Almost everybody got back to work on Tuesday, following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, including those who traveled to Richmond, Virginia to rally in support of the second amendment and congress, which eagerly got started on the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump.
The scene in Richmond was inspiring, if not daunting to those who oppose gun rights in the United States and elsewhere. The display of firearms - from shotguns and .22s to ARs, semi-automatic weapons, handguns and even a .50-caliber tank-buster - was impressive to say the least. The massive demonstration of an armed populace acting in a very peaceable manner without incident (only one arrest was made) served as a reminder of what America is all about: a free people willing to defend their rights against tyranny.
In congress, it was another kind of spectacle, with the managers from the House of Representatives sparring over trial rules with the president's legal team. The arguments by the House members who stand as prosecutors fell largely on deaf Republican ears as every one of the eleven proposed amendments brought up by Democrat leader Chuck Schumer was defeated along party lines, 53-47, bar one. Maine Senator, Susan Collins voted with Democrats on the 10th amendment proposed by Schumer, which would have allowed more time for both sides to respond to trial motions, but it still went down in flames, 52-48.
The marathon session lasted well into the night, finally adjourning just before two o'clock am. The defeat of the Democrats was resounding and bodes well for the president as the parties will begin making their cases when the House managers begin three days of opening arguments on Wednesday at 1:00 pm ET.
While the rhetoric was fiery and impassioned by both sides, the issues raised by the president's lawyers seemed more authentic and serious. Most of the Senators seated in the chamber are well aware that the charges levied by the Democratically-controlled House - Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress - are neither crimes nor are their arguments particularly well-founded. The president and his team have roundly criticized the entire impeachment process as a "sham" and a political exercise, the charges not even close to rising as impeachable offenses.
Nevertheless, House managers will have three eight-hour sessions over the next three days in which to plead their case, taking the trial through Friday. The president's defense team will also have the same allotment of time - 24 hours - to offer their case, on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, also in three eight-hour sessions. It's looking like the president will be acquitted on both charges in a reasonably short manner.
While there is still the possibility of calling new witnesses and adding documents, the Republicans in the Senate are unlikely to move forward on those grounds, considering that the House should have done its job better to make its case against the president without having to conjure up new charges and ddrag the country through a drawn-out, ridiculous process that could stretch into months of useless debate.
Meanwhile, Wall Street wasn't very upbeat about anything, as stocks took a rare nosedive to open the week's trading. Led by the Dow Industrials, losses were not substantial and would likely not lead to any more selling activity. Besides the Fed's nearly-continuous pumping of fresh cash into the hands of hedge funds and primary dealers (big banks and brokerages), the global outlook is a few shades light of gloomy while the rich and not-so-famous convene at Davos, Switzerland this week for the 50th annual World Economic Forum.
Business and political leaders from around the world heard President Trump speak on the glories of his "America First" policies, followed by another round of adult-shaming by eco-warrior princess, Greta Thunberg. The two cancelled each other out to some degree, though Trump's speech was longer and much more compelling than Thunberg's seven-minute screed.
Even with stocks lower, gold and silver took substantial hits at the start of the day and failed to recover to any great degree. WTI Crude oil futures continued to test the upper resistance at $58/barrel and failing, while the 10-year note was bid, finishing below a 1.80% yield for just the second time this year.
All told, it was a good day for non-financial activity, though the trading hardly reflected that. Instead, markets are displaying the kind of activity seen when stocks are overbought, as they currently are. Short-term, there's potential for a more sizable pullback, though it would take a gargantuan effort to offset the machinations of the Fed, which now has wrested nearly complete control of almost all markets.
Until the Federal Reserve takes its foot off the liquidity gas pedal, stocks should continue to outpace all other investments.
At the Close, Tuesday, January 21, 2020:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 29,196.04, -152.06 (-0.52%)
NASDAQ: 9,370.81, -18.14 (-0.19%)
S&P 500: 3,320.79, -8.83 (-0.27%)
NYSE: 14,109.98, -73.22 (-0.52%)
Showing posts with label Davos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Davos. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Globalism Is Dead And Dying At Davos
As the world prepares for a new American era to begin with the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the global elites are gathered at Davos to interpret the condition of the world economy.
Ian Goldin, a professor of globalization and development at Oxford University spoke briefly at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying,
If one were living in a rural area in America, or India, or the Congo, even, the effects of global initiatives like those espoused and implemented by the people at Davos would be minimal, at best. One would still water plants, feed livestock, wash eggs, and perform all the other chores of a minimal farming/subsistence lifestyle. Mr. Goldin, being of the elitist character, has virtually no concept of digging holes for posts, erecting fences, germinating seed, slaughtering hogs, gathering chicken eggs daily, and so on. He's about as disconnected from the reality of everyday life as one could possibly be, viewing the world from his ivory tower at Oxford as he glances up briefly from his reading of some other obviously clueless professor emeritus or other "authority" whose mantra to which he subscribes.
Therefore, as we've seen in the Brexit movement and the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States of America, the globalist agenda is dead in the water, disconnected and disintegrating. The annual fete at Davos - through the media filter, at least - gives everyone an opportunity to see firsthand just how audaciously and vigorously the gathered elitists continue to promote their agendas. Liberalism, diversity, and globalism are all joined together into a kind of religion of the rich and powerful, but, the masses need not adhere to what is looking increasingly like failed policy.
If globalism has taken thirty or forty years to expand itself into monstrosities such as the European Union, the Arab Spring, and unadulterated acceptance of gay marriage, it's likely going to take an equal amount of time to dismantle its various parts and replace them with more stable value systems. As the globalists retreat from their worn-out traditions and values, popular uprisings will accelerate the decline. It starts, as do all major moral or political or economic upheavals, on the fringes of society, in the hinterlands, so to speak, before spreading to all ranges of the spectrum, from old to young, from the countryside to the cityscape.
We are at the beginning of a new age, one which promises the demise of authority at all levels from local to supranational and more freedom for the working classes and ordinary citizens.
On cue, one day before the actual inauguration of the man all the "experts" said had no chance of winning, Donald Trump, world markets continued a dizzy dance of denial and suspense, especially the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which spasmodically descended today to a point below where it began the year, closing at its lowest level since Decemeber 30 of last year (19,732.40, -72.32 (-0.37%)).
Though the drop in percentage terms was hardly sensational, the level is of more immediate concern. Since December 12, the intraday level never fell below 19,718, the mark made on the final day of trading for 2016, December 30.
While broader indices, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, retained a positive tilt for 2017, it has been the Dow that garnered the most attention of late, especially over its historic (failed) attempt to crack the 20,000 level.
With Trump taking the oath of office at noon tomorrow, the question on every trader's mind is how the markets will respond. With a whimper or a yawn, or might the Dow set aim again for an historic close?
At The Close 1.19.16:
Dow 19,732.40, -72.32 (-0.37%)
NASDAQ: 5,540.08, -15.57 (-0.28%)
S&P 500: 2,263.69, -8.20 (-0.36%)
NYSE Composite: 11,151.69, -44.41 (-0.40%)
Ian Goldin, a professor of globalization and development at Oxford University spoke briefly at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying,
“You can’t stop managing an entangled environment by disconnecting. This is the fundamental mistake of Brexit, of Trump, and of so many others. We are not simply connected. We are entangled. Our lives, our destinies are intertwined. What happens in China, what happens in Indonesia, what happens in India, what happens across Europe, and what happens in North America, across Africa and Latin America will affect all of us in dramatic new ways. The idea that somehow we can forge our future in an insular way, even for the biggest countries like the U.S., is a fantasy.”Obviously, Mr. Goldin has been smoking too much of what he's been growing over the past couple of decades. To put it into a more precise perspective, Mr. Goldin kneels at the altar of globalization, thus, he's unprepared to express or even admit that there's any other opinion or world view than the one he personally promotes.
If one were living in a rural area in America, or India, or the Congo, even, the effects of global initiatives like those espoused and implemented by the people at Davos would be minimal, at best. One would still water plants, feed livestock, wash eggs, and perform all the other chores of a minimal farming/subsistence lifestyle. Mr. Goldin, being of the elitist character, has virtually no concept of digging holes for posts, erecting fences, germinating seed, slaughtering hogs, gathering chicken eggs daily, and so on. He's about as disconnected from the reality of everyday life as one could possibly be, viewing the world from his ivory tower at Oxford as he glances up briefly from his reading of some other obviously clueless professor emeritus or other "authority" whose mantra to which he subscribes.
Therefore, as we've seen in the Brexit movement and the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States of America, the globalist agenda is dead in the water, disconnected and disintegrating. The annual fete at Davos - through the media filter, at least - gives everyone an opportunity to see firsthand just how audaciously and vigorously the gathered elitists continue to promote their agendas. Liberalism, diversity, and globalism are all joined together into a kind of religion of the rich and powerful, but, the masses need not adhere to what is looking increasingly like failed policy.
If globalism has taken thirty or forty years to expand itself into monstrosities such as the European Union, the Arab Spring, and unadulterated acceptance of gay marriage, it's likely going to take an equal amount of time to dismantle its various parts and replace them with more stable value systems. As the globalists retreat from their worn-out traditions and values, popular uprisings will accelerate the decline. It starts, as do all major moral or political or economic upheavals, on the fringes of society, in the hinterlands, so to speak, before spreading to all ranges of the spectrum, from old to young, from the countryside to the cityscape.
We are at the beginning of a new age, one which promises the demise of authority at all levels from local to supranational and more freedom for the working classes and ordinary citizens.
On cue, one day before the actual inauguration of the man all the "experts" said had no chance of winning, Donald Trump, world markets continued a dizzy dance of denial and suspense, especially the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which spasmodically descended today to a point below where it began the year, closing at its lowest level since Decemeber 30 of last year (19,732.40, -72.32 (-0.37%)).
Though the drop in percentage terms was hardly sensational, the level is of more immediate concern. Since December 12, the intraday level never fell below 19,718, the mark made on the final day of trading for 2016, December 30.
While broader indices, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, retained a positive tilt for 2017, it has been the Dow that garnered the most attention of late, especially over its historic (failed) attempt to crack the 20,000 level.
With Trump taking the oath of office at noon tomorrow, the question on every trader's mind is how the markets will respond. With a whimper or a yawn, or might the Dow set aim again for an historic close?
At The Close 1.19.16:
Dow 19,732.40, -72.32 (-0.37%)
NASDAQ: 5,540.08, -15.57 (-0.28%)
S&P 500: 2,263.69, -8.20 (-0.36%)
NYSE Composite: 11,151.69, -44.41 (-0.40%)
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
This Crash Has Been Interrupted... for now
While the world's richest and most-influential types were sipping Valpolicella, stuffing themselves full of petit fours at the World Economic Forum in Davos, markets around the world were in turmoil.
Wednesday saw Asian markets fall completely out of bed, with the Nikkei falling into bear market territory for the first time, and Hong Knog's Hang Seng Index off by nearly 750 points and four percent. For a change, it wasn't the Shanghai SSE leading the way. It was down a mere one percent.
Spilling over into the European session, the feeling continued, just as it had almost every day of the new year. The Dax was a relative out-performer, with the German shares off just 2.82%, better, by comparison, than the FTSE 100 (-3.46) and the CAC 40 (-3.45). In effect, the day was a massive loss for holders of European stocks.
In the US, stocks were slammed at the opening bell, a knee-jerk reaction to the worldwide carnage, and the three major indices continued lower until just after noon, with the Dow recording a loss of 566 points.
But, all of a sudden, something changed. The Dow, S&P and NASDAQ all began moving the other way, as if somebody had turned a loose screw or flipped a faulty switch, metaphors which may be closer to the truth than anyone would admit to, in the age of HFT and sophisticated algos.
The afternoon was all about erasing the embarrassment of the morning session, and it was done with considerable gusto and untold amounts of money from god-know-whom-or-where. The NASDAQ erased a 125-point decline, moving steadily higher to edge into positive territory in the final hour, though it could not hold onto gains, falling back into the red in the final 20 minutes of trading.
The losses in the other two indices were a little stickier, though the Dow improved dramatically, finishing down by just short of 250 points. The S&P lost 22.
So, what happened? Nothing, really, except that short sellers took profits midday, then sat back and counted their money, supposedly. The smart money - and there always is smart money - is currently on red. And it's going to stay there until the selling stops, which, if the past two weeks are any indication, won't be any time soon.
For instance, the Dow still has 1200 points to get to bear market territory. The NASDAQ and S&P are similarly down about 15% from their highs (last May) and will need a little more time. Don't be surprised if there's a snap-back rally with some ferocity over the next two days as options expire on Friday.
What may be of more technical interest (no pun intended) is the yield on the ten-year note, which closed today under 2.00% for the first time in nearly a year. Following the federal funds rate hike in December, rates were supposed to rise. They've gone in the opposite direction, to the Fed's dismay. Look for the Federal Reserve to call an emergency meeting in the not-so-distant future if the selling doesn't abate shortly.
S&P 500: 1,859.33, -22.00 (1.17%)
Dow: 15,766.74, -249.28 (1.56%)
NASDSAQ: 4,471.69, -5.26 (0.12%)
Crude Oil 26.76 -5.97% Gold 1,101.20 +1.11% EUR/USD 1.0891 -0.18% 10-Yr Bond 1.9840 -2.51% Corn 368.00 +0.07% Copper 1.98 +0.13% Silver 14.17 +0.35% Natural Gas 2.14 +2.58% Russell 2000 999.31 +0.45% VIX 27.59 +5.91% BATS 1000 19,792.43 -1.24% GBP/USD 1.4193 +0.22% USD/JPY 116.9350 -0.60%
Wednesday saw Asian markets fall completely out of bed, with the Nikkei falling into bear market territory for the first time, and Hong Knog's Hang Seng Index off by nearly 750 points and four percent. For a change, it wasn't the Shanghai SSE leading the way. It was down a mere one percent.
Spilling over into the European session, the feeling continued, just as it had almost every day of the new year. The Dax was a relative out-performer, with the German shares off just 2.82%, better, by comparison, than the FTSE 100 (-3.46) and the CAC 40 (-3.45). In effect, the day was a massive loss for holders of European stocks.
In the US, stocks were slammed at the opening bell, a knee-jerk reaction to the worldwide carnage, and the three major indices continued lower until just after noon, with the Dow recording a loss of 566 points.
But, all of a sudden, something changed. The Dow, S&P and NASDAQ all began moving the other way, as if somebody had turned a loose screw or flipped a faulty switch, metaphors which may be closer to the truth than anyone would admit to, in the age of HFT and sophisticated algos.
The afternoon was all about erasing the embarrassment of the morning session, and it was done with considerable gusto and untold amounts of money from god-know-whom-or-where. The NASDAQ erased a 125-point decline, moving steadily higher to edge into positive territory in the final hour, though it could not hold onto gains, falling back into the red in the final 20 minutes of trading.
The losses in the other two indices were a little stickier, though the Dow improved dramatically, finishing down by just short of 250 points. The S&P lost 22.
So, what happened? Nothing, really, except that short sellers took profits midday, then sat back and counted their money, supposedly. The smart money - and there always is smart money - is currently on red. And it's going to stay there until the selling stops, which, if the past two weeks are any indication, won't be any time soon.
For instance, the Dow still has 1200 points to get to bear market territory. The NASDAQ and S&P are similarly down about 15% from their highs (last May) and will need a little more time. Don't be surprised if there's a snap-back rally with some ferocity over the next two days as options expire on Friday.
What may be of more technical interest (no pun intended) is the yield on the ten-year note, which closed today under 2.00% for the first time in nearly a year. Following the federal funds rate hike in December, rates were supposed to rise. They've gone in the opposite direction, to the Fed's dismay. Look for the Federal Reserve to call an emergency meeting in the not-so-distant future if the selling doesn't abate shortly.
S&P 500: 1,859.33, -22.00 (1.17%)
Dow: 15,766.74, -249.28 (1.56%)
NASDSAQ: 4,471.69, -5.26 (0.12%)
Crude Oil 26.76 -5.97% Gold 1,101.20 +1.11% EUR/USD 1.0891 -0.18% 10-Yr Bond 1.9840 -2.51% Corn 368.00 +0.07% Copper 1.98 +0.13% Silver 14.17 +0.35% Natural Gas 2.14 +2.58% Russell 2000 999.31 +0.45% VIX 27.59 +5.91% BATS 1000 19,792.43 -1.24% GBP/USD 1.4193 +0.22% USD/JPY 116.9350 -0.60%
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