Normally the summer months tend to slow down as most traders like to get away for a short break and a little R and R. This year however has been different, as turmoil in the world stage continues. You only have to look at what is going on in the Ukraine, which continues to escalate with Putin's quest to restore the old Soviet Empire. Over in the middle east, the picture is grim and the hatred between Hamas and Israel shows no signs of a resolution. With all that going on, you would think that nothing else could come along to upset the apple cart.
The biggest news this week in my mind was not the Ukraine or the conflict between Hamas and Israel, it was the theft of 1.2 billion usernames and passwords!
This astounding feat was accomplished by a small group of eight Russian hackers. As you may recall, the US and Europe upped their sanctions on Russia, and tit for tat, Russia turned around and cut imports from both Europe and the US. I am afraid that the theft of 1.2 billion usernames and passwords is just another escalation of cyber warfare that Russia is spearheading against the West.
What that means to me is that there will be greater uncertainty in the marketplace and people are going to look for something they can grasp on to that has tangible value, and that is going to be gold, in my opinion.
Today's video is going to be a quick recap on most of the stocks I've been talking about this week. I'll also take a quick look at gold (FOREX:XAUUSDO) and how it is closing out the week.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-Creator, MarketClub
One has to be careful of the numbers and level of threat communicated here. Stolen from where? No where is the answer. These emails (only have of the 1.2 billion were unique) were discovered in a database exposed through cybersleuthing. The age of these email/password pairs was never released. They could be years old and totally worthless. No single breach was implicated. It was like finding a crate full of 8in. floppies full of user credentials. Some of them might be still good - but which ones? And how many?
Cybercrime is real and growing, but accuracy is important in reporting such incidents.