GDPhriday – Can The Economy Justify The Rising Markets?

Up and up we go.

Sure it’s low-volume, sure it’s coming on a day when the Fed put $4Bn worth of POMO into the system and sure it came on Yellen’s second day of Free Money-Chanting before Congress but 1,854!!!  1,854!!!  1,854!!!  If we keep saying it, it will begin to sound “normal.”

I don’t want to be a party-pooper but I was bullish yesterday and I can’t bite my tongue all the way into the weekend.  We are “Cashy and Cautious” once again (see our February Trade Review) at the top of the rally.  Today is the last day of the month and ANYTHING can happen as Fund Managers square off their bets and Banksters manipulate the markets to match the brochures they already sent to the printer.

Turns out the President of the Ukraine did not step down and is not a wanted criminal, he’s just on vacation in Moscow! That is, according to the Russians, who have now occupied two of the Ukraine’s major airports with armed soldiers.

Vlad the Inhaler (of Billions of Rubles) put out a statement this morning instructing his government to “continue contacts with partners in Kiev” and it was just announced that Viktor Yanukovych (ousted President) will hold a press conference in Moscow this morning, but on a 10-minute delay (to make sure he sticks to Putin’s script).  

Ukraine’s interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said on Friday that Russian forces had seized two airports in Crimea. In a statement on his Facebook page, Mr. Avakov said he considered the actions “armed invasion and occupation in violation of all international agreements and norms.”  He would have made the statement from his office, but Russian troops have also taken over those buildings!

Now, before we start booing Russia for their heavy-handed action, let’s keep in mind that Sevastopol is a major Russian Naval Port and it cannot be denied that they have VITAL interests in that region.  What does the US do when their is unrest in places we have “vital” (i.e. oil) interests in?  We send in “peacekeepers,” don’t we?  Of course, that’s how we spin it – in the countries we send the troops to, it’s called an invasion. Funny how it feels to be on the other side for a change…