Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Blue Chips Still Floating, Revisited

It's been two days.

May 19, 2008
Blue Chips Still Floating

I once again want to know how we start an economic recovery with oil at $127.

May 21, 2008
Stocks tumble on $134 oil, Fed meeting minutes

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street pitched lower for the second straight session Wednesday as record-high oil prices and a bleak economic assessment from the Federal Reserve deepened investors' worry that Americans may face several more months of rising costs and a shaky employment picture. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 227 points, logging its widest two-day loss since late February.

I now want to know how we start an economic recovery with oil at $134.

I think Greenspan should write a children's book sequel to The Age of Turbulence. He could call it The Age of Parabolas: A Pop-up Economics Primer. The pop-ups should come out at least five feet to do it justice though.


Pop-up book

Design and creation of such books is known as paper engineering, a term not to be confused with the term for the science of paper making.

Who better than Greenspan? Okay, okay. You've got me there. Bernanke could be a co-author.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stag,

I now want to know how we start an economic recovery with oil at $134.

Me too. I'd add that unemployment is increasing, inflation is increasing, real wages are declining, MEW is AOL, we own too many underwater gas guzzling SUVs, household debt levels are at record levels, stocks are at historically high valuations, banks are insolvent absent accounting/fed forebearance, we're borrowing 2 billion a day from foreigners to fund our wars, we've spent our social security receipts, we have unfunded pensions, impossibly large future medicare expenses, an aging population, a zillion baby boomers looking to retire, a derivatives ticking time bomb, a housing debacle, and a government completely corrupted by lobbyists and special interest groups.

Time to go drink with Bob.

Stagflationary Mark said...

MAB,

Time to go drink with Bob.

That's funny on many levels (gallows humor).

As of two days ago, I'm a social drinker. Seriously. I'd like to thank our government for that.

For years, my girlfriend's doctor has recommended that a serving of alcohol would probably be of some benefit to her. Studies have shown that It would reduce stress a bit and therefore help her digestive system. She's a gut reactor.

I too am a gut reactor as it relates to stress. I've decided that a daily serving of Mike's Hard Lemonade works for me. I have no fears of becoming dependent though. As you can probably guess, I'm a bit of a control freak. That's the primary reason I never took up drinking in the first place.

Beer Just as Beneficial as Red Wine, Research Shows
http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/32/62

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have found one drink of beer or wine provides equivalent increases in plasma antioxidant activity, which helps prevent the oxidization of blood plasma by toxic free radicals that trigger many aging diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and cataracts.

I'm finally on board it seems.

Anonymous said...

Stag,

All things in moderation.

Debt, like alcohol, CAN be beneficial. I routinely enjoy knockin back a few cold ones. In excess though, alcohol can be crazy bad. I've seen a ton of alcohol addiction.

Speaking of addiction, I'd say the USA is way beyond being just a social debtor. We're more like a serial borrower. At least we're still cereal lenders.

Bread basket to the world could become basket-case to the world.

Anonymous said...

Stag,

Basket-case as in "case" of beer.

It's possible to be too opaque (with bad puns). Just think of our financial system.

Stagflationary Mark said...

MAB,

It's possible to be too opaque (with bad puns).

The economy is still good and I'm in high spirits. Unfortunately, future returns seem whiskey. Perhaps port traffic is just a hiccup. I just wish I had proof.

If the next round is on the house too, then the mourning after will be a bear.

All things in moderation.

Now you tell me! ;)

Anonymous said...

Very punny!

You use puns with im(pun)ity.

Stagflationary Mark said...

I'm glad you find something of interest here. It isn't like you can bank on it elsewhere. ;)

DON'T BANK ON IT
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04162008/business/dont_bank_on_it_106780.htm

"Nothing of this scale has happened since the Great Depression," Chief Executive Kerry Killinger said at WaMu's annual meeting. "This is the toughest credit cycle I have seen in my years in the industry."

Other than Great Depression similarities, times are pretty good though. Some might even say extraordinary.

The Federal Funds Rate in Extraordinary Times
http://www.forexhound.com/article.cfm?articleID=100115

This may be the most pronounced time of testing for central banks in a generation.1 Let me recount just a few of our challenges: significant market turmoil, unsatisfactory economic growth, historic housing price declines, dramatic commodity price run-ups, risk of a secular reversal of global inflation trends, sharp changes in exchange rates, uneven and unprecedented contours of economic growth--and policy responses--across major trading partners, and significant domestic debate regarding optimal economic and regulatory policies. Mind you, my intention is not to declare, oh, woe is us.

Mission accomplished! It looks an awful lot like a forever war.