SUNDAY 1/19/14

Even though the Charleston, West Virginia, water ban is lifted after the chemical spill, residents are becoming sick and questioning the safety of the water. EMN, the maker of MCHM which spilled into the Elk River, now faces lawsuits. The majority of the 2.2 million Obamacare enrollees were already previously insured. Only 11% were previously uninsured; a paltry couple hundred thousand of the enrollees. Obamacare intended to enroll 30 million uninsured Americans. Concerns grow that the insurance companies may need bailouts due to the serious disruption that the AHA law is causing to the health insurance industry.

The Bangkok, Thailand, protests turn more violent with daily bomb blasts occurring. Authorities accuse the protestors of setting off bombs injuring their own followers which only adds to the distrust and confusion ongoing in Thailand. People are injured and vehicles are set ablaze in Kiev, Ukraine, as protests become more violent. Authorities are trying to place limits on the protestors which only escalates the mayhem and violence. In Russia, ahead of the Sochi Olympics, two terrorists believed to be the suicide bombers at Volgograd (Stalingrad), appear on a video promising further terrorism during the Olympics. Putin says a “ring of steel” is protecting the Olympics with 40K troops providing security. Ticket sales are weak as concern grows over the safety of the transportation routes to and from the games.

China’s air pollution levels rise due to increased coal-burning in the colder weather. The air pollution is 25 times greater than the safe levels identified by WHO and the sick air causes many wealthy to live abroad. Australia and Japan markets open down about -0.5%. Troubled TEPCO, the operator of the Fukishima nuclear plant, dealing with the continued triple meltdowns, seeks to spend $26 billion to provide energy through other means such as LNG. Japan continues to hide news about the ongoing nuclear disaster, the worst ecological disaster in human history that continues to pour thousands of gallons of radioactively-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean every day. The Macau gambling boom continues and pumps the gaming stocks to bubble levels (WYNN, LVS, MGM). German bank DB posts a surprising Q4 loss as legal costs increase which should weigh on the global banking sector. The dollar/yen drops to 104, then briefly sub 104, so the yen is stronger and the NIKK is -0.7%.