Watching the 10-Weeks Mark

The week ending September 3, 1929, the Dow Jones Industrials closed at 376.29.  Although this may seem like a paltry sum by today’s measures into the five-digit aether, these days that would translate to a Dow of 5,096.14.  The next 10-weeks saw the bloodiest decline in Wall Street history and by the week ending November 11, 1929 the Dow had collapsed to 228.73, which in an inflation-adjusted world would be like 3,097.72.

 

This is worth noting going into the weekend since the Dow is nowhere near an equivalent decline to the 1929 Great Crash period, but then again the world back then was not globally linked.  And, counter intuitively, the tighter markets are linked, the less prone they seem to be to violent swings.

 

But we should have a chance this weekend into the following three weeks, or so, to see if this holds as Greece is set to vote in leftists this weekend – a pejorative term because the MSM doesn’t have anything better to label “free people who won’t be held hostage by bankers.”  Calling them Communists is a lot easier and doesn’t require thought; plus it engenders a visceral response.

 

The “Spectre of second Eurozone depression too close for comfort” notes The Scotsman in an analysis piece.

 

What remains to be seen is the effect that yet another country in effect kicking out the bankster class (remember Iceland?) will have on future economic developments. 

 

Jim Sinclair’s fabulous quote of several years ago still rings “The EU is a collection of bankrupt countries held together by a currency” (or words to that effect) and with Greece set to exit, we wonder how long it will be before derivatives valued in Euros begin to implode and take down the world.  The coming weeks have roller-coaster potential

 

Boomerang Friday

Yes, the market was up yesterday but is there a chance of a serious pullback this afternoon going into the weekend because of Greek elections on Sunday?  “Why soitenly” as one of the Stooges might have put it.

 

Not to be caught out, FOREX trading house Oanada has decided to do something really non-ordinary:  They are planning to halt weekend trading Sunday from 6 AM Eastern to 3 PM Eastern in order to try and hold down what could be violent swings when Greece tells the EU to (politely) buzz off.

 

It’s a prudent move, but think about this:  With a major player like Oanda playing it safe, is this a clue that a lot of short-term equity market profits might be pulled off the table this afternoon?  It would not surprise me to see a downdraft into the close today…

 

A Second Honest Senator

I am somehow not surprised at the MSM’s relatively low key (really under-reporting of the former Fed dudes who’s sucked up $4-trillion in government favors you’ve been so kind as to be the chattel for, but besides Senator Bernie

Sanders earning the term Senator being capitalized around here (you’ll find only Ron Paul being the other), we are pleased to add Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to the list of folks in Washington earning his title being capitalized, though not by the K Street henchmen as is usually the case.

 

A read of the report “Jamie Dimon Spars with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley at Senate Banking Committee Hearings” leaves me with a good feeling all is not lost.  At least for a few more hours.  You go, Senator!

 

The Senators from JobJack

The Big Game on People becomes clear in this report on how the “Labor Department’s Guest Worker Reforms blocked by GOP, Democratic Senators.“

 

Big Corps, Big Election Bills, and cheap labor is not a brew that grows honesty.

 

Let me say it one mo’ time:  There is no left-right politics – there’s only up-down politics….and you’re the down.

 

Pass More Paper

The UK eyes a $217-billion economic kick-start program.  No word on whether there are wooden arrow makers or racetracks that need work…

 

Global Blowback

While we wait for the Spanish spendacrats to blow through their $126.4-billion in recent bailout dough (Blackmailers always want more, so why should Spain be different?) our Jakarta Bureau Chief sends this:

 

” Sword of Damocles, Chief!

 

(read the link to the Jakarta Post on Rupiah dropping)

 

Ya know…we could all rest a little easier if y’all Yanks and Euros would stop fiddling around with everyone’s money! “

—

Our Editor in Chief, Zeus the Cat, could recall the reference to the Sword of Damocles so I had to explain about the sword hanging over Damocles by a single horse-hair while he was allowed to play King and how “Dionysius had successfully conveyed a sense of the constant fear in which the great man lives.”

 

ZtC then opined that a man is not great if he lives in fear, but when he gets back from his mouse-break, I’ll have him read up on how the Cartel and the Sicilians are running pax mafoiso globally and see if he gets the point.  If not, I’ll impound his catnip card.

 

Canada’s Globalista Coup

Not to be too hard on our darling neighbors to the north, who are guilty of producing two monumental time-wasters (good beer and hockey) but they’ve finally gone off into the globalist Twilight Zone with B C-28 figures our close-reading news analyst up in Winnipeg:

 

“Dear Mr. Ure,  

 

The Canadian federal government’s majority will ensure eventual passage of the 425 page wide-ranging budget Bill C-38. Items of interest include:  

 

- page 257, covered bond guarantee restrictions

- page 125, energy exports to the USA, Costa Rica and Chile can be such as to leave Canada in an energy deficit

- page 281, IMF payment 11 billion SDR

- page 284, government can recall coinage of any denomination

- page 373, government will refine “suitable work” and “suitable search” definitions for unemployed persons”

 

It should be clear by now that the G8, G10, G20 and other F-Whizzes don’t have a freakin’ clue what they are doing.  We can only take solace in the predictability of the looniness, which is overly tied to our own set of Dollards (sic).

 

Ongoing Fight for Freedom: Mixed Outcomes

It depends which news story you want to read this morning on whether or not freedom is alive.  On the one hand, the Berkeley City Council has barred enforcement of the NDAA provisions that allow for arrest of American Citizens who the military believes (with no judicial review, due process) are supporting terrorism.  Naturally, the military will not consult with the city.

 

On the other side, the plans are full steam ahead to put 30-thousand drones over America.   And what about reports of foreign troops training in Tampa ahead of the republicorps convention?

 

The battle to win freedom is one thing – trying to hold it undiluted – is another.

 

Egypt’s Coup

As I was explaining earlier this week, the bankrupt end of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) is now arriving as Egypt (remember the Arab Spring hypefest?) has gone back to a military coup to run things.  And, their parliament (led by the Muslim Brotherhood) has been dissolved and a Mubarak era pro-Western  candidate has been approved by their Constitutional Court.

 

All of which reduces – in simplest terms – to PNAC sounding like a good idea, but one which is failing now and which will likely harden/ radicalize Islam even more as Western interests jockey to limit the exercise of simple majority rule by ensuring only Western-approved candidates make it to key leadership positions…

 

To be sure, the Muslim Brotherhood is not on the State Department list of foreign terrorist groups (reference doc here) but every ounce of influence that can be gathered by the West is being spent trying to shove a Mubarak Lite into power. 

 

Seeing the move, The Muslim Brotherhood is likely to reignite violence in Egypt and that could constitute unexpected military action shortly.  Except around here it won’t be “unexpected” at all.

 

Syria Boils

The UN says there’s a lack of willingness to work out a peaceful solution on both sides.  This, too, could be a sooner-than-later flashpoint.

 

After all is said and done, the PNAC plan seems to have devolved to simply removing dictators who were running their countries (but which the PNAC authors didn’t like) and replace them with more compliant puppet regimes by limiting choices in what could be real democracies.  Nearsighted in that it failed to take into account that Islam has a combo government/theocracy model built-in and people get mighty upset when people (‘specially infidels)  from outside interfere.

 

Bottom line?  Oh, uh…How about expect endless fighting and taxpayer expense while the defense industry profits?  Which only leaves an explanation of how this is better whoever in DC being stuck explaining the 11 percent unemployment rate that would be here in a world without wars…  So Syria and Egypt percolate…which is why US debt levels are higher than the Greeks, but we’ve got more money printers in the wings.  ViseGrips?

 

Jailed for Life

One time high rolling bankster R. Allen Stanford has been sentenced to 110 years in jail – with chance of parole – for his leading role in a $7-billion banking fraud a number of years back.

 

Whether he realizes it, or not, if the second shoe drops in America’s financial mess, he might be safer inside than out.

 

Idiots Ahoy Dept.

Who would come out with a line of Obama-styled clothing?  Answer here.

 

Weekend Readings

For those who are interests in saving whatever is left of their retirement accounts, some time reading Gary Lammerts work on Non-Stochastic Saturation Macroeconomics at his Economic Fractalist website might be in order.  Visit the daily updates page.  He’s decided to reactivate it just in time for….(oh, pretend you can’t guess.)

 

More after this…