Obama's Historic Speech

I am very surprised. Obama did a fabulous job of telling moderate Muslims that they are our only hope for defeating the extremists.

He was also tough enough. He made a clear distinction between our values (the U.S) and the values of Islamofacists around the globe. He also made it clear that those moderates MUST DO THEIR JOB and save their region and their religion. If they don't, the extremists will win. He made it clear that Muslims must respect America and we will not abandon our views on equality and freedom to any religion.

He stood up for women's rights in the Muslim world.
(Although I still think traditional Muslims women's' garb really sucks and is a symbol of hatred and oppression of women - I also think people should be able to wear whatever they want.)

Wow- It's about time.

Please don't say I am an Obama supporter in general now. I am not. Our ideas about the economy and how he has used his position to increase government power are antithetical to most of what I believe. However, I must call them as I see them, so here are some more things he did right today.

He acknowledged that the U.S. relationship with Israel is "unbreakable".

It's about time.



This was a good speech. This was a great speech. I hope it has the power to stop the rising tide of extremism in the Middle East and the the whole of the Islamic world.

He finally made the distinction between the extremists and the rest of the Muslim world. He also finally acknowledged the horror and immorality of 9/11. He said he would only bring the troops home when he can be sure that there are not violent extremists in Afghanistan that are plotting to kill Americans.

He used the Koran, the Torah, and the Bible to make many points. He used them to show violence is wrong.

This was a great speech - it's about time. I think he finally understands what Bush already did. Apparently, the responsibility of leadership is much more enlightening than the pursuit of the power needed to implement it.

All this said, I am not blind to the contradiction that is Obama. I absolutely disagree with his assessment that American policy set by Bush and Cheney caused an increase in Islamic extremism. He is dead wrong about this. Though I am not a right wing evangelical Christian, I am aware of the many prophecies that say there will be a great leader that will bring the world together at a time of great turmoil. Do I think that is Obama? No. Not necessarily. I don't even think those prophecies are true. It is weird though, isn't it? Interesting.....................



Anyway, one can't deny it was a good speech. Or maybe one can. But I don't.

Bin Laden Hates Obama Too

We all knew Bin Laden hated Bush. However, many in this country on the far left thought Obama would be different. Surely his conciliatory, progressive attitude toward the Islamic world would make America safer. In fact, many of them even blamed the Bush administration for stoking hatred of America around the world.

I have said all along that these leftists were wrong. Bin Laden and the rest of Islamic extremists hate America because they are full of hate. They are anti-freedom, anti-women, anti-Jews, racists, etc, etc. Basically they are against anyone who doesn't share their vision of a global Islamist Caliphate.

Whatever your opinion of Bush, he understood this and understood it well. He never said all Muslims were extremists. He never said Islam was our enemy. He did say Islamofacism was anti-American, and it is.

Now Bin Laden has decided, not suprisingly, that Obama is evil too. If you read his latest speech, you will see he is using it to threaten an attack on American soil where "millions" will die. It is possible even that his radio cast was the "go" signal to his affiliates. I hope to God I am wrong.

I am still short. (the stock market)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124404199587481469.html

Louise Yamada

I have alot of respect for this woman and her forecasts. The following video is from March 2nd.

I still don't see what has changed since then. Beware of this bounce. It may be similar to the 1930's bounce she references.



Here is a more recent article:
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB123901136936192323.html

and a blogger who is a bull but found some interesting data about Louise:

http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2009/04/did-this-rally-turn-louise-yamada-into.html

We'll see!

VIX Moves With Market

Today the market was up, way up. The curious thing was so was the VIX (volatility index). Typically the when the market is up, the VIX is down. Many call the VIX the "fear index". It is trading much more near normal levels than it was during the sell of last fall or any time since.

I am not sure what this means, but I am going to look into it. My guess is it is an indicator the S & P is overbought at these levels.

I Was Wrong

The stock market can be very humbling. Anyway, I am still short and you can imagine what is happening to my portfolio this morning.

That said, I am sticking with my original thesis. (previous posts) I still think this is a bear market rally. I still think we have not seen THE bottom. I still think I will be able to buy stocks cheaper than they are now.

For today though, it looks like the market disagrees.

Real Capitalism

I hope America goes is this direction. We don't need Gordon Gecko capitalism. But we do need real capitalism. The kind Dave is talking about.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/74840/the-dave-ramsey-show-frid-may-2-2009

I do disagree with Dave about the severity of this recession. I think it is going to be much worse than he does. I also disagree with his current assessment of the stock market. If you have a fifteen to twenty year time horizon you might do well, but I think you will see prices much cheaper before the timing is optimal. Same with real estate. I think he is much too optimistic.

However, his brand of capitalism is what I hope will emerge when we eventually heal and start to grow again.