Here are my proposed New Rights:

Amendment One: The Right to Global Empire
The rights of the Nation to construct (by expropriation and war if necessary) and operate a Sole Superpower as a Rogue Empire unrestrained by international rules shall be inviolate.

Amendment Two: The Right to Global Hypocrisy
The rights of the Nation to impose rules and constraints on other nations in matters of trade, currency, debt and other matters shall not be infringed, even as the right to ignore the rules we impose on other nations shall be ours alone.

Amendment Three: The Right to Borrow From Other Nations
The rights of the Nation to borrow unlimited sums of money from other nations shall not be restricted by matters of finance, debt or international law.

Amendment Four: The Right to Cheap Goods
The rights of the people to buy commodities and manufactured goods from other nations at low prices shall be inviolate. (Also known as the "what's our oil doing under your land?" amendment.)

Amendment Five: The Right to Rising Real Estate
That real estate valuations shall always rise is a fundamental right of the people, and the Government is hereby ordered to move Heaven and Earth to insure this right.

Amendment Six: The Right to a Fiat Currency Which Does Not Fall to Zero
Though all fiat currencies are doomed to fall to zero valuation, it is the right of the Nation and its people to exchange U.S. fiat currency (dollars) for tangible goods without limit.

Amendment Seven: The Right to Bomb Others and Be Welcomed as Saviors
It is the inviolate right of the Nation and its people to bomb, shell, and otherwise disrupt and destroy any other nation at our own discretion, regardless of treaties and other international laws; additionally, the right to be welcomed as saviors after the bombing is also held inviolate.

Amendment Eight: The Right to Unlimited Hubris
The Nation and its people reserve the unlimited right to hubris in all forms, eras and places; additionally, the people maintain the right to state this right without irony.

Amendment Nine: The Right to a Permanent State of Denial
The rights of the people to enjoy a permanent state of psychic and spiritual denial shall not be infringed.

Amendment Ten: The Right to a Magic Pill
The rights of the people to be saved from the consequences of their own dietary and lifestyle choices by a highly profitable pharmaceutical "magic pill" paid for by the Federal government shall not be infringed.

I may have missed a few "rights," but hey, this is only a draft.


As a lagniappe, I present two charts of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Standard-Issue Financial Pundits are meekly suggesting that the U.S. stock market is due for a modest "breather" or perhaps a drop to traditional October lows. I look at this 3-year chart and wonder what on Earth is going to keep this from rolling over and falling from 8,800 to 6,800 now that the spray paint is flaking off the dead weeds which were presented as "green shoots" to a credulous world:

For a longer-term context, here is a chart published earlier this year of the period 1960 to March 2009, courtesy of frequent contributor Harun I. Note that the current "green shoots" rally went right up to the 38.2% fibonacci projection at 8,800 and turned over.

Also note that the first target on the downside is the 50% fibo at around 7,100; the next stop, the 61.8% fibo, just so happens to roughly align with a long-term trend line at around 5,800.

Below that, 4,000 beckons.

I started the year by suggesting the DJIA could bounce back to the 9,700 level, or perhaps even the 10,700 level (the 23.6% fibo on this chart) which would have formed the right shoulder of a massive head and shoulders formation.

Maybe after we finally hit bottom the market will surge to 10,700, but such a surge is not visible in the present tea leaves, at least to me.

Please read the HUGE GIANT BIG FAT DISCLAIMER below; this is not investment advice, it is only the freely offered wanderings and musings of an amateur chartist.


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