Today's Game: Guess That Glow; Johnson & Johnson To Reorganize Business; Runaway Inflation in the EU; US Treasury Debt Ceiling Breached, Along With Reactors; High Radiation Inside Safe Zone

Update 2: An excellent informative video describing what is really going on in Japan. Must see. 

Update 1: Weird, meet bizarre. It seems the Kamikaze lifestyle is alive and well in Japan. Kyodo News is reporting that an unknown vehicle and two passengers tried to run into the Fukushima Daiichi plant a short while ago. The purpose is unknown, but we can only assume, they'd rather go out in a bang, than a slow glow.

First, let's play a little game we like to call, "Guess That Glow!" Observe the animation below, and see if you can guess what those glowing dots are. The first person to answer the question correctly, wins a trip inside the Fukushima #1 reactor health spa. Remember, it's healthy radiation.

 

As Energy News is reporting, a partial meltdown in reactor 1 may cause some isolated reactions. One can only guess what that means for the environment. Rest assured, this will be bullish for the stock market, as the DOW will probably rise a few hundred points on news of a total meltdown.

Today, the makers of Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson announced it will reorganize (read: cut more jobs) after a line of 20 recent recalls on it's most popular brands. Don't expect to see any pay/bonus cuts for the top execs however; the workers that actually do the leg work will be the ones that will probably be cut first.

Don't look now, but the US Treasury is going broke in 3... 2... 1... After this week's 3 big auctions totaling $100 Billion are settled, the Treasury will have exceeded the $14.294 Trillion debt limit, which at this point seems more like a suggestion that an actual set limit. We should see another big rally in the markets if this is true. We suggest everyone interested in this topic, does a case study on Zimbabwe circa 2007-2009. Their "stock market" saw the largest "gains" during that period.

Not to be missed is this week's Initial Claims data, showing - surprise, surprise - another revision. Not only was last week's employment data a joke, but now it's confirmed it was a lie. Add another 12k people to the rolls. And the "decrease of 6k" this week? Just look at the initial data and compare it to the revised data. That's how you cook when your name is not Rachel Ray.

Japanese officials must think their citizens are radioactive-proof since, despite the fact that high levels of radiation have been found inside the "safe zone," they refuse to expand the evacuation area.

Two final notes: The EU probably has only a few weeks, if not a few days remaining as a single monetary union. Today, Portugal revised its deficit upward by more than a whole point. Not only can we expect to see more downgrades in Portugal, Ireland and Greece but also now in Spain. With word about Ireland saying they'll stop making payments, it's only a matter of time before the bond yields on all peripheral nations explode to 25% on the 10yr, bringing the entire EU to its knees. Worse still, European inflation "unexpectedly" rose by the fastest pace in almost 3 years and is now currently at 2.6%. Of course, to savvy investors that read this blog, this should come as no surprise. After all, in an oil dependent global economy which sees oil prices explode nearly 100% in just over 1.5 years, what else can we expect. With WTI trading at $105+ and on the heavy side, don't expect to see gasoline go below $3.50 for a long time. Did we mention, this is bullish for the economy?  


More updates soon.