End The Fed; Hawkish Tone Sends Dow Below Key Level; Gold, Silver Mercilessly Hammered

While it may seem nothing but a triviality, Money Daily has been following the most recent renge on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) as it bounced its way between 17,500 and 18,000 since mid-March.

Today, the most widely-watched equity index in the world crossed below the lower end of that range, exclusively due to hawkish jawboning from various Federal Reserve operatives, who have spent the better part of the last seven years engaged in radical interest rate and money-creation policies, putting the entire global finacial system at risk.

To the uninformed masses - those 90-plus percent of the adult population who doesn't care or isn't bright enough to comprehend the ramifications of a global central banking system - life goes on. A debt-ridden, over-taxed population in the developed world plays giddily along as private banking interests push them one way or another. A few have escaped to off-the-grid lifestyles, some have prospered in the fiat money world of counterfeit currencies, but most are forced to take what is given, or rather, keep the small scraps the banks and governments leave on the floor after their orgy of inflation, deflation, false promises, fake data points and market mayhem and manipulation.

Thanks to the Fed and their fellow central bankers in Japan, Europe, and now China, the global population is left without price discovery mechanisms which make $30,000 cars with seven-year payment plans sound "affordable", homes which have skyrocketed in value due to artificially-low mortgage rates, fuel prices that are anything but transparent and/or stable and a general climate that continues to be counter to general principles of economy and thrift.

The Fed (and their central banker brethren) is pernicious, malevolent, deceitful, dishonest, greedy and carnivorous. They seek nothing but complete dominance without competition, a monopoly on the medium of exchange. Governments are more than willing to accept their bribery and thievery in order to retain feigned positions of power, selling out their constituents with nary a care toward the ultimate consequences of their actions.

Mandated to enact policies that promote full employment and stable prices, the Fed openly does neither, or, at best, adheres to their promises only as occasion allows, in fact promoting an inflation rate of two percent per year, which is anything but stable for prices.

So intent is the Fed on controlling every last aspect of financial activity, that they have undermined the best open markets of the world, in bonds, stocks, commodities and anything else they can get their greedy hands upon.

Markets no longer move on supply and demand or fundamental forces, but are solely and completely tethered to proclamations and idle talk of agents of the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the People's Bank of China (PBOC), and the European Central Bank (ECB).

It's all rigged, all the time and readers are urged to do their own research into financial matters. Unless and until the fraud of banks and the agents of the Fed and other central banks are brought entirely to light there will be no financial freedom, only crony capitalism, fascist rhetoric and insane, unbalanced economic polices.

May the Farce Be With You:
S&P 500: 2,040.04, -7.59 (0.37%)
Dow: 17,435.40, -91.22 (0.52%)
NASDAQ: 4,712.53, -26.59 (0.56%)

Crude Oil 48.68 -0.20% Gold 1,255.70 -1.47% EUR/USD 1.1203 -0.12% 10-Yr Bond 1.85 -1.86% Corn 390.00 -2.38% Copper 2.07 -0.63% Silver 16.51 -3.63% Natural Gas 2.04 +1.75% Russell 2000 1,094.78 -0.74% VIX 16.33 +2.38% BATS 1000 20,677.17 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4609 +0.09% USD/JPY 109.9550 -0.20%

It's TRUE: Crooked Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Silver/Gold Manipulation Lawsuits

Stocks zig-zagged their way through options expiry, drooping in the morning and early afternoon, but gaining a little ground in late trading, eventually closing marginally in the red, but strongly higher for the week.

The major indices had a banner week, with the averages closing higher for the seventh time in the last nine weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has rocketed nearly 2500 points in just about two months of trading. It's an impressive run, though likely not to be sustainable. At the very least, it's all just paper, which can be blown away on a whim.

For the week:
Dow: +320.36 (1.82%)
S&P 500: +33.11 (1.62%)
NASDAQ: +87.53 (1.80%)

On the day:
S&P 500: 2,080.69, -2.09 (0.10%)
Dow: 17,897.25, -29.18 (0.16%)
NASDAQ: 4,938.22, -7.67 (0.16%)

Crude Oil 40.36 -2.75% Gold 1,235.90 +0.77% EUR/USD 1.1284 +0.18% 10-Yr Bond 1.75 -1.63% Corn 380.00 +1.60% Copper 2.15 -0.94% Silver 16.26 +0.57% Natural Gas 1.91 -3.25% Russell 2000 1,130.62 +0.18% VIX 13.84 +0.87% BATS 1000 20,682.61 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4198 +0.33% USD/JPY 108.7350 -0.66%

More important news follows...

While this news may be rather stunning to the average investor, those who don't own any silver and/or gold, Deutsche Bank agreed to settle litigation accusing it and other banks of manipulating the price of gold and silver, to the detriment of investors worldwide.

Terms were not disclosed, but this much we now know: banks are crooks, plain and simple. The world's largest banks have been found guilty of manipulating everything from mortgages to libor to interest rates to oil prices.

The sad part about this story is that while Deustche Bank will pay a fine (which will be a fraction of what they made by rigging the markets for themselves and friends), and is supposed to turn evidence on the other banks accused of collusion with them in the rigging, not a single trader or executive will face criminal charges.

Don't believe it? Try reading and going through the myrid links in this article posted on Zero Hedge.

That's why nobody trades in the stock market anymore, except for hedge funds, mutual and pension fund managers and others with inside information. It's all rigged, and it's been that way for a long time - maybe 20 years - but now it is worse than ever.

Money Daily has repeatedly warned that there hasn't been a mechanism for price discovery since the bank bailouts of 2009, and there sure aren't now. How much should you pay for a whole chicken? A used car? A house?

With markets routinely monopolized and manipulated by a criminal cartel, with the blessing of the world's central banks, how can anyone know what is fair value.

This is exactly why Money Daily often has little comment on markets or the commentary is decidedly of a negative tone. Markets are all rigged by players with a lot more money and information than the average investor. It's all a big con game. The only true stores of value are gold, silver and certain real estate, especially farm land. At least, when everything goes belly up, you can grow your own food and feed your family.

Good luck.

Wall Street Crooks Steal from Both Sides

Upon which side of the debate do you fall? Do you believe this is a bear market rally or the beginning of a new bull?

Whatever your opinion, the big money which flows from the major brokerages has you covered. Today was a serious case in point of how the brokerages steal from both sides. Stocks began the day with losses, hit bottom at 12:30 and gained the rest of the day, finishing close to the best levels of the session, with minor losses.

The Dow, in particular, outperformed the other indices by a wide margin, likely owing to the fact that three of the major failed, insolvent banking institutions - Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup - are included in the average. Throw in American Express, General Motors and General Electric and you have what prosecutors would call means and motive for manipulating the Dow currency close to the break-even line, which is exactly what occurred on Monday.

Dow 7,975.85, -41.74 (0.52%)
NASDAQ 1,606.71, -15.16 (0.93%)
S&P 500 835.48, -7.02 (0.83%)
NYSE Composite 5,250.10, -68.65 (1.29%)

Apparently, financial outlooks were poor in the morning, but markedly improved in the afternoon. I prefer to believe that the major brokerages, which can exert as much or as little influence as they like, prefer their markets to be rigged in their favor. In any case, what the charts are yelling, loud and clear, is that the rally of recent weeks has run out of steam, having hit a trading and volume top on Thursday of last week and followed up with what amounts to churning the following two days.

Of course, I've been proven wrong before and there's a high probability that the Wall Street fixers will say, "to hell with the technicals," which are pointing upwards at heavy resistance, and just pump the indices right on through, declaring a new bull market, the end of banking problems and a new day in America.

There are more than a few detractors to the view, though the general tone of the lap-dog media is that conditions are improving, even though the only evidence of that are a couple of minor bounces off bottoms by a few random economic indicators and the actual stock market rally itself (which you can't count as a sign it's getting better and also use as the ultimate discounting mechanism).

Looking at market internals, it is notable that declining issues outnumbered advancing ones, 4497-1963, a 5-2 margin, which is much worse than the headline numbers suggest. Additionally, new low continued ahead of new highs, 66-18, a narrow edge, but one that has yet to flip over after favoring the new lows on a daily basis for more than 16 months.

Volume was down again, as it was Friday, suggesting a dearth of buying enthusiasm, not surprising after the giant run-up which has stretched to four weeks without interruption.

NYSE Volume 6,221,203,500
NASDAQ Volume 1,976,220,500

Commodities traded in a more realistic fashion, with oil down $1.46, to $51.05, though it traded below $50 briefly during the day. Gold's losses continued to mount, losing $24.50, to $872.80. Silver was also beaten down 63 cents, to finish at $12.11, a near-term low and a distinct buying opportunity.

Some have questioned my penchant for silver under $13.00 an ounce, so here's my rationale, simply put: At $13.80 per ounce, 90% silver coins, of which are the widest variety in the US, have a melt value exactly 10 times their face value, so it's an easy calculation, but, more importantly, if US greenbacks lose their value entirely, silver coins may become the currency of choice, and the 10X face value may become the accepted rate of exchange, though there's some room for thinking that the number could be 20X face value, which would be even better.

In any case, buying at $13/oz. or less, you will eventually be a winner when the US economy fully disintegrates. Whether it's by currency devaluation and resultant inflation, or, runaway deflation, silver coins will still maintain solid value either here or abroad. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to buy more pre-1964 Washington quarters and Morgan and Peace dollars at $6/oz., though sadly, those days seem to be long gone.

The metals and most other commodities continue to display classic deflation conditions. In such a scenario, investors and traders alike are victims of slack demand and consequent oversupply. The argument for deflation continues to gain traction as the Fed and treasury desperately try to inflate, though their efforts are largely staunched because they continue to throw money down the black hole that consists of the nation's five largest banks, plus AIG.

Another does of reality, courtesy former bank regulator, William K. Black:



An exceptional interview with Mr. Black was aired this past weekend on Bill Moyers Journal

Dow Players Paint Tape, Confirm (False) Double Bottom

Stocks began the day with small gains and hit the day's highs shortly after noon, though they were clearly under pressure all day.

While the Dow flirted with the flat line in a very narrow range through almost all of the session, sentiment was severely split. Neither bears nor bulls could muster enough energy to move stocks clearly in one direction or the other, though the NYSE Composite and the S&P 500 spent the majority of the day in the red.

The Dow stayed on a somewhat even keel all session long, even though there were never more than 13 of the 30 stocks inside the index showing gains. Chief among the gainers was Wal-Mart (WMT), which finished the day with the biggest gain of any Dow component, up 1.76, to an even 50.00.

Others which aided the index from falling were Intel (INTC), McDonald's (MCD), IBM (IBM), Proctor Gamble (PG) and ExxonMobil (XOM). The case could be made for selective boosting of the Dow by insiders, as any number of players did not want to witness another bout of selling after yesterday's classic double bottom formation.

One had to look only so far as ExxonMobile vs. Chevron (CHV). While the former was higher all day, the latter was underwater throughout the afternoon except for the final half hour, despite the two of them being in essentially the same business. Chevron finished with a 6 cent loss, while ExxonMobil ended the day with a 66 cent gain.

At the end of the day, the bulls prevailed, lifting the Dow by the smallest of margins, notably on late day buying of just three stocks: Chevron (CHV), American Express (AXP) and Merck (MRK), each of which spent almost the entire day lower before a burst of buying in the final half hour of trading.

Dow 7,555.63, +3.03 (0.04%)
NASDAQ 1,467.97, -2.69 (0.18%)
S&P 500 788.42, -0.75 (0.10%)
NYSE Composite 4,924.54, -14.57 (0.29%)

Adding to the argument of the bears is the fact that only the Dow finished in positive territory, further evidence of insider trading in a concerted effort to finish above the now double bottom at 7552.29 (Nov. 20) and 7552.60 (Feb. 17). Their argument is hardly convincing when considering the various factors affecting market movement.

The internals were decidedly bearish, to a point at which one must question today's headline results. Advancing issues were buried under a deluge of losers, with decliners ahead, 4396-2120, a better-than 2-1 margin. Further, the gap between new lows and new highs expanded greatly, with 661 new lows to just 22 new highs. Those two indicators strongly suggest that today's finish on the Dow was a serious case of painting the tape so that the bullish cause can now call a bottom, right there at 7552 and change.

Nothing could be further from the truth. First, the Dow's gains were insignificant. Second, the other three indices finished lower and have not come close to retesting their respective lows. Third, the new highs/new lows and advance/decline lines were of a nature more like a day in which the Dow would have lost 100-200 points. Fourth, Most of the Dow stocks were lower, with the final tally at 12 up and 18 down, with the biggest volume stocks sharply lower.

NYSE Volume 1,433,404,000
NASDAQ Volume 2,060,209,000

Two largest volume movers by far - Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) were down substantially all day long with Bank of America suffering a 6.73% loss, down 0.33, to $4.57. Citigroup was down 4.90%, losing 0.15, to 2.91.

There is a growing acceptance that those two - the largest banks in America - will have to undergo some form of government receivership, or, "nationalization" in a controlled divestiture or bankruptcy proceeding with the likely assistance of the FDIC, Treasury and the Federal Reserve.

Once again, commodity prices were mixed, though similar to Tuesday's action. The metals were all higher, while foodstuffs were markedly lower, as was oil, losing 31 cents, to $34.62. Gold galloped ahead by $10.70, to $978.20, while the rally in silver continued unabated, up another 28 cents, to $14.29.

Adding to the bear case were the four economic indicators, all showing signs of stress by registering numbers for January that were down and lower than expected. Housing starts fell to 466,000, from 560,000 in December. Building permits fell to 521,000, from 547,000 in the prior month. Capacity utilization continued in free fall, down to 72% form 73.3% a month earlier. So too, industrial production, falling by 1.8% on the heels of a 2.4% fall in December.

As far as a double bottom is concerned, the charts will confirm it because they do not lie, even though the results of today's trading are highly suspect. In the end, this will be seen only as a support/resistance level as another move lower is clearly in the cards.

The manipulators in the marketplace may get a temporary boost on false hopes, though it's just as likely that the markets will continue to deteriorate and today was only an effort mixed in with Friday's options expiration. The Dow could easily lose (or gain) 300-500 points be the end of the week. It could also meander along in a meaningless pattern for some time, but eventually, this bottom will be taken out, because it is a false one.