The World Blog by humble servant.

In the world of the "Permabull," a falling stock chart is a tragedy. But to a trader who knows how to play the downside, a red day is just a green day in a different outfit. Making money when stocks go down isn't just about pessimism; it's about capitalizing on gravity. Markets often fall much faster than they rise—they take the "escalator up and the elevator down." Here is the narrative of how a trend shifts from "buy the dip" to "sell the rip," and how you can spot it. 1. The Anatomy of the Trend Change Every downtrend starts with a whisper before the scream. In an uptrend , the market is a series of stairs: higher highs (HH) and higher lows (HL) . The change happens in two distinct phases: Phase A: The Failed High (The Warning) The first sign of trouble isn't a crash; it’s a lack of strength. After a pullback, the price tries to rally but fails to beat its previous peak. This creates a Lower High (LH) . The Narrative: The "...

The Setup: "The Cupboards are Bare?" For decades, the "official" word was enough. The Treasury said there were 147.3 million ounces of gold behind those 22-ton vault doors. But in early 2025, the conversation shifted from quiet trust to loud demands for "proof of work." President Trump, never one for institutional gatekeeping, brought the house down at CPAC by questioning the status of the reserve. He famously remarked: "We’re going to open up the doors. I don’t want to open it and find the cupboards are bare... if that gold isn't there, we're going to be very upset." The Musk Factor: The DOGE Audit Enter Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) . Musk, treating the federal government like a legacy software system that needs a hard reboot, didn't just want a spreadsheet; he wanted a show. He floated the idea of a live-streamed audit —Starlink cameras rolling as the seals were broken for the first time in over 50 ...