"The ambition of Caesar and of Napoleon pales before that which could not rest until it had seized the minds of men and controlled even their unborn thoughts. The very banality and innocence of the first act only allowed the blow to fall afterwards with more awful effect— this beautiful, stupendous creation, terrible in its simplicity, irresistible in its truth― a world which now trembles before the King in Yellow.”
Robert W. Chambers, The King In Yellow
“Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.”
Tacitus, Annals
"Everywhere and always demonic powers lurk in the dark, waiting for the moment when man is weak; when of his own volition he leaves his place in Creation, as founded for him by God in freedom; when he yields to the force of evil, he separates himself from the powers of a higher order; and after voluntarily taking the first step, he is driven on to the next and the next at a furiously accelerating rate."
White Rose, Fourth Leaflet, Munich 1942
"And such was the attitude of their minds that a shocking crime was dared by a few, with the blessing of more, and the passive acquiescence of all."
Tacitus, Histories: Book I, XXVIII, The Murder of Galba
"By your stubbornness and hardened heart you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to their works."
Romans 2:5-6
"This place is like somebody's memory of a town, and the memory is fading. It's like there was never anything here but jungle."
Rust Cohle, True Detective: Season One
"The wealth of another region excites their greed; and if it is weak, their lust for power as well. Nothing from the rising to the setting of the sun is enough for them. Among all others only they are compelled to attack the poor as well as the rich. Plunder, rape, and slaughter they falsely call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."
Tacitus, Agricola
This morning our mighty debts market mechanism was pricing in a 50% chance of a Fed rate cut in March.
The equity markets were slavering in a corner somewhere.
But after the Fed acted, and Powell spoke, alas, rude reality once again intruded on their fever dreams.
The plaintive whining of aggrieved disappointment from our privileged Wall Street masters was so loud it sounded like a rally for you-know-who.
Hey, those Fed insider trading accounts need some love too.
The Dollar did a slingshot higher, and ended up with a bit of a gain for the day.
Gold and silver moved lower.
VIX rose.
Wash-rinse-repeat.
Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.
Have a pleasant evening.
