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.

TOO HARSH?

Some have suggested that I was too hard on Billy the Dud yesterday.  I mean, after all, said one caller, the DOW is up damn near 200 (it closed up 220) and the Greeks seem to have a deal!  As the football guy says, "Not so fast my friend."

The DOW was up because oil was up because half of the place where the oil is in Canada seems to be burning.  If anybody can find a long term trend in that, call home quickly.  Traders at work.  As for the Greeks, the Germans today announced...something.  Actually, they were no longer negative on a renegotiation under new terms and conditions that were "being discussed" and which, by the by, the Greeks could never in anybody's wildest imagination, ever meet.  But the whole world belongs to the traders these days and this is what one gets when there is hope--or doom for that matter--in the wind.

Then of course there's Jacob/Jack down in P.R saying all sorts of encouraging things like, "Something must be done."  I'm sure no one had that figured out until his pronouncement, so we can all rest well tonight.  And then there is BREXIT.

The latest poll had this thing dead even at 43%-43% with a remarkable 14% undecided.  Now of course this all started when Mr. Cameron dreamed up the brilliant idea of a referendum a couple of years ago when things were looking a bit bleak for he and his party to counter Labor's threats to get out.  Little did anyone know that Labor, in the general election would stand a fool like Jeremyand proceed to shoot itself in the foot, head and most other place leaving Mr. Cameron the once and future P.M. elegantly regaled upon his own petard and facing a far greater threat to his career in the form of former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson who is stumping all over the country and simply destroying Mr. Cameron in the most mocking terms since his late fellow American Sir Winston (yes, they were both born in America) used to refer to the Labor Minister for health in The Commons as, "The Right Honorable Minister of Disease."  When you have 14% who don't seem to have a clue at this point, their susceptibility to this kind of electioneering is, I suspect, worrisome if you are the P.M.

So, maybe Jacob/Jack should head Over There to sort this thing out and finish the job his boss started...well, do something in any case.  I'd hate to see Billy lose sleep as we get closer to a decision.  He sounded so happy the other day.