A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy for a Self-Absorbed Culture

Following up on APT LAKE, the two protective gear firms centered about Ebola, I will detail later today in a very special Weekly Strategy Session what I expect from those stocks this week.

In the meantime, consider this latest article about how lax things are about Ebola here in the U.S., perhaps indicative of complacency.

The Ebola outbreak continues to spiral out of control. Near the epicenter of the epidemic in West Africa, more than 3,400 people have died and more than 7,000 people have been infected with the virus. Officials are scrambling to contain the outbreak at its source and keep it from spreading.

The World Health Organization is sending doctors to countries where the virus is most prevalent — Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Fusion’s Jorge Ramos spoke to one of the doctors, Dr. Aileen Marty, who recently returned home to Miami after spending 31 days in Nigeria. She says she was surprised what happened when she arrived at Miami International Airport.

“I get to the kiosk…mark the fact that I’ve been in Nigeria and nobody cares, nobody stopped me,” Marty said.

“Not a single test?” Ramos asked her, surprised.

“Nothing,” Marty answered.

The White House recently announced it would implement additional measures for screening passengers coming into the U.S. from Ebola-stricken countries. New screenings will start at five major airports across the country, including New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

Travelers coming from West Africa will be taken to special screening areas to be examined for symptoms and questioned about any possible exposure they might have had to Ebola.

Hard Target (1993) was one of the more critically well-received Jean-Claude Van Damme movies. It is directed by the great talent out of Hong Kong, John Woo.

Also featured is Wilford Brimley sporting an absurd accent.

I consider this a solid action film, especially if you are in the mood to see one.

If you are in the mood for something more high brow, I suggest an old classic an one of my all-time favorites: Double Indemnity (1944). 

via imdb.com:

A woman hires a drifter as her guide through New Orleans in search of her father, who has gone missing. They discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance in the process.

Part of the reason why I thought the HazMat makers and Ebola-related protective gear firms like APT LAKE would benefit even more of late than the drug firms is because of photos like the one above.

You have to understand that we live in an increasingly self-absorbed culture, which lends itself to more and more hypochondria.

As a result, the following caption to the photo above was seen on the front page of Reddit pics:

Guy with a headache was just escorted off the plane by hazmat here in Dallas.

I am looking to buy these stocks back next week after a scary shakeout of latecomer longs.

I sold the final piece of my APT long this morning inside 12631 to lock in a 75% win this week.

All Ebola-related plays, namely APT CMRX LAKE INO SRPT TKMR, will be back on my radar next week if they set-up again for my style.

It has been a great run for us in these names, a thesis I advanced on this blog for the past few weeks.

But I am not looking to be piggish and overstay my welcome.

What are you trading this morning?

For you night owls out there, feel free to drop me any market/trading-related topics you would like me to cover in a weekend video.

In addition, anything else about the current market, feel free to drop below.

Speak your mind, night owls.

My only equity long is APT, up a cool 20% after hours after a stunning Ebola really on Thursday. My entry was at $3.50 inside 12631. I still think Ebola lays can trade independently of equities.

As I noted, I am out of pocket the rest of this week and in heavy cash.

However, this type of violent indecision in the market typically presages a meaningful leg lower, if not an outright crash. And I do not say that lightly. Still, it is what it is.

Risk remains lower.