Following the most horrific terrorist attack on French soil, the world again finds itself mourning with the deeply embattled nation. It was only in January of this year that Islamic jihadists stormed the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 and wounding 11 more in the ensuing rampage. Heading into the traditional holiday season, the mood has again taken on a tragic overtone, with the latest reports stating that at least 129 people have lost their lives to the depravity of an apparently coordinated suicide attack.
Words are not enough to describe the true horror of what occurred in Paris on what was said to be an unusually warm night on Friday, November 13. But perhaps the greater tragedy is that the unwillingness of global government leaders to effectively address the true source (and funding) of terrorism has forced the destruction of civil liberties as the only practical way to uphold the safety of the French people — a people who have traditionally been credited with advancing the principles of liberty and rationality.
The evidence is shockingly clear for those who are willing to hear it. According to information provided by FoxNews, French authorities instituted a mandatory curfew in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks — a form of de facto martial law that has not been implemented since the closing stages of World War II. President Francois Hollande promised a “merciless” and “pitiless” response to Islamic radicals, unusually strong rhetoric given the often tepid words — and even more tepid actions — that Western leaders deploy in times of crisis.
On an extremely worrying scale, bizarre coincidences collided on that day. The most obvious was that it occurred on a Friday the 13th — a traditionally ominous day. Second, there was a high-profile exhibition match featuring the national soccer teams of host France and Germany, the reigning FIFA World Cup champion, of which President Hollande was in attendance. Third was the disastrous failure of the French and international intelligence communities in coming up with any hint of forewarning prior to the attack that endangered France’s head of state. But one of the more unusual events was the murder of Universal Music Group executive Thomas Ayad, who was in attendance at the Bataclan theater when jihadists interrupted a concert by Eagles of Death Metal with a rage of gunfire.
Cynical questions — who’s ever heard of Eagles of Death Metal, and why was a UMG exec supporting a virtual unknown — aside, it’s interesting to note that UMG is owned by French media company Vivendi SA (OTCMKTS:VIVHY). This is a company that doesn’t really get much media attention, even from investment market media, due to its very shallow trading volume. Yet prominent hedge fund managers began pumping up Vivendi stock in September despite having a rather top-heavy and choppy pricing dynamics up to that time. In addition, JP Morgan reversed its bearish call, shifting Vivendi from a “sell” to a “buy.”
From September 1 to October 14, Vivendi’s market valuation climbed nearly 4%. But moving forward, the stock never regained its footing, dropping into a bearish trend channel. That bearishness took on an extreme nature on November 10 — just three days prior to the Paris attack — when Vivendi dropped more than 6% against the prior day’s session. No real explanation was given for the sudden volatility — again, the company receives very little mainstream attention.
Despite the lack of populace knowledge, Vivendi stock on that volatile day broke unexpectedly below long-term technical support lines. This contradicts the advice of JP Morgan, which equally surprised the few investors that were paying attention with its bullish reversal. And now, a Vivendi subsidiary executive — who was in attendance for an aging, no-name band — lies dead in the worst terrorist attack in French history.
Some would call these events a heart-wrenching coincidence. But in a world that is increasingly becoming uncomfortably small thanks to globalism, there really is no such thing.