|
Protests in Cairo
Research for Online Investors
by John Dalt
1/28/11
Egypt is
in turmoil. You have
probably seen snippets on the news. It looks like the Middle East
will dominate the news this weekend. The events seem to be spiraling
out of the government’s control. Hosni Mubarak has been the
President of Egypt for almost thirty years. He came to power after Anwar
Sadat was assassinated by Army Officers in
1981. Sadat
had signed the Egypt-Israeli Peace
Treaty.
President
Mubarak is 82 years old and was planning to hand off control of
the government to his younger son, Gamal. Gamal and his family fled to
Britain on Wednesday.
The
protests in Cairo, Egypt started on Tuesday over rising food
and fuel prices. Add
in high unemployment that leaves young people with time on
their hands and you have a situation that can
explode. The
protesters want government reforms. Mubarak’s government is seen as
corrupt, ignoring the needs of the population. Reuters reports
that 870 people were injured and five protesters killed
yesterday in Egypt.
The government cut communications and internet service
yesterday.
The
Egyptian government ordered a curfew from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. for
Cairo, where the protests are centered. The public is ignoring the
order. The
government has called out army troops to augment the police to
control the crowds.
There are reports of the army being friendly with the
protesters. Is this
a bid to project soft power and lower the anger so people with
leave the streets?
It could also be an indication that the government has lost the
support of the military. Late reports are that army
troops may be fighting with police that are cracking down on
the protesters.
There is
no indication of outside influence in the protests at this
time. Iran and Al
Qaeda may try to capitalize on the unrest. Watch for the Muslim
Brotherhood to make a move to subvert the protest
movement. Imagine
the irony of protests to end corruption ushering into power a
repressive middle-ages regime.
The
Tiananmen Square events in China that ended with the massacre
in June of 1989 began in part because of inflation and high
student unemployment. We only bring this up to add a
dimension to the unrest in Cairo you need. The inflation our Federal
Reserve so desperately is trying to build in the U.S. is being
exported to other countries. It will eventually come
home.
Is it any
wonder that Chinese leaders have intervened aggressively in the
financial markets to stop inflation in that
economy? Syria
cut off internet service today to slow communication with
Egypt, their neighbor to the
West.
We are
busy in the market today, as the unrest in Egypt is causing
turmoil in the stock market. Crude oil, gold, silver, and
copper had all been on a slide recently. All but copper are up strongly
today. We will watch
the news closely this weekend and be back next week with
information you can use.
Quote:
The
strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and
bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves
against tyranny in government.---Thomas
Jefferson
Editor’s
note: Or their
neighbors!
The information presented in this newsletter is based on
generally available news releases, corporate filings, current
events, interviews and the editor’s opinions. It may contain errors and you
should not make investment decisions based solely on what you
believe you have read here. Do your own research, it is your
money. If you lose
it, it is your responsibility, not ours or your
grandmothers! The
editor may or may not have a position in any securities
discussed. The editor
may have held a position in a security earlier, or in the
future.
MarketToday
Archive
Back
to Top
| 
