Now that the All Time High (ATH) in the S&P is a distant memory (at least until the Syrian war becomes a widespread conflict involving all global powers and the US suddenly has to issue, and monetize, a few extra trillion) there are those momentum chasers who have an itch to BTFATH. To all of them we have a message: don't despair, and merely set your sights a little lower, on the globe that is, to Venezuela where the local stock market keeps crushing every upside resistance level and hitting new all time highs day after day after day, resulting in a YTD return of nearly 200%!
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Now, some of the more pedantic readers may ask: is it worth having a "record high" stock market [8]and not having toilet paper?
We don't know. Supposedly according to Keynesian logic record high stocks day after day should lead to consumers ignoring everything adverse about their lives: such as wiping with, well, nothing, and looking with hopeful eyes to a future made of maxed out credit cards.
However, while toilet paper may be a luxury in the country with the best performing stock market in 2013, electricity is still a staple. So we intent to follow closely what happens next in Venezuela, where as Reuters reports [9], a blackout just left most of the capital, and numerous states, out in the dark.
A large-scale blackout on Tuesday affected much of the capital Caracas and various states, members and witnesses reported Reuters.
For now, there was no official confirmation on the cause of the interruption of light, but users in the social network Twitter reported that states like Zulia, Anzoategui, Merida, Lara, Barinas Falcon and also lacked electricity.
Venezuela suffers constant electricity rationing due to problems with hydroelectric generation, from which 64 percent of the country's electricity is derived.
In 2010, the government blamed the drought for the electricity crisis and after the rainy season reservoirs recovered accusations pointed to sabotage, but continued rationing.
So: all time stock highs but no toiler paper or electricity... oh and a constantly devaluaing currency of course, which is the only reason for the stock market performance? At what point does the stock market surge no longer serve as a distraction to what is plain and simple social collapse (not only in Venezuela): is the breaking point civil war, cannibalism, the zombie apocalypse, or thermonuclear war? Luckily, if and when the US attacks Syria, we made find out soon.