Whipsaw Wednesday – S&P 2,684 (Again) Gives Us Another Shorting Opportunity

Are we stuck in a loop?

This morning, despite President Trump moving the Doomsday Clock up another minute by unilaterally (which means without the agreement of ANYONE else who participated) withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Treaty, which was put together after years of diplomacy with a dozen countries – including China.  Now the World has to decide who they are going to side with – Iran, who, despite Israel’s claims to the contrary, have been adhering to the agreement or Trump, who’s a friggin’ lunatic.  

Unfortunately, the lunatic already has A LOT of nuclear weapons and he’s already stated he’s not afraid to use them, so people don’t want to be on his bad side. If anything, Trump’s action justifies Kim Jong Un’s strategy of first building the weapons and THEN negotiating – as the non-nuclear Iran has become Trump’s whipping boy while Trump is arranging to meet with Kim, a consideration he has not given to Iran.

Former President Barack Obama, who rarely comments on his successor, issued a statement describing Trump’s move as a “serious mistake” that could leave the US with a “losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East.”

Some of the US’ closest allies, the UK, France, and Germany, issued a statement expressing “without the agreement of ANYONE else who participated” about the decision, emphasizing Iran’s compliance with the deal and their “continuing commitment” to the Joint Commission Plan of Action, as the deal is formally known. Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, said he had ordered the country’s atomic industry to be ready to restart industrial uranium enrichment, while the country’s foreign minister said he would work with the pact’s remaining partners — France, the UK, Germany, China, and Russia — to see whether they could ensure “full benefits for Iran. Outcome will determine our response,” Javad Zarif tweeted.