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17…”The Golden Rule”

By Larry Doyle on December 18, 2008 at 7:00 AM in Current Affairs

For time immemorial, nations and economies have operated by the Golden Rule. Well, in this economy and this market, that Rule is strong and seemingly getting stronger. While the U.S. dollar sank to a 13yr low vs the Japanese Yen and declined another 2+% vs the Euro, gold moved higher by another 2+% and is now at a 9 week high and up 9% for the year.

In speaking with an investment advisor today, he told me that he has moved almost 20% of his fund into gold in anticipation of continued declines in the value of the dollar.

While gold is increasing in value, we are not seeing other commodities follow its lead. In fact, oil (down 7% on the day) intraday went below $40 per barrel, while copper dropped to a near 4yr low. Through the grapevine, a close friend shared with me today that Goldman is long oil in SIZE from a very large transaction with Mexico. Both commodity moves indicate to me that the market believes the economy will bump along the bottom for the foreseeable future.

What is going to get us to turn the corner on the economy? The Fed has done all it can monetarily, and will clearly utilize “quantitative easing” in buying longer maturity mortgage, consumer, and corporate assets. There is another $350 billion in TARP funds, some of which will likely be directed towards helping homeowners on the brink of foreclosure.

Beyond that, all eyes in Washington and across the country are looking toward a MASSIVE economic stimulus. Obama has already indicated the outlines of his plans with the largest component being infrastructure.

Will this be the “magic bullet” that we all hope? It would be foolhardy to think that $300 billion, if not $500 billion, and perhaps $1 trillion, would not give a serious jolt to our economy. That said, will a package of the size and type being discussed by Obama revolutionize the art of stimulus packages and lead us to a viable and sustainable economic recovery? I think not. Why? 1. crowding out….capital allocated toward the government stimulus projects will not be available for other “private sector” initiatives….but you say, “well, LD, you yourself have indicated that there is limited private sector demand.” More on this in a second.

2. productive and efficient use of capital….governments have never been the best at protecting the use of capital (Big Dig…7yrs overdue and $16bln over budget…largest federal works project in our history).

3. higher taxes both at the local and state levels combined with higher taxes at the federal level to pay for the increasing deficit are the biggest disincentive for the allocation of private capital. Robert Reich, one of Obama’s economic advisors, has claimed that it is pointless to offer tax cuts to consumers, as they will merely use them to pay down debts. He did not offer opinion on a cut in capital gains.

Do we have any historical records to review situations of this nature? I’m glad you asked. What did Japan do during its’ “lost decade” of the 1990s and how did the Japanese ultimately come out of it? The massive government spending packages made for some nice roads and airports but it only served to escalate their debt vs GDP. It was only when they acknowledged the losses on their banks’ books and privatized assets, both of which occurred in this century, that the Japanese economy recovered.

Read more how the Japanese “lost decade” truly played out and how Barack Obama will need a good dose of luck with his proposed stimulus plan in “Barack Obama-San.”

This piece by Amity Shlaes, a senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “The Forgotten Man”, a history of the 1930s, makes an equally compelling case for the need for private sector intervention. Both of these pieces are must reads!!

We have harped on the fact that we have heard very little from analysts, business leaders, or commentators about the need for private sector capital and intervention to take the lead in moving our economy out of this economic morass. Well, at long last we heard two individuals make the case and they deserve a shout out. Thank you Jim Cramer from CNBC and Chairman and CEO Ron Defeo of Terex!!

There’s a fork in the road…let’s take it.

Company News

Apple trades down 6% as the company indicates Steve Jobs will not be present at an upcoming conference. Speculation persists about Jobs being in ill health, the company not having any new dynamic products, and not wanting to present given the weak economy. Apple leads the Nasdaq lower on the day.

GE trades down 3% on the day as the company announces it will no longer provide quarterly and annual guidance on earnings. I am definitely a believer that overemphasis on quarterly earnings can often be a hindrance to the long-term health of a company, but not providing guidance on annual earnings begs the question as to transparency. Speculation that GE may ultimately have to become a bank holding company to secure capital to support operations would also subject the company to more restrictive oversight thus limiting growth potential.

Macy’s trades up 18% (still down app 65% on the year) as it was able to amend some outstanding debt. Retailers in general still have some tough times ahead.

Bonds

Government bonds had a massive flattening in the yield curve as maturities out to 5 yrs sold off fairly sharply (expectations of growing supply with increased deficit) while longer maturities (10-30yrs) rallied sharply in anticipation of Treasury and Fed purchases. A rule of thumb has always been that a flattening curve is in fact the precursor to a recovering economy while a steepening curve portends recession.

I am not so sure that that rule will hold this go round given all of the massive government intervention but it does deserve mention. The only reason an investor would buy a 10yr U.S. government bond yielding 2.2% is if you believe we are going into a depression…or you know that Uncle Sam is behind you waiting to purchase billions of them. Remember that concept of “front running” we broached the other day.

How Bernie “Madoff” with $50 Billion??

Not for nothing, but how is this “Scrooge” out on bail? Bernie’s bail restricts him to a 7pm -9am curfew and requires an electronic bracelet. Wouldn’t the court consider him a serious “suicide candidate” and want to be watching him at all times?? You think?

Bernie’s wife had to forfeit her passport. Supposedly many investors were her friends and relationships. Emphasis on “were”!!

The largest “fund of funds” at Bernie’s “shop of horrors” was Fairfield Greenwich, which in their own publication promotes that they “employ a significantly higher level of due diligence”. The lawyers are going to have a field day suing this firm!! Game over!

Auto Situation

Chrysler is shutting down plants for the next 30 days. Ford plans on halting production at 10 plants for a week in January….tick, tick, tick…

Personal Finance

A site that I find to be particularly helpful as far as reviewing performance in different sectors and offering lots of insight on different sectors is run by Morningstar. I hope you find it helpful.

Keep those cards and letters coming…and bring your friends to NQ for more insights into Wall St. and Main St.

bart

Great piece LD! If one has a little money each month, what do you do with it NOW? Pay down the mortgage?

I heard about the fed issuing more dollars, so I understand it is throwing the kitchen sink at this and deflation is the real worry. Apparently, inflation is the lesser of two evils now.

LD

Bart,

Thanks for the plug. Depending on the rate and type of mortgage that you hold it may be prudent to pay that mortgage down or not.

Remember, that a mortgage is one of the last tax writeoffs out there. If you have a low rate and are feeling very secure in your job and finances, it may actually not be the wisest financial move.

For example if you have a fixed rate 5.5% mortgage with the tax benefit, it would actually be more prudent to invest in a municipal bond fund in your state (I know in my state I can get a fund yielding 6.5% which equates to app a 9.5% yield on a pre-tax basis).

That said, all of this depends on one’s personal situation.

Certainly one should definitely pay off credit card charges or other outstanding consumer credit charges.

Understand the risks that you are taking with the municipal fund. You are taking the “credit” risk of your state. How strong is the state’s finances currently? What is the nature of the fund? Is it investing in “general obligation” bonds or “revenue se for a highway). You have to do your homework.

Hope this helps.

Inflation in the early 80s was 12% and the Fed jacked short term rates to 20% to kill it.

We’ll be watching this situation VERY CLOSELY.

Pingback: Economic/Market Highlights…12/17…”The Golden Rule” : NO QUARTER
BernieO

Amity Shlaes is a right-wing ideologue who peddles the kind of economic policies that got us into this mess. (Free markets will cure all your ills, the government is always wrong.) People like that who disregard fact and logic need to be dismissed as the fanatics they are. Will we ever learn?

LD

Bernie…and that is the beauty of a free market, in which people can openly offer and debate opinions.

That said, it would be interesting to see the case “made” for massive government interventions that not only worked but wisely and judiciously allocated the capital utilized at the same time.

Obviously, these situation are never fully “black and white” but are always colored in “shades of gray”.
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com M. Simon

Actually it was Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Barry O, and a host of Rep & Dem accomplices who got us in this mess. Free Market? Check out Dodd and Countrywide.

I believe we are in a secular down turn. We have no significant technological opportunities that have very good profits and can absorb significant capital and labor. We have done about as much as we can with computers. Factories are automated. Businesses are automated. The Office in your Home is automated. The Internet is automated.

So what is the next big thing? No one knows. In the mean time all Barry can do is burn accumulated capital. Thus delaying the next rise. Four years and out. If corruption doesn’t get him first.

I cover this and some history in Secular Decline where I explain how James Watt led to the bull market of 1780 to 1812.

What I can tell you is that what ever leads to the next rise has already been invented. But few know what it is. Because if we knew we would not be in a secular decline.

LD

MSimon,

Thanks for sharing in the “debate”. Interesting piece you have there. Thanks.

Sonic Ninja Kitty

Dear Bernie O,

“Economic policies” are government policies. Government interventions in the free market have consequences. (What type, good or bad–you tell me from your observations.)

I invite you to visit my blog (at wordpress)–within the next week I’m going to start a chapter by chapter review of F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which may be the best comparison of free market vs. centrally planned economies ever written.

If you don’t have time for that, just think of the great human experiment we had back in the last century: East and West Germany. They both started out (after the war) with the same opportunities–in which one would you have rather lived?

Nothing “will cure all your ills”, but at least with a free market, there are relatively objective laws that must be obeyed. Government planners act on far less objective principles. They usually end up enacting policies based on what their voting blocks demand, not what the market needs. (That’s why we have lobbyists and corruption.) The uncertainties people and businesses encounter in this type of environment when they try to plan are what prevents the economy from growing as well as it could.

nan

check out TEXAS DARLING BLOG
VERY INTERESTING

LD

Nan…..not sure what that has to do with the economy/markets….but thanks for sharing.

Leibniz 08

The only way out of this mess is through a return to the “American System of Economics” which means
1. Implement Article 1, Sec 8 of US Constituiton where Congress determines the creation of credit for the purpose of persuing the mandate of the preamble of the Constitution that the purpose of the Government is to promote the general welfare~
(Credit is different than the ‘monetarist’ swindle of the non Federal Resereve)
A. The federal Reserve must be phased out of existence through a bankruptcy reorganization of the banking system. protection of the legitimate banking houses, but no protection for the investment banking derivatives portfolios.

B. Repeal NAFTA etc. Stop funding the IMF & World Bank~ Create a new economic architecture by treaty with Russia, China, India and other countries around revived US Constitutional currency and policy towards investment in growth of physical economy not the monetarist one.

2. Congressional Credit: towards massive investment in nuclear power, Water works, mass transit and the space program at low interest rates. Revival of the steel industry and machine tool industry to build nuclear reactors, some parts that can only built in Japan. This is physical economic investment, not investment in monetarist economy. As such we need massive R & D investment in private sector and public sector (universities) in science, but science must evolve to study the implosive potential of Nature as pioneered by Victor Schauberger if we are to have a livable earth.

3. This plan will revive private industrial firms while punishing private capital that has looted the physical economy…Such that GE, Big Auto, etc are more hedge funds than industrial companies. The auto bailout will go to Cerebus to keep it and the Wall Street House of cards going.

4. Social Safety net must be increased to help people at this time of crisis.

This is just a brief outline~ The term “American System of Economics” was first used by Henry Clay. Look at the work of American System economist Henry C. Carey, who refuted Adam Smith and who the British deployed Karl Marx to try and stop… along with a bullet against Lincoln, Mckinnley and Kennedy.

LD

Leibniz….You are elevating the level of our debate and that is ALWAYS a good thing. I thank you for providing such insights. I hope that we can continue the dialogue.
Annie Oakley

Thanks for this. The Federal Reserve has been part of the problem, and people have mythologized the free market. The debate gets stalled out between the Free Market and Communism, so the term “American System of Economics” is helpful.

“The Secrets of the Temple: how the Federal Reserve runs the country” by William Greider was written in 1989 and autopsies the last financial crisis. The people who brought it about benefited from the way it was managed and resolved, resulting in a massive transfer of wealth. This concentration of wealth and power is part of the problem, and to contest it is NOT to say that socialism or communism is the only alternative. Not true. One weapon the Federal Reserve used then and uses now is to say that regular people can’t understand finance and therefore have to abdicate to them. Well, the Federal Reserve is basically a banking lobby, so their solutions are not nonpartisan.

Finance is politics, as the populists well knew. Read up and take part in the debate, people. Your well-being depends on it, especially when the Reserve goes to “squeeze out” the inflation it is currently creating to bail out its constituency.

LD, obviously I’m not coming from the same place you are, but I appreciate your threads and the debate.

LD

Annie,

Your last point for me is what it is all about. Economics is the ultimate inexact science. Healthy debate is not only good but vital for a healthy economy. If people become more educated then they can make more informed choices. That is my hope here at NQ.

Not looking to make converts. Definiteely looking to make more people informed.

Your joining the sharing of ideas is very much appreciated. Please keep coming back and bring friends.

workingclass artist

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/12/britains_no_sharia_campaign.html
2nd time to post link…There has been a push on both sides of Atlantic to adopt Sharia Finance customs….Would like to know what you think about that LD. Good Article. I found this to be encouraging.

LD

Working….Wow!! There are so many different angles at work here. Sharia seems to have political, spiritual, social, and financial components. Is it possible to separate the parts in an attempt to achieve fairness in adjudicating financial matters. Are more problems caused than solved in the process? I am not a lawyer or political scientist and thus not in a position to offer a responsible opinion.

On Wall St., employees within the respective investmetn banks and brokerage houses all sign an agreement that disputes will eb settled via arbitration. More often than not minor financial cases with customers end up in arbitration as well. That path is chosen to expedite the process, to minimize legal expenses, and honestly (IMO) to provide greater leverage for Wall St. versus their customer base. If customers truly want to contest a financial dispute via the courts it becomes expensive and then the claimants need to weigh the cost of the fight versus the benefits that may accrue.

No doubt, we need a process that is fair, open, and unbiased. That desired result is not as easily accomplished as we would like which erodes many investors confidence in the system.

Hope that insight proves helpful.

Thanks again for the link to that piece.

workingclass artist

Hmmmm…..Thanks LD. Steady encroachment or at least embracing of Eastern Influences in Philosophy both Social and Political has now reached the Economic and Legal.
I’ve been following this trend in UK for a while and see it as instructive since although America is different we still share much in common with the Brits….at Least culturally.
Sharia Law is fundamentally Theocratic and I was wondering what you might think of the attitude towards Interest and How Islamic Economic philosophy could impact Western Capitalist Economic Philosophy.
I see this as a trend that like Softening Communism seems to be culturally popular….Hmmmmm….
I’m not an economist (obviously) just an Artist and as such seeing patterns and links along philosophical lines kinda comes with my avocation….So it is always of interest to get the pragmatic insight of bright folks like yourself LD…I appreciate it and all you do….
A great public service you provide….

LD

Working,

I would need to read and analyse Sharia Law to a much great extent in order to provide a fully thoughtful and detailed response.

I will say that I personally love the freedom of capitalism in which people with great minds and great ideas can take risks in pursuing them. If they succeed then they should benefit. The great question for all of us is how do we promote that approach while maintaining a fair, free, unbiased and uncorrupted system. I am just as supportive if not even more supportive of those principles as well.

In summary, I believe we need people with REAL character and integrity in positions of leadership both in the private and public sectors who not only promote these principles but live them as well.

Thank you for elevating the level of the dialogue. Sorry that I did not directly address the finer points of your comment but to be honest I am not enough of a student in those areas.

Diana L. C.

Thank you for your posts, LD; and MSimon, your article was also very interesting for me, a person who knows nothing about economy.

As I’ve mentioned before, my grandparents were all immigrants who escaped the Stalinist regime in Russia. I grew up lower middle class instead of poor all because of their incredible (I used to feel it was a brutal) work ethic and their frugality. I always envied those kids whose homes had antiques and nice things handed down from earlier generations of the family and who went on vacations and always had a new toy or dress.

But what I do know is that my parents and grandparents could say they did not experience the Depression the same way the rest of the country did. They had always relied on themselves. Their vegetable gardens, their ability to can and save food for the winter. Heck, I remember my mother and aunts making the sturdiest rugs by crocheting rolled up bread wrappers, for heavens sake. We always had a warm home and food, though little in the way of “amenities.” We learned to sing and read, and we enjoyed large family get togethers-I had 34 cousins.

It seems that we need balance always. It’s like the nature/nurture argument. It’s not one or the other. Neurobiologists, neurolinguists, neuropsychologists are showing how much nature and nurture work together.

I think the same is true for the economy. We need collective/government sectors working on infrastructure and utilities (but we need them to work well–i.e., pay to play should NOT be a factor. Hiring should be based on knowledge and merit and not on who you are married to or what your family’s name is.) And the same goes for private industry and business.

I just never want an idealogue in the White House. We had that with Bush. I am worried we have another idealogue of the opposite bent coming in now.

So, my worries reflect MSimon’s points about Obama’s thinking. And I too wonder what the next thing is that will cause a rise. I’ve said it before: I want “beam me up” technology.

LD

Diana,

Thanks for sharing such personal insights. Lots of lessons in there for all of us. I do hope that our country as a whole can learn some of those lessons and develop some of the values that were instilled in you from a very early age.

I thank you and commend your family!!
blogforce one

There is a blog on capecodtoday written by Bethany Gibbons called ‘going native” that is instructive in self sufficiency ,gardening, animal husbandry ,hunting, fishing and general survival tips on next to no income

fiscalliberal

2. productive and efficient use of capital

In general I agree with you on this comment. Howver recent performance in the stock market is not a stellar example of that concept. More over the automotive market is also not a good case as they do not have a sustainable market.

Then we get to the finance sector – the bastion of capitalism and we see a collapse.

I would add to your #2 point that some how we have to find a way to get capital to stay in this country. Spending in the consumer market tend to boost Oil Countries, Asia and Canada.

By and large, the Obama stimulas package at least gives the county some form of focus. Right now you cannot trust the finance market or private sector job stability. I would guess the capital gains reduction will also be a good stimulus.

However I think the private sector has a lot of homework to do in terms of viability and credibility

LD

Fiscal…You are correct. However, not every corporation was negligent, although, every part of the economy is subject to this economic turmoil.

The corporations that wisely manage their businesses should thrive. Those that don’t should suffer. Obviously the rub is when corporations that are “too big to fail” mismanage theri business. We do need wise and strong regulation to make sure that the system works while allwoing capitalism to thrive. That is the challenge for the foreseeable future.

My point is that it seems that ALL of the focus currently is on the government solving ALL of our problems. I do not have confidence in that happening. Certainly government needs to be involved and involved heavily but the private sector needs to be involved and incentivized to be part of the solution.

Your thoughtful color is ALWAYS appreciated.

Diana L. C.

Sorry for the second post, but I just got this facetious suggestion for helping the economy though email.

Right now it seems almost a good idea, what with the overspending on inauguration blowouts and funding special elections for replacing all the Congressional seats that are being vacated by WH appointees. I’ve never understood why politicians have to fill certain cabinet seats–wy not experts who work in the areas of concern?

“Subject: Suggestions For Our Government

When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things they do is reduce their staff and workers. The remainingworkers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or riskelimination as well.

I feel our government should not be immune from similar risks. I am recommending the following cuts to be implemented by the next president elect: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members and Senate members from 100 to 50; also reduce remaining staff by 25%.

Accomplish this over the next 8 years. (two steps / two elections)

Some yearly monetary gains include: $44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267members X $165,200 pay / member / yr.) $97,175,000 for elimination of the above people’s staff.(estimate $1.3 mil in staff per each member of the House, and $3 mil in staff per each member of the Senate every year) $24,294 for thereductionin remaining staff by 25%. $7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year.(those members who’s jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 billion / yr) The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country? We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing. Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.(telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note: Congress did not hesitate to leave for home this week when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we have three senators that have not been doingtheir jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay.

These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress. Summary of opportunity: $ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members $282,100,000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff $150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff $ 59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining housemembers $ 37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senatemembers $ 7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by thereduction of congress members. $ 8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings.

Big business does these cuts all the time. If you are happy with how our government is right now, just
delete this message. IF you are not happy, I assume you know whatto do. NOW this is called CHANGE!!!!!

LD

If we cut the headcount of Congress in half perhaps their approval ratings would then double to 18%!!! (lol)
http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com bruce arnold

I see…

You propose to strengthen our democracy by reducing the number of democratically-elected representatives, thereby consolidating more power in the hands of fewer people.

Why stop there? Why not just eliminate democratic representation altogether, after having one final election to choose an all-powerful Führer? SEIG HEIL! Extending your logic, just THINK how much money THAT would save! Of course we’d be abdicating our rights in exchange for a “more efficient” government. But by God, just like Germany in the 1930s, I bet the trains will run on time!

Merciful Lord, please save us from the ignorant who confuse the empowerment of a keyboard with the enlightenment of a classical education…

Bruce Arnold
LdrLongDistanceRider.com

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government … except for all the others that have been tried.”–Sir Winston Churchill

jangles

If you think about our demographics (aging, retiring) and general needs, it seems to me that a stimulus package ought to spend some serious capital on overhauling the infrastructure of wellness and health care; public transportation is another huge deficit in this country, particularly green public transit. Then there is the yawning hole of education. Warehousing students in buildings for learning is just not working. We need a whole system of multi-age flexible neighborhood knowledge centers.

As for paying down consumer debt and Reich—just like banks, consumers are not going to be spending until they get their balance sheets in order and pay down their credit card balances—get balances to low interest instruments.
blogforce one

The crux of the challenge we face is no savings or intention of saving and accumulating wealth. the system that works is “work, save, and when you have enough saved, THEN buy!. The current model for Americans is Borrow, spend, then beg for more money to borrow! Saving money is a mindset that has disappeared from our culture. Bring back savings passbooks!Saving money as a prudent choice should be inculcated in our children from grade school.With our future at stake we cannot afford to miss this challenge to teach the benefit of savings accounts!

LD

You are correct, sir!!!

We do need a massive cultural change in how we manage our finances and how we view the value and use of money.

As the saying goes, “you can pay me now or you can pay me later”….with interest of course!!

NomNomNom1

Ecuador is perhaps the front of the line.
http://www.indypendent.org/2008/12/11/ecuador-drops-money-ball/

LD

Nom….

In a piece a few months back I mentioned that it would be foolhardy and naive to think that the economic turmil would not lead to political stress and potentially political change in certain countries.

We do not want to be alarmist but we also don’t want to be naive.

Thanks for sharing.

interested party

From the WSJ article you link:

… and force banks to acknowledge their bad debts, did the economy recover. Yet recent governments have rolled back Mr. Koizumi’s reforms and returned to their spending habits. But Japan does have better roads.

The scenario presented runs like a broken record in Japan over the decade. Stimulus packages followed by corruption and/or voter disaffection. The key point is that debt obligations need to openly accounted for; then other political and financial actions can take place. Sound governmental and financial institutions cannot be build on bad debt. This cleansing isn’t happening in this country and appearances are again, we have our priorities askance and find the easy answer of Japan’s failure our sole recourse.
lark

Hi everyone.

Obanana had his daily speech after announcing his economic cast of characters.

So he said that he is for streamlining the regulating system and also for making it more explicit as to who’s going to regulate what. You see how he talks, like any old Bushes. Of course he has his own definition of streamlining and his own definition of diversifying the process. Both can co-exist in his press conference because both sound so flowery cute.

He also said that they will make mistakes but that what people want is that once mistakes are made they can change. Oh oh oh what an innovative concept. I guess that’s why you can pass a test with 70 because everyone knows you will make mistakes.

He also said that government cannot do it all. That private parties need to add to profit motive and greed the need to do the right thing – for the benefit of the common good. This is also a perfect example of Obambi talk. Greed and charity co-existing together in perfect harmony. I guess he means entrepreneurs and enterprises need to act like pastors and churches. Well, that means that nothing different may happen since is common practice at churches and the cloth to happily correlate greed and charity simultaneously.

Obambi = saying something by saying nothing; doing something by doing nothing.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

We all need sugar daddies who will help us buy million dollar mansion which we can’t afford on buy on our own.

What I see in Obama is a man who hasn’t lived in the real world — he’s always had others pay his way.

I’ve not seen any economic plans from Obama which are based on original thinking or a deep understanding of how the economy works.

Since the key to Japan’s current recovery is

force banks to acknowledge their bad debts,

It seems that full and complete transparency in acknowledging all bad debts — BOTH private banks and government — would be a good place to start.

LD — thanks for another educational article — I’ve read the links and copied them to my growing economics file.

LD

Rain…Thanks for the plug. Spread the word.

Karma

In my opinion, that is the ultimate goal….privatization of state assets.

In order to get there. The Chicago Machine is going graft the infrastructure stimulus packages into the ground just like the Rezko projects.

After the Obama Admin is over. Their civilian jobs will be at those same privatization companies. Which will also provide them company passes to drive on the same roads we’ve been taxed to death to rebuild.

In short order, they will raise the tolls because the roads have to be repaired. After all…the Chicago Machine built them.

So, I guess my question is…

How many times will we have to pay for the same stretch of road?

~~

Sorry…it is the cynic in me along with the Chicago corruption spilling out on the news. You don’t have to answer.

Thanks for the articles and describing the issue with Cerberus a few back.

LD

Karma…

Not to worry about the sarcasm and cyncicism. I have a healthy bit of that in my blood as well. That said, it would consume me if I let it,so I don’t let it as best I can.

Thanks for the plug. I will continue to try to bring interesting material to the table and explain/expose what is truly going on in the markets and the economy.

MBC

LD,

Thanks for your interesting articles. I can’t say I get everything you are writing about, but I am working on it. I look forward to every article you post, keep them coming.

LD

MBC,

Please do not ever hesitate to ask about ANYTHING that you may not understand. There are no bad questions.

That said, it is a process.

Thanks for the plug.

LD