Tuesday, June 28, 2016

STEADY THE BUFFS

"THE BUFFS" is the nickname of the East Kent Regiment--or the 3rd Regiment of  Foot if you prefer.  Supposedly at Waterloo, Wellington, seeing a bit of nervousness, rode among the squaddies and simply said, "Steady The Buffs."  The Buffs steadied and the rest is history.  Never happened of course, but the phrase has been a standby in England for a while.

Well, The Buffs steadied again today...a bit earlier than I thought they would, but steadied none the less.  Sterling was up. equities were way up, Gilts were better, yields were up all about as (predicted) the markets began to take a closer look at what just occurred.  I don't think it's over yet, but if we get another day or so it might just be.

What of course became even more unsettled is the politics of the thing as the Labor leader Mr. Corbyn was on the losing end of a huge "no confidence" vote by his party which he announced he plans to ignore (unsuccessfully, in the end).   Off went Mr. Cameron to Brussels on a "Sorry, lads" trip while his party was doing a bit of casting about looking for a replacement that wasn't named Boris Johnson and who had been in the REMAIN camp whilst at the same time trying to convince themselves that this would not result in the rest of the country storming Parliament seeking blood of politicians.  Johnson is of course crazy as a loon and absolutely brilliant aside from the fact that he would be an absolute kick to watch negotiating with the Euros...either in English or in French with which he is very comfortable...just to get their goat.  He's been known to lapse into Latin from time to time as well just for the hell of it.  Oh my, the material that could come from that!  I can't wait.

But, nothing is certain.  My Really Smart Friend, Larry, rang today to say that the odds are building that it will not happen at all.  Disagreeing with him is dangerous and one should never say "never," but I think the odds of that scenario playing out are far too long.  Too much personal interest at stake on both sides for a working compromise to be reached resulting in that achievement.  One thing he did add and with which I fully agree and to which I have alluded, most pundits do not recognize the leverage that the Brits have in this upcoming discussion.  Time is actually on their side as nothing good enough is going to happen in the near term to alter the trajectory of the EU which is clearly  downward; politically, financially and economically.  Things are going to be difficult for a while for the Brits but then again, you know these Eton Old Boys.  I'll bet the first thing out of the mouth of Boris is, "Steady The Buffs."  I have a feeling they will probably steady but only time will tell.  Tomorrow is another day in this adventure.

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