (Hawaii) Scott Nations: "Our markets cannot rally as long as a bunch of people think they're better off holding gold."

Really? I'm in favor of both: ride the market up or down, and accumulate physical gold and silver.

Just opened a medium position in AAPL (at 375.45) and added more DGP (at 63.40), both before the close of after hours trading. Spot gold is at $1,763.60/oz. Basically, it's the angel price of Jim Sinclair. That's not why I'm adding here, though. If the market tanks, gold will protect. If the market rises, Asia has proven enough that it will continue to keep gold moving forward and higher. The debt crises of the US and Europe (and soon, the real estate bubble of China) are all intact.

Fucking beats losing to inflation every day.

Update 2:15 pm (Hawaii) Liesman (CNBC): Pegging the date (mid-2013) makes this Fed move more powerful than QE2 was.

Anybody believe him?

Blogs

(new) Turd Ferguson: (pm) Silver to $44 (Aug 9)

> Gold 3-hour chart | hourly chart | 15-minute chart

(new) Jim Sinclair: In the news today (Aug 9)
(new) Silver Shield: 10 reasons why gold is gut reaction, why silver is smart decision (Aug 9)
David Schawel: Stealth QE3 is upon us (Aug 9)

> "Not the explicit 'Operation Twist' that many expected, but essentially the same thing."

Dave Fry: Market volatility on steroids (Aug 9)
Le Fly: (pm) Can we resist the temptation? (Aug 9)
> "Providing the ECB controls the bond vigilantes in Europe, there is no reason to believe we will not charge higher by another 500 Dow points."
Scott Blier: Downgrade? Phhhhhhtttttt... (Aug 9)
chessNwine: (pm) Multi-punch combinations (Aug 9)
Le Fly: (pm) The Chuck Bennett Bottom (Aug 9)
Le Fly: (pm) We're on our own (Aug 9)
Le Fly: (pm) Happy to get some of my money back (Aug 9)

SGS: Fed to keep rates at record lows (Aug 9)
Scott Blier: (am) Hoping for a black helicopter... (Aug 9)

Mineweb: Next leg up for silver could take it to $65-76/oz - Morgan (Aug 9)

King World News: Nigel Farage: London on fire, so is gold, millions terrified (Aug 9)

King World News: Stephen Leeb: Silver to hit $200 within 24 months (Aug 9)

Turd Ferguson: (am) Never doubt Santa (Aug 9)

> Gold 10-minute chart | 15-minute chart

Turd Ferguson: (am) The madness continues (Aug 9)

barnone11967: Gold's all-time new high of $1,774.30 (Aug 9)

george4vlogging: London riots = insurrection, coming to US soon (Aug 9)

SGS: No title needed, this must be a free market choice (Aug 9)

Jake Gint: (am) Timing the flip (Aug 9)
chessNwine: Might as well have an olde fashioned crash (Aug 8)
Jake Gint: And away we go (Aug 8)
Scott Blier: They bought a year for $600 billion (Aug 8)
Scott Blier: Argue with me, but you'd be wrong (Aug 8)
Scott Blier: Dow chart showing 10900 as THE level (Aug 8)

Blog commentary
theedge111: 'I have yet to hear what the earnings ratios are if we slip into a recession' (Aug 9)

Vlogs

chessNwine: Stock market recap (Aug 9)
Realist News: Worried about silver? LOL, why? (Aug 9)

endlessmountain: The Silver Log - Silver, gold, Bernanke and Jeopardy (Aug 9)

Casey Research: The Great American Debt Crisis (Aug 9)

silverfuturist: Another gold high $1752 with silver flat (Aug 9)

Jim Comiskey: (am) Daily market insights - Metals futures (Aug 9)

BrotherJohnF: Silver update - Game changer (Aug 9)
chessNwine: (am) Prior stock market crashes (Aug 9)

barnone11967: Riot in London, market rising, bailout for Bank of America (Aug 9)

> Perspective of someone who has never traded a stock

ScrapGoldBusiness: Fork Report - JPM predicts gold to $2500? I don't think so (Aug 9)

Realist News: Monday Bloody Monday (Aug 8)

SGTbull07: Meltdown: Gold explodes, Chapman interview (part 1) (part 2) (Aug 8)

Audio
King World News: Nigel Farage (Aug 10)

King World News: Peter Schiff (Aug 9)

Reports

(new) Rick Munarriz: Baidu's talk is cheap (Aug 9)

Business Insider: Stocks, bonds, Swiss francs on a ridiculous face-ripping rally (Aug 9)

Federal Reserve: Press release (Aug 9)

Business Insider: Fed extends super-low rates until 2013, may use more tools (Aug 9)

Business Insider: Richard Koo: The ratings agencies may destroy global economy once again (Aug 9)

Business Insider: German politicians want Spain, Italy to sell off gold (Aug 9)

Business Insider: Perpetual ZIRP and one-way street (Aug 9)

Video

(new) Bloomberg: Marc Faber on the Fed and gold (Aug 9)

RT: Celente: 'S&P downgrade is an Archduke Ferdinand moment' (Aug 9)

MSNBC: Dylan Ratigan on political panic (Aug 9)