Stocks finished mixed on the day as the earnings reports for the 2Q are starting to roll in.

Their valuations seem a bit thick at these levels and are vulnerable to news that does not support ideal pricing.

Gold finished unchanged, while silver was off a few cents.

The dollar finished slightly higher.

There will be a stock option expiration on Friday.

There were some intraday postings, of videos from Thomas Frank and Glenn Greenwald respectively.

Watching or reading any of the specialty news outlets is like observing a group of people who exist within isolated conclaves, on ideological islands, engaging in insular feedback loops of simulated conversations, and bending the events of the day to fit their particular hysteria of the moment in their own parallel universe.

One can only step back and wonder what it is that has driven them to run in a mad herd from one place to another, seemingly without self-awareness. And unless you drink deeply of the particular flavor of their kool-aid, it makes little sense because it has become unmoored from the common experience.

Truly, life imitates high school.

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