"All my life I have been fighting against the spirit of narrowness and violence, arrogance, intolerance in its absolute, merciless consistency. I have also worked to overcome this spirit with its evil consequences, such as nationalism in excess, racial persecution, and materialism. In regards to this, the National Socialists are correct in killing me.As journalist activist Carl von Ossietzky put it, 'we cannot hope to affect the conscience of the world when our own conscience is asleep.'
I have striven to make its consequences milder for its victims and to prepare the way for a change. In that, my conscience drove me – and in the end, that is a man's duty."
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, Executed in Plötzensee Prison on 23 January 1945
Heroic virtue shines across the vast seas of history like beacons to those in the troubled waters of general deception.
Stocks were led by a narrow group of big cap tech related stocks, with the NDX 100 driving all the gains.
Tomorrow we will have the CPI data, which *could* move the market. Some of the yield related futures are pricing in a four rate hike year. A strong CPI number may encourage that.
Gold and silver showed some mild strength, not as a flight to safety, but mostly off a slightly weaker dollar.
When traded as currencies, the precious metals are decoupled from their fundamental supply and demand dynamics as commodities.
Next week will be Jay Powell's first FOMC meeting. The Fed is widely expected to decide on a 25 bp rate hike.
This Friday is a stock option expiration. We may see some shenanigans on the precious metals related stocks.
The CBOE put-call ratio is back to the pre-meltdown levels.
Corruption and deception remain the coin of the realm in the halls of power in New York and Washington.
Have a pleasant evening.
