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)

Monday night library & cinema

Reuters: Spain says market are closing to it as G7 confers (June 5)
Lucas Krupinski: Take a pass on leveraged ETFs (June 5)
Sam Ro: Barclays says a 1980-style market rally is on the table (June 5)
Nicole Foss: 2008 was practice run compared to what comes next (June 4)
Tyler Durden: China purchases record 100 tons of gold in April from Hong Kong (June 4)
Tyler Durden: Now, courtesy of Bridgewater... it's Italy's turn (June 4)
Kenneth Schortgen Jr: Market rumor - Pimco, JPMorgan halt vacations to prepare for economic crash (June 3)
Reggie Middleton: Dead bank deja vu? (June 1)
Dan Norcini: The futility of QE (June 1)

CNBC: Kaminsky accuses Morgan Stanley of painting the tape (June 4)

Weekend cinema & library (updated)

Bokor Mountain Church, Cambodia

Le Fly/iBankCoin: Germany's third World War (June 3)
Scott Bleier/iBankCoin: Growth at any cost? (June 3)
Business Insider: Soros reveals exact moment Merkel started Euro collapse (June 2)
Business Insider: Former hedge funder presents terrifying version of end game (June 2)
Bloomberg: Merkel rejects debt sharing (June 2)
Reuters: Funds pull out of commodities, most bearish since end-2011 (June 1)
Zero Hedge: 'The End Game' (June 1)
Zero Hedge: The deer is back (June 1)
Zero Hedge: Santelli and Kaminsky on broken rules, unpredictability, deleveraging (June 1)
Zero Hedge: Sorry folks, QE3 ain't coming, even the Fed doves admit it (June 1)

News trumps all

7:50 am (Hawaii) I've been disgusted with myself all week, which is no way to prepare for the market. Heck, in that mindset, it would've been best to leave home for awhile, get outside and get some clarity, which I did a few times. It's not the amount in trading losses that bothered me; it was relatively fractional. It was the whipsaw nature of price action and my inability — or unwillingness — to respect the lack of direction.

But I was all cash most of the week after the close, and that game plan was best. Though I wasn't long FAZ overnight, I wasn't long the market either and this -247 point move in the Dow comes on the back end of these negative PMI numbers across the world in the past 36 hours. It's tempting to go short (via FAZ or TVIX), but the risk here is that with all the bad news absorbed, and Obama done speaking (the indices dove again as he began), the market is done puking for the time being.

DJ -2%
Nasdaq -2.6%
S&P -2.3%

Overnight futures were at -110 before I hit the sack, so getting up to see this isn't a major shock. But gold is UP. DGP is +8.2%. AAPL is down 2.5% ($14) to 563. Even some of the stocks that had been resilient, like JACK, are down more than 4%.

The strange thing is, volume is SO LOW. In some cases, it is miniscule. So is this a true capitulation move even without volume? Maybe there are simply no sellers left and this really is the bottom. But I'm not willing to go long here. Not yet.

Update 8:13 am In FAZ at 29.75.

Update 8:20 am Out FAZ 29.62. It was up to 29.83 and topped out. Should've protected myself and stopped out (manual) for break-even. Tiny loss, but it's the principle. During that intraday top by FAZ, AAPL bottomed at 560.52. AAPL now 562.50, FAZ at 29.50. Anything with a gain over 10% like FAZ is due to sell off, no surprise.

Weekend cinema & library (updated)

10:37 am (Hawaii) Gold (and silver) got a nice gap up this morning thanks to the CME mafia's loosening (death) grip on margin requirements. Most of the market though was flat, meandering, aimless. The skeptic in me wants to be in FAZ since we have Memorial Day weekend ahead and that gives the Euro boneheads three entire days to keep screwing their system up. (Is it reasonable to expect such disparate cultures and nations to be unified? We would never enter a union with Canada, Mexico, Panama and Haiti, would we? Bad comparison, I know, but how can Germany not despise Greece at this point?)

So gold's leap higher appeals to the optimist in me. Maybe the puppeteers are ready to jolt this market to new highs like 2011. But craziness in the euro zone is going to happen, just a matter of when. So I remain neutral, all cash.

Bloomberg: Deutsche Bank's Fitschen said failed Greece lacks leaders (May 25)
Zerohedge: About that European stress test (2011) and where pain in Spain is raining next (May 25)
Zerohedge: Greece has proved that ECB bailout scheme based on lies, fraud (May 25)

Update Monday 8:14 pm The pessimists/realists/skeptics could be right 99% of the time. I could agree with them 99% of the time. But that 1% they're wrong could be precisely when the market bounces. Probably when more fiat starts rolling off the digital presses. Then what? What good will it do anyone to be short the market?

Still, it's good to hear both sides of the story.

Economic Collapse: 25 signs that smart money has written off Southern Europe (May 28)
Reggie Middleton (video): Breaking down muppetology (May 28)
Le Fly: One more great trade until September (May 28)

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.

Machines rule earth

7:44 am (Hawaii) I woke up early enough to get out of DGP at 47.74, taking a small loss (-0.46/share) on a weird open. I was totally worn out by this cold and sleep debt though, and crashed out until now. The indices are up and strangely enough, internet/social stocks started poorly and spiked after that roughly 30 minutes in. YELP, for example, sank to 16+ but rose to 20 or so.

FB is down 9% to 34.79, but it was at 33 earlier. AAPL is up 4.4$ to 553. It hit a recent low of 521+ on Friday and closed that day at 530. FAS is up 2.6% though JPM is down 2.7%.

Strange day, indeed. DGP has drifted, still red, now at 48.00. The G8 effect has been minimal, did little to help bulls or bears. gold bugs or bank haters.

Volume is weak. AAPL volume is at 15M+ shares; it was at 26M+ on Friday.

The machines are in control. Again. I suppose this is the one thing that was generally agreed upon at Camp David over the weekend. It feels like melt-up time again.

Tarnished gold?

Gold finished higher today while silver got axed. But gold was downgraded today by HSBC, which means they're lying and actually hoarding paper and physical gold for the next few days, or they really don't think QE3 will be QE3.

Here's what MarketWatch had to say about the lowered forecast.

Gold will never go out of style. But it's still a market, and it's still about buy low, sell high.

Wednesday cinema & library

UPDATE - Wed PM








Wed AM

MoneyBags73: Queen's broker buys gold

Funny and true. The queen says not buying gold is masochistic and may require medical attention.

Endless Mountain, Mar 9

Comiskey, Mar 9

Nose to the grindstone

Wow it's been forever. I haven't missed the market one bit. Haven't known if I've missed rallies or downswings. Had plenty enough to keep me busy through the holiday season, and work has been the usual heavy load. But it's time to do some catching up. For someone like me who hasn't kept up with the Euro debt (death) spiral and the latest shenanigans stateside, it's a refreshing taste of news that I'll dab into this week, little by little. I don't expect to bet on anything real soon, unless gold and silver take a nosedive and bargain prices are available.

Here's some perspective from one of the best, streetmoney21.

Monday cinema & library

Blogs
Open Secrets: 15 Tea Party caucus freshmen rake in $3.5 million (Nov 21)
Le Fly: Prepare for the Dark Ages (Nov 21)
Cain Thaler: The commentators are sheer idiots (Nov 21)
Le Fly: Feel my rage (Nov 21)
Le Fly: Nothing to be thankful for (Nov 21)
Cain Thaler: Today has the makings of a washout (Nov 21)
Golden Truth: MF Global trustee: $1.2 billion missing (Nov 21)
Scott Bleier: Psycho killer (Nov 18)

Vlogs

bigdad06: Bite this apple Jamie! (Nov 21)
streetmoney21: CME lost all credibility (Nov 21)
RT: Guest John Perkins (Nov 21)
Christopher Greene: Expect bank runs and global war in 2012 (Nov 21)
ScrapGoldBusiness: Commodity broker leaves for ethical concerns! (Nov 21)

Mainstream
Bloomberg: CME may face 'liability' in MF Global disclosure (Nov 21)
MarketWatch: MF funds shortfall could top $1.2 bln: trustee (Nov 21)
Perth Mint: World's largest gold coin (Nov 21)

Eye candy

Wednesday cinema & library (updated 830 pm HST)

Blogs
(new) Golden Truth: Don't get MF'd by Blackrock (Nov 9)
(new) Golden Truth: Stagflation sets in (Nov 9)
Zero Hedge: Did Merkel just usher in the deutsche mark? (Nov 9)
Reggie Middleton: What's that I heard about squids raising capital because they can't trade? (Nov 9)
Zero Hedge: Italy sparks market bloodbath: financial stocks collapse (Nov 9)
Le Fly: Murderholes (Nov 9)
Scott Bleier: Sometimes there are two sets of facts... (Nov 9)
Turd Ferguson: The Criminal Element, part deux (Nov 9)
Le Fly: Behold: Armageddon (Nov 9)
Cain Thaler: It is now official (Nov 9)
RaginCajun: Not quick enough (Nov 9)
Turd Ferguson: Bancarotta (Nov 9)
Zero Hedge: YTD equity fund outflows hit $112 billion (Nov 9)
Nicholas Pardini: It's not too late to short financials (Nov 9)
David White: Italy's 10-year bond yield passes 7% - another black swan event? (Nov 9)
Reggie Middleton: Italy's woes spell nightmare for NBP - just as I predicted (Nov 9)
SGS: Morning update (Nov 9)
Le Fly: Nuclear option is now on table (Nov 9)
RC Whalen: MF Global, repo-to-maturity and large bank OBS exposures (Nov 9)

Zero Hedge: Barclays says Italy is finished: 'Mathematically beyond point of no return' (Nov 8)

Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul: Chinese to bust gold cartel (Nov 8)
(new) Peter Morici: Is Italy next to fall and will gold go to $3,000/oz (Nov 8)
Golden Truth: More on MF Global - it gets worse (Nov 6)

Vlogs

silverfuturist: Silver doesn't blow up when promises fail (Nov 9)
Hit the Bid: Krull to Arms (Nov 9)
James Turk: Guest Markus Kerber (Sept 30)

Audio

(new) Peter Schiff Radio (Nov 9)

Mainstream
CNBC: Italy's woes signal 'dangerous phase' in EU crisis: El-Erian (Nov 9)
Reuters: ECB's Stark to Europe: We are not 'lender of last resort' (Nov 9)
CNBC: State, muni crunch hits home values: Meredith Whitney (Nov 9)
CNBC: 65 chance of banking crisis by end Nov: Think tank (Nov 9)
Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs traders lost money 21 days in Q3, most since '08 (Nov 9)

(video) Reuters: Italy's borrowing at breaking point (Nov 9)

(video) Euronews: Berlusconi set for exit after austerity vote (Nov 9)

(video) Reuters: Perfect storm forming in Italian bond market (Nov 9)

(video) ET Now: Guest Jim Rogers (Nov 8)

Eye candy

FAS vs FAZ

12:36 pm (Hawaii) Getting a lot of work done early in the day now that I'm not obsessing over a schizoid market. Yesterday, Italy's chief announced he would step down under conditional terms and the market zoomed. Today, Italy bonds get out of control (again) and the Dow loses 389 points (3.2%). The action was not gray area at all. AAPL sank 2.7% to 395. Financials were fugly.

BAC -5.2% to 6.19, WFC -5.4%, AIG -6.3%, IRE -6.5%, NBG -6.8%, JPM -7.2%, UBS -7.7%, C -8%, STD -8.2%, GS 8.2%, BBVA -8.3%, MS -8.7%, HBC -9.1%, ETFC -9.4%, JEF -10.4%, RBS -11.1%, DB -11.2%.

FAS shrank 14.8%. FAZ went from 39 yesterday to 43+ today with very little selloff into the close. In fact, after I got up, it dropped below 43 to the mid-42s, then ran up above 43.50. On big volume. If you're like me, you know AAPL leads the retail market, and AAPL's selloff today on large volume with that hanging man candle looks simply horrible.

Technicals do not tell us what's going to happen, and they are the mercy of headline risk. But they do provide a visual into the global monetary chaos, and what a friggin mess.

Below, some charts and that includes TVIX, which was up 37% freaking percent! I remain in the bleachers sipping a hot cocoa, cash under the mattress.

FAZ daily

No matter how much weight the banksters have behind their

punch, they can't find resolution to the toxic assets near and far.

FAZ daily

Major move today on heavy volume but I suspect this stays in a 

range between 36 and 44. A break above 44 would tempt.

FAS daily

The breakout momentum was doused today but volume

was not totally indicative of a definite avalanche.

FAS daily

Big move post-pennant? I should've said moves, as in plural!

DGP daily

Down 1.7% today, which makes no sense considering the

mega-printing of fiat that is due globally. Soon.

AAPL daily

One hell of an ugly candle.  

AAPL daily

The move lower was on significant volume.

UUP daily

Mad US dollar!

TVIX daily

37% in one day? This closed at 46.04 yesterday.

TVIX daily

The Italian-German-French-Greek soap opera continues in 

As The Euro Central Bank Turns. Tomorrow's episode: 

Happy bedroom talk resumes and TVIX loses half of

today's enormous gain. 

Tuesday cinema & library (updated 530 pm HST)

Blogs

(new) Charles Hugh Smith: The stock market megaphone pattern that should terrify you (Nov 1)

(new) Cullen Roche: The ugly math behind Italy's sovereign debt crisis (Nov 1)

(new) Golden Truth: US banking system more leveraged now than 2008 (Nov 1)

(new) Peter Brandt: What charts say about US stock market (Nov 1)

Zero Hedge: Morgan Stanley on Greece, why it is very Euro negative (Nov 1)

Turd Ferguson: MFing Global (Nov 1)

Lance Roberts: Fed trapped by inflation, there will be no QE3 tomorrow (Nov 1)
Reggie Middleton: Greco-Franco bank run has skipped pond, landed in NY/Chicago (Nov 1)
Zero Hedge: How US banks are lying about European exposure (Nov 1)
SGS: Carnage update (Nov 1)

Le Fly: Life could be worse (Nov 1)
Jake Gint: Pumpkin head market (Nov 1)
Cain Thaler: I'll take a break from pessimism (Nov 1)
Rajun Cajun: Pullback to the 20-day (Nov 1)
chessnwine: Melting away the coked-up rally (Nov 1)

SGS: MF bankruptcy, Turk and coming housing collapse (Oct 31)

Vlogs

bigdad06: China moves on water! (Nov 1)

manoftruth: Europe, Greece, US and total economic collapse (Nov 1)
RT: Domino effect? 'Debt unpayable, Greece to exit Euro mess' (Nov 1)
chessnwine: Stock market recap (Nov 1)

RT: Lauren Lyster (Nov 1)

Gerald Celente: Liberty Plaza, part 3 (Nov 1)

(new) NewAmericaNow: Greece: SHTF imminent (Nov 1)

(new) Christopher Greene: MF Global is next Lehman (Nov 1)

Audio

Mainstream
(new) Business Insider: Europe - What to expect in the next 24 hours (Nov 1)

(new) Business Insider: The scariest chart in Europe: Italy-German 10-year spread (Nov 1)

(new) Business Insider: Here's who is freaking out now that Greece will hard default (Nov 1)

(new) Business Insider: Fitch joins mass freak-out over Greek referendum (Nov 1)

Bloomberg: Wen may loosen credit as China inflation cools (Nov 1)
Bloomberg: All MF Global funds accounted for (Nov 1)
Bloomberg: EU leaders hold pre-G20 crisis talks (Nov 1)
AP: Greek govt in chaos with debt deal in doubt (Nov 1)

(new) Business Insider: Papandreou gets cabinet to rally around referendum (Nov 1)
Reuters: Germans warn of Greek euro exit after referendum gambit (Nov 1)

Bloomberg: Selling more insurance on shaky European debt raises risk for US banks (Nov 1)
NBC: FBI, federal prosecutors to join inquiry into Corzine firm (Nov 1)
Investopedia: The history of Greek sovereign debt defaults (Sept 26)

(new) Business Insider: The sad story of why everyone's angry at Italy (Sept 23)

Trick or Treat?

Tuesday cinema & library (updated 900 pm HST)

Blogs
Upside Trader: Why I shorted financials twice in 2 days (Oct 25)
Le Fly: You are cordially invited (Oct 25)
Cain Thaler: I told you they'd disappoint (Oct 25)
Le Fly: Hedge fund relief rally stalled (Oct 25)
Cain Thaler: QE3 is coming (Oct 25)
Le Fly: There is only one long trade here (Oct 25)
Le Fly: Devil is in details (Oct 25)
Rajun Cajun: What I'm looking at this morning (Oct 25)
Golden Truth: Housing continues death spiral (Oct 25)

Vlogs

(new) streetmoney21: Gold, silver finally make a move (Oct 25)

(new) bullorbearreport: Silver rebound, markets looking bullish (Oct 25)

Truth Never Told: The Riddle (Oct 25)

Peter Schiff: How govt stimulus spending and deficits impact capital markets (Oct 25)

Wearchange.org: Russell Simmons on End the Fed (Oct 25)

endless mountain: Stock market and silver technical analysis (Oct 25)

ScrapGoldBusiness: Time has come to buy silver (Oct 25)

Kitco: Bill Murphy, Jeff Christian (Oct 25)

Jim Comiskey: Daily market insights - Metals futures (Oct 25)

Audio
Peter Schiff Radio (Oct 25)

Chris Martenson: Guest Eric Sprott (Oct 25)

Mainstream

Reuters: Amazon profits fall more than expected (Oct 25)

Sleep vs Trading

10:40 am (Hawaii) Was in and out of FAZ today for a very small loss. Bought FAZ at 44.70, stopped myself out at 43.96. Bought FAZ at 44.80, stopped myself out at 44.96. Bought again at 45.33, stopped myself out at 45.64. FAZ ran above 46 before the bell, then predictably sold off to mid-45. Currently 45.91 after hours.

Between the first trade and later trades, I got a few hours of sleep while the Dow sat in the -90 to -120 range. The Dow finished -207, basically giving back yesterday's gains. October has been a beastly month for bulls, so some profit-taking is normal. But what's exceptional is some of the crashes in certain stocks today.

AMZN -18.6%
FSLR -25.2%
GMCR -13.1%
NFLX -35%
WNR -9.8%
X -9.8%

Precious metals did very well today on solid volume, as Brother Turd forecasted yesterday. AGQ up 10.3% to 63.60. DGP up 5.4% to 57.31. Miners up big. EXK +6.1% to 10.43. GDX +2.4%. SLW +3.4%. XG +7.9%. I still have no interest in trading miners. Too many invisible factors, ie puppeteers.

AAPL was above 406 early, but led the way down (along with copper, NFLX, etc) and is -2.3% to 396+.

Monday cinema & library (updated Tue 200 am HST)

Blogs

Golden Truth: It gets more unbelievable every day (Oct 24)

Le Fly: I've got news for you (Oct 24)

SGS: Just read this (Oct 24)

Le Fly: Gasoline party (Oct 24)

Le Fly: Biggest one moth rally since April 2009 (Oct 24)

Turd Ferguson: There he goes again (Oct 24)

Clive Maund: Silver market update (Oct 24)

Vlogs

(new) JS Kim: Truth Chronicles, Vol. 2: How to take down the banks (Oct 24)

(new) JS Kim: Truth Chronicles, Vol. 2: How to take down the banks (Oct 24)

(new) Reggie Middleton: Intellectually aggressive analysis: When big bank goes bad! (Oct 24)

Jim Comiskey: Daily market insights - Metals futures (Oct 24)

Hit the Bid: Krull to Arms (Oct 24)

BrotherJohnF: Silver update - Petrodollar seignorage (Oct 24)

RT: Nigel Farage - House of Commons EU referendum debate (Oct 24)

Weekly Telegram: Zero Hedge and know it all gloomer blogs will keep you bankrupt (Oct 24)

Audio

Turd Ferguson: Guest Jim Comiskey (Oct 22)

Mainstream

RT: EU summit eyes Lisbon Treaty change (Oct 24)
Reuters: Greece is Europe's Bear Stearns, not Lehman (Oct 24)

Reuters: Growing demand lifts Caterpillar (Oct 24)

San Jose Mercury News: Netflix loses 800K subscribers, stock tanks (Oct 24)