Shadow And Light In Investing

by Michael Clark

Let’s start with a metaphysical conception, based on the physical conception: Light and Shadow are twins, mirror-images of each other, the mythological twins, brothers, Cain and Abel, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Prometheus means, literally, fore-thought, the ability to see the future, to read light; Epimetheus means reflection, the ability to read the past. Prometheus brought to humanity the ability to read the future — i.e., FIRE. Epimetheus brought to humanity, through his wife, Pandora, famous for her BOX, trouble, tribulation. Prometheus was LIFE; Epimetheus was LEARNING. Prometheus was FIRE, LIGHT; Epimetheus was SHADOW, SMOKE.

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Here is a larger view of the picture of Epimetheus, Prometheus and Pandora from www.talesbeyondbelief.com:

Click for slightly larger image.

So how does this relate to understanding stocks? Bear with me. Let’s think of Light and Shadow and how these two twins manifest on Earth. Remember, twins are born at the same time, are equal, and both disappear without the other. (We can also think of Light and Market Bulls and Shadow as Market Bears, at least for the moment.)

Measuring time began long ago for humanity, first with primitive systems, then with more advanced systems, then eventually with atomic clocks. How long does the Day last? How long does the Night last? This is the East-West axis. How long does the Winter last; how long does the Summer last? This is the North-South axis. We are going to discover that the answer to these questions gives us a very basic guideline to the ideas of Macrocosm and Microcosm, the Microcosm being the smaller cycle nested inside of and reflecting a larger cycle.

The Macrocosm first. Ancient scientists, called priests then, came to understand the movement of the sun in large annual cycles of 360° (which was later carved down into a system of hours and minutes, which became days and months). The precession of the equinoxes helped ancient humanity measure time (light and shadow) into patterns of light and darkness (shadow).

The year was divided into 180° movements of Light, culminating at Noon, the Apex, followed by 180° movements of Shadow, culminating at Midnight, the Nadir, or Abyss (from the perspective of Light). In terms of time, Noon was always June 21, later called the Summer Solstice, and Midnight was always December 21, the Winter Solstice. Situated between these two mountains were medium points of light balance: March 21, the Spring Equinox, when days and nights were of equal length, and September 21, when days and nights, again, were of equal length.

At Noon, June 21, there was almost no shadow — Shadow was at ZERO — and at Midnight, December 21, there was almost no light — these were the shortest days of the year. At Midnight, the length of the Days or Light began to GROW again; and the length of Nights or Shadow began to contract.

If this is a model for our understanding of stocks, then we should recognize Midnight as a BOTTOM after a major selloff in stocks.

But let me finish my discussion of the Microcosm. The Day has a rather exact time-reflection as does the year. What is the Summer Solstice to the Year is Noon to the Day. Noon is the peak of Light and Heat and Growth. What is the Winter Solstice to the Year is Midnight to the Day-Night. Dawn is the Spring Equinox; Dusk is the Autumn Equinox — relatively speaking. At Dawn, the Sun and the Moon, the Day and the Night, are at equal strength; at Dusk, the Sun and the Moon, the Day and the Night, are also, again, at equal strength. At Noon, Light peaks; and Midnight, Shadow peaks.

This is the basis of metaphysical understanding. This describes the flow of Life and Death, of Activity and Rest.

Of course, as stock traders, we want to buy at Midnight and sell at Noon.

It is, admittedly, a Metaphysical Leap to assume that this structure of Light and Shadow governs all processes, including History, on Earth. This is Kierkegaard’s “Leap of Faith” I suppose. The Intellect, alone, cannot make this leap — look at Sartre as an example of the Intellect unwilling or unable to leap back into LIFE. It is the Soul, not the Intellect, that makes this LEAP. The result is REBIRTH. Eastern mystics often claim that REBIRTH is to be avoided, because it leads back into pain and illusion. But LIFE is the role of the WEST, as BIRTH is the role of the East.

Every time the WEST dies (in history) — let’s think of the 1960’s as our most recent example — the Western cultures migrate (as the sun also moves) back into the EAST to re-learn the secrets of REBIRTH. The 60’s Generation all moved back into the EAST. So did the 30’s Generation. Did the 90’s Generation? My thesis is that every 36 years the West dies and is forced to make a generational journey into the East, the Mythological Shadowland, in order to gain the secrets of REBIRTH.

Every 36 years? Why 36? 36 is a reflection of 360°, not so much in our literal thinking, as in the metaphorical thinking which dominates the East, the Shadowland, which is the DREAM relative to our conceptions of DAYLIGHT REALITY. Ancients first assumed the Sun took 360 days to make a complete circle throughout the year. Why 360 days? 360°. When the detail-oriented mind — LEFT BRAIN, which is the West or the Western Hemisphere — determined that 365 days was correct and 360 days incorrect, they put literality above metaphor. But the East would argue that 360° is the truth, in terms of the blueprint in God’s mind — while 365 was the incorrect result in dense matter with its faulty gravity-caused effect.

Light is born at Midnight according to this scheme, with God. As it moves through the year, further and further away from God, its Ego grows and vanity and pride also grow. At Noon, civilization and science blooms, which is worship of Humanity — and God (the Father) is forgotten. The Shadow, the East, Religion, is born at Noon. The power of religion grows from Noon to Midnight, at which time the Night-Cycle or Moon-Knowledge peaks. Sun-Knowledge grows from Midnight to Noon — and then the Sun-Hero falls back to earth (where the Sun-Seed is buried in a religious burial rite) so that it can be re-born.

From Midnight to Dawn, the root-system grows under ground. From Dawn to Noon, the Light-Plant breaks above ground, becomes visible, flowers, and then builds its fruit (the seed-bearing fruit). From Noon-Dusk, this fruit withers and decays and falls back to earth. From Dusk to Midnight, the seed buries itself in the Earth, hiding from the forces that would eat it. The burial ritual is a planting ritual, at least it was in the beginning.

The Bull is the day-force (Dawn to Noon). The Bear is the night-force (Dusk to Midnight). It is a misnomer to say that the Day is Growth and the Night is Rest — although this is true from the standpoint of the Day. From the standpoint of the Night, the Day is about Spiritual Regression and the Night is about Spiritual Growth. In other words, the Night is about the Growth of the Root System; and the Day is about the Growth of the Fruit System.

Some of you may be bored by all of this. You certainly have a right to be bored. After all, I have made the leap. If one refuses to make this leap — Lucifer refused to make this leap, choosing to rule in hell rather than to service another in heaven. Lucifer is the planet Venus in her Morning Star role, tempting Man-the-Angel to fall to Earth, to take a wife, to reproduce and to conquer the world of matter.

Man has two “falls”. In Spring, Man-the-Angel falls from Heaven and becomes Man who dominates the Earth, creating empire, cities, ego-structures. Some consider this the sin, the original sin. I view it as necessity, in accord with the plan. Man’s second fall comes at Noon, when Man-the-god, the King of the Earth, the Emperor, falls from power and eventually re-becomes the Angel in Heaven. In this picture, the Darkness is Heaven (Midnight) and the Light is Heaven-on-Earth (Noon). What is Hell? Hell is the fruit falling back to Earth and the seed making its long journey through tribulation and burial and cleansing through self-judgment.

Venus the Evening Star (Hesperides) kills the man and sends him back to God.

If one believes that all processes mirror this process — if one has made the leap to the Universal from the Particulars — from Intellect to Soul — then stocks must describe this process also — and the task becomes understanding how to recognize the markers of Buyer-Seller Equality at Dawn and Dusk and Buyer triumph at Noon and Seller triumph at Midnight. This is not a simple task of course.

All of our systems are emulating this great metaphysical system of Light and Darkness.

Back to the Earth. We are looking to make a very accurate system for trading 3x ETFs. We are currently using a system that uses the crossing of -20 (reversing upward) with PROP1 Bullish as a BUY SIGNAL and at the crossing of +20 (reversing down) with PROP1 Bearish as a SHORTSELL SIGNAL. We have no new signals today — USLV is our only current trade, BULLISH — but we are watching a group of these 3x issues. The sort below shows (at the top of the list) PROP1 BEARISH issues that are above +20 — our SHORT WATCH LIST — and (at the bottom of the list) PROP1 BULLISH issues that are selling off that are below our threshold, -20. When these turn up and cross +20, they will be BUY ISSUES. Keep an eye on these. Be wary of currencies, which we trade with PROP2 not with PROP1.

We have only one new position today , COUNT1 Basic Trading System.

Here is today’s position report:

Here are some charts for today:

We were SHORT a long time on VRX. We recently covered that SHORT, as PROP1 dictated. We don’t like the company or the stock. We do not think it is bottoming. We are waiting for PROP1 to sink again, so we can go SHORT again. Patience here.

JCP is giving a TRADING COVER SIGNAL. Readers can take SHORT PROFITS here — or ignore this signal. We think JCP has too much downside traction — as retailers disintegrate — and as we inch closer to a new recession. Those who have read me long enough know that I believe DEBT is dragging us down — and that we cannot recover until we face the UNDERWORLD DARKNESS which debt triggers. We have to wash ourselves clean in the MOONLIGHT — and we do this by emptying out our debt through depression. Depression is DEATH, yes. But DEATH is temporary pain. Death precedes REBIRTH. (See above.)

The FED believed it was doing the right thing by delaying DEATH (I am trying to be generous here — although I do have a side of my nature that is accusatory and sees the worst side of the FED also, the side that fed essentially free money to the richest people and institutions in the world with the understanding that they would SPEND the world’s future money to keep DEATH away. My view is that we CANNOT keep Death away. Instead of resisting and avoiding DEATH — bankrupting ourselves in the process, by leveraging the future earnings of unborn world citizens — we need to be courageous, and learn how one survives DEATH or at least endures DEATH and triumphs through rebirth. Those who have read me also know that 2019 is a very important date in this rebirth process, as it is the date (according to my own deciphering) of the Light Principle’s birth and the beginning of GROWTH again, GROWTH in the Material World, in Nature. There is danger in this year, as the two great forces (the Twins in mythology) collide (as they did also in 2001, when the Sun was eclipsed by the Moon). 2019 will be the Moon’s (the Night Cycle’s) greatest expansion — and, as is implicit in the structure — the beginning of its decline. What will begin declining in 2019. The Moon Principle. Isis; the East; the Democratic Party. The Left Hand. Matter without Motion. (During the Day-Cycle, matter is endowed with motion. At the ends of the Day-Cycle (1929, 1965, 2001…) matter was deprived of motion — and Aristotle’s “privation’ began — the tribulation began — Exile began. During the Night-Cycle, every Night-Cycle (1929-1947; 1965-1983; 2001-2019 this century), exile is the rule; the Soul is exiled from his home; the Soul wanders; the Sun is buried in the Earth. Every Day-Cycle, the Sun Hero returns home. The rift in the family is healed. Think of the myth of Ulysses (Odysseus). Odysseus went to war and wandered from place to place, from island to island. He wandered for 18 years. Yes, this total is meaningful. When he finally returned no one recognized him; only his dog recognized him.

I don’t think we can trick God (the Laws of Nature are the Thoughts of God). We get to experience Growth, Inflation and Ego-Inflation of the Day-Cycle. This means we also have to pay our debts. This is an immutable law. If Greenspan and Bernanke have figured out a way to trick this law, when the Devil appears and asks for his payment, then we will have to see if this is a permanent tricking of the law or merely a temporary delay. I think it is a delay.

Clearly, we have gone through a Major Tribulation from 2001-2019. We have not unloaded our debt however, which is THE POINT of the tribulation. After all, how can one GROW again with trillions of heavy debt still loaded on one’s back? We have not been cleansed of our debt — Baptism, after cleanings in the glow of the Moon.

Yes, after long delay, here is the JCP — BEARISH STILL — map. Take SHORT PROFITS if so inclined.

We are watching NANO for a BUY SIGNAL.

We got scorched by ESSI nearly 80% yesterday. QBAK is another potentially treacherous LONG POSITION. Low-priced stocks are easily manipulated. John Templeton got his start in investing by buying EVERY low-priced stock in the market. Most collapsed; the ones that advanced made him a millionaire (in those days that was good). I may talk about how Warren Buffet controls markets at some point. Value investors who idealize Buffet and emulate him are (I think) missing a very important “trick” of Mister Buffet — it is easy to become richer when you are already rich. As our President about this.

QBAK: we held QBAK during the last correction, even though PROP1 went negative. We substituted PROP3 for PROP1 — which mitigates some of the restless agitation of low-priced heavily-manipulated stocks.

Now both PROP1 (and continuingly PROP3) are bullish. We this one very closely.

Here is today’s COUNT REPORT:

Best trading.