As we kickoff the third week of trading in October, Art Cashin says the focus is on China, London and Syria.
On This Day
October 14 (King World News) – Art Cashin: On this day in 1066 A.D. the history of the western world changed. The Duke of Normandy had waited for months for good weather to launch his ships across the English Channel and invade England. His adversary, the Anglo Saxon King, Harold, had also waited months to counter the expected invasion.
But while Duke William of Orange waited on the Normandy shores for the winds and the omens to bless his invasion, Harold faced another problem. Raiding parties of Danes were laying waste to northern England. He moved his forces north and defeated the Danes.
As October began, however, his spies told him William was getting ready to sail. Harold took a small force of his best men and in a forced march headed for the expected landing site at Hastings.
Again his spies were correct and when Harold’s sleepless and weary force arrived they saw the sails of William’s fleet landing.
Some historians claim that William’s long bows were just too much for Harold’s weary infantry. But evidence seems to be otherwise.
Too late to stop the Normans on the beach, Harold placed his crack “axe men” on the high ground above the beach. After the inconclusive firing by the long bow men, William realized he would have to advance or die on the beach. But the first two tries proved that the axe men were better than their reputation.
On the third try William ordered his men to flee back to the ships. The weary Saxons sensed a quick victory and pursued. Partway to the beach the Norman bowmen turned and fired their arrows. Line after line of the Saxon army was cut down and Harold, calling to his men to rally, was suddenly shot in the eye with an arrow. The wound was fatal and William, the Conqueror, became the ruler of Britain.
To celebrate drop by the Hastings Inn and have a flagon or twelve – but mindeth thy manner with the serving wench.
Traders could have used a flagon or two on Friday as an early trade hope rally began to implode in the closing minutes of trading.
Stocks had gapped higher on the opening as the White House said that President Trump would meet the Chinese Vice Premier in early afternoon. That led traders to hope that could mean a deal might be announced. That, in turn, prompted short covering and some opportunistic buying.
The pop on the opening appeared to get further help on two other fronts. European stocks were higher on rumors that Boris Johnson might be willing to cut some kind of deal on Brexit. Energy stocks were also higher after crude spiked on reports of tankers being fired upon overnight.
All that combined to produce the big spike opening and keep a bid under the market throughout the morning.
Stocks eased off the highs only slightly in early afternoon as traders went into monitor mode, listening and watching intently for things like who was coming and going at the White House along with every twist and rumor.
As we neared 3:00, buyers slowly began to re-enter the market, which lifted prices slightly. By 3:40, stocks were at the day’s high as traders awaited “the deal”.
What they got instead was an agreement to develop details over the next several weeks. It looked like the skeleton that had been floated earlier in the week – China buys lots of food and ag products, while the U.S. would delay tariff hikes. The Dow fell 200 points in less than 15 minutes. The game, apparently, is clearly not over. Stay tuned!
Overnight And Overseas – In Japan, stocks were closed for Sports Day. Hong Kong and China saw moderate rallies as they closed before China said it might need more talks before they would agree to a phase one deal. India closed fractionally higher.
In Europe, stocks are trading a bit lower after the latest China reservations.
Among other assets, Bitcoin continues to churn around $8300. Gold is fractionally higher but is trading just below $1500. Crude is softer with WTI trading around $53.50. The euro shows little change against the dollar, while the bond market is closed for Columbus Day.
Consensus – Overnight, China indicated it needed to have more talks to iron out more details before it could agree to any trade pact.
Some focus may shift to London as Brexit comes further into the spotlight.
Syria reshuffling is accelerating rapidly and may impact markets later in the week.
Stick with the drill – stay wary, alert and very, very nimble.
KWN has just released the powerful audio interview with Egon von Greyerz and you can listen to it by CLICKING HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
Greyerz – Snapshot Of Terrifying Global Collapse
READ THIS NEXT! Greyerz – This Is A Snapshot Of The Terrifying Collapse The World Will Endure CLICK HERE TO READ
More articles to follow…
Tom McClellan Update On The Silver Market CLICK HERE TO READ
Greyerz – This Is The Truly Shocking Thing About Gold’s Surge To $1,550 CLICK HERE TO READ
UPDATE: The Big Picture With Gold Pulling Back CLICK HERE TO READ
Alasdair Macleod – What To Expect As We Enter The Crisis Stage CLICK HERE TO READ
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