Nothing Ever Happens Except When it Does
270: Israel Retaliation, Dumping Markets, War
This year has really not been all that surprising in terms of how wild things are playing out on all fronts of society.
I think people are getting tired of it to be honest — or maybe numb is the right word. Since the pandemic ended everyone is sort of “over” the obvious games being played by politicians and institutions globally.
Last night Israel allegedly struck inside Iran including nuclear facilities in retaliation for the rocket and drone strikes last weekend. It is not clear at this point if they were fighter jets or drones. The fog of war was dense last night — an Iranian official claimed that Israeli attempts had 'failed and were humiliating' and that all air assets were 'shot down'.
Markets and futures dumped again with Brent hitting $89 last night around 9:45pm ET, and many are already speculating that the conflict is going to continue to escalate. Robinhood even suspended 24 hour trading due to heightened volatility.
Iran’s IRGC stated last night that Iran will target Israeli nuclear sites with a new counterattack.
On the home front Americans are really starting to feel the side effects of inflation, supply chain woes, and potentially a large armed conflict in the Middle East.
Corporations are leaning out teams, the Federal Reserve is slowly admitting they have no clue whats going on or remedy for the current fiscal situation and high inflation, our enemies abroad are making bold moves due to a lack of deterrence, and every day it seems a new heinous crime or security concern emerges across the US.
The truth is — many people are going to come out of this year worse than when they entered it because they failed to keep their ear to ground OR ignored obvious signals that hinted at what’s to come.
The job market is faltering — anyone telling you otherwise is ignorant or out of touch. Many companies this week including big banks and tech companies like Cisco announced plans to reduce their workforce between now and the summer. More will come.
Society is becoming increasingly divided and unpredictable — just this week thousands of illegal migrants organized to protest in NYC over concessions made upon their arrival in the big apple. Hamas and Pro Palestinian protestors took to the streets around Columbia university in New York City and fought back against NYPD.
The FBI is warning of an impending Chinese cyber attack that will target US infrastructure while more boats hit bridges, planes narrowly avoid each other on runways, and infrastructure continues to degrade. The FBI is now actively investigating the Dali bridge incident in Maryland. Since then, there have been similar issues in other states. Is it that far fetched to speculate that these may not be accident?
The House has advanced another $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, and are teeing up final votes as we move into the weekend.
Can US citizens get a cool $1B?!
War continues to spread around the globe with the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel becoming increasingly unpredictable and volatile. The action in Iran last night was strikingly similar to the plot of new Top Gun.
Some days it really does seem like we are all living through a movie.
Today we’ll cover the following before the weekend:
The latest on crypto, where I see us in the next few months
The FBI’s warning on a Chinese cyberattack
Pro Hamas and Palestine demonstrations in NYC
Update on the Israel/Iran conflict
Let’s start with markets which have been chopping aggressively in the last 72 hours. I know all of our subscribers and readers are watching their bags with intent as we whipsaw around waiting with bated breath for the next piece of market moving news.
Makets & Crypto
We’re at a fork in the road in global markets — one one hand we may see some more of the logic defying pumps that have characterized the last two years — but on the other it seems we are approaching a potential cliff that could leave many people absolutely and utterly wrecked — and much poorer.