A Rout by Any Other Name

. . . . is still a ^#!$!^&& rout.


I don't have anything to really say about today that you do not already know. Unprecedented---comes to mind. Unprecedented wealth funded by debt ends badly. Whether we are invested in the market or not, we will be affected.

Prudent savers and investors trusting the markets to eek out a reasonable return so that they can live a financially independent life may now have to re-write some of that.

Capitalism and consumerism fed all of this. The indictment is squarely resting there--oh but wait. Aren't capitalism and consumerism the centerpiece of our American value system? Somewhere we squandered the deeply felt and hard-won values of freedom and independence for these two whores that promise only fleeting pleasure and a very dear price.

I've surmised here that underlying concept of the 'NEW MIDDLE CLASS' in emerging markets. Always said do breathlessly and full of hope that the appetites of the rising Asian and Latin American populations would prove bigger than our own. The pay off: lucrative goods and services. Of course, we'd have to inculcate the values of spending v. saving. I still hear the echo of the money managers saying that while the middle class American wasn't really important anymore and the luxury good makers would weather just find. IN fact they would IMPROVE. The chart below--a massive head and shoulder that broke within the last few days--tells a different story.


For those of you who employ technical analysis, I (layperson that I am) encourage you to employ a longer term view--10 year. Would you buy this chart? Looks like some roll over potential there.


What about this chart? Perhaps IBM will find support at $80 or so. Their revenue grew at 5%. I don't see that revenue growth accelerating in the upcoming economic environment do you?


Husband is in West Virginia. Hopefully there will be no accidents. This Mercury Retrograde has been pretty devastating so far. My son's wreck on the first day. Then the market's wreck each and every day it seems. Click on the graphic below to read more about Mercury Retrograde. You may find it interesting to not that RIMM had a major snafu under a Mercury Retrograde (remember when their systems went down). Mercury rules communication.