It hasn’t been uncommon for our stock market to hold or even rally in the hours immediately following a terror attack.  The ability to wave-off or not allow perpetrators to win has been admirable.  What happened in Paris on Friday has taken terror to another level, and we must make everyone acknowledge that it is war; in fact, this is WWIII - at the moment, the west isn’t winning.

Our prayers go out to the people of Paris.  There isn’t a person in America who does not think what happened there is out of the realm of possibility in most major U.S. cities.

The inhumanity of attacks and broad targeting means that at any time or place, people of any nationality or religion that congregate can be targets.  Soft targets could now be the scope of Kalashnikov rifles.  (This has already been the case for many Middle-Eastern and African targets.)  The good news is that Americans went outside, saw sporting events, hit the malls, and crammed themselves into airplanes over the weekend.

I know, because I did all of the above with my wife and son in the nation’s capital.  We watched the Redskins rock the Saints after Lee Greenwood sang a moving rendition of “Proud To Be An American.” Yes, we don’t cower.  On the contrary, many are hopeful this knocks President Obama out of his unrealistic dream world where savages are only that way from a lack of jobs and global warming-that must happen for the world to be safe.

 We applaud France’s swift attacks in retaliation, but America needs to put marshal forces and resolve.  Until then, we’ll keep up the brave face and we won’t allow terror to change the course of our daily lives; however, the possibility of Paris happening in American cities will no longer reside in the recesses of our minds.

I am not sure to what extent it impacts the economy or stock market; it had serious issues before ISIS unleashed hell.

Market

Last night, Japan officially slipped into a recession that must have sent shivers up the collective spines of the members of the Federal Reserve.  Despite two lost decades and even more money printing, the world’s third largest economy is slowly circling the drain.  The timing couldn’t be worse for the market, which saw the Dow close under its 200 and 50-day moving average on Friday.

There’s symbolic support around 17,000; it gets murky below that point.

Today’s Session

Once again a department store implodes as Dillard’s (DDS) has laid an egg this morning with financial results that disappointed big time.  The market is listing into the opening bell.  On one hand, stocks seem vulnerable from a confluence of events, but on the other hand, early resolve could signal something deeper than defiance against savages.

There are going to be knee-jerk reactions

Stronger

• Defense contractors
• Oil companies
• Gold
• Treasuries

Weaker

• Cruise ships
• Euro

The Euro was created to facilitate free trade among European nations in an effort to compete with America, China and Asian Tiger nations.  It called for the removal of boarders including psychical boarders.   The Euro won’t be abandoned, but it isn’t the cure-all hoped for on the continent, and there must be travel restrictions and border controls to ensure the safety of citizens.