stock futures - It’s the Economy

January 21st, 2008 · No Comments

stock futures -

I was completely stunned when Natasha invited me to contribute to Pacific Views. I have been a fan of this web log from the very first week that I discovered the world of blogs. So I will occasionally be contributing here. Unfortunately, most of the time I will discuss things that disturb me — and even more unfortunately, the world is likely to give me plenty of material.

Like any person who is paying attention, the state of the economy is something I have been tracking. I bailed out of the stock market and closed my 40(k) at the end of 2007. Since that time I have been watching the roller coaster take a huge plunge. The market has been doing its thousand-point bounces for several years, dancing from 12,900 to 13,900 then plunging back down. During most of this bouncing I gritted my teeth and left some investments in place. At the end of this year, I became so edgy that I finally pulled out — just in time.

It disturbs me greatly that those people running for office are almost silent about the economic mess that the President will face in 2008. Remember Bill Clinton’s mantra — “It’s the economy, stupid!” Whoever is elected should have that tattooed in some tender place.

One web site I respect greatly is James Howard Kunstler’s Clusterfuck Nation. Kunstler pulls no punches when discussing the disaster area of finance and the coming crunch that is going to hit as the cost of oil spirals out of our reach. Some days I am not sure whether his oil discussion means that oil will be out of our national reach because of our disastrous economic errors, or whether it will be out of individual reach because of our gas-guzzling monsters. Either way, we are headed for a reckoning, and he keeps an eye on the likely futures.

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