1) The Iraq rial continues its collapse, now down to 1/4 its value from just this Saturday, a sign that Iraq’s economy is also collapsing.
2) Britain announced the identity of two Russian GRU agents who conducted the nerve gas attack earlier this year in an attempt to assassinate two soviet dissidents.
3) A large persistent red tide bloom continues to plague Florida’s beaches, resulting in 100 miles of beaches being closed with financial lost to tourism running in the millions of dollars. The toxins released by the red tide continues to kill off the aquatic wildlife, leaving additional monetary losses for the daily clean up of the beaches. Florida is also experiencing a blue-green algae bloom in fresh waters that is becoming another huge environmental problem.
4) 5 SEP 18 Stock market closings:
Dow 25,974.99 up 22.51
Nasdaq 7,995.17 down 96.07
S&P 500 2,888.60 down 8.12
10 Year Yield: no change at 2.90%
Oil: down at $68.68