BALTIMORE – The Dow rose 126 points on Thursday – just shy of 1%. Not enough to reverse the market’s apparent downward bias [ed note: the rebound gathered pace on Friday].
Stocks are most likely headed down because the thing that sent them up has come to an end. Here is a chart that tells the tale:
Federal Reserve assets vs. the S&P 500 Index
As you can see, over the last six years or so, gains for the S&P 500 have closely tracked the ballooning of the Fed’s balance sheet under QE. After shelling out almost $4 trillion on bonds, the Fed’s QE is on pause. And stocks are struggling. Coincidence? We don’t think so.
Deep State Cronies in Action
We stuffed a few copies of the Hindustan Times in our bag before boarding the plane back from Mumbai. On the front page, French president Francois Hollande is receiving an awkward hug from India’s top man, Narendra Modi.
Over in the entertainment section is another note of interest. Actress Julie Gayet has put together a film production company. And lucky for her – she has backing from one of India’s biggest conglomerates, the Reliance group.
Nowhere does the paper mention that Ms. Gayet is Mr. Hollande’s main squeeze. She is the woman for whom he snuck away on a motor scooter from the presidential palace, where he lived with his then First Girlfriend, journalist Valerie Trierweiler.
Mr. Hollande and his old squeeze Valerie Trierweiler (left) and her replacement Julie Gayet (right)
Reliance is owned by the Ambani family, which lives in Mumbai in the most expensive house ever built. It is 60-story skyscraper, put up at a cost of $1 billion, which now takes a staff of 600 to keep the furniture dusted. On Sunday, the two events were reported. On Monday, the paper added the connective tissue. It announced that India and France had inked “$15 billion in business deals.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
