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And now it gets serious. I have been hearing and reading about these over the past few weeks. This is the first one that hit close to home (literally). It does make me feel good to know there are still a few intelligent, responsible people out there. I couldn't care less what happens to the rest of them.
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It's all just for the networking anyway...I wonder what signal this is giving the US MBA programs. Do you think they will get the message?
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Urban Survival...
Great Patience Friday
The markets, of late, have been really testing my patience. I explained back in December that I would like to see a decline into the February/March timeframe and then a major rally till the early part of summer, say mid-July, or so. I think it's pretty clear that we have completed the little bounce up to (and slightly past) Robin Landry's 7,404 level, but the fact that the market closed above that for just one day puts Landry back watching his indicators to see if we will get more than a modest decline to something greater than the 6,626 level and then rally toward the 9,100-10,500 range, or whether we'll just sink like a stone from here to the real low, which then might be under 6,600 on the Dow and possibly into the 4-thousands. It's not hard to figure that the next big move could be up; the harder part is sorting out the "From where?" question. Entry points matter.
Bullish sentiment is now reported over 45%, and typically when that happens, a market high is near, so we seem set to head lower...but the vexing question is still "How much lower?" That matter requires great patience
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It's hard to be patient, however, with many of the headlines floating about today. Take for example the House behavior on AIG. While the headlines are that the "House passes bill taxing fat AIG and other bonuses" my friend The Bond Dude (TBD) made an extremely astute observation, which I'll try to fairly summarize:
"George they don't need another law just to punish the AIG guys, you know why? Because there's already a ton of law on the books about illegal conveyance. You know, the laws that prevent you from putting your house in your wife's name if you're about to lose a major lawsuit, and that kind of thing. So look: The AIG guys knew they were in trouble when those contracts were drafted, and I expect some sharp criminal lawyers could pretty easily have gone after them on the grounds of conveyance and that'd be that..."
All of which gets me back to wondering how folks, including the president on Leno last night, could be 'surprised' by any of this. While "AIG gives names of bonus recipients to New York's attorney general" Andre Cuomo, it all has an air of dreaminess about it; like it's as much about keeping the public distracted from reading their 401(k) results, and making the appearance of 'change' take place. Must be something extra cynical in my coffee this morning, or I've just lost patience.
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So much of the news is pushed and shoved, this way and that, by largely unseen forces, that it frightens me for the kind of country my children will grow up in. Just another example of unseen hands? Go look up the WHOIS record on some of this seemingly "spontaneous" (city name) Tea Party web sites. You'll find in some cases that republicorp types are involved and that the site domain names were purchased in AUGUST 2008, which means the hidden hand is working an agenda over on that side of things, too.
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Linguistics are being played like a fiddle to control your thinking. Take the title of HR 875. It's labeled as the "Food Safety Modernization Act." Yet, as the John Birch Society notes, it should be opposed because:
"Despite its noble-sounding stated objectives, H.R. 875 would effectively transfer all state control over food regulation to the new Food Safety Administration (FSA), which is destined to become a new federal bureaucracy that would eventually dominate state and local food safety agencies already in place."
And this fits what I've warned you of many times over: When government wants to expand, they just wrap things up in "anti-terrorism", "saving the environment", or even more insidious, a "hero" image, as is the case in the latest attempt to sneak in gun control by linguistic manipulation.
It's all like pushing a bill through CONgress to increase availability of matches to children but mislabeling it as a "Fire Safety Act"...who would, after all vote against "Fire Safety"? It's the same old crap from the politicos - the "yes we want no bananas" kind of wording.
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The only really good news I've seen this week is that a plan by the feds to destroy once-fired bullet casings has been reversed, but only after a couple of Montana senators intervened.
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And so goes another week in the life. So-called leaders are still scheming, government's hand is getting deeper in your pocket almost every year, and all most of us want to have is enough time to pursue whatever's in our hearts without having to hire an attorney or file a three-year long process environmental impact statement to do it. It'd be nice if the markets would stabilize, but that might involve sound money and less pulling of future demand into the present through massive advertising expenditures.
The problem is, if that were to all happen, we'd find ourselves in the midst of a most terrible Depression. Actually, though, it's already unfolding, it's just not admitted yet.
So I continue watching and waiting for some tradable to happen in the markets, amused as FDIC chair Sheila Bair seems to have enough sense to call BS on Treasury Sec. Geithner's call for a super-regulator. What did I tell you government answer to every problem is? More government?
I don't know about you, but I'm not sure how long my patience will hold out. Maybe the best thing to do will be to keep the TV off more
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Coping: Them Tea Parties
Not withstanding the fact that some of the Tea Party sites have been in the works by republicorps who are doing their best to go above and beyond the call of "loyal opposition" there are some Tea Party events that are spontaneous and not concocted by anti-democorp types. So it's worth sharing this email:
"Good morning George,
I've been bothered for months regarding the so called "Tea Party" protests. While these are an interesting expression of discontent with the disgusting pork and waste by our "selected" politicians, they are ineffective in that all they do is to make noise and help their participants feel good. Most are not covered by the media except maybe for amusement. The big difference between the real Boston Tea Party and these events is that there is no cost to TPTB. In fact, the protests may well be a way of identifying dissent and providing a channel for it's release.
Contrast this to the real Boston Tea Party:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party
This cost an estimated 1.87 million real 2007 USD to TPTB! There were REAL consequences. The protests in France and Germany in the last couple of years were virtual riots, with millions of dollars in real damage to the perceived insiders. They were taken seriously.
I am NOT recommending violent protest or damage to others' property (that's illegal), and it will polarize things, likely playing into the hands of TPTB. I do think it's important to recognize HOW we are being played, and either change our play or remove ourselves from the game. I, for one, refuse to work for more than a nominal number of greenbacks, and concentrate my efforts on non taxable value, such as enjoying a sunset or repairing my car, house, tractor, etc. Just call it the "John Galt philosophy". You apparently do too. If even that becomes taxable, my lifestyle will shift as necessary in order to avoid support of this criminal waste and misuse. Apparently TPTB either can't recognize this or they actively wish to flush our economy down the toilet.
BTW, life is much more enjoyable this way!
While I most heartily agree with the nonviolent approach, I'd also advise some serious research to see who the organizers are... just saying...we get 'played' enough...and the only sure-fire antidote I've found that works is research & questioning all assumptions.
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