On and On ...

I just heard an oxymoron on Blabberg ... the fellow mentioned "investors continuing to trade" certain markets. Since when is "trading" part of "investing ? That's symptomatic of the beefer* mentality. Those huge funds aren't investors at all - just colossal trading funds spreading their foul wastes everywhere. [* beefer = big, evil funds]

The "West" did the predictably smug "tut-tut" when the beefers attacked minor, far-away nations like Thailand ten years ago. Now the piratical attacks are closer to home, viz. Hungary. Even nations with strong reserves like South Korea are attacked.

Why are those beefers permitted to slash & burn these places with their currency trading ? What is the economic gain from that hot money sloshing around ? Zero. Sure, foolish ideologues like Elmer ( aka Alan Greenspan ) talked about the "wonderful" liquidity they provided. Sure ... a 100 year flood provides "wonderful" liquidity to a common man in his home !

Markets

More beefer liquidations yesterday ... or maybe the trading beefers who bought at the recent lows flipped the shares to "try" to lock in a profit. Who knows ? The public is probably still pulling money out of stocks.

Meanwhile LIBOR is falling. And homes are selling at a rapid pace in those places like CA where the housing bubble was worst. Borrowers of home equity loans and floating rate mortgages are seeing substantial cash flow improvement. As is every person driving a vehicle. So the curative medicine is flowing in the veins of the patient.

Lender standards return to .. gasp ... those of the early 1980s. I bought my first home in 1984 and my initial mortgage interest rate was 13.875% on a one year floater with a 30 year amortization schedule. Lolol I think the "teaser" rate was around 11%. Yes, I put 20% down, also. And I did rather well over the years ... as did the economy.

Hmmm ... on my 100 year wall chart, the world did rather well after that period of retrenchment, which in fact included a huge financial crisis of the S&L industry ( disintermediation) and banking industry (those huge third world loan losses ... remember ?)

Governmental money will actually go into the commercial paper markets next Monday. Equity infusions to banks soon follow.

The dollar is rising. Uh ... I thought the pundits said the dollar was doomed to oblivion ?

Actions

Doing nothing. Please don't go too long on margin. I am long margin, BUT as I've said many times before, my Alpha Fund is really a small part of my total investments.

I might add to FCX in the low 20s if it gets there.

Word of the Day

"Tatterdemalion" - noun & adjective [$100] a Mencken word
Tatterdemalion means 1. (noun) a person in tattered clothing; a shabby person; 2. (adjective) ragged; unkempt or dilapidated.
Sentence: As the disaster-mongers say, the world will soon be filled with wandering tatterdemalions looking into garbage cans for a few scraps of food. But barring a big war or trade war or other governmental idiocy as Argentina has shown the path, the innate desire and capability of free people to improve their lives proves an irresistible tail wind for strong economic growth over time.