[Posted 7:00 AM ET]
The War on Terror, Part I
One year ago, the United States and its partners in the coalition
of the willing went to war with Iraq to rid the world of Saddam
Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and to plant a seed of
democracy in a Middle East loaded with oppressive regimes.
Instead, we toppled Saddam, a good thing, but found zero WMD.
The early histories are showing that the administration of
President George W. Bush too often trusted duplicitous Iraqi
exiles who lied about the WMD threat to further their own
agendas, while doubters in our own intelligence agencies were
either afraid to speak up and counter the exiles’ arguments or
were merely ignored by the president’s chief confidants,
particularly Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld.
The U.S. military, however, performed spectacularly and by mid-
April had accomplished most of its objectives, but then arrogant
civilian leadership, along with a few generals ensconced in the
bureaucracy, let America down. It became readily apparent that
the postwar planning for Iraq was non-existent and we continue
to suffer the consequences daily.
But despite the fact the White House refuses to admit it made
any mistakes, thanks to the work of those on the ground, the real
heroes of this past year, the situation in terms of the
infrastructure is improving, even as, incredibly, we still read
headlines such as this one from last Sunday’s New York Times.
“U.S. Tightens Security Measures at Iraq’s Borders”
You know I want to scream. Civil Administrator Paul Bremer
was quoted in the same piece. “Recent attacks and their
continuing presence underscore the importance of improving
security at Iraq’s borders.” What have I been pounding my head
against the table on for weeks now? No kidding, Mr. Bremer.
We knew this last April and as Times columnist Thomas
Friedman correctly observed, for all the money we have spent
(another gross miscalculation on the part of Washington), we’re
still now fighting the war on the cheap.
Yes, I do remain a supporter, but I said long before the war
started we must do everything it takes to win and, yes, I believe
that a successful democracy in Iraq can be a shining beacon
throughout the region and I continue to hope this is the Bush
legacy.
But those looking to define the contest after just one year as a
‘win’ or ‘loss’ simply aren’t dealing with reality. I can conclude,
however, that we will know whether we lost far sooner than
we’ll be able to declare victory. If all hell breaks loose post-June
30 and the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, or in the
succeeding 1 ½ years before the people have both held free
elections and formalized a final constitution, then we will have
failed, though providence will at least give us high marks for
trying.
On the other hand, the U.S. will only succeed with the help of the
international community and, specifically, brave leaders who put
the fate of civilization and this war on terror ahead of strictly
electoral considerations. This requires that the world produce a
generation of Churchills the likes of which have never been seen
on such a broad scale, even during World War II.
Part II, Allies…or lack thereof
Tim Hames / London Times:
“John Adams wrote some 190 years ago that: ‘There never was a
democracy yet that did not commit suicide.’ After the
profoundly depressing election result in Spain, it is tempting to
conclude that the second President of the United States was
justified in his pessimism. If Osama bin Laden is alive today he
must be, despite physical discomfort, almost paralyzed with
laughter. Even Saddam Hussein, stuck in a prison cell, is entitled
to a chuckle.”
Never was my adage “wait 24 hours” more appropriate than in
the case of the Spanish electorate’s reaction to the terrorist attack
in Madrid. And as time passes, and stories are compared, there is
little doubt that Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his cabinet
mishandled the initial investigation into the attack, as the
government immediately blamed ETA and orchestrated a media
campaign fingering the Basque separatist group even as evidence
of al Qaeda-type involvement was being released. If there was
another week or two before the vote, though, maybe the
government would have recovered but the timing was such that
the opposition Socialists and new Prime Minister Jose Luiz
Rodriguez Zapatero were able to pick up the pieces.
The result was stunning and chilling. It didn’t help that Zapatero
immediately proved he wasn’t ready for prime time by calling
the Iraq war “a disaster” while threatening to withdraw Spain’s
forces there. True, this was what he had campaigned on, but in
light of the fact that Spain’s dead were just being buried and the
election itself was held under tumultuous circumstances, a little
more statesmanship was called for.
But the United States is not without blame. Conservative
commentator David Brooks opined on the current anti-American
fervor.
“Where was our State Department? Why hasn’t Colin Powell
spent the past few years crisscrossing Europe so that voters there
would at least know the arguments for the liberation of Iraq,
would at least have some accurate picture of Americans, rather
than the crude cowboy stereotype propagated by the European
media? Why does the Bush administration make it so hard for its
friends? Why is it so unable to reach out?”
At least on Friday, President Bush took a step in mending fences
and in some respects even Germany and France have been
helpful this past week as Europe and other allies such as
Australia, Japan, and South Korea deal with the terrorist realities
of today. Al Qaeda scored a huge victory in Spain and I for one
see another coming as the government of Australian Prime
Minister John Howard goes down to defeat later this year.
The world community must be united in this war, if not
politically at least in terms of the sharing of intelligence. Yet
despite the tragedies of the past few years, good is triumphing
over evil. Depressingly, though, it only takes one WMD to send
the globe spinning out of control. Where President Bush really
deserves the most credit is his overall will to ‘stay the course.’
This above all else is why I will support him in November.
Wall Street
As expected, the Federal Reserve opted to hold the line on
interest rates when it gathered last Tuesday, reinforcing that it
would remain “patient (and) accommodative,” while admitting
ongoing problems in the labor market with the phrase “new
hiring has lagged.” Of course this last bit would be almost
comical were it not so serious for those without work since Fed
Chairman Alan Greenspan keeps saying significant job gains are
just around the corner. At least in this regard a Manpower
survey predicted that the second quarter will finally witness the
long awaited pick up in employment.
But the Federal Reserve is increasingly finding itself in a box.
Even official inflation is ticking up, while many of us have seen
the unofficial variety rise for years now, perhaps best
exemplified by the 20+ year high in a leading index for
commodities, the CRB.
What the Fed continues to do, however, with its 1% short-term
money policy is not only force increasing numbers of individuals
to take on more risk, either by investing in stocks or real estate,
but also to encourage asset bubbles in same. I’ll admit that I, for
one, have been years off in the realm of real estate, but even
PIMCO, which correctly said real estate prices would continue to
march ever higher, is now warning of a bubble in this area.
President Bush touted homeownership this week in a speech and
it’s true that the level of this is at the highest rate ever, but then
you read of a $351,000 median home price in all of Southern
California [L.A. Times] and know that so many are probably
stretched to the max in purchasing their abode that you can’t help
but concern yourself with the consequences when the bubble
bursts.
And for those on fixed income, as I’ve written for a year now
you have my sympathy. The other day I compared my 2002 and
2003 tax returns and for similar cash positions each year my
dividend and interest income was down over 80% in ’03 from the
prior year. I’m not, however, rushing to take on more risk for a
potential greater return, but those who are could be playing with
fire.
The Federal Reserve knows it has to raise interest rates but time
is rapidly running out in 2004 due to the political calendar. Sure,
my prediction for the year was that the Fed would begin to
tighten in May and obviously this won’t now come to pass, but to
wait until next year to do so risks an autumn financial debacle if
the official inflation figures continue to trend up over the next
few months. The bond market won’t wait around for formal
action. It will be a blood bath.
What could save the Fed? Try an economy whose rate of growth
rapidly deteriorates, a la what appears to be happening in Europe
these days. But that would obviously be no cause for joy as
share prices tumbled on reduced expectations for future earnings,
while savers would continue to suffer with money market rates
of 0.50% or lower.
Finally, a few tidbits.
The price of oil hit its highest level since 1990-91 and while on
an inflation-adjusted basis crude is the best thing this economy
has had going for it the past 25 years or so, $37-$38 oil is
nonetheless beginning to have a real impact on Corporate
America’s bottom line. Higher gasoline prices will also cut into
summer tourism, too.
Second, as a follow-up to my bit last week on the struggling
middle class, healthcare is rising 10% a year while wages are
increasing at just a 3% clip. It’s easy to see this is unsustainable
…and millions more will go without insurance altogether.
Third, the Bush administration is finally confronting both China
and India on the issue of opening up their markets to U.S. goods,
while the U.S. took China to court at the World Trade
Organization for the latter’s protectionist moves in the area of
semiconductor manufacturing. I am all for free trade, but in
many cases, such as the sugar fiasco in a recently concluded U.S.
– Australian agreement, the U.S. has been as big a hypocrite as
any other nation.
But at the same time the U.S. has to use the WTO to its
advantage to help level the playing field, while to those who
want to hide under a blanket of protectionism I give but one
example of the benefits of open markets; an item I saw in the
High Plains Journal that addressed the fact that China is buying
100,000 metric tons of U.S. spring wheat during the period 2003-
2005. The benefits of free trade far outweigh the negatives, but
we have to know when and where to draw the line.
Street Bytes
–The markets ended down again, with the Dow Jones off 0.5%
to 10186, while the S&P 500 lost 1% to close at 1109 and
Nasdaq declined for an 8th week in 9, down 2.2% to 1940.
However, program trading had a lot to do with the action as a
quadruple expiration in stock index futures and Florida’s run in
the NCAA tournament added to the volatility.
–U.S. Treasury Yields
6-mo. 1.00% 2-yr. 1.52% 10-yr. 3.77% 30-yr. 4.71%
The 10-year tumbled below 3.70% early in the week, but then the
long awaited producer price report for January showed a gain of
0.6% (0.3% if you take out everything we use, specifically food
and energy) and the bond market was spooked a bit. At the end
of the week, however, we were sitting almost exactly at the
levels of the prior one. February’s PPI is now slated to be
released this coming week, though, and a similar type figure will
not be well received.
–Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was the latest government official
to express concern over the super hot economy, significantly
appearing on national television to issue a warning on the
financial health of the state banks, as well as “excessive
investment; shortages in energy (and) important raw materials.”
[Wall Street Journal]
–The European Union and Microsoft failed to reach agreement
on the antitrust case and now the company faces a stiff fine, to be
handed down next week, plus, more importantly, severe
restrictions on its future business practices. Shares in the
company will continue to be dead in the water.
–The WorldCom debacle marches on as the SEC and other
authorities examine a $12 billion debt offering from back in
2001, at the time the 3rd largest in history. Doubts on
WorldCom’s credit worthiness were expressed by analysts at J.P.
Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America, but then the firms
went ahead and sold all the paper to the public despite internal
downgrades. This may not have necessarily been illegal,
however, meaning it’s just another gray area that allows Wall
Street executives to skate by as they collect their $multi-million
bonuses while the little guy gets the shaft. [The bonds are
currently trading for about 35 cents on the dollar.]
–Depending on your method of calculation, Fannie Mae has
recorded anywhere from $6 – $12 billion in losses on its
derivatives positions. We’re not supposed to be concerned.
–The issue of Dick Grasso’s $190 million in compensation
continues to simmer as New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
moves along with his investigation and is now threatening to take
individual board members, who approved Grasso’s pay package,
to court. Spitzer’s case is really a simple one. The New York
Stock Exchange is a not for profit organization and falls under
the compensation guidelines for leaders of other such outfits.
Meanwhile, former director and Grasso butt-boy, Ken Langone,
commented to the New York Times, “What’s the difference
between Stan (O’Neal of Merrill Lynch, who himself took down
$28 million last year) and Dick? Well, Stan runs Merrill Lynch
but Dick ran the fountainhead of capitalism in America.” Oh,
spare me.
–According to a New York Daily News poll, only 39% of New
Yorkers believe Martha Stewart should serve time, but 56%
believe she should have been prosecuted.
–Donald Trump is out of control and risks becoming another
caricature of 1990s style excess built on leverage.
–A tentative settlement has been reached in the Global Crossing
scandal, with some investors and employees receiving $325
million, including a $30 million contribution from former
chairman, and mega-dirtball, Gary Winnick. But this story just
broke and I may comment further next week upon learning more
details.
–The Bank of America / FleetBoston merger will cost 13,000
jobs, both through attrition and layoffs. Of course many could be
‘attrited’ (my term) early… “But I’m just 38!” The company
was also fined a cool $650 million (between the cash penalty and
reduced fees) for its role in the mutual fund scandal. Good job,
boys.
–Citigroup’s Sandy Weill received a cash bonus of $29 million
in 2003, plus other parting gifts of about $15 million, so look for
him to take some of this and build a wing on a hospital or a
museum as sycophants go, “Oh, Sandy, we love you!”
Look, I’m not into the class warfare game and I believe in our
capitalist system, but 95% of Americans understand that over
the past few years executive compensation in some fields has
gotten totally out of hand, especially when in the case of Wall
Street so many of today’s chieftains are “dirty.”
–Speaking of dirty, someone give Halliburton a good scrubbing.
For the first time a top military figure complained, Lt. Gen.
Ricardo Sanchez, that Halliburton’s Kellogg Brown & Loot
subsidiary wasn’t doing its job in constructing new bases in
Kuwait.
–And then you have Canada’s Nortel. Following a super bullish
report in February, shares climbed to $8 as the recovery for this
telecom equipment giant that just a year earlier was on the ropes
seemed to be firmly in place. I joined the chorus and also
jumped on the bandwagon at this time. Now the comptroller and
CFO have been placed on leave as the company says it may have
to restate 2003 results, after having previously done the same for
2000-2002. The stock fell this week back to the $5.50 level and
it’s safe to say there is a bit of a credibility problem here.
–United Technologies’ Otis Elevator division is under
investigation in Europe for antitrust violations, including
possible price fixing, though no one seems to be alleging that
executives pressed all the floor buttons and then jumped off, one
of my pet peeves.
–General Electric paid $900 million for InVision Technologies,
makers of those big bomb detection devices you see in airports.
–Back to Wall Street and a great piece by Michael Powell in the
Washington Post on its ties to New York City’s fortunes. As one
expert said, “The bonuses of a relative handful of very wealthy
people are driving our economy.” But the city is becoming
increasingly polarized. 10% of New York’s workforce earns less
than $7 an hour, while in the health and education sectors, the
fastest growing in Manhattan, the average salary for both is now
$42,000, but the average cost of a co-op is $983,000!
–My portfolio: My energy shares rebounded a bit and I’m
roughly 45% equities / 55% cash, the latter in coins, filling about
684 coffee cans.
Foreign Affairs
China / Taiwan: Thank God, Friday’s assassination attempt on
Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette
Lu was unsuccessful, but as I write this the ballots are being
tabulated in today’s election and it’s still too close to call. I’ll
have extensive coverage on this important vote, including the
referendum results, next week.
Pakistan: Well, I wrote on 1/10/04 in this space that Pakistan’s
Pervez Musharraf and Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai could be
2004’s “Men of the Year”…if they survived. Yes, despite
Musharraf’s probable knowledge of A.Q. Khan’s nuclear
network, if Musharraf is responsible for the dismembering of the
al Qaeda element in Waziristan it will make up for a lot of
misdeeds, though details of what is truly going on in this crazy
region are very sketchy. This week Secretary of State Colin
Powell rewarded Musharraf for his efforts thus far, naming
Pakistan a “major non-NATO military ally,” a pretty significant
move. We live in interesting times.
Russia: President Vladimir Putin was reelected with 71% of the
vote as the vast majority of Russians believe he has brought
stability to the country. Of course thanks to the lack of a free
press many of the people also naively believe that the war in
Chechnya is over because Putin told them so. And, I guess they
feel safer despite all the terror attacks of the past few years. No
doubt the upper class is prospering, thanks almost solely to
soaring energy prices which have literally fueled the economic
recovery, but I fail to see how the little guy is any better off than,
say, under Gorbachev.
But now we focus on Parliament as there will undoubtedly be an
attempt at some point to allow Putin a 3rd term in another 4 years.
He has said he has no interest, but I doubt this, while the CIA has
issued a warning about the coming period here as it focuses on
the Kremlin’s assertiveness in border nations such as Ukraine,
Belarus, and Georgia. Personally, I would also focus on the fact
that we have made zero real progress in securing Russia’s
humongous stash of WMD and you’d have to be a fool not to
think that over the past few years more than one corrupt general
has let a few slip into the hands of terrorists.
And on another front, Europeans are increasingly concerned that
a more autocratic Putin will play with their energy supplies,
particularly natural gas, using it as an “instrument of foreign
policy” as one Polish official recently told Business Week.
Finally, all you need to know about Putin is that once again he
dressed in black when he appeared for his post-election press
conference. Not exactly portraying the kind of image we should
want to see.
Kosovo: Ethnic violence between Serbs and Albanians flared up
and at least 30 have been killed in a region I described in this
space on 1/3/04 as “a sleeper ‘hot spot,’ perhaps not for another
year, but it has the potential to be disruptive, particularly on the
immigration front as any internal chaos leads to an exodus, often
to countries who don’t want the refugees.” The current ugly
fighting began when 3 Albanian children drowned after being
chased into a river by a Serb outside the bitterly divided city of
Mitrovica.
Syria: It’s been lost in the news pile but the Kurdish rebellion in
Syria, which started at a soccer match and escalated from there,
has major ramifications for both Iraq and Turkey. It could also
be the beginning of the end of President Assad’s regime…let us
pray……….
Iran: The mullahs have flip-flopped again and now say U.N.
inspectors are welcome back. There have also been persistent
rumors the hardliners want to open a formal dialogue with the
U.S., but the White House, read Cheney and Rumsfeld, is
resisting. I can’t help but make note, though, that it’s been over
two years since President Bush’s “axis of evil” designation for
Iraq, Iran and North Korea, which means in the case of the latter
two the situation has only gotten worse since we can only assume
both regimes have made big progress in their quest for a nuclear
arsenal.
Saudi Arabia: Picture the Saudi royal family, holed up in their
palaces. On one hand they seem to be making progress in the
battle against terrorists that seek to topple the regime. But on the
other they have begun arresting “reformers,” those seeking a
democratic political system. The Kingdom is at war with both
and it’s difficult to envision a scenario where just a few years
from now the status quo prevails. Something has to give.
South Korea: Acting Prime Minister Goh is now in charge until
the Constitutional Court rules on the impeachment of the
deposed Prime Minister Roh. One casualty of the process has
been economic talks between North Korea and the South, but at
least unrest in the latter has been held to a minimum. Key
elections are being staged here April 15 and the political turmoil
has backfired on Roh’s foes.
Haiti: President Aristide is baaaack….well, almost. He’s now in
Jamaica, much to the dismay of all but a handful, and is said to
be checking out inner tubes for a possible return to his homeland.
Random Musings
Arab affairs expert Fouad Ajami / U.S. News & World Report:
“From the very beginning of (the war in Iraq), this was a
campaign fought under – and for – Arab eyes. Its aim was to
take the fight against Arab radicalism to the heart of the Arab
world. As the prospects of finding weapons of mass destruction
recede in Iraq, that wider war against Arab terror comes
increasingly to the fore. We have to remember (this) as our
soldiers press on in a (conflict) without clear front lines, and in a
country where the gratitude for services rendered is often
drowned out by Iraqis for whom liberty has come to mean steady
volleys of abuse directed at those who provided the liberty to
begin with. A cruel paradox comes with this war: We had swept
into Iraq to strike against Arab malignancies – the radicalism, the
unreason, a culture of terror, the abdication of responsibility on
the part of the rulers for the deeds of the young and the
embittered, the anti-Americanism. We had hoped to find Iraqis
who had had their fill with all that and who were ready for a new
dawn. We found those people to be sure. But there were echoes
of Ramallah and Cairo in Fallujah and Ramadi. There are
Gordian knots, it turns out, that no foreign sword can cut.”
–Columnist Jim Hoagland wrote that the American electorate
needs to be prepared for a terrorist disaster in the days leading up
to our presidential election, but while this is on everyone’s mind
now, post-Madrid, Hoagland adds that the people need to be
reassured before then that voting will go on as scheduled and
towards this end President Bush and John Kerry should at some
point in the not too distant future give a joint presentation
addressing this potentiality. Luckily, solutions already lie in the
Constitution and this document must be the guide, not the whims
of the candidates themselves.
–With the terrorist attack in Spain, the flare-up in the Balkans,
anti-Americanism, and anti-immigrant rhetoric, I can paint one
ugly scenario for May Day celebrations across Europe this year.
Nothing should shock us.
–John Kerry still hasn’t told the American people how he would
handle Iraq if he was sitting in the Oval Office. But Vice
President Cheney, one hell of a bomb-thrower even if I still wish
he’d quit the ticket, had this to say about the junior senator from
Massachusetts.
“Even if we set aside (the) inconsistencies and changing
rationales, at least this much is clear: Had the decision belonged
to Sen. Kerry, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today in
Iraq. In fact, Saddam would almost certainly still be in control of
Kuwait.”
And this gem.
“Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Spain, Poland and more than 20
other nations have contributed and sacrificed for the freedom of
the Iraqi people. Sen. Kerry calls these countries ‘window
dressing.’ They are, in his words, ‘a coalition of the coerced and
the bribed.’
“Many questions come to mind, but the first is this: How would
Sen. Kerry describe Great Britain – coerced, or bribed? Or Italy,
which recently lost 19 citizens, killed by terrorists in Najaf – was
Italy’s contribution just window dressing?
“If such dismissive terms are the vernacular of the golden age of
diplomacy Sen. Kerry promises, we are left to wonder which
nations would care to join any future coalition. He speaks as if
only those who openly oppose America’s objectives have a
chance of earning his respect.”
–New York Times columnist David Brooks:
“The Iraq problem returned in 1998, and Kerry proved again that
there is no world crisis so grave it can’t be addressed with a
fusillade of subordinate clauses. Teams of highly trained
spelunkers have descended into the darkness of the floor speech
he gave on Oct. 10, 1998, searching for meaning, though none
have returned alive.
“In a characteristic sentence, which admittedly sounds better in
the original French, Kerry exclaimed: ‘We know from our
largely unsuccessful attempts to enlist the cooperation of other
nations, especially industrialized trading nations, in efforts to
impose and enforce somewhat more ambitious standards on
nations such as Iran, China, Burma and Syria, that the
willingness of most other nations – including a number who are
joined in the sanctions to isolate Iraq – is neither wide nor deep
to join in imposing sanctions on a sovereign nation to spur it to
‘clean up its act’ and comport its actions with accepted
international norms.’”
I’ll give you some time to recover from this mess…..As Brooks
calls him, John Kerry is “the Human Nebula (who can bring) the
fog out of darkness.”
–Kerry’s economic advisor Roger Altman told Barron’s that the
senator isn’t just looking to raise taxes on those earning over
$200,000 but really joint filers making $174,700. Kerry’s too
dumb to recognize this is a killer.
–I have a question for the Bush campaign. You said you were
going to focus your advertising dollars on 18 battleground states,
so why then do I keep seeing ads in the New York television
market when the president doesn’t stand a chance of winning
here? It’s a waste of money.
–The story that the chief analyst on Medicare was warned he
would be fired if he told Congress the true cost of the Medicare
legislation is a potentially explosive one; certainly something
John Kerry could use in a debate against Bush when his own
credibility is attacked.
–I have mused in the past that I wished Vaclav Havel could
replace Kofi Annan as U.N. Secretary General, recognizing this
wasn’t realistic due to Havel’s health, for starters. But you can’t
say the same thing about former Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar. Assuming the simmering Iraqi oil-for-food scandal
erupts to engulf the U.N. leadership over the coming months, the
U.S. has a terrific opportunity to force Annan out and replace
him with a person who understands the war on terror, a la Havel
or Aznar.
I believe in the U.N., but obviously major reforms must be made.
As the U.S. is footing the bill to the tune of more than 20%, it’s
time to play hardball. And if France and Russia were involved in
the scandal, and assuming no U.S. ties to it, it’s also time to tell
these two players, we’ll let you slide on this one and save you
major embarrassment, but only if you agree to vote in favor of
our choice for secretary general and other reforms involving the
Security Council.
For years I’ve written how the Bush administration hasn’t been
playing its cards right when it comes to these two nations and
how we need to fight the ‘dirty war’ from time to time. This
could be our opportunity. If France and Russia don’t go along,
we then do everything in our power to expose the Iraqi scandal
for what it is and let the world learn of their complicity in this
crime against humanity.
–Two weeks ago, following the horrific bombings that killed
180+ in Iraq, Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria said it was a “sign of
desperation.” This week, following the Madrid attack, Zakaria
wrote it was a “sign of weakness.” I respectfully submit that Mr.
Zakaria, whose work I generally respect, shut up next time.
About 400 innocents lost their lives in these two instances, for
crying out loud; we don’t need anymore “desperate” or “weak”
explanations.
–A New York Times / CBS News poll says 65% of Americans
believe gay marriage shouldn’t be a campaign issue and 56%
don’t feel it’s important enough to change the U.S. Constitution.
–For the first time, a National People’s Congress delegate put a
figure on the number of folks that China executes each year on
charges such as corruption…10,000. If we subjected just one
corporate dirtball in the U.S. to this ultimate punishment, I
guarantee we’d eliminate 95% of our problems in the boardroom.
Now who should we choose first……………………..
–Whites, now 69% of the U.S. population, will comprise just
50% by 2050 according to the latest data coming out of the
Census Bureau. Separately, as the overall population rises about
50% to 420 million over the same period, some say this will help
fuel a continuing surge in housing. To which I would reply, only
if the affordability issue is addressed.
–Senator John McCain should have run as a 3rd party candidate.
But he didn’t and now, sad to say, he’s making a fool of himself
by defending John Kerry. Mr. Senator, aside from the fact you
say out of the other side of your mouth that you are a staunch
supporter of President Bush, why is it that you feel compelled to
appear on every talk show imaginable and why are you acting
this way? I have lost a ton of respect for you in just the past few
weeks and it hurts me to write this.
–Under the direction of President Ruth Simmons, Brown
University has appointed a Committee on Slavery and Justice to
explore the issue of reparations. Oh brother.
–Reports have the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division heading
back to Iraq this fall. For a majority of the soldiers and their
families this has to be most depressing and but another example
of just how thinly spread the U.S. military really is. This is
happening on Donald Rumsfeld’s watch and no one can blame
prior administrations at this point. I keep saying this, but heaven
forbid North Korea crosses the line.
—
God bless the men and women of our armed forces. The nation
is appreciative of your heroism over the past year in Iraq and we
pray for the families of those who have died and the thousands
who were wounded.
God bless America.
—
Gold closed at $412
Oil, $38.08
Returns for the week 3/15-3/19
Dow Jones -0.5% [10186]
S&P 500 -1.0% [1109]
S&P MidCap -1.3%
Russell 2000 -2.1%
Nasdaq -2.2% [1940]
Returns for the period 1/1/04-3/19/04
Dow Jones -2.6%
S&P 500 -0.2%
S&P MidCap +2.4%
Russell 2000 +2.5%
Nasdaq -3.1%
Bulls 52.1
Bears 21.8 [Source: Chartcraft / Investors Intelligence]
Note: I have an interesting look at inflation and the consumer
price index on my “Wall Street History” link, if I may say so
myself.
Have a great week. I appreciate your support.
Brian Trumbore
