Did we just get the two-minute warning ?

Did Russia get caught trying to smuggle S300 missiles to Iran?

Did Russia get caught providing expert assistance to Iran to build WMD?

If yes, does China care?

Is the entire Middle East at stake in the near term as the superpowers compete for their own versions of the energy pipeline grid to be built in the region?

In this competition did the Russians just cross too many “redlines” and push who they think is a “weak” president into a corner that even Obama can’t run from?

With a strong majority in both houses of Congress, can Obama count on their support for any option he chooses?

Will western Europe push the USA to stand up and fight so that Europe’s future energy distribution is not completely controlled by Russia?

Will the Russians offer to bail out on the Iranians (and China) if they are allowed to control the grid?

Will large holders of US dollar reserves threaten to dump them as leverage in these debates?

Would military destruction of Middle East oilfields hurt or help Russia?  Would they want it to happen piecemeal to “carry’ the western economies so there is still a market for their oil?

Will China vote to be subservient to Russia for its energy, or prefer a supply controlled by the West?

Will the next Obama “stimulus” package be defense-related? And of a scale the other major players can’t approach?  And does this return the competition to the asymmetric approach of terrorism?

Does all this imply that the financial markets are pricing in tails that are too small?  Do we need to get long volatility, massively?  Will the survivors in any asset class be those that own all the gamma?

Sorry, no answers.  I’m heading to the black lagoon to look for some gold.  How does one corner the market on printing presses?