Tributaries of Ignorance and Meddle

Have things REALLY changed? Not the pseudo reality that we see on the network news about Fascism, and Socialist policy making; but out here. In the real world. Are we going to start calling our system a "Hybrid" and actually practice it? Some hybridization of Capitalism and Socialist Governmental Policy?

As a Capitalist, who has been playing by Capitalist rules for all of my adult life, I certainly hope not. Good lord, I thought it was just the rantings of Chris Matthews and the delusions of grandeur practiced only by the "Intelligensia". However now I find real evidence. Now I find real evidence of the Government REALLY getting involved in the actual ebb and flow of the markets.

In today's WSJ, in a piece titled, "Bailed Out Banks Face Probe Over Fee Hikes" we see true, ground level evidence. The piece describes how the committee overseeing Banking Regulation is going to look into complaints about banks raising fees and interest rates as the economy starts to recover. As if the banks raising interest rates was some sort of evil plot to profit from the Recession and their bail out packages.

Anyone working in finance, or even respecting the markets in any way, would know that raising interest rates is the proper response to pricing power. A tightening of money supply. We have seen recent strength in the economy and this is almost a knee jerk reaction by banks. This is a basic market ebb and flow. And our Government is creating it's own tributary of ignorance and meddle.

But I guess this is how it happens. No one sticks a sign in the ground and says "We are now Socialists.". It creeps in. It creates tributaries of ignorance and meddle and confounds the Capitalist system it is infecting. As more of this evidence mounts, those of us who can never live within the bounds of this type of second guessing and fear mongering must begin to stand up and reject it. Write a blog, start a business, BE A CAPITALIST!

Jon Stewart is a simpleton.

I really wish I could write a blog where a title like that actually caused a sensation. However I can thank the Internet gods for having a place to put my opinion, and hopefully a few of you will connect with my thoughts.

However, excuse me, Jon Stewart is a simpleton.

He dared to sit on his comedy show, and berate Jim Cramer last night (3/11/09), making fun of his sound effects and his market commentary. On his COMEDY show. Jim Cramer, surprisingly, let him walk all over him. Jon Stewart decided direct his collective angst about the financial collapse at CNBC. A news network. Doesn't anyone see the irony of this? A comedy network is blaming a business news network for a systemic, global financial collapse by saying that it's "over-hyping" of the markets are the reason for all this. Thats like the news anchors blaming the weather lady for the rain today. Simpletons, completely self-involved and narcissistic. And dangerous.

Let me try to end this crap right here. I have followed Jim Cramer since April of 2000, so I can say I have some deep background. He has guided me through the markets and given me great entry points to stocks (he sucks, by the way, at exit points). I have learned how to "filter" Jim Cramer enough to understand his market psyche and let that guide me. Jim Cramer is not correct 100% of the time. No one is, however his guidance has allowed me to contain my losses in this morass to roughly 15%. Because I "listen" to him closely and do my homework.

Jon Stewart seems to think the world isn't supposed to "think" when they invest. They aren't supposed to "filter" the world and understand what they are doing. He thinks we blindly listen to CNBC and invest our money according to every dumb pundit they have on. Then he rants that the whole thing isn't fair, and that we shouldn't blame Jim Cramer, but that he is now the face of the crisis. Thanks for the confusion at the end there Jon.

Jon Stewart (and God, I hope you read this) you are a simpleton. Your views last night go beyond the pall. You ARE NOT the media police, and your fart noises and base humor are all you are good for (and I have been a fan for years). I suggest you go back to it, rather than attempt to become the hero of every tanked 401K on he planet. It is a lose/lose situation and you are not equipped to handle it since that angst eventually turns back on you. As it has on Jim.

Please #beacapitalist !!

Im begging all of you who are kind enough to give me the time to read this.  BE A CAPITALIST!  Reject these ridiculous policies coming from the Obama Administration.  They reward failure and erode the moral foundation that Capitalism is founded upon.  That,

Risk exists, and risk has consequences.  

If we hurt this, one important precept, we will do horrible damage to the legitimacy of the very capitalist markets that launched the United States to prominence.  Capitalism rewards the very spirit of human interaction and social disposition.  It is a key foundational element of our success  as a nation.

If you don't believe me, believe China!  This staunch Communist government adopted Capitalism.  Why?  Because they ceded to the fact that human interaction requires management of the more guttural aspects of human existence (Greed, Conquest, et al).  Capitalism provides a framework that allows individuals to satisfy these needs and serve the greater good of the country by advancing the economy.  It is perfect in it's structure and form for what it is and does.

However you can't have Capitalism without risk.  Risk requires the threat of loss.  Without that threat, there can be no reward.  Right now, in America 2009, we have the bill of all the risk we have taken coming due, and some of us will have to pay that bill.  The Government, with their poorly thought out, anti-capitalist plans is delaying the payment of that very bill.  They need to get out of the way and let it happen.

Fix the Banks First!

The fears of every true capitalist have recently been realized with the incredible misdirection of resources the federal government is employing with the stimulus package.  It is true, the country needs a stimulus to deaden the effects of the economic carnage going  on right now.  However the economy will NEVER recover without a banking system.  Its proper function should be the priority right now, not the appeasement of short term pain points in the system.  

This reflects a true problem with the "state of mind" of the Administration.  It is pedestrian.  It focuses on the surface level issue and does not deal with the root of the problem.  Yes, the Obama administration seems incapable of strategic economic thinking, choosing instead to focus on the partisan drumbeat of Nancy Pelosi and the big government crowd.   Just listen to Barney Franks on Meet The Press (3/8/09), and you can see the flaw in their thinking.  On the program, he illustrates that (paraphrase) "making a job in the public sector is a necessary contribution to the economy" when defending the spending efforts of the current stimulus plan.  

Yes.  The job contributes temporarily to the economy.   However it creates two very big problems.  1.  It consolidates job control under the government (not private enterprise) and 2. It is non-productive from an economic standpoint.  Meaning that job is not likely to create other jobs and build upon itself like an Entrepreneur starting a business would with the money.  This type of thinking is short term and pedestrian and does not "fix" anything but making us feel better for a short period of time.

America needs to take the medicine now.  Fix the banks first and forego the fulfillment of Ayn Rand's vision in Atlas Shrugged (Isnt it amazing how close this is all coming to the book?  Warren Buffett = John Gault?)

Sitting @ at 10 yr old LAX game

Why is it that coaches of young sports find the need to yell at the
players continually? If you have kids in sports you know what Im
talking about .... The constant "get over there John" or "thats your
ball Joey" or "go get that kid" that seems to stream out of their
mouths the second the whistle blows?

I was always taught that you talk at practice and exexute at the
game. Heck it is how I live my life now! I yammer up a storm when we
are talking, but whem it comes time to work, im all business. I think
the reason they scream like that is because they lack the organizational discipline to
know that you teach building blocks of knowledge first and put them
together for games? All I know is that when I hear one, i think
"inexperienced leader = bad for kid's growth".