"When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe." … Frederic Bastiat


Evil talks about tolerance only when it’s weak. When it gains the upper hand, its vanity always requires the destruction of the good and the innocent, because the example of good and innocent lives is an ongoing witness against it. So it always has been. So it always will be. And America has no special immunity to becoming an enemy of its own founding beliefs about human freedom, human dignity, the limited power of the state, and the sovereignty of God. – Archbishop Chaput

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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Volatility on the Rise

It is interesting to note the price action of the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX of late. The S&P 500 appears to be struggling to break through the 1420 - 1425 region. That combined with growing concern that tomorrow's Bernanke comments are not going to be sufficiently "QE bullish" is fueling nervousness among traders who are fearful of being caught in any downdraft resulting from disappointment among the "punch bowl" crowd.

This same concern is also providing selling pressure in the metals with gold bears capping at the $1680 level while nervous longs exit the market. Dip buying however is coming into the metals from traders who suspect that the ECB is getting its act together on its bond buying program.

The result is that both metals have faded from chart resistance levels but are not breaking down technically.

You can see the VIX Chart below: