So the market rallied today (Friday). The rally actually started midday Thursday on the news that the sanctions on Russia would not be so severe as to disrupt the European economies or the banking system or the profits of the global oil companies or the cruise industry.
Basically, the stock market rallied on the news that Ukraine has been sacrificed by the West in order to keep a good global economy growing!
That is the most disgusting thing I have ever written about. The world is watching Ukraine be overwhelmed by a madman -- millions of honest, hard-working people who want nothing but to preserve their democracy.
Doesn't anyone read history anymore? Has the entire world forgotten the last time a madman tried to take over Europe Back then the world looked away, thought he would be "satisfied" with one slice of the continent. That was Hitler -- a megalomaniac with intentions to control the world from Paris to Stalingrad, from London to New York, all while annihilating a huge swath of the population.
Did you hear the echoes today, when Putin reportedly said he would kill the families of the Ukranian soldiers who did not surrender?
The "West" is worried about its heating bills and inflation -- a vulnerability of their own making! Germany built its economy on energy imported from Russia, telling itself that bringing Putin into global commerce would make him a friend. Meanwhile Russia built a multi-trillion currency reserve, in case they were cut off from the banking system or couldn't sell their oil.
The likelihood that energy prices would spike if Russian energy was blocked from the global markets, has brought Western Europe to its knees. No tough sanctions on Russia for them. It might cause inflation and pain at home.
The US couldn't act alone --and wouldn't act alone -- to place meaningful sanctions. Putin was counting on that. So he marched into Ukraine as we watched on television. We watched families shelter in subway stations with small children. In the year 2022. Just as they did in England during WW II when democracies failed to stand up to a madman at the start.
Do we remember nothing? Are we too concerned with our comfort to see that our freedom is at risk? Are we too worried about our 40l(k) plans to see that we will live in a weakened society, at the mercy of not just Putin but those who will be emboldened to emulate him: China and North Korea.
So, yes, celebrate that you were "right" to buy stocks in anticipation of a bounce in the market. Only this market bounce has within it the sound of a lead balloon.
And that's The Savage Truth. |
