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I am sorry if you were unceremoniously dipped in pineapple sauce and then stuffed into the cherry smoker today, ending up braised to a fine turn.

It’s not like I didn’t give you ample warning.  In fact, that warning was even more ample today in The PPT, where I announced I was adding to my growing stacks of SKF, TZA and ERY certificates. 

Those certificates, and their already in-place comrades, yielded substantial gains for me and mine this day.  And I’m pretty sure they are not done, as of yet.   In fact, given some of the panicked calls I received from friends today, I think tomorrow should be a pretty interesting open. 

If you haven’t gone short anything, it’s probably a little late to start right now.  I’ll have more on that with some charts tonight.  In the meantime, enjoy this Indian Summer we are having in God’s Country, and try not to get too upset about the wayward state of the economy.

Help is on the way.  My best to you.

Addenda:  as it seems Le Monsieur has grown tired of most of you over at his site.  Please let the man rest.  In the meantime, do feel free to vent your concerns and comments on my fora. 

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Fast Winning a Place in Jake’s Heart

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…And bloody and exhausted.  I just did a lot of driving on some client work and it’s been a rough couple of days. The meetings were far afield and I had to sleep in a Brady Bunch-era Courtyard by Marriott last night. The hotel clark (sic) looked like he could have been the Crypt Keeper’s younger brother, sans the warm and vivacious personality.

What’s more on the way back I passed the time rocking to a zillion 30 year old Sirius satellite tunes (First Wave with the Swedish Eagle) while trying to peruse the various iBC posts of interest on my B’berry. I know, “safe as houses” right?

Not so safe, however, when you come across the post remarking how French population call Le Monsieur “L’Envincible Le Fly.”
I almost rolled into a passing semi after I’d seen that one.

Anyway, my “all day business” today forced me to put a stop on my AGQ position early this morning. To my chagrin, that stop was hit.  Now I’ll never be able to introduce my children and grandchildren to my horde of “double stuff” silver paper.  Ah well, comme ce, comme sa.

I have stops in on other mining positions as well, but only NGD’s was hit today.    Last, I doubled the size of the TZA position I put on last night and added another 2k of Skiffles to my horde.   Both positions were up huge today, as you might imagine.   I wish I could say the same for my remaining benighted silver and gold miners.

Tomorrow I’ll be back in and better able to monitor the situation, but make no mistake, I am increasingly bearish here…  That should be good for a nice counter rally about 11:00 am tomorrow.   Stay tuned,  and don’t hock your hoop earrings and tongue bolts just yet.

Best to you.

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Owsley Brown II, a pillar of the city of Louisville in the truest sense of the word, passed last evening, at age 69.  It was quite sudden and unexpected and most of us who knew him are in shock, as he was a very vigorous and youthful man who was intimately involved with many charitable and cultural organizations throughout the city.

If you know me, you know that I am not overly impressed by those types we referred to at school as “born on third base.”   In the case of Mr. Brown however, I make a significant exception.  We were not close, not even “friends,” but I had enough interaction with the man in social and work situations to note both his grace and his almost anachronistic humility.   He had a smile for everyone, and never seemed out of sorts.

Some of the obituaries already printed (like this one in the Wapo) make mention of his charitable activities, but in truth these reports only scratch the surface.  The man truly embodied the aphorism “to whom much is given, much is expected.”  I believe his generosity will be his lasting legacy in the city.

I excerpt the beginning of the Washington Post obituary below:

Former Brown-Forman CEO Owsley Brown II dies at age of 69 after

brief illness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Former Brown-Forman Corp. chairman and CEO Owsley Brown II, who took the company founded by his great-grandfather and spread its reach to liquor stores, bars and restaurants worldwide, died late Monday after a brief illness. He was 69.

Brown’s sudden passing drew an outpouring of reaction from political leaders who praised his business skills and philanthropic spirit.

“Louisville lost a great friend today; he will be missed,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who praised Brown’s “pioneering career” and “generous philanthropic efforts.”

Brown oversaw the Louisville-based company’s transformation into a formidable player in spirits markets worldwide. Late in his career, Brown-Forman shed its Lenox fine china and Hartmann luggage divisions to focus on its core beverage business.

Brown-Forman is one of the largest American-owned spirits companies. Its long lineup of brands includes Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort and Finlandia vodka.

“Owsley was a truly remarkable man with a brilliant mind,” said current Brown-Forman CEO Paul Varga. “His combined analytical and creative talents enabled him to be both a visionary and a practical steward of the company’s business.”

In its last full fiscal year, Brown-Forman reported net income of $571.6 million, or $3.90 per share, on revenue of $3.4 billion. The company has nearly 4,000 employees worldwide.

Brown, a Yale graduate who earned a master’s in business administration from Stanford University, served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army at the Pentagon, according to a Brown-Forman release.

He began his Brown-Forman career in 1968, continuing a family legacy that began with the company’s founding in 1870.

Brown rose to become the company’s CEO in 1993 and added the title of chairman two years later. During his tenure, Brown-Forman dramatically boosted its international presence and modernized its marketing efforts.

When he took over as CEO, less than one-fourth of Brown-Forman’s net sales came from outside the U.S. By the time he stepped down as chief executive officer in 2005, nearly half of Brown-Forman’s revenues were generated from international markets. That trend has continued, and the company now gets about 55 percent of its total net sales from non-U.S. markets.

Brown retired as company chairman in 2007 and from its board of directors in 2008.

He was also a prominent philanthropist and preservationist known for his support for art, music and environmental protection.

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I have done nothing different with my portfolio today, save that I took out a large TZA insurance policy to augment my SKF-lles position.  I still maintain my already noted position in AGQ and my other small gold and silver positions.  I am still about 40% cash.

I am again traveling this evening and all day tomorrow, but will check in as I may.

Best to you all.

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Sometimes I don’t know what’s wrong with you people.   Hootin’ and hollerin’ like a bunch of purple Kool-Aid grape apes, rooting on a man’s demise in slo-mo barely contained rage.

I speak, of course, of last night, when there were more than a few on these boards who were ready to spit on a broken wheelchair in their haste to condemn we beknighted silver bulls in our darkest hour (that dark hour being about 3 am last night).   What an ugly display… and most ungentlemanly.

But these ungainly thugs were left grasping at phantoms by an hour or so before the market open this morning, when silver had fought it’s way back to just under $30 and ounce.   More important, the silver trend line held today in AGQ.   Not, as I had thought, at first support, but rather exactly at the long term trend line.

Sometimes when these things work so perfectly, it’s almost like a thing of magick (sic).  This morning, right around 10:00 am, I stood in awe as the candle bottom stopped right at the rising trend line that’s marked this bull since the ’09 Recovery, hovered there for about fifteen minutes, and then slowly — inexorably — made it’s climb through second support, all the way to that first support line.   Note the change from yesterday’s AGQ weekly:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The bounce off that uptrend line is very strong ju-ju, especially given that we are still extremely oversold in the PM and silver sectors specifically.  We might get some “stall” at that first support line we stopped at today, or we may not.  Silver is up this evening again, although we know from last night how great the overnight swings can be in this sport.

I do think that uptrend line will be tested at least once more, unless the dollar begins to break here significantly.   If it does, I will likely supplement by adding more EXK, SLW and AG to the port.   One thing is for sure… you have your line in the sand for all major stops, whether mental or fixed.

Best to you all, and try not to let the hatahs hate too much on you.  It’s hateful.  😉

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u69VNU4pJ4I&feature=player_embedded 450 300]

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Some said we were crazy on Friday when we began “buying the blood” late in the afternoon like a bunch of crepuscular vampyres banging our fists at the front desk of the Red Cross Depository.

And maybe we were.

But there was a plan in mind, and one part of it was taking into account the massively oversold status of the metal in the near term.   The other was the support levels we were beginning to hit.  I thought we were ready for a bounce of some velocity.

That doesn’t mean I think this down-stroke is over.  Not altogether, at least.   Just like I don’t think this overall market bear cycle is over, and that we’ll get further down action there as well.  What I do believe is that we’ll get that nice rebound here, and then have to be out again for the next drop when we whack near-term resistance.    Note the following markup of the AGQ (double silver) weekly:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you will note, the party should be over by $150 or so, and I’ll be out of much of that AGQ by then, if not sooner.  Because the weekly is showing that while the RSI is near-term oversold, the remaining stochs are pointing to further ruination.  What’s more, that long term trend line is beckoning (as per the chart above), and it’s very likely that we will see it one more time (at sub $100) before we see new highs again.

What I don’t think, however, is that we get another deflationary event like we did in 2008.  Not for a while now, at least.

Of course, this is a play fraught with risk, and I will have stops in place that will respect the volatilty of the double-ETF, while also accomodating my overall risk profile.   I implore you to do the same, and perhaps consider SLV as a replacement vehicle for this trade if you lean to the more risk averse.

My best to all of you this weekend.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uxc9eFcZyM 450 300]

Save That Schit For the Morning After

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A funny thing happened whilst I was away from the office today (for the second day)... I got murdered.   Usually when I’m out and about the market is pretty accommodating, like an Edwardian butler in white gloves and tails.   He  may give me a light workout, just enough to suffuse my brow with a light patina of salty perspiration, nothing more.   Even then, he’s there to hand me my plush towel and smoking jacket at the bell.

But today I was accosted by a gang of wiry Cockney longshoremen in baggy jodhpurs and nail-soled leather jackboots.   Reviewing my 50% position in gold stocks like ANV and silver stocks like — you name it, but SLW was down almost 15% today — they proceeded to bash me about the shoulder and ribs with brickbats and lengthy cords of hard salami.  They said something about leaving my face “intact” so there’d be no questions at work tomorrow.

Nevertheless, I speak to you from traction after suffering a near 7% bullshit beating today (don’t believe me? Check out XRA’s action today, and GFYS!), and am lying here in my linament-soaked bandages, waiting for a bounce to get out of some of these damaged names, as per the plan of yesterday.

A bounce, you say?  Jake, you addled fucker, you were thrown down one too many escalators today! How say you “bounce,” pray tell?  Well, here’s clue # 1 on the $SILVER commodity chart.  It’s been almost 15 months since we last hit the 200-day EMA, and yet we hit it today.  The RSI is oversold egregiously as well:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the $HUI today… well, you know the sad sad end of that story.  Like Brad Pitt’s relocated Northern Irish Provisional Army man, Frankie McGuire, said to Harrison Ford’s NYPD sergeant, Tom O’Meara  in the 1997  IRA potboiler, The Devil’s Own —

“Don’t expect no hoppy endin’, Tom.  It’s not an American story, it’s an Oirish one.”

Yes, and it appear’s our Baby $HUI ended up just as perforated as young Frankie did at the end of that movie.   What’s more, it looks like there’s still some room to travel even closer to Hell:

But don’t cry for me, Argentinians.   I am getting up and hitting back twice as hard, Chicago Politician-style.  In fact, I swung a haymaker at a bunch of AGQ this afternoon a little too early, at $175 and got stopped out.   I may grab some more on the open tomorrow though.   Also, respecting The PPT and it’s historically oversold levels, I dumped out of half of my TZA hedge and loaded up on a very large dollop of TNA at the close.   I may even add to that if we have a last blow off tomorrow morning.

Don’t let the Man get you down, folks.   Let’s hang together, as we sure don’t want to hang separately.

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