Quadruple-Witching Leading into Saint Paddy's Day

Source: Michael J. Ballanger for Streetwise Reports   03/16/2019

Precious metals expert Michael Ballanger riffs on St. Patrick’s Day, COT reports, quad-witching weeks and gold.

I was sitting in our local Port Perry pub this week when I overheard a couple of the local senior citizens discussing the upcoming arrival of the Saint Patrick’s Day celebration where everybody dons a green shirt or a green tie or a green glass of beer and announces to the world that they have “Irish blood” flowing through their veins. Seizing upon yet another excuse for the initiation of “unnecessary drinking,” Canadians of all shapes, sizes, colors, creeds and denominations are suddenly transformed into quasi-Leprechauns to the extent that even my Jamaican ex-classmate from the 1970s would call himself an “overdone Irishman” in order to qualify for stupefaction.

It never ceases to amaze me how my Canuck brethren will leap upon any and all excuses with which to justify inebriation, present company of course excluded. In fact, I proudly declared to the world and in fact, to all of my actual friends of Irish lineage, that only true Canadians of colonial fiber and soul will raise a glass with nary a hint of excuse nor heed of time of day. The Canadian “Clarion Call To Imbibe” has been best described as “The Leafs won last night!” or “There was a goose on the lawn this marnin’” or “I woke with a pulse!” but what is truly memorable is the feeling you get when it’s March 16 and you look down the aisle and your 90-somethin’ granny has an armful of Guinness on her way to the checkout counter, her green Paddy cap setting an early tone to the festivities.