Investors must have been listening to Jack for overnight markets have tumbled in value by up to 3%. Most markets had been successfully resisting Wall Street's losses, spurred on by a governmental enquiry into Enron in whcih two big financial houses, including powerhouse JP Morgan, were accused of assiting to cover up Enron's financial mess. Confidence in the US markets has been severely dented, and now the other world markets, which initially benefitted from the plunge as investors sought to put their money into business outside the US. As shares in the US continued to take a pounding, investors in other markets have become nervous and started to sell.
A financial meltdown may be looming on Wall Street, but more serious problems are expected for 1 February 2019. A big mother of an asetroid is expected to hit the Earth on that date. Another asteroid the size of a football field missed the Earth a month or so ago by the third of the distance to the moon. Rummy suddenly has a new and more valid reason for a missile defence program.
Here in Hong Kong, the government is complaining that Mickey and Donald are screwing it over. Disney has an agreement with the HK Government to build a new Disneyland on Lantau Island (I can see construction from my house), which involves a massive construction effort to flatten part of the island and reclaim part of sea. Trouble is, Disney are now planning another Disneyland, in HK's rival city Shanghai. HK is already facing long term irrelevancy because of the increasing capitalism in China, and the plans for a Disneyland in Shanghai make the future look even bleaker.
Finally, in Israel, Shimon Peres has been on TV saying that the big bomb which killed the head of Hamas' military wing this week was regrettable, since it also killed 7 children and a bunch of civilians. Hamas is an extremist Palestinian group. Peres said various plans to kill the Hamas general had previosuly been called off because of the likelihood of civilian deaths: a bomb had to be used, rather than a helicopter gunship missile in orer to ensure the house collapsed and maximise the probablility of the man's death. One Israeli official has called the action "not wise". Timing of the attack was certainly not prudent: the spiritual head of Hamas had been calling for an end to the intifada uprising on certain pre-condtions. It remains to be seen whether this action by Israel will stiffen Hamas resolve - certainly, it has prompted gun battles in the West Bank.
