Syria is Everything

Charts: The S&P 500 is still mired in a correction and the 50-day line continues to throw up resistance. Apple dropped 4% today, reflecting overall weak leadership.

Fundamentals: The earning season is off to a good start, 76% of S&P 500 companies have beat analysts estimates so far.

Long War: The Walter Cronkite effect is in full swing. This is when the media portrays Long War victories as defeats, hearkening back to the Vietnam era of spin distortion. The Afghan Taliban and its allies mounted the largest attack on the capital city of Kabul in years. Yes, they paralyzed the city for a while but the bad guys were totally routed. 35 dead bad guys vs. 10 dead good guys. Almost no civilian casualties. When the Parliament building was attacked the politicians inside grabbed AK47s, got on the rooftop, and started killing Taliban and Haqqani fighters (studly). Afghan Special Forces easily outflanked the bad guys in an 18 hour long battle with very little NATO help.

A few days ago I said the good guys were losing in Yemen, but that battle has turned around and now Al-Qaeda is losing. America seems to have successfully isolated the bad part of the Yemeni Army and the good Yemeni Army is in full combat mode.

Sudan and South Sudan are inching toward a total war but Egypt is throwing a full court press on the diplomatic front and seems to be making headway. It seems to me heavy CIA activity nowadays comes in the guise of pro-US Arab powers taking action. Something is holding the two armies back, but this is a dangerous LW flashpoint.

The ceasefire in Syria is holding even though western media reports say that it is not (Walter Cronkite effect). Al jeezera reports that there are two confirmed deaths in the last day of fighting in Syria. Before the ceasefire there were 100 deaths a day, not two. UN monitors are currently taking up positions. This is what a successful ceasefire in the Mideast looks like. Syria is the epicenter of the Long War right now. The ceasefire holding is good news.