Absurdism

 Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and hence are absurd), because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual. - wikipedia

This is my version of a DJIA monthly chart that appeared last week in the Elliott Wave Theorist.  Using the definitions of a Head & Shoulders Top, by Edwards and Magee, this analysis targets an ultimate price objective, "below zero." 

Seems like we can miss the first 1,000 points and still do pretty well, although I suspect the Daily and Weekly Trend Models will both flip Short much sooner then that.  More interesting would be what fundamental phenomena could by any stretch of the imagination generate this kind of catastrophe?

Katla Volcano: Threat Of New, Larger Icelandic Eruption Looms

For all the worldwide chaos that Iceland's volcano has already created, it may just be the opening act.

Scientists fear tremors at the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano could trigger an even more dangerous eruption at the nearby Katla volcano – creating a worst-case scenario for the airline industry and travelers around the globe.

A Katla eruption would be 10 times stronger and shoot higher and larger plumes of ash into the air than its smaller neighbor, which has already brought European air travel to a standstill for five days and promises severe travel delays for days more.

The two volcanos are side by side in southern Iceland, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) apart and thought to be connected by a network of magma channels.

Katla, however, is buried under ice 550 yards (500 meters) thick – the massive Myrdalsjokull glacier, one of Iceland's largest. That means it has more than twice the amount of ice that the current eruption has burned through – threatening a new and possibly longer aviation standstill across Europe.

Katla showed no signs of activity Tuesday, according to scientists who monitor it with seismic sensors, but they were still wary.

Pall Einarsson, professor of geophysics at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, said one volcanic eruption sometimes causes a nearby volcano to explode, and Katla and Eyjafjallajokull have been active in tandem in the past.

In fact, the last three times that Eyjafjallajokull erupted, Katla did as well.

Katla also typically awakens every 80 years or so, and having last exploded in 1918 is now slightly overdue.

"Supervolcanoes:" A Potential Global Catastrophe

As if the world's increasingly violent weather weren't enough (See previous article), the BBC is set to air a two part documentary on the potential threat of mass destruction posed by "Supervolcanoes."

The program, which will be aired in the U.K. March 13 and 14, describes the phenomenon as the accumulation of massive amounts of magma beneath the earth's crust. Unlike garden-variety volcanoes, such as Mt. St. Helens, Supervolcanoes "begin life when magma rises from the mantle to create a boiling reservoir in the Earth's crust. This chamber increases to an enormous size, building up colossal pressure until it finally erupts."

The program focuses on a region that Americans know well - Yellowstone National Park. Under all those geysers and hot springs lies a pool of molten rock, which could become a supervolcano. Even though, as the BBC points out, "Only a handful exist in the world, when one erupts it will be unlike any volcano we have ever witnessed. The explosion will be heard around the world. The sky will darken, black rain will fall, and the Earth will be plunged into the equivalent of a nuclear winter." The potential death and destruction caused by such an eruption is virtually incalculable.