Time to turn you into a junior business report, green belt.
While we edge out the door this morning, I won’t be able to do an update including the latest on import-export prices, but if you go over to the www.census.gov website after 8:30 Eastern, you should see a headline to the effect “International Trade” report released. If not there, try www.bea.gov.
Give it about 15-minutes, or so, and then click over here to look at the financial futures and we should have an idea of how today will work out in the markets. (Over here, don’t you bookmark anything anymore?)
After running up 91-points on the Dow yesterday, a little profit-taking would be expected, but today and tomorrow could be somewhat stable because this is when options for this cycle come off the table. Third Friday of each month, but as one of our readers (Sunshine) occasionally reminds me, my skills counting on a calendar leaves a little something to be desired. I appreciate people checking my work. It’s a full-time job once you get into it.
As of “sliding out the door time” the Dow was looking to add a few points and looking at the markets elsewhere, everything in Europe was up about half a percent on the majors while in Asia both the Nikkei and the Hang Seng were hangin’ higher.
All because I told you weeks and weeks ago that the annual high in the market (on average, YMMV) comes within a week to 10-days of August 26th.
The technical picture is a little dicey, after that, and it will all depend on whether the Dow and the S&P can bust through the .618 retracement from recent lows.
If we can do that, then the market could have a parabolic rise this fall. If not, see you in the funny papers…because that’s about all that’ll be left after global economic collapse comes along.
As students of the long wave (and other cycles) know, that may not happen until next fall, which sort of hints at a the political future of the country, but you get to work out those finer details for yourself. You don’t get the green belt in reporting for just sitting on your butt and nodding like you follow what’s going on.
Homework assignment: John Crudele’s savory NY Post story “Censusgate throws light on political ‘Right.” Another aficionado of gub’mint statistics…we oughta start a club.
More after this…
Something Big Coming?
Want something to be (even more) paranoid than usual about this morning?
President Obama is coming back to Washington Sunday from vacationing and that has led to speculation that he may announce some unilateral action on immigration, or perhaps a big name foreign leader (Vlad Putin?) will be paying a surprise visit.
Apple’s Consumer Ear
Don’t know if you have been following the reports about toxic chemicals that were being used in the product assemble of some Apple products. Nevertheless, they have banned the use of n-hexane and benzene at its final assembly plants, reports ComputerWorld.
IT note: Cisco is axing 6,000 jobs in a restructuring plan. Remember our comments about the “hollow recovery?”
Ebola Business Models
Everything’s a business model is our editorial mantra around here. So now that we’re all getting used to the idea of millions potentially dying we return to the sport of watching to see how money is being thrown at the problem.
For example, NewLink Genetics is about to start an Ebola vaccine trial in a few weeks. And the NY Times has a good article about how the race to create the vaccine is on in earnest.
It’s nice to see money being used for something directly productive. Just a damn shame that so much of the time humans spend money on making products that will break or become obsolete after x-uses.
But maybe that’s only clear if you’re on a UFO drifting in from the dimension next door every once in a while to check up on the people who shook up the neighborhood in space-time with the first atomic test in New Mexico way back when. Getting behind that smokescreen would logically follow the TV series Manhattan when it runs its course…
Only in Passing
There are a few stories that we don’t need to get into because they are being beaten to death in the Mainstream Media.
Like the events up in Ferguson, MO where the US Attorney has launched an investigation into the death of Michael Brown. Solid move, that.
Another story we’ll pass lightly on is the follow up to Robin Williams passing. Yes, he’s still dead and Fox reports on how social media is showing how cruel (did I mention useless?) it can be. You probably figured that out…Social media is still the Citizen’s Band radio craze with a keyboard instead of a mic.
Here, have a Kardashian story.
I’ll stick to the more interesting content. Like….uh…”9 people treated after carbon monoxide leak at Pickle Factory…” Now we’re talking news…sh*t you don’t hear every day, after day, after…..
Ukraine: Aid’s Coming
The Russian media has been touting all the relief supplies that it has coming to Ukraine. The US is skeptical…are the nearly 300 trucks just going to roll into eastern Ukraine?
This could be interesting and speculation runs around the problem of how Kiev will deal with their arrival.
So far, instead of the Welcome Wagon, seems like the Kiev government has started shelling the separatists in Donetsk. Which tells us the EU is absolutely desperate for something to prop up failing Europe which has shot itself in the foot with the ban on trade with Russia, to some extent…ending exports and let’s see how they make up for this economic pot hole.
Meantime, August 22 will be the official day of mourning for those aboard MH17…a case which is on slow simmer while officials try to figure out the actual cause of the crash. Problem: What if it turns out to be canon-fire and not a missile? Oh-oh, that’d be a mess for Kiev…but we shall await the reports. Doesn’t seem like it should take forever to figure out but like Ebola, this is going to be one of them “long chain news stories.” Your grandkids will still be hearing about it…
Egalitarian Question du Jour
OK, so the US rolls back restrictions on black hairstyles. Does that mean a white guy can have dreads, too? Just wondering…I read the story and it wasn’t clear to me. I’m hopelessly dense, of course.
On the Road Again
Drop by tomorrow as we tally the number of police cars we spot between Dallas and Amarillo. The old high water mark was 16 cruisers on highway 287 which my our reckoning makes it one of the safest roads in America… one we won’t see stolen any time soon.