Stocks tumble,oil price hit record high asU.S. invasion of Najaf backfires

[Dancing_Dave]

If you didn't think the Bush Regime would bring us another Great Depression, you were misinformed:

<<NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks tumbled Thursday morning, tripped up by Hewlett-Packard's earnings miss and profit warning and a new spike in oil prices.


After 50 minutes of trading, the Nasdaq composite (down 14.98 to 1,767.44, Charts) lost 1.2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average (down 57.59 to 9,880.73, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (down 5.02 to 1,070.77, Charts) index both lost around 0.8 percent.

Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: down $2.95 to $16.57, Research, Estimates) -- which wasn't expected to report results for a week -- said it earned 24 cents per share in its fiscal third quarter, a penny more than a year earlier, but below the 31 cents analysts were expecting, due to weakness in its enterprise servers and storage unit.


Shares plunged 15 percent in early trading, pressuring a number of other technology issues with it.

On Wednesday, disappointment about Cisco Systems' results and outlook sent that stock reeling, and weighed on the broader tech sector. However, the impact of HP Thursday was more muted.

Oil prices surged, hitting new all-time highs as a U.S. led battle in Najaf, Iraq, sparked worries that the Shi'ite Iraqi militia could make good on threats to sabotage the oil infrastructure.>>

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/12/markets/markets_newyork/?cnn=yes

Eastern European troops may soon vanish from the "Coalition of the Willing":

<<Politics: 12 August 2004, Thursday.

A spokesman of the Iraqi Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned that the followers of the firebrand cleric would attack the Bulgarian troops in Karbala unless Sofia condemns the US offensive against Sadr's militiamen in Najaf.

In an interview for local Darik radio Sheik Mohammad al Musal, one of Sadr's closest allies, said that unless the Bulgarians leave Iraq "they will be hit". He underlined that if the Bulgarian government condemns the US offensive in Najaf it would be "a noble position" and no one would "harm" the Bulgarians.

Sheik Mohammad al Musal also said that there have been several charges against the Bulgarians explaining the local people in Karbala have even sough cooperation from al-Sadr's militiamen.

Just a day earlier the US military announced that it was ready to storm the holy city of Najaf to put down a ferocious nine-day rebellion.>>
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=38018

British casualities are starting to rise at the same time that British support for the Iraq war hits all time lows:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=550673
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1280631,00.html

An editorial in the popular British news site The Guardian rightly says "The withdraw of foreign troops is the only solution"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1281267,00.html

I sure hope John Kerry is starting to process all this information. He's falling way behind the curve.

[Dancing_Dave]

1. The evidence is piling up fast and furious...

Everything indicates a catastrophe in Iraq and the Middle East that the U.S. economy will not be able to bear:

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V8565.AP-Iraq.html
http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/040812d.asp
http://www.counterpunch.org/lind08122004.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1175506.htm

[Dancing_Dave]

2. More of the rapidly accumulating evidence

From the Wilderness is one of the best sources about the economic and political impact of oil-fueled conflicts:
http://copvcia.com/

Mainstream economic sources that might have laughed at FTW a few months ago are rapidly falling into agreement as the crisis mounts:
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aZXRlL5PShtk&refer=news_index

[gasperc]

4. you know, FTW was ADMANANT in Dec. 03 that Kerry will be president

When Kerry was at the lowest in the polls and it looked like Dean was going to be the hands down nominee, an FTW article INSISTED the Kerry will be the next president and he was practically approved by "the establishment". I'm sure you can find it in his archives. At the time I thought he was nuts but FTW is very insightful sometimes.

[Zorra]

14. Bu$h is deliberately destroying our country. n/t

[Dancing_Dave]

16. Maybe the Bush-Cheney Mafia can bail and make a profit anyway..

Maybe they can figure they can just take the money and run from the U.S.A. like they took the money and ran from ENRON!

[Dancing_Dave]

3. Take a few minutes to figure this out-it affects your future bigtime

The Bush Administration is clearly on a course towards war with Iran:
http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/080904_persian_peril_summary.shtml

But how can he afford it? How many billions of dollars are we already in debt from fighting Iraq? The U.S. action against Najaf has already put the price of oil up to an all time record high. It has also pissed off millions of people in Iran (and around the planet). A conflict with Iran would drive the prices higher still, collapsing the oil-dependent U.S. economy. And Iran may have nuclear weapons by now...

[gasperc]

5. Iran war resolution

that my Oct surprise bet. It seems to me they are ginning it up. Especially over the nuke weapon thing. I doubt that a war with Iran would be fought conventionally though. An insurgency would be 1000 times worse in Iran and forget about getting through all the mountain passes to Tehran. Nope, the nuke option is on the table although I'm certain Bush Inc. is completely underestimating and miscalculating the world's response. It wouldn't surprise me if they beleive they can convince the world that Iran intends to use nukes to bring about an Islamic revolution. But the world just won't react like they expect if we use even one nuclear weapon in Iran.

[Dancing_Dave]

6. Smart people around the globe are aware of the catastrophic effects

Only in the U.S. are people missing the point. Here's from Scotland:

<<Oil-pipe chaos promised by militants if Najaf is attacked

FOREIGN STAFF


SHIITE militants last night threatened to blow up Iraq’s oil pipelines if United States troops attacked Najaf, where fighters loyal to the outlawed cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began an uprising seven days ago.

US forces said yesterday that they were preparing for a major assault on Najaf, brushing aside a call from Iraq’s deputy president to pull back from the holy city...

The violence in Najaf has also angered neighbouring Iran and prompted strong condemnation from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...

As the situation across Iraq continued to deteriorate, the leading Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi returned from Iran yesterday to face an arrest warrant on charges of counterfeiting that could land him in jail for years.

• JAFAR Dhia Jafar, the head of Iraq’s nuclear programme under Saddam Hussein, said Iraq destroyed its nuclear weapons programme in 1991 and never restarted it, in an interview broadcast last night.>>

read more at http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=927112004

At least Buisness Week is catching a clue that something may be going very wrong:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2004/nf20040812_6289_db016.htm

But because they do not understand the scale of the political catastrophe, I think their negative predictions for the U.S. are much understated.

[Dancing_Dave]

11. European Stock Markets Also Hit By Oil Crisis

European stock markets are also registering the results of Bush's catastrophic mistakes:

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/12/news/international/markets_europe.reut/

However, Europeans are less dependent on plentiful gasoline, they have much more efficient public transportation systems, especially railroads. Also, European societies are rather less dependent on the stock markets.

They can see the crisis, but I think they are better equipped to weather it than we are under Bush.

[Massacure]

7. Oil is $45.25

[Dancing_Dave]

9. Bush Family Friends in Saudi Arabia try to save him-it won't work!

How much CORUPTION can Americans put up with?
:puke:

The world sees how the Saudi's are trying to save Bush, but it probably won't work:

<<Saudi Arabia's Offer To Hike Production Aimed At U.S., Analysts Say
AFP: 8/12/2004
LONDON, Aug 12 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's offer to increase the kingdom's crude output by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) immediately, if called upon to help cool record high oil prices, is above all a move aimed at pleasing its main customer the United States, analysts said Thursday.

"There are obviously political reasons why they are doing it," one London analyst said, without wishing to be named.

"Saudi Arabia does not want to get on the wrong side of the US and obviously with the (US presidential) elections coming, the last thing that the Saudi royal family would want is oil prices to move even higher," the analyst added.

US President George W. Bush, looking to win re-election in November, has been dogged by persistent allegations that he has close ties to the Saudi royal family.

It is alleged even that Bush cut a deal under which Riyadh would boost oil output to help to lower US gasoline prices in order to help him win re-election....



Even if Saudi Arabia decided to increase its output to around 10.6 million bpd there is no guarantee that world oil prices would cool, analysts warned.

"In a way it doesn't really make any difference now, we are clearly in a very tight capacity situation worldwide, much tighter than we have been accustomed to," Kemp said.>>

Read the rest at http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=24379

[JohnOneillsMemory]

10. Gas prices are DROPPING here in SF just like summer of '01. Absurd.

This is more evidence the oil companies are trying to insulate Americans from Bush* incompetence to hold on to the White House.

-Oil prices at record highs
-a lost war shutting down production
-peak summer driving season which is always gas price gouging season.

And fucking gasoline prices keep dropping on the street.

Anyone who thinks there is a sacred 'free market' system to be protected against 'socialist' regulation watchdogs is delusional.

[Dancing_Dave]

13. Then FILL UP YOUR TANKS FAST!!!

The gas prices have dropped a bit in the Midwest lately too, but I filled up my car and my parents cars, because the prices are sure to go up soon. I saw most of the intelligent people in my neighborhood doing the same thing. Of course, the number of intelligent people around here is not very high, but it's rather noticable when you 'em all at the pumps. We were all joking about it, and the college student behind the counter in the station was too.

[Dancing_Dave]

8. Now our idiots stormed al-Sadr's house-but he was gone!

I just found this on Newsday:

<<NAJAF, Iraq -- U.S. forces stormed the house of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday, but he was not there, witnesses said.

Residents saw U.S. forces break into the house without meeting any resistance. Al-Sadr, who has led an uprising against coalition and Iraqi troops for over a week, has vowed to fight "until the last drop of my blood has been spilled."

It was not immediately known where al-Sadr went, but residents reported clashes between Iraqi police and members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia near the house Wednesday, which may have prompted most residents to leave the area.

Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers launched a major assault on militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric Thursday, with explosions and gunfire echoing near Najaf's revered Imam Ali shrine and its vast cemetery. Shooting also was reported near the rebel leader's home as huge plumes of smoke rose from the city.>>

No country can get away with acting as downright STUPID as the U.S. has been acting lately! Millions of folks around the planet will be laughing or sighing as our economy goes down in flames. Of course, they could just say "we told you so".

[sampsonblk]

12. Expect a Terra Alert @ approx 6:30 Eastern...

just in time to hijack the evening news.

[Dancing_Dave]

15. As fast as things are spiralling downward. it wouldn't surprise me one bit

Here's the latest on the developing catastrophe in Iraq:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/100601/1/.html

[Dancing_Dave]

17. Meanwhile, the British are trying to have an intelligent conversation

About the disaster in Iraq and what it means for the world:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3542578.stm

Hey, does anyone know about jobs for Americans over in the U.K.?
Emmigrating there is looking better to me all the time!:think:

[Larkspur]

18. The Guardian "...Senator Kerry is an unconvincing politician"

How true!!!

[Dancing_Dave]

19. We would have done a whole lot better with HOWARD DEAN!!!

Pity our media set out to systematically destroy him as soon as he voiced some opposition to further de-regulation and corporate monopolization. Next thing, I knew, USA today was smearing him on page 1! The Columbia Journalism Review noted and opposed the systematic smear campaign in the media BEFORE the Iowa primaries. And I've lived in Iowa, I know that Iowans are pretty easy to scare with such tactics.