A couple of omens hit the net this week on Monday. The markets closed below both their 50 and 200 day moving averages, with the DOW closing at 8339, down about 200 pts. The second omen is that insider trading by corporate CEOs and execs has been surging. They are sensing the spring “Obama Rally” has now lost its steam and dumping personal holdings of stock in their own companies at a pace exceeding any set in the last two years. Calls to mind those rats being first off a sinking ship, doesn’t it? Both these are strong “sell” signals, and the bulls are on the run.
Another strange story came from an International Trend Forecast letter. It claimed that the US State Department is quietly issuing instructions at certain overseas embassies to begin stockpiling foreign currency—enough to last a year. The post claimed US dollars were being shipped to make the currency exchanges, and the gist was that “something was about to happen” within the next 120 days that would strongly threaten the US dollar and possibly result in bank holidays here in the states. What might that something be? A devaluation of the dollar? A default on US Treasury debt? Both are rather frightening prospects, but I am beginning to pick up a lot of net “chatter” about events emerging in the next 4 months, in the early to mid-autumn time frame. I hope you’ve been feeding your piggy bank.
Now here’s another one… Kellogs, one of America’s largest food manufacturers, has been soliciting food donations from the public to “help it fight hunger.” Apparently community food banks that feed the hungry haven’t bee treated to the lavish sums of government money that other banks have received. The poor go hungry while CEOs cash in stock and muse over what color their next $48,000 office carpet will be and which private jet to take to the spa this weekend. It seems a tad odd. Couldn’t Kellogs manufacture enough extra food to meet hunger needs in America without asking Average Joe for a donation, or is it just that it costs money and would hurt their bottom line? When a food company starts asking us for donations I get a real unsettled feeling in my gut, and it’s not even dinner time.
Meanwhile… Iran has begun three days of air force “maneuvers” in the Persian Gulf amid accusations of CIA meddling to foment dissent after they rigged their election. Heaven forbid that anyone should ever protest a rigged election! The US navy has given instructions to play it soft and cool in the Gulf to avoid any potential conflict with Iran. It is also tracking a North Korean ship suspected of proliferating arms or nuclear/missiles technology. Do you see two smoldering fuses here? North Korea has been positively manic of late, threatening to nuke anyone who even casts an unseemly glance their way. I note that foreign wars have long been wonderful covers for domestic malfeasance, such as we have now on Wall Street…which takes us back to the first two omens on this list
As the Wicked Witch of the West might say..."Oh, what a world, what a world, what a world!"
