“She travels like a rocket with her comet team, and there’s never been a planet Janet hasn’t seen…” That’s one of the lines in the Schoolhouse Rock episode which I mention this morning because I loved the rally yesterday. OK, so a little later than I expected, but the bottom line here is this: The prospect of a new Fed boss who’s going to make Ben Bernanke’s helicopters look puny could just push the market on to new highs any old time.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but the latest Money Stocks report from the Fed shows M1 up at an annualized 8.3% for the month recent three months and similarly, M2 is up 8.2% for the three months, so maybe Led Zeppelin should rename word the song printing a stairway to heaven…
But, before we go there, the troublesome 1,690 line on the S&P remains and it’s best captured in Forbidden Zone’s “Bim Bam Boom” in terms of how it all works out.
As long as I have my world’s first EconoJay (e-J) hat on this morning, here’s a song to play which summed up what we figure will be Interplanet Janet’s Fed policy in a nutshell.
Now, this is where things get interesting. I don’t think the prospect of buying a stairway to heaven (or printing it, either) will work, so Ures truly waded back in to his next wild-ass short side trade at the market highs yesterday.
NO! This is NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE. This is a crazy man barking at the moon, but is there a chance that the market could briefly venture over that 1,690 level today and touch back down on Earth before the close? We should know in a week or two who’s more irrational: me or the markets.
Budget Follies Will Decide
I should play poker with John Boehner sometime…and hopefully, if we ever do, he should bring a big bankroll with him because I’m gonna get rich off off him.
Why? Lousy poker player. Obama called his bluff and Boehner folded…so this morning more talk is expected, but Boehner, who’s quickly losing support of the Tea Party wing for being to accommodative on the debt ceiling is also basically handing over the GOP’s future in 2016 by not hammering on the reality of what’s going down.
The issue, as I’ve tried ever-so-gently to explain is compound interest…and nothing more. All Boehner would need to say is “Our Country is Blowing Up and the American people will not see their home foreclosed, the job-jacks to India, and then bless this administration’s bankrupting the US dollar to boot!”
Boehner won’t have the balls to get down and call it like it is. Nor will he point out the heresy of claiming poor on budget and then having shock troops enough to turn away veterans from the Memorial while allowing pro immigration promotion at virtually the same time.
Nor, will he say the boondoggles which Faux News has been rolling out, are mostly at the feet of Fearless Leader not actuarial science.
Still, the government remains shut down, and despite the Interplanet Janet blastoff to the markets, I wouldn’t be surprised by a first stage burnout when people figure out that gravity (and pernicious debt-driven inflation) are not so easily fooled.
But for this morning, we should see a few more of the people, some of the time as futures are pointing to an effort to achieve orbit. My money says it may look like Sputnik, but remember, the first satellite was up only 90-days.
The markets should be so lucky.
With public confidence in both the poker player in chief and the inarticulate budget-aware realists cratering, polls are showing a high level of distrust and disgust.
It’s one thing to say the markets can “climb a wall of worry.” It’s entirely another question when we ask “Can markets climb an asylum wall?”
More to the point, when was the last time a market staged a serious rally when 60% of poll respondents said to fire every member of congress?
Look for video later this morning as truckers plan to Ride for the Constitution. And to be followed Sunday by a Million Veteran March at 9 AM at the National World War II Memorial.
Enough is too much and potential is high that this will be a change point weekend.
More After This…
JP Bleedin’
So, how does it feel to post a loss of a third of a billion plus? Might want to ask the execs at JP Morgan which took a $7.2 billion legal hit this quarter. Meantime, where there’s a fail, there’s a sale, as we say around here. So word’s out this morning that JPM is looking to sell its commodities biz.
Always ready to snap up a deal, I’ll call a couple of buddies and I’m sure we could make an offer. I’m thinking about a $1,000 in cash and the seller to take back a note with no recourse to buyers. Want in? LOL…. Oh, did I mention the no liabilities for past transactions clause?
Mideast Killing Fields
There’s so much murder and mayhem going on in the Middle East these days it could provide many lifetimes of storylines for someone like Joseph Wambaugh. Here’s the latest body count:
Syria: 190 Number of civilians executes says Human Rights Watch.
Iraq: 42: Number of people executed in a “clean up the streets” campaign following sectarian violence.
Also related: the dynamite-paid Peace Prize has gone to a chemical weapons watchdog group. Wiki fact check:
Dynamite was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Germany, and patented in 1867. Its name was coined by Nobel from the Ancient Greek word ??????? dýnamis, meaning “power”.[1][2]
Talk to Much?
Word that SecState John Kerry is in Afghanistan for urgent talks has us wondering: Hold;er Newt! Weren’t we pulling out of that mess?
Cleaning Out Detroit
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was popped for a 28-year federal hotel stay yesterday and this morning, Bobby Ferguson will learn his fate. Details in the Detroit News over here…
Oh…Who?
Vatican misspells Jesus’ name on Papal medal, reports ABC. Lexdysic ni het Canivat?
SuperLice!
Coming soon to a Pittsburgh near you! Bugs resistant to normal treatments, an infestation which can’t be easily quelled?
BTW Anyone who tells you they are a prepper who doesn’t have a couple of treatments worth of something like LiceMD Lice & Egg Treatment, 4-Ounce Bottle ($5) and maybe some Lice Shield Shampoo and Conditioner In 1, 10 Ounce ($9+) is just itching to be shown an under-prepped.
A lot of the creepy-crawlies that we don’t experience come from running the dryer just below spontaneously combusts settings. And if the lights ever go out, lots of microscopic whizzies will come in off the clothes line…
You do have a clothesline, right? Koch 5620727 Braided Cotton/Polyester Blend Clothesline, 7/32 by 200 Feet, White will set you back about $11 bucks. Hardcore Obamanistas and democrats may wish to shop other brands.
If this doesn’t make sense (and it’s early, I’ll grant you that) looks who makes our recommended clothesline: Koch Industries. Oh, brothers, do I have to do all your thinking about how to vote with Ure wallet?
UFO Anniversary
40-years ago, a one-on-one encounter is Pascagoula is recalled. All of which leads to our Coping section, next….