STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 30 July 2015

[Demeter]

14. Leaving the Global Grid And Being Arrested For It

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2015/02/leaving-the-global-grid-and-being-arrested-for-it.html

Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, controls about $4.3 trillion in assets (and has influence on how $10 trillion more is allocated). As a point of reference, that is about the size of the entire US economy. Larry sees the world as a tightly interconnected "financial grid." Larry believes that a big part of his job is to know which parts of this global grid represent opportunities and which parts are dangerous. That makes sense. Asset allocation accounts for about ~80% of any big financial fund's performance and BlackRock's extraordinary success implies that Larry has been getting it right for decades.

What's interesting to me is the mindset. For example: Larry dismisses the threats posed by Russia adventures in the Ukraine. Why? He understands that all of the people involved in this conflict are part of his financial grid. He also knows that everyone is utterly dependent on the financial flows coursing through it. They couldn't get through the day at work and at home without it. So, to him, this dependence means that Russia isn't an actual threat, but merely a problem to be dealt with.

In contrast, Larry does see one threat as real and tangible: ISIS. Why?

ISIS isn't connected or dependent on the "grid." Worse, it's growing like a geographical cancer that can severely damage the grid. This idea. The fear that a growing part of the world is being taken off the grid gives guys like Larry nightmares. I don't think he is alone. It apparently gives more people than just Larry nightmares.

For example. Three men were arrested in New York this week, and will likely serve long prison sentences. They weren't arrested because they were plotting an attack on the US or any other site in any meaningful way. Instead, they were arrested because they planned to leave the US. They tried to drop off the grid by emigrating to ISIS and the government put them in jail for trying it. It's an interesting twist.