Francis Bacon
“Once they’re in power, narcissists consolidate their position by firing everyone who challenges them. In their place rise a plague of toadies, opportunists, and enablers equally guided by self-interest and short on scruples. So you end up with these individualistic cultures with no teamwork and low integrity."
Lee Simmons, Stanford Business School
“Now we are witnessing a transformation: a true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, that we are not going to be judged.”
Czeslaw Milosz, The Discreet Charm of Nihilism
"And they said to him, 'Where will this happen, Lord?' And He said to them, 'Where death is, there a gathering of vultures will be.'”
Luke 17:37
Stocks shook off the early morning inflation/interest rate concerns and managed to close higher.
Gold and silver also recovered quite a bit from their morning lows.
I was expecting a backfill and bounce after the big run higher to resistance yesterday, and that is what we got.
Gold still needs to crack higher over 1770, but if it can hold 1730 on the retests then that is fine.
The Dollar held on to the 92 handle.
The VIX dropped further.
There will be a stock market option expiration next week.
Have a pleasant weekend.
