Long War: Sec. of State Hillary Clinton reached out to the rebels in Libya and forced them to resume shipping oil to Europe. At the same time the US froze about $30 billion worth of Libyan assets. Without the asset freeze the rebels wouldn't want to resume shipping oil because even though they control the physical oil fields they do not control the accounts of the Libyan state oil company. While all this was going on the US Navy steamed warships closer to the Libyan coast. Because of Hillary's moves the price of oil dropped today, curtailing (at least for now) the feedback loop I talked about yesterday.
Also, there are reports that when pro-Gaddafi commandos are dropped behind rebel lines they are being swallowed up and disappear. There has been no reports of successful sabotage of Libya's energy infrastructure. Hillary's actions tell us two things. The rebels must be under a fairly unified command. The reports about Al-Qaeda setting up shop in rebel territory must be false. Most interesting of all is an unexpected loud proclamation on the part of the rebels that they are not receiving any military aid from the US. Who said they were? Why are they protesting?
The markets are being whipsawed by events in Libya and the Mideast. One day it looks like the US has lost all control over the region and the next it looks like the US is turning Rage rebels into pro-US allies.
Specific Stocks: Let's say you are a Rage rebel and you are hunkering down in a fortified position waiting for your enemy to attack. What are you doing? Puffing furiously on cigarette after cigarette. Phillip Morris International (PMI) is your only comfort under these circumstances.
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