WEDNESDAY 8/27/14; Israel and Hamas Agree to Long-Term Truce; TIF

The NIKK trades flat since the dollar/yen pair falls under 104 (stronger yen). Tokyo Electric Power trades lower after being held responsible for a woman’s suicide after the Fukishima disaster and ordered to pay nearly $500K in damages. Japan continues to limit and control the news flow conc





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and likely is beginning a campaign to take over the Ukraine land between Crimea and Russia. The talks between Presidents Putin and Poroshenko bore no fruit and Putin now says he is a bystander and Ukraine needs to coordinate a cease-fire with the separatists. Putin continues to play cagey games as he builds Russian forces inside East Ukraine.

There are an estimated 5K foreign fighters joining the ranks of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. About 800 French fighters are supporting ISIS. This is worrisome since any of these 5000 radicals, that hold valid passports, can return to the US, UK or other Western nations to carry out terrorist acts.

The separation of the social classes in America is illustrated in the airline industry. Airplanes are now reducing the space available to passengers in coach class and increasing the space available in the first class section of the plane. This anecdotal tidbit highlights the growing trend of the rich versus poor; the have’s versus the have not’s. The middle class is disappearing. Are you part of the elite class in America or do you make up the common class? The answer dictates how comfortable you travel.

At about 8 PM EST, an oil refinery owned by BP in Whiting, Indiana, suffers an explosion and fire. The facility is BP’s largest refinery in the US and is set up to handle the Canadian tar sands crude. Even though oil prices continue drifting lower due to abundant supply and lower demand, the oil companies now have an excuse to keep gasoline prices elevated.