If you were going to take a cruise on the Titanic in 1912, and you had been warned of its sinking, would you have boarded or bought a ticket? If you were warned that a hurricane was coming, would you board up your windows and do everything in your power to avoid calamity? If you were warned of an unsafe condition in an amusement park ride, would you take it? If you were warned of a money market going bust, would you store your dollars in it? (No money market fund is insured or guaranteed by anyone or anything.) If you were warned about tainted meat of a certain brand, would you eat it? 99% of Americans think the dollar is ’strong.’ After all, didn’t Secretary Paulson, on Fox News Sunday, say that America is dedicated to a strong dollar? And didn’t he say that America’s economic system is strong and A-OK? And after all, didn’t George Bush run on a strong dollar and pro-gun? So why am I continuing to warn people about disaster?
Maybe I am just a calamity howler, and no one should pay attention. After all, didn’t you say that I should sell my stocks? Look at them. Why, they’re going up as you write this! Surely, all is well. The banks are being bailed out, the stock market is going up, it’s springtime, and all the daffy down dillies, jonquils, and tulips are pushing their way through the cold soil. The grass has a tint of green in it, and why do you bother me with this stuff?
Do ostriches hide their head in the sand to avoid seeing trouble coming on? Ever notice that birds and animals eat like crazy before a storm? They seem to know that trouble is coming, and they prepare. No one knows how nature works, but before a tornado, earthquake, or hurricane, the animals know something’s up, and they are scurrying around, trying to protect themselves and stock up on food. Us poor dopes don’t seem to have that built-in warning device. Too bad. The warnings are everywhere. Will you protect yourself?
I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. Just discard past warnings I have posted and written about. T-Bills and dollars are just fine, as are stocks and bonds. Put your dollars in a CD at 2% and be secure, by all means. Nothing is going to happen. Nothing at all. Hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, trillions going overseas, blatant lies by the D.C. Gang, fake figures and statistics, stock being bought by the government (PPT) to keep the market afloat, bank failures, and presses running 24/7, turning out dollars to keep things solvent. Interest reductions, and happy faces on CNBC. Nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing. The US economy is strong, Iraq is going smoothly and costing very little, as is Afghanistan. I am sure that oil and gas prices will come down, as will food and other things we all buy and need. We’re just waiting for the government help ship to come in, and it will be escorted by the wonderful servants working for the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and various other employees of the government, who are there to help us. Isn’t it nice to know that all is well? Now, maybe you can rest assured that I was wrong in my warnings. There is nothing to worry about. I was in error. I wonder what ever got into me. Apologies! Also, pigs will sprout wings next week and begin to fly, like some of the toys show them.
Cuts in the interest rate, protects the banks and big boys, while it destroys the dollar, raises living costs, and harms Joe Sixpack, and for that matter everyone else. Closed Friday, so you won’t have to read more of this till next Monday! Then, I’ll try to be upbeat. To quote a Gilbert and Sullivan ditty from Trial By Jury, “The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la, have nothing to do with the case. For I’ve got to take under my wing, tra la, a most unattractive thing, with a character of a face.” Or should that read, ’a most unattractive thing, with a character of an economy?’ Have a great Easter weekend!