This will be making some Right Wing heads asplode today

The very famously business-friendly Forbes magazine, no less, writes the following:

Economically, Could Obama Be America's Best President?

From the link:

"...Presidents universally take credit when the economy does well (such as Reagan,) and choose to blame other factors when the economy does poorly (such as Carter.) But there was a clear pattern, and link, between policy and financial market performance.

Although we hear almost no one in the Obama administration taking credit for record index highs, they should. Because the President deserves attention for how well this economy has done during his leadership.

The auto rescue plan has worked. American car manufacturers are still dominant and employing millions directly and in supplier companies. Wall Street reform has been painful but it has re-instated faith amongst investors. The markets are far more predictable than they were four years ago, as VIX numbers demonstrate greater faith and less risk.

Even for small investors, such as thoughs limited to their 401(k) or IRA investments, the average annual compound return on stocks under President Obama has been more than 24% since the lows of March, 2009. This is a better result than either Clinton, Reagan or FDR – who were the prior winners in our book.

To which, we have only one thing to say to the Republicans, the Right Wingers, the Neoconservatives and all the haters out there:

Suck it, beeyotches.

Compare the statistics

And then vote accordingly.

Financial good news/bad news today

The bad news first: Italy may be going to hell in a debt handbasket right now, it's feared, so the EU is scrambling and people are freaking out a bit so naturally the 2nd wave--the double whammy, if you will--is that the markets are all down. The Dow is pretty close to 200 points down today at present. The good news? It wrecks the price of oil, fortunately and predictably. We can't support that high price of oil if not enough are buying. Links: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-sink-on-fresh-fears-apf-3537054013.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=; http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-drops-below-95-per-apf-3522845891.html;_ylt=AjawuDjIoyQ8mNdId8DG4cK7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1bzE5czZiBHBvcwM2BHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawNvaWxkcm9wc3RvYmU-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=

A bullet, dodged

Did you hear that sound?

It was the sound of all of us, here in the US, dodging a bullet.

I believe that was done this past long holiday weekend when the international markets tumbled on news of Dubai's default on their loans.

Actually, I guess it's technically not a default, they just asked if they could not repay their loans for 6 months. If you're the banker, it's a default, though.

Anyway, the markets tumbled Wednesday night.

Luckily for us and the world, it was our national Thanksgiving holiday so our trading markets were closed. Had they been open, I feel sure our markets would have emotionally, psychologically and, really, understandably reacted to this news and been set back with a down trading day. There's no telling how much it would have dropped, if at all, if I'm right.

Then, the next international trading day (our Thanksgiving night), the markets came back and were mostly up so by the time we had our partial trading day on Friday, all the bad news was buffered by this second round of better news.

A friend and I predicted a down day on the markets Friday and, as it turned out, we were right.

What I'm saying is that, with the international markets taking a hit last Wednesday, if ours had been open the next day, we likely would have tumbled--and a good deal, I believe--and then, that night, there could was likely a strong chance those same international markets would have reacted to that, too, and negatively.

Of course this is all speculation but I will say that I'm not the only one that thinks that if there is one more big financial problem any time soon, the whole international deck of cards is in fairly precarious shape and it will be tough on this already-weak system.

Here's hoping we skate by.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091130/wl_time/08599194339200

Where now?

The Dow is up some more, along with other relatively good news about and on the economy, at least here in the United States. (European markets took a hit, however. Hopefully they're not more realistic than us in the States). Home sales were shown to be up last month in news reports yesterday, too.

So maybe now we can and should consider cutting back on the billions and trillions we were originally going to throw at Wall Street.

Sounds like a good idea.




Link to original story:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wall-St-jumps-on-signs-rb-14740995.html

Happy St. Patrick's Day

As I write this, we're warming up in our area.

We were warmer today and the forecast is to hit nearly 80 degrees on this St. Patrick's Day.

Hip-hip-hooray.

The Dow was up about 700 points by the end of last week and we're almost into Spring.

Yow.

More hope.

As it is, I am on vacation and computer hook ups are unavailable (by my choice, really).

So my next entry here should be this coming Sunday.

I didn't want to miss this opportunity to wish you a Happy St. Patty's Day.

Citigroup? Connected to a profit?

Are you kidding me?

A profit?

That's what they want to declare that?

Let me be the first to point out that Citigroup took how many billions of dollars from the government, just to prop it up?

Billions of dollars.

February 27, the United States was to be giving them 25 billion dollars for a 36% stake.

How, exactly, do you take 25 billion dollars from your own government's tax coffers and then declare a "profit"?

What nonsense.

Not only that, but from everyone's best estimations, there is still a great deal of bad paper on Citigroup's books they have to get rid of.

And the Dow goes up 379 points?

This is, truly, a world gone mad.

This must be some bizarro universe.

Citigroup's stock is at $1.40.

How excited can you be about that?

I have to say, the possibility of that same Dow losing those nearly 400 points between now and Friday are far too possible--and even likely.

But who knows?

In this "bizarro world", absolutely anything could happen.

Link to story: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5291NK20090310

Late, poignant Happy Holidays wishes

A pertinent question

Okay, so now that things have pretty much gone to heck in a handbasket concerning the nation's financial markets, it seems like a good time to remember our peerless leader's pithy suggestion, some time ago, that we privatize Social Security.

Remember that?

You sure don't hear anything from the White House or Republican Party about that now, do you?

Ol' W wanted so badly to "give us choices", he said, and have us get off that awful Social Security program and let us choose how we wanted that money invested.

Holy cow.

If we had done that, so many years ago, can you imagine the mess the American people would be in today?

Mr. "Deep Thinker" and "Insightful" and "Long-term Strategist" that we know him to be would have us all in much worse "do-do" than we're already in.

Only W could do that.

(Thanks, Michael, for the idea).

Random thoughts before the weekend

First thought: watch for stocks to fall tomorrow. Things are getting gloomier.

The Fed is getting less optimistic all the time. Yesterday was no exception. They came out and said things look rough.

Added to that, unemployment is on the rise.

Finally, one Mr. Bill Gross of Pimco (manager of the world's largest bond fund) recommended publicly that the Federal Government should start buying up shares of stocks or risk a--get this--"financial tsunami".

Ow.

Doesn't sound very good.

Add to the above which, really, came out earlier today--Thursday--the government has what is expected to be more bad news to announce in statistics tomorrow morning.

As of this moment, the London FTSE, Hong Kong's market and Japan's NIKKEI are all down.

If you can sell--particularly bank stocks--do it right now, right away.

Sell. Definitely sell. Now.

(full story here: http://business.theage.com.au/business/steps-needed-to-halt-financial-tsunami-20080905-4a3a.html)

Finally, to close, instead of trashing Sarah Palin (or John McCain, for picking her), let's let her represent herself in her own words:

"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" --Sarah Palin, in an interview with CNBC's "Kudlow & Co."

"I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." --Palin

"It's great to see another part of the country." --Palin, campaigning in Pennsylvania

And then there's her family and friends:

"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative." –Sarah Palin's mother-in-law, Faye Palin, who said she may vote for Obama

"She's old enough. She's a U.S. citizen." --John Harris, Alaska's Republican speaker of the house, when asked about Palin's qualifications for vice president.

If John McCain can and does get elected President this Fall, he will defy all American history. No candidate of the same party that's in power in a really bad, down market gets elected. Add the fact that he's a really old dude who's out of touch, with bad judgement. a temper and a really awful pick for his VP and it just looks like he couldn't possibly be elected President.

Unless all the racists pour out for the election, God forbid.

At least the brutal heat of summer is over, huh?

Have a good weekend, y'all.

A big Friday

So oil is down to $115.00/barrel today, the Dow is up, the dollar is up against the Euro and the British Pound--since they didn't raise their interest rates--and the Olympics starts today in Japan.

A big news day, to be sure.

The question for the banks--and the American people--is, will we witness and have to finance another bank failure in the next 24 hours? Will the FDIC have to march into yet another bank this evening and close it up because it's "upside down", financially.

Hopefully not, certainly.

If they don't have to, it would be nice to break the 3-week straight we've had on these things.

Hopefully it's a quiet, uneventful evening and weekend.

Enjoy, y'all.