Government Shutdown Day One: Who Cares?

Believing that the federal government shutdown - which began at 12:00:01 EDT Tuesday - would have no ill effects on the economy in general or stocks in particular, investors piled into high-risk assets, with the NASDAQ marking one of its best daily gains of the year.

Alternatively and somewhat counter-intuitively, precious metals sold off dramatically, with gold and silver monkey-hammered back down in an effort by the controlling cartel of central bankers to assure the world that all was safe, despite the globe's biggest and most important economy beset by problems stemming from its politicians.

The overall tone from the pols in the nation's capital is so unambiguously passe as to create some doubt that the impasse over the continuing resolution and the poorly-executed launch of state-by-state health insurance marketplaces for ObamaCare are anything but passing glitches that will soon be amended, such as Wall Street would like to believe.

However, every day that the government is shut down creates less-favorable conditions for the continued success of the world's reserve currency, the US Dollar, which fell modestly, according to the Dollar Index (DXY). Confidence in the leadership in Washington has hit an all-time low, not just from the general population but in foreign capitals as well.

Theatrics aside, Republicans and Democrats appear very far apart ideologically, though the perception one gets from idea leaders in the media is that the shutdown will last only a very few days, which is somewhat hard to believe, considering that the two sides aren't even communicating with each other, everybody in Washington seemingly on an unexpected holiday.

This farce of politics and money will not end well for those in power. The American public has had just about enough from Washington politicians, whose hubris knows no bounds and who operate without any sense of decency, wishing only to score political points in order to cripple the opposition.

With any luck, the politicians will not find a way out of the morass of deceit and despair they have wrought. And now, the countdown to the upcoming debt ceiling deadline can begin. October 17, the day upon which the government will supposedly run out of money, is not far off.

When people become complacent, trouble usually comes looking.

Dow 15,191.70, +62.03 (0.41%)
Nasdaq 3,817.98, +46.50 (1.23%)
S&P 500 1,695.00, +13.45 (0.80%)
10-Yr Bond 2.65%, +0.03
NYSE Volume 3,181,675,250
Nasdaq Volume 1,749,596,125
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3998-1566
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 416-41
WTI crude oil: 102.04, -0.29
Gold: 1,286.10, -40.90
Silver: 21.18, -0.533

Front-running the Government Shutdown... from Behind

In keeping with the spirit of the day, the staff and writers of Money Daily took most of Monday off, but will be back with a better-than-bare-bones edition on Tuesday, probably.

Since the government shutdown of all "non-essential" services (and there you have it in a nutshell, if some government services are non-essential, why have them at all? A good place to start cutting.) is part farce and part fantasy, we shall endeavor to not overly satirize the proceedings.

Mail will still be delivered, planes will fly (and land, we hope), and welfare checks and food stamps will continue to supply the Free Sh-T Army.

Nothing much will change in any large way, unless the shutdown lasts for more than a few weeks and bumps up against the semi-artificial deadline set by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew of October 17, the date at which the government will run out of money and not be able to borrow more.

Then it may be time to break out the MREs and bottled water.

Monday's Results (pre-shutdown)
Dow 15,129.67, -128.57 (0.84%)
Nasdaq 3,771.48, -10.12 (0.27%)
S&P 500 1,681.55, -10.20 (0.60%)
10-Yr Bond 2.6150%, -0.0040
WTI crude oil: 102.33, -0.54
Gold: 1,327.00, -12.20
Silver: 21.71, -0.123

Government Shutdown in 3... 2... 1... Is All Hype and Bad Theater

Stocks started the session in the red and stayed that way all day.

Pundits say the sell-off (Dow, S&P down six of the last seven sessions) is due to either the threat of a government shutdown or overvaluation.

The latter is probably closer to the mark, if only because the government taking a few days off next week isn't going to affect stocks very much; maybe a couple of select companies, but in general, a government shutdown is a big, fat nothing-burger, with fries.

However, as the current casino games are being played, stocks will rise the moment a deal is struck in Washington, hoping to pull in more retail suckers investors with indices at close to all-time highs and many stocks ridiculously valued, many of which are listed on the NASDAQ.

If the federal government does shut down, it will only be for a few days. By then the Republicans will save face, saying that they don't want any more suffering by ordinary people. The truth is they don't really care about ordinary people, except when they're within fifty feet of a voting booth and said politician's name is on the ballot.

The showdown in Washington is just another example of how servile and juvenile our federal government has become. It has far overstepped the bounds of the constitution and now plies the media in order to torment the citizenry.

Thank goodness it's Friday and one can tune out most of the noise and the nonsense.

And, someday, we'll actually have functioning, rational markets. Sure, someday.

Dow 15,258.24, -70.06 (0.46%)
Nasdaq 3,781.59, -5.83 (0.15%)
S&P 500 1,691.75, -6.92 (0.41%)
10-Yr Bond 2.62%, -0.02
NYSE Volume 3,224,407,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,664,139,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2278-4160
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 169-46
WTI crude oil: 102.87, -0.16
Gold: 1,339.20, +15.10
Silver: 21.83, +0.065

Washington's Paper Tigers Just Do It and Churn

You've got to be kidding, right?

This non-market, completely underpinned by the $1.02 Trillion annual Bernanke Put, despite the usual theatrics from Washington's paper tigers who can stand around, do nothing, occasionally take to a podium to swear at the other side and eventually cave in to their bankster bosses, still hasn't made new highs.

Sad, really, even as Nike led all indices higher today, especially the Dow, now a worthless contraption engineered to be a perpetual motion machine. If the Dow doesn't go up, they'll just kick out the losers and put in a couple of winners, keeping everybody indexed and happy as clams.

The government isn't going to shut down, nor is it not going to raise the debt ceiling.

Relax. Buy stocks. You will thank Money Daily in December, just before you relinquish 20-40% of your gains to the government. That's how it works, and, if it doesn't, the government will fine you, a la JP Morgan or maybe some Japanese auto parts makers. Fines are the new tax because most intelligent people have already figured out how not to pay ordinary taxes.

Peace.

Dow 15,328.30, +55.04 (0.36%)
Nasdaq 3,787.43, +26.33 (0.70%)
S&P 500 1,698.67, +5.90 (0.35%)
10-Yr Bond 2.64%, +0.03
NYSE Volume 3,008,154,250.00
Nasdaq Volume 1,755,595,375
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3943-2527
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 256-38
WTI crude oil: 103.03, +0.37
Gold: 1,324.10, -12.10
Silver: 21.77, -0.12

America's Economy - and Society - is Grinding to a Halt

What a mess!

Stocks were down for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday as congress fails to grasp the seriousness of any situation, be it the budget (substitue a continuing resolution), Obamacare (possibly the worst law ever passed) or the debt ceiling (due to run out of extraordinary measures by October 17, according to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew).

Meanwhile, the country does a slow burn; jobs aren't being created, business is stuck between bad choices and worse choices; governments - federal, state and local - can't make their budgets work.

Deflation has been taking hold in a rather large way, despite the best (wosrt) efforts by the Fed, through QE, to stimulate through inflation (another bad idea). There isn't any growth in manufacturing, the lifeblood of any economy, in the United States for thirty years. Our debts keep soaring. The Fed - and most other institutions - are failing the American people. Only the top 1% or maybe as little as 1/10 of the top 1% or as much as the top 10% are benefiting from centrally-planned economics.

There is no stock market, no price discovery mechanisms which can be reliably trusted, since the Fed now dominates all markets, from stocks to gold, silver, commodities, stocks and most especially, bonds, where the Federal Reserve is not only the buyer of last resort, they are also the first in line.

Obvious to anybody with an eye for such things, the recovery economics engineered over the past five years since the collapse of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers and assorted collateral damages, are simply not working, yet the government, in cahoots with the Fed, continues to support and maintain the same policies.

Maybe it's time for a reset, a revolution, some kind of change, but the NSA monitors every movement of the American public, keeping public protest to an absolute minimum, in shades strangely reminiscent of pre-war Germany in the late 1930s. we are all at risk, from the poorest to the richest, yet the richest feel secure that they are entitled to, and thus, have more, enough to sustain themselves through any crisis.

They are wrong, as history calmly reassures; the fall of the Roman empire, the French Revolution being only the two most prominent examples of mass chaos.

In five more days the federal government faces a shutdown of "non-essential" services. In two weeks after that, without authority for more borrowing, the US government will legally default on some of its obligations. Of course, those less-well-connected will feel the pinch first, the insiders, later, though by forces beyond the ken of their limited imaginations.

Here at Money Daily, we do not espouse default, disorder and carnage because it is damaging to everyone, but especially to those least able to protect themselves against it, which would include probably 90% of the population. Take a look around. How many of your neighbors can manage their own gardens, feed themselves, grow from seed, if necessary? How about you, yourself?

Sadly, the American public is so poorly educated in basic survival skills such as farming, gardening, water and fuel management, health and safety that a catastrophic condition renders most of the population at very high risk of disease and death.

Is this the kind of world we imagined to leave to the next generation? The human race is so deficient in so many aspects that survival of the entire species is questionable. The problems are enormous, but most will go back to their TV sets and TV dinners, ignoring the threats which are all around them, hoping beyond hope that government - the same one that caused and foments many of the issues and problems we face - will be there to support them and save them.

Readers of this blog may call us alarmists, but the signs of collapse of the system - of all systems - are abundant, though normalcy bias and cognitive dissonance prevent most from any meaningful understanding.

We could be days away from a complete tearing of the social fabric. Are you prepared? Do you even care?

The race to the bottom is accelerating, and there are no winners.

Here's the latest edition of the Keiser Report, for a glimpse into the kind of world in which we live:



Dow 15,273.26, -61.33 (0.40%)
Nasdaq 3,761.10, -7.16 (0.19%)
S&P 500 1,692.77, -4.65 (0.27%)
10-Yr Bond 2.61%, -0.04
NYSE Volume 3,403,673,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,791,265,125
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3174-3322
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 258-38
WTI crude oil: 102.66, -0.47
Gold: 1,336.20, +19.90
Silver: 21.89, +0.30