One aspect of the bear market that I anticipate over the next few years is, somewhere near its bottom, something really awful happening in the world. That "awful" could take many forms – – a major new war, a nuclear terrorist attack, or some other horrifying event. In the 1937-1942 analog, the awful event was the attack of Pearl Harbor and America's subsequent entry into the war. The market bottomed out a few months after that, and it more or less moved higher for the next quarter of a century.

Sometimes I wonder what country (if it is a country, as opposed to a group) could be involved in such an event. One clear candidate is the paranoid and isolated state of North Korea, which makes Imperial Japan look sensible by comparison. This country has fascinated me for years, and I genuinely hope the day comes that its people are liberated from the evil oppression of its leadership.

As isolated as it is, North Korea offers an unwitting peek inside its madness via its propaganda posters. Most of them, naturally, are designed to illustrate how wicked the United States is.

The text in the poster translates (in the normally catchy style of PRNK propoganda) as “Though the dog barks, the procession moves on!” The dog, by the way, isn't seen as the cute little ragamuffin that someone like me would observe, but as a vile and dirty creature.

Of course, much of the propaganda comes across as curiously wacky in its purpose of compelling what is seen as beneficial social behavior.

For the above picture, we have the text “Let’s extensively raise goats in all families!”, which is an ethic I actually could find myself sharing with the North Koreans.

Well, a new market day is upon us, so I'll turn my attention to other matters. Go get 'em.