The escalation of Russian sactions and rhetoric doesn’t bode well for Monday’s market

The war in Ukraine doesn’t appear to be going well for Putin and his enemies elsewhere are ratcheting up the pressure on Russia.

Russian planes have now been banned from flying over nearly every EU country and Canada. Germany has broken its long-standing anti-military stance and sending weapons to Ukraine.

Russia is also in the process of being kicked off of SWIFT, though there will likely be caveats for energy.

In response, Putin has put Russia’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert.

All that reminds me of this old line:

What do you do in the market when there are reports of nuclear war?

You buy the dip. Because if the reports are wrong, you’ll make a haul. If the reports are right, money doesn’t matter anyway.

For now though, the spiraling pressure on Russia highlights the increasingly likelihood that Russian exports will be disrupted. And the struggles of the Russian military show this war could drag on for months.

That’s a poor recipe for Monday’s market.