There is a business model battle going on in plain sight that will largely determine our computing future.  It’s one that I touched on in my book Broken Web: The Coming Collapse of the Internet in 2012.

Even now, the battle is far from over.  However, enough companies and institutions – not to mention regular folks – have bought into “cloud computing” that it makes sense to revisit the topic.

Particularly when economic warfare is likely to expand as opposition hackers – state actors, really – take aim at critical American infrastructure.

Little things you might now miss:  Food distribution, energy pipelines, the banking system, cell phones, and more.

The good news?  There are some software players – with very good products – that are becoming aware of the underside of the cloud.  Which is more than gray…

First, a few headlines and some eyefuls of ChartPack to get us going on this mid-week edition.  Starting as expected with the ADP Job numbers just out…,

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With even Joe Biden hinting that famine will be the next scapegoat for our failing economy, some discussion about how next week could lay out.  Mainly today, a look ahead to next week when we see a really good chance of higher VIX (volatility index) readings.  The double-header-ahead might be worth bracing for.  Plus the weekly ChartPack with our Aggregate Index work in the lead.

If you’ve ever wondered how some people make investment decisions, this morning’s confessions could be amusing.

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We don’t like to think about War as a condition under which investment decisions must be made.  But things are going quickly in that direction. Driven by the historical usual suspects; namely race, religion, and real estate/resources.

This is all made worse in the present conditions because we are in highly politicized times and the Internet has been weaponized on all sides.

We jump into this after some headlines and data.  Plus, the ChartPack where we will  sketch out more possibilities of what might be ahead.

As long as we’re at it, we’ll even explain a 1970s event once called “Chippy Thursdays,” too.

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Seriously – in like a Nostradamus-like way?  Are they leading indicators of Life on Earth, overall?  Then head for the shelter.

We will attempt to unravel at least a corner of this fall of yard in this weekend’s review of our Aggregate Index’s recent activity.  While points to a recent date and may be telling us something of times to come.

First, though, a few mental calisthenics to spin up processors to warp speed.  But then?  Yes, the future itself may have recently “warped” on us…

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Where is “Beyond Prepping” these days?  What will the world look like in 10-years?  Will there be some “hot new thing?”  And – with all that, how do we advise our children on investing, saving, and what will that world be like?

No simple answers here.  Not with interest rate roulette coming up this afternoon with the Fed rate decision.  On top of overnight news developments on the emergent change in “world structure” as the good guys and the bad guys try to figure out who’s who.

Today some thoughts on schooling the young on how to “Get their piece of the pie” when (pushed by Covid or otherwise) the seniors speed up their die off.

Which we will get to just after the charts and a few headlines to get the noggin sloggin without foggin.  This is options week, and a bear trap has been sprung!

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The flavor of global socialism driven by computational engines is on the verge of break-up.  Not only based on events in Ukraine, but due to the lack of workable global governance to resolve regional issues.  Read: Ukraine, Taiwan, Syria, and so forth.

This morning a few comments on how this could go – plus its implications in both economics and day-to-day living.

But first the ChartPack where our ongoing decline into something worse than 2009’s Housing Bubble lows, continues to evolve.

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If you aren’t up to speed on corporate knowledge preservation. you may not be prepared for this weekend. That’s when, according to reports, Russia will be making many changes to its Internet.  And that means the whole information-space theater of war is about to be wiggled.  Could things break?

If you have already transitioned to a 100% digital life, this means you have only a couple of days to at least think-through some of your life support data systems (including backups) and figure a flashback and restore strategy.

All those zombie apocalypse movies?  Might they have been a metaphor?  Not people coming back from the dead.  But perhaps an entire Civilization worth of digital assets?

Which we’ll kick the tires on(with coffee) after we ponder the way forward and downward.  Second leg up of the present rally looms in the meantime.  Optimism is back, but for how long is the question as we still see many icy patches ahead.

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My discussion (premature to the narrative) of a 55 MPH speed limit in Friday’s Urban column caused some consternation.  “Oh, Ure has sold out to the Dark Side!” and sentiments like “Ure’s an idiot – we did that already…” we typical.

My intent was not to disavow speed.  I’m an adrenaline junkie from the get-go.  Something passed on to the “resuscitate dead people” and “walk into burning buildings” which took root in my son.  When he isn’t feeding his adrenaline addiction by jumping out of airplanes.

Unfortunately, however, the problem of auto speed limits, vehicle costs, safety, fuel consumption, and carbon emissions, in our longer view of humans is very complex and one of those “can’t have your cake and eat it, too…” affairs.

But it gets us back to our simple way of living.  Sailing. Working a garden in a serious way this week.  Relying on power tools in the solar-powered shop.

Because if you don’t understand part of the “cost of a future” will be resource stripping and a change of lifestyle and degradation of speed expectations, you haven’t been paying attention.

A few more thoughts of this because we too love speed.  If that’s all you got out of the column (Ure’s a fuddy-duddy) my drive to brevity buried the meaningful point.

A check of wars and charts and then the Time of Terrible Choices.  Which we’re only at the very beginning of right now.

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A broad-spectrum discussion of war today:  Causes, motivations, and public reaction.  But more importantly of all, personal anticipatory activities that can improve the odds of living through this most stressful of periods.

In addition to a little “news from the front” what we’ll focus on will be broadly applicable when the “next shoe drops.”  That, we reckon, will be either an Israeli strike on Iran, or the Chinese re-acquisition of Taiwan.

Somewhere in there, we have to assess the impact of the Biden administration’s “build back better” propaganda.  Which may be bearing fruit in today’s ADP Jobs report just out. +475k.

So much to cover plus the latest Aggregated market views in our ChartPack series, as well.

Time to load ’em up and head ’em  out…

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There is always opportunity in the midst of chaos, even with our Aggregate Trading indicator.  We used it to spot in advance the big move which would come later in the session.

And we took snapshots of how it evolved over time. Very useful indicator.

This morning, we discussion not only this useful tool, but also how the Aggregate Indicator is dowsing the way ahead for us.

After a few news items about the possible fulfillment of Nostradamus prophesies and the twice-weekly ChartPack.

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Is there a hidden history to meta-materials? About how the future could be defined by them? Could a materials analog to A.I. might even be machine-printable? Off on a quest for new meta materials.

“Why now,” you may be wondering. “Don’t we know there is a war on?”

Yes, of course.  But wars are interesting technology periods and WW II and the spike in UFOs right after?  Gives us something to ponder outside of Europe during what we’d have to call Putin’s “first consolidation” phase.

Rather than paw through mundane housekeeping chores, this sounded like a much-needed break.  War and rigged markets?  Old, well-worn tunes throughout history.

“But where UFOlogy Meets Wall Street?  Really?”

Yeah…really.

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As we watch the potential count-down clock to WW III, a discussion of time risk seems in order.  Not that we can do a damn thing about it.  It’s just that we have been watching events in Ukraine closely since last November.  And it has come down to this weekend for my “fish & chips bet” with one of my daughters.

My actual birthday is the marker, so we need to get out of “birthday weekend” with a chance of peace and no tanks rolling west in order for U.S.-Russian diplomatic talks next Wednesday.  Biden said that if there’s action this weekend, it will mean the door on peace has been slammed shut.

A few “headlines from the front” to tee up the day and then a discussion of how utterly devastating 2022 and beyond could be for financial markets as we seem ready to follow the Great Depression Trail.

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As something of a perma-Bear I am frequently found playing the short side of markets; betting things will get worse, not better.

No, I don’t suffer from depression, except insofar as we all do in a “do-nothing economy.”  Nor do we cower for fear of the future.

Still, being short – being right – and getting paid – and getting settlement – are four separate financial processes. In order to make money on the short side of markets, all four must be done in proper sequence.

Each has quirks you’d better know about if you go messing around shorting markets.  This is never financial advice, per se.  Rather it’s a discussion of useful points to remember when “Figuring to get rich off the outbreak of World War III.”

Which we’ll get into after a few headlines and the morning’s ChartPack which is showing some odd formations to consider…

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