The tragedy that is the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others is just that, a tragedy. Often, when terrible, scary, things happen humans automatically want to blame someone. It makes us feel less terrified.
There is an element of trying to reassert control in a Universe where we are clearly not in control. Bad things happen. This is painful and gut wrenching.
We do not control others. We do not control crazy people. We do not control the planets, the Sun, the moon, or the magnetic shift of Earths' poles.
We do not control Life and Death. Within this little life we do have control over certain things. These things are small and limited when compared to the whole. However, we do the best we can, and try to have the wisdom to control the things we can and let the rest go.
What happens when we try to silence others out of fear of death and a need for the illusion of control? Violence happens.
I hope the Left wing in this country will stop making this tragedy into a political statement by pointing fingers at people who had absolutely nothing to to with this insane violence.
I was listening to NPR over the lunch hour. A young lady from Pakistan was comparing the assassination attempt on congresswoman Giffords, to a recent successful assassination of a politician in Pakistan by Islamic extremists. She noted that in America, no one celebrated. The violence was condemned by everyone. This sets America apart, because in Pakistan, the assassin was praised and glorified by many.
This violence has nothing to do with political ads. Mr. Loghner was crazy long before Sarah Palin placed her "cross hairs" ads. He was plotting Gifford's assassination long before the Tea Party came on the scene.
Please Left, don't let fear and sadness determine your response to this heinous crime. There is not one Republican in Government who would condone such an act. You don't need to blame. We all need to grieve, and realize pain infects our society at many levels.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Two Different Views & Some Laughs
I think you know who I agree with:
Notice how the young, irreverant, arrogant fellow calls the others guys comments "irresponsible".
Why would he have an emotional reaction to such a prediction? Perhaps the truth scares the hell out of him. You should never be afraid of the truth, but if your ego is in charge you will be. Young man: Some day you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free...
Remember, pundits on CNBC told you not to fear the financial meltdown:
And this was Cramer's view on subprime:
Here is a link to several funny "Wall Street" videos:
http://www.businessinsider.com/our-top-10-internet-videos-about-wall-street-2010-6#hot-shots-part-deux-i-loved-you-in-wall-street-1
Notice how the young, irreverant, arrogant fellow calls the others guys comments "irresponsible".
Why would he have an emotional reaction to such a prediction? Perhaps the truth scares the hell out of him. You should never be afraid of the truth, but if your ego is in charge you will be. Young man: Some day you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free...
Remember, pundits on CNBC told you not to fear the financial meltdown:
And this was Cramer's view on subprime:
Here is a link to several funny "Wall Street" videos:
http://www.businessinsider.com/our-top-10-internet-videos-about-wall-street-2010-6#hot-shots-part-deux-i-loved-you-in-wall-street-1
Monday, January 3, 2011
Ouch!
Hope you had a lovely Holiday season! I must say, though, I am glad it's over. I tried and tried to feel the spirit this year, but just couldn't get there.
I did have a few nice moments with the family, and am very thankful for all of them, to be sure. Thank God for kids, watching them enjoy makes all the craziness worth it.
So I am back to work today and the markets are killing me. What a day to be a bear! I apologize to any traders who missed the bounce (large as it was). I do not apologize to regular investors out there, because you shouldn't be trying to time the markets anyways.
I greatly underestimated the impact free money would have on the investment banks. I misunderstood how high they could drive markets in the short-term. I also underestimated the immorality of the Federal Reserve bank and its leaders. They are totally willing to devalue our currency to create paper profits for Wall Street.
So, if you are a momentum trader you have already figured out I am not your gal! However, if you are an investor, I am still correct, and you will ultimately be glad you listened.
Nothing fundamental has changed. In fact, the fundamentals continue to deteriorate even as the pundit hail our recovery. The thing I did not foresee was QE2, or the impact it would have on the stock market. I am in the process of formulating new questions about the world economy and how it works. Questions like these:
Does paper money create value?
How many states are on the verge of bankruptcy and who will bail them out? How dependent are the poor on state and local welfare programs and how many of them are there?
Is our Government willing to default on its treasury obligations?
Are the "profits" Wall Street is trading on real? Is it possible the combination of cost cutting and commodity price inflation are creating a smoke and mirror effect that will ultimately collapse?
What is the true state of the American consumer? Is any recovery sustainable without him?
Is the average household balance sheet healthy?
How high can we raise the debt ceiling?
For now, anyway, I have more questions than answers. Such is the nature of life. Everything happens in cycles.
Is the small reduction in consumer debt levels a result of increased write-offs, tighter credit standards, and numerous bankruptcy filings instead of a result of credit worthy borrowers actually paying down debt?
The NY FRB has an interesting new quarterly report:
http://www.ny.frb.org/research/national_economy/householdcredit/DistrictReport_Q22010.pdf
My favorite is the chart on page 9. It shows that new student loan delinquencies are on the rise, auto loans pretty flat, HELOC delinquencies pretty flat, and new mortgage delinquecies have only ticked down slightly in the last two quarters.
Page 3 shows that total household debt is about where it was Q1 of 2007, just before this crisis began.
Since I believe excessive leverage in our economy was THE primary cause of the financial crisis, I still believe nothing fundamental has changed, except that our government has given loads of our money to failing financial institutions and encouraged them to buy stocks with it.
The market is way up today...speculation abounds. The traders are back! The ISM number was less worse than expected.
I will remain short, perhaps even add to my positions, being the stubborn bear I am.
I did have a few nice moments with the family, and am very thankful for all of them, to be sure. Thank God for kids, watching them enjoy makes all the craziness worth it.
So I am back to work today and the markets are killing me. What a day to be a bear! I apologize to any traders who missed the bounce (large as it was). I do not apologize to regular investors out there, because you shouldn't be trying to time the markets anyways.
I greatly underestimated the impact free money would have on the investment banks. I misunderstood how high they could drive markets in the short-term. I also underestimated the immorality of the Federal Reserve bank and its leaders. They are totally willing to devalue our currency to create paper profits for Wall Street.
So, if you are a momentum trader you have already figured out I am not your gal! However, if you are an investor, I am still correct, and you will ultimately be glad you listened.
Nothing fundamental has changed. In fact, the fundamentals continue to deteriorate even as the pundit hail our recovery. The thing I did not foresee was QE2, or the impact it would have on the stock market. I am in the process of formulating new questions about the world economy and how it works. Questions like these:
Does paper money create value?
How many states are on the verge of bankruptcy and who will bail them out? How dependent are the poor on state and local welfare programs and how many of them are there?
Is our Government willing to default on its treasury obligations?
Are the "profits" Wall Street is trading on real? Is it possible the combination of cost cutting and commodity price inflation are creating a smoke and mirror effect that will ultimately collapse?
What is the true state of the American consumer? Is any recovery sustainable without him?
Is the average household balance sheet healthy?
How high can we raise the debt ceiling?
For now, anyway, I have more questions than answers. Such is the nature of life. Everything happens in cycles.
Is the small reduction in consumer debt levels a result of increased write-offs, tighter credit standards, and numerous bankruptcy filings instead of a result of credit worthy borrowers actually paying down debt?
The NY FRB has an interesting new quarterly report:
http://www.ny.frb.org/research/national_economy/householdcredit/DistrictReport_Q22010.pdf
My favorite is the chart on page 9. It shows that new student loan delinquencies are on the rise, auto loans pretty flat, HELOC delinquencies pretty flat, and new mortgage delinquecies have only ticked down slightly in the last two quarters.
Page 3 shows that total household debt is about where it was Q1 of 2007, just before this crisis began.
Since I believe excessive leverage in our economy was THE primary cause of the financial crisis, I still believe nothing fundamental has changed, except that our government has given loads of our money to failing financial institutions and encouraged them to buy stocks with it.
The market is way up today...speculation abounds. The traders are back! The ISM number was less worse than expected.
I will remain short, perhaps even add to my positions, being the stubborn bear I am.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
No One Knows How Deep The Holes Are
"No one knows how deep the holes are."
Gov. Chris Christie may handle his stress by eating...but...who am I to judge...sometimes I do too, and I think he should run for President. He is willing to say the politically incorrect things that need to be said if our country is to avoid bankruptcy!
Sell most of your municipal bonds...keep only the ones in the upper midwest (with the exception of MN & WI) ND, SD, and Nebraska are your best bets.
You have heard it before... the financial pundits tell you there is no cause for concern.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| CNBC Financial Advice | ||||
| ||||
Whitney points out that muni's are held in "huge numbers" by the big banks.
You could listen to her, who put her life on the line to tell the truth...or you could listen to this guy...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704073804576023673176220648.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_personalfinance
You make the choice...but be careful! No one knows how deep the holes are.
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