World News and Connections

This is one of those mornings in which my mind is "subject hopping" rather than focusing in on anything specific.  It makes it difficult to write because the...

I noticed several articles about computer glitches or, viruses, or other issues related to the use of the pervasive technology that surrounds us as I read the news earlier this morning.  It seems that the more complex things get, the more opportunities there are for individuals to exploit weaknesses within them....

I don't know what the ultimate results of the tariff war with China will be, but the current stalemate is certainly taking a toll on the stock market.  It's interesting to me how reactive the markets can be to such things.  Usually, the impact is considerably less than the market anticipates....

Cattle markets have taken a deep dive lately as far as Futures prices are concerned.  There should be some opportunities if you are in the stocker or cattle feeding business, but if you are selling your calf crop it may not be to your advantage.  I still think they are high relative to the opportunity based on the Futures, but there will be plenty of buyers at these price levels....

The rhetoric out of Iran continues to escalate and has precipitated the stripping of non-essential personnel from the U.S. presence in neighboring Iraq.  It is prudent, however, I think calling the warships in the Gulf "targets" rather than some less provocative term is a sign that it is mostly rhetoric as opposed to threat....

There are a number of novels under the Tom Clancy brand that refer to issues in the South China Sea and how conflicting claims to that area of the ocean could lead to an escalation of inter-power violence.  Coupled with the tariff war, we should be concerned....

...things bouncing around in my head aren't necessarily connected yet all of them are related.  One of the first economic problems one must solve when starting out on the study of said subject is something along the lines of, "What is the impact of a rise in the price of eggs in China on the cattle market in the U.S.?"  There is no clear answer, but an argument could be made for any one of many scenarios.  The point is that small things can have a global impact as the repercussions ripple through the world economy.  Maybe all these disparate subjects are connected after all.