Holding pattern

The Dow continues to flirt with multi year highs, 14,162.  I can’t help the nagging feeling that we are at the top of the hill on a roller coaster and the question we have to answer is how big of a dip is ahead of us?  We did get some good news out of Qualcom today, they raised their dividend and are doing a $5 billion buy back.  They have navigated Apple and the Iphone better than any of the other suppliers, well done.  Google, GOOG, is making new all time highs, slow and steady.  An interesting development is going on over in Europe.  The tiny nation of Cyprus needs a bank bailout of around $17 billion, not a lot these days but it is who the money is going to that is causing the real problem.  Cyprus is a well know tax haven for all the Russian Oligarchs and the money will be used to make them whole.  Now if you are any of the countries that are preaching austerity, Greece, Italy, Spain, to name a few, are you going to send a Euro to Cyprus to make someone whole who is gaming the system?  I don’t think so, but can Europe afford to upset the Oligarchs and risk having important services, specifically natural gas, shut off?  The new game of commoners backstopping big institutions is getting very interesting and I really don’t know how this will play out.