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The Room

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Have You Seen This?

Have You Seen This?

  • The Room - 01/30/2009

    Like most people, I occasionally find myself overwhelmed by the tasks involved with everyday life. This week, I have been, to use the old adage, 'working like a dog.' Though, now that I think about it, I have a hard time imagining the origin of the term. Even in his youth, my now elderly companion General Beauregard Piddle didn't seem to take on anything more rigorous than climbing up on an unattended couch for a nice nap. In any event, it's been one of 'those' weeks. And so today, as I prepared to write this weekly missive, I found myself groaning, 'Arrgh, I've got to write The Room,' to my ever patient and entirely wonderful wife. 'But,' she said, misunderstanding the nature of my apparent complaint, 'I can't see how that's a problem. There's so much to write about.' 'Exactly!' I said, 'That's the problem!' In actual fact, I almost always look forward to these weekly writings as a form of personal reflection and even entertainment... and as a usual way to keep myself in the flow of the passing parade. But some weeks – most weeks, it seems of late – the sheer volume of important news that I should comment on, at least if I were trying to be a good correspondent, is so staggering in dimension, it is a real challenge to know where to begin. So, instead, I start by writing about old dogs and wonderful wives. Go figure....
  • Where Is the Economy Going in the Next Six Months?

    As investors, the question we have to focus most of our attention on just now is what impact the credit crisis, the bursting housing bubble and the actions of the U.S. government will have on the economy and investment markets in the next six months. We have seen the Fed and the federal government move to panic mode as they try to keep the system afloat. As expected, they have cut rates, as well as having given away checks and rearranged the Federal Reserve's entire balance sheet. The underlying problems have not been fixed with this massive bailout. There are still many credit pot holes out there and new lending remains highly constrained. Even the government tax rebate checks, rather than boosting the domestic economy, were largely absorbed by higher oil prices. The resulting cut-back in consumer spending, coupled with ongoing constrictions in lending, will cause a severe slowing of the economy....