“Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged against provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.”
James Madison, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1798
“In truth, however, nothing is inevitable and very little is new. Many of our most vaunted innovations are simply methods – electronic or otherwise – of pulling off some age-old profit-maximizing maneuver by new and unregulated means.”
Thomas Frank, Listen Liberal
“Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it.”
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
"Our country is in a moment of crisis decades in the making, a moment in which America’s middle class has been hollowed out, working people have been betrayed, and democracy itself is under threat. While it is easy to blame President Trump for our problems, the truth is that our challenges began long before him. And without serious reforms, they are just as likely to outlast him."
Elizabeth Warren, A Foreign Policy that Works for All Americans
,, American University, November 30, 2018
“The combination of power, optimism and abstract thinking makes powerful people more certain. The more cut-off they are from others, the more confident they are that they are right.”
Margaret Heffernan, Willful Blindness, 2012
Stocks wanted to bounce today, and they managed to pull it off, although finishing well off the highs.
VIX fell.
The Dollar rose sharply.
Gold and silver opened lower and pretty much finished up there unchanged for the day.
Alphabet reported after the bell, and the stock was sold.
Microsoft beat warnings and the stock was higher.
Meta, the vanity project formerly known as Facebook, reports tomorrow.
A shockingly large amount of the stock gains in the SP500 are attributable to just a handful of stocks.
Exogenous issues continue to weigh heavily, despite the assurance of the spokesmodels and strategists to just sit tight in equities or buy more.
Apparently there has been an "unprecedented departure" of the Chinese banks from the LBMA Gold Price auctions.
You probably have not heard about it. You can read about it here.
And in late breaking news after the bell, Trump's former chief-of-staff has accepted immunity from the Department of Justice, and presumably is going to be providing evidence for them.
This is in addition to the earlier news that another one of Trump's attorneys Jenna Ellis pled guilty to a deal in the state of Georgia elections case.
If the GOP movers and shakers starts publicly distancing on Trump's candidacy you know he is done.
Have a pleasant evening.
