“A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others. Not respecting anyone, he ceases to love, and having no love, he gives himself up to passions and coarse pleasures.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
"Hear this, you who trample the needy and oppress the poor of the land, saying,
‘When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat—
skimping on the measure, boosting the price,
and cheating with dishonest scales,
buying the poor with a piece of silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the worthless sweepings with the wheat.'
The Lord has sworn by his own name, the pride of Jacob:
‘Never will I forget anything that they have done.'"
They will stagger from sea to sea,
and wander from north to east,
In search of the saving word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
They shall fall, never to rise again."
Amos 8:4-7,12,14
"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, we are not going to be judged.”
Czeslaw Milosz, Discreet Charm of Nihilism
Stocks managed to find a footing a stage a rally into the close on the first trading day of the second half of 2022.
The Dollar nevertheless moved higher.
Gold and silver were hit hard but managed to take back their losses into the close.
We *might* have seen a spike bottom in the metals, but with the Payrolls report coming up we may have to linger and chop around here for a while.
Let's see what happens in this holiday shortened week coming up.
The underpinnings of equities remain dodgy despite the bullish sentiments put forward by the spokesmodels and Wall Street's minions.
The VIX fell.
The US is having a three day holiday weekend with the observance of the 4th of July.
Let's hope the rest of the world can carry on without Washington's oversight.
Have a pleasant weekend.
