[Posted 7:00 AM ET]
The War on Terror
I have little to say concerning the attack on London. It wasn’t in
the least bit surprising except for the fact it didn’t happen sooner.
One thing we’ve learned, though, is that since 9/11, the attacks
on the likes of Bali, Madrid, Istanbul and now London, while
tragic, have had little if any economic impact, particularly on the
overall global scene. Just call it the Israeli model of coping and
moving on. That is until the terrorists truly cross the line.
But before I address this line of reasoning further, prior to the
attack on London’s underground I was prepared to discuss a
number of issues on the war front that are critical to our success;
some good, some bad.
Saudi Arabia: Security forces killed the top al Qaeda leader in
the country and have now killed or captured 23 of 26 placed on a
‘most wanted’ list back in December 2003. Granted, there is
every reason to be cynical when it comes to the Saudis” efforts in
draining the swamp. For starters it’s really about self-
preservation as the Kingdom plays its game of using the fist
while at the same time allowing clerics to spew their venom. But
you can’t deny the successes in the field. My key question is, are
there al Qaeda inside Saudi Aramco that will one day sabotage
the flow of oil? The odds seem high that there are.
France: The French make it far too easy for many of us to bash
them. It’s been a frustrating relationship, to say the least. But
this is an exceedingly complex war and as the Washington Post’s
Dana Priest pointed out in an extensive piece last weekend,
cooperation between U.S. and French intelligence is broad. One
CIA vet explained to Ms. Priest, the French are doing as much as
the British, if not more. You can dislike France’s leader, but we
can ill afford to take it much further without hurting the
information flow that somehow continues to keep us from facing
Armageddon.
Now for the bad. Leaders of Russia, China and five Central
Asian states got together this week for the express purpose of
demanding a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from
bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. These have been vital
staging areas for operations in Afghanistan and would be more
so if expansion into Pakistan was required later on.
The Kurds, those allies of ours in Iraq, bombed some trains in
Turkey, killing five. The threat of renewed conflict between
Turkey and the Kurdish militia, the PKK, is high and it has vast
foreign policy ramifications for the U.S. The White House must
rein in the Kurds before we totally lose Turkey. Turks are
becoming increasingly nationalistic, a fact that the Bush
administration is ignoring at its own peril.
And despite what some apologists are saying, the situation in
Afghanistan is getting worse, not better. Granted, the resurgent
Taliban is not capturing swaths of territory, but aside from the
occasional hit on allied forces, it is sapping resources that we had
hoped by now would be better deployed in Iraq or elsewhere.
Also, not a week goes by where a leading ally of President
Hamid Karzai isn’t assassinated, such as was the case in the
killing of another leading cleric this week. The U.S. needs help
here from NATO and others. At least Australia’s Prime Minister
John Howard is making waves about sending more troops into
the theater.
As for Iraq, while the car bombings were fewer this week, al
Qaeda’s new focus on foreign diplomats is having a devastating
effect. The killing of the Egyptian ambassador, and the
subsequent withdrawal of Arab and Muslim diplomats, including
from Pakistan after its own ambassador came under attack, is the
equivalent of a month’s worth of car bombs and comes at the
worst possible time as the reconstruction effort crumbles and the
constitution writing hits a critical stage.
Regarding reconstruction, after my harsh comments of last week
an attack on Baghdad’s water supply shut it down for millions, a
day after Baghdad’s mayor threatened to quit because safe
drinking water was still unavailable.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s defense minister met with his Iranian
counterpart for the first time and the two worked out a defense
cooperation pact where Iran will help train Iraq’s army. These
once bitter enemies now share something, Shia majorities at the
top. At least Iraq turned down Iran’s request that a deadline be
set for the removal of U.S. forces. Aren’t you thrilled?
I respect Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska because
of his McCain-like ability to speak his mind and not just tout the
party line. Appearing on “Meet the Press,” Hagel was
questioned as to why he is such a staunch critic of administration
policy on Iraq. Through his Vietnam experience, Hagel replied,
he learned the dangers of having a policy unworthy of those
sacrificing their lives. Hagel is disgusted we not only don’t have
enough troops on the ground, like for border security, but also
because of the fact few of the funds allocated for reconstruction
have been spent.
So we now circle back to London and the importance of this
week’s attack and response. Back on 1/29/05 in this space, I
wrote of watching an HBO / BBC production, “Dirty Bomb,”
about an attack on London. Much of what the film showed
applied to Thursday’s “incident,” as the Brits like to call it.
Earlier in the week I watched the docudrama “Last Best Chance”
on loose nuclear material and the threat to America. I strongly
urge everyone to order it (it’s free) at ‘lastbestchance.org.’
While there isn’t anything in the film that I haven’t discussed
here, even going back before 9/11, the chilling simplicity
employed by the terrorists in the drama adds a little perspective
to attacks such as the one in London.
I greatly admire how Londoners conducted themselves but you’ll
have to forgive me if during the coverage my thoughts were
largely elsewhere. The worst is yet to come and especially in the
United States we have just scratched the surface in terms of
prevention. It’s all about the loose material floating around,
much of it emanating from the old Soviet Union, and I see zero
reason to be optimistic the crisis is being treated with the urgency
it should be.
Wall Street
As I noted earlier, the U.S. stock market shook off Thursday’s
terror attack and rallied big time after an initial dip, with global
markets following in kind on Friday as Wall Street then extended
its own gains. It’s rather easy to be cynical about the move, and
I’ll take my shot at the “heroic” traders as CNBC described them
on Thursday in a bit, but when you step back a moment the
bullish reaction is largely warranted, though as I write this much
actually depends on the path of Hurricane Dennis and its impact
on offshore oil operations in the Gulf.
This week did see some solid news on the economic front.
Factory orders were up in May (though almost solely due to
aircraft orders…not that there is anything wrong with that).
Retail sales for June were better than expected across the board;
whether you were talking Wal-Mart (up 4.5%), Target (up 5.1%),
or luxury goods retailers like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom (up
8-9%). Throw in a key reading on the service sector, also better
than expected, and a respectable employment report for June that
had a tame inflation component to boot, and you had a recipe for
a rally, terror fears aside. The hope now is that second quarter
earnings, which will start arriving in earnest in about a week, will
be solid, at least in the 7.5-8% range (5% without energy).
But to act like it’s now off to the races ignores $60 oil and a
Federal Reserve that appears to be far from finished on the rate
front. Regarding energy, by week’s end everyone was saying we
were either going to $70 or $50 and maybe as soon as next week.
Again, the path of Dennis is critical and it’s kind of silly at this
point for me to speculate, even though I do consider myself one
of the great amateur weathermen of my generation. [Heck, I
watch the Weather Channel as much as I do CNBC and Jim
Cantore is my hero.] Just remember that as the oil market swings
wildly next week as much as it did Thursday and Friday of the
past one, at the end of the day it is about supply and demand and
your bet on the strength of the global economy. If you’re bullish
on the latter, then you have to be expecting a world of $60 oil for
the foreseeable future, maybe much higher at some point. If like
me, however, you see a global slowdown by year end, oil in
the $40s could be in the cards. I would just add that $60+ is
definitely crimping activity. You may be taking that vacation,
regardless of the price, but fuel is 14% of an airline’s total costs
and 60% of a chemical-maker’s, to cite but two examples of the
impact on the bottom line.
But aside from a resolution on the hurricane front, we get a slew
of economic data next week and I’m going to defer further
comment until then. For now let’s go back to real estate, shall
we? CSFB downgraded a number of homebuilders because of
excessive speculation on the part of investors buying up
properties, as I stick with my long-held belief that while the
bubble will one day burst, stagnation is just around the corner
and will have a similarly negative impact on economic activity.
Last Sunday in an interview with the New York Times,
PIMCO’s Bill Gross said the following in response to a question
on the housing bubble.
“If interest rates stay low, there’s no reason there has to be a
disaster in housing. But if housing prices stop going up, which
would be my forecast, that makes a substantial difference.
Individuals have banked on that appreciation every year. You
should come to a point where owners of houses realize we’re in
never-never land and stop buying on a speculative basis.
Markets many times fall of their own weight. That’s what
happened with the Nasdaq in 2000.”
Then there’s the China syndrome. The government released a
new gauge for measuring manufacturing activity and the rate of
growth here is definitely slowing. I also took note of an
economist in Beijing who said “deflation” is unavoidable. “The
consumer price index will drop to negative figures by the end of
the year.” [South China Morning Post] Right now the official
government target for inflation is 3-3.5%, but it has been 1.8% in
both April and May.
I also have to make note of an interesting situation in Shanghai
where it was 95 degrees, nine straight days, and the shaky power
grid went out on 1,000 homes. Big deal, you’re probably
thinking, as was I. Until I read that these 1,000 homeowners
almost caused a riot of sizable proportions. So what will happen
when this city of 20 million has the Big One? The government
fears unrest and disorder more than anything else.
Finally, as for the way Wall Street reacted to the terror attack,
some commentators, including CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, went
way overboard. Yes, if you were with me in the days after 9/11
it was shades of Dick Grasso all over again. “Be patriotic, buy
stocks!” irrespective of whether that was truly the right thing to
do.
So I had to laugh when the action on the Street, Thursday, was
described as “heroic.” Heroic? Wall Street? Hey, it’s a stock
market, not a battlefield, as much as some of us ascribe to it such
mythology. And it’s not exactly a true free market, as in one
where you would exchange wampum for beads and rice.
No, friends, Wall Street is a place ruled by program traders and
hedge funds that together represent well over 50% of daily
activity. Most of these folks are nothing more than trend
followers and gamblers…not investors. Thankfully, over the
long term fundamentals normally win out and it’s why Wall
Street can still be a great place to put your investment dollars.
But short term? You might as well play the ponies.
I’ll never forget a winter Friday a number of years ago when a
bad snowstorm hit early afternoon and Wall Streeters rushed
home before the weather got too bad. A few short-sellers
remained behind, though, and sensing an opportunity they took
the market down a couple hundred points for no other reason
than because they could. It was disgraceful.
Wall Street is what it is, a market for trading stocks and bonds
and raising capital; vitally important functions in our capitalist
system, no doubt, but one must also never forget it remains a
place rife with corruption and fraud. A place where most
‘professionals’ are looking out only for themselves.
Street Bytes
–Looking back, for a holiday-shortened week it was one of the
wilder ones in recent memory. Tuesday and Wednesday were
totally irrational, but, strangely, perhaps Thursday and Friday
were, after all. In the four days the Dow Jones advanced 1.4% to
10449, the S&P 500 rose 1.5% to 1211 (a mere fraction below its
closing level of 12/31/04), and Nasdaq gained 2.7% to 2112 (its
best weekly close since 12/31). Crude oil was all over the place,
particularly on Thursday in light of the attack. The price went
from $62 after news of the bombings hit, to $58 on fear the
global economy would tank and demand for crude would fall
with it, back to $60.70 by day’s end as the sense developed it
wasn’t the end of the world. I’ve also been remiss in not
mentioning recently that many of the major European bourses are
at or near 3-year highs despite the internal problems inside the
European Union.
–U.S. Treasury Yields
6-mo. 3.38% 2-yr. 3.77% 10-yr. 4.09% 30-yr. 4.34%
The bond market whipped around, albeit within a relatively
narrow range, as we went from a flight to safety on Thursday to a
realization by week’s end that the Fed will be raising rates well
into the fall as long as the economic data continues to be
positive. The consensus in a survey of 50 or so economists for
the Journal the other week was that the Fed would stop at 4% on
the funds rate and we sit at 3.25% today.
–The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
issued a report (prior to London) that many countries could face
a true financial crisis, beyond the obvious, if they fell under a
chemical, bio or nuclear attack as the amount of compensation
for victims would far exceed the capacity of insurers and
governments to pay. Estimates of maximum losses sustained in
an attack involving WMD range from $50 billion to $250 billion.
The attacks on 9/11, by comparison, resulted in losses of about
$30 billion. Even a large-scale attack on water systems could
result in catastrophic insurance claims. Unless the insurance
industry and governments can cope, national stability is
threatened. [Financial Times]
–While the terror attacks in London will have no significant
long-term economic impact, the World Health Organization
continues to send out dire warnings on something that most
definitely could…bird flu. One expert said this week that the
virus had “tightened its grip” on Asia and is capable of springing
major surprises. “We believe we are at the tipping point,” he
said. “Either we reverse this trend or things will get out of
hand.” [South China Morning Post]
6,000 wild birds in one Chinese province died last month which
is significant because wild birds were once thought to be
resistant to the H5N1 virus. Thus far in 2005, of 64 human cases
diagnosed in Asia, 22 have died. The WHO believes Vietnam, in
particular, is “chronically infected.” [Just as trade with Vietnam
is exploding.]
–More on the proposed CNOOC / Unocal merger. From
economist Robert Samuelson, Washington Post:
“We shouldn’t see demons where they aren’t. This is mostly
standard corporate combat: two suitors want the same trophy.
Chevron is probably the favorite. CNOOC’s advantage lies in its
subsidized loans. But Chevron is bigger and can stir anti-
Chinese political fervor. Let them fight it out – without
Washington’s interference.
“How America and China construct their relations is one of
today’s great projects. We have many real issues with China: the
undervalued yuan; possible military conflicts, notably over
Taiwan; the nuclear status of North Korea; the potential
economically destabilizing effects of huge trade imbalances
(China’s surpluses and America’s deficits); China’s compliance
with global trade rules. We must defend our interests, but if we
reflexively treat the Chinese as a threat, we will answer our own
question: they will become a threat.”
–According to Business Week, an estimated 92% of computer
software in China is pirated. China’s ongoing failure to protect
intellectual property rights speaks volumes about the duplicitous
nature of the communist regime.
–With its spectacular success in June, sales up over 40% for the
best monthly total since 1986, General Motors extended its
“employee discount for everyone” program through Aug. 1.
Both DaimlerChrysler and Ford then announced they would
match (Ford after much hesitation). But while the short-term pop
in sales is welcome, particularly as it helps pare bloated
inventories that should eventually lead to increased production
and jobs, the longer-term impact on margins isn’t good, at least
in theory. Customers are no doubt getting spoiled and should
they demand future incentives before buying we’re right back in
the hole. It’s for this reason that DaimlerChrysler and Ford are
reluctant to extend their offers to the better-selling models.
Meanwhile, G.M. announced it was making great strides in
China, while the company’s sudden success, both here and
abroad, is going to make it increasingly difficult to win mid-
contract healthcare concessions from the UAW.
–My friends at Pritchard Capital, the energy folks, passed along
a great real estate tidbit. One of the partners was golfing with a
mortgage broker the other day and the broker described the
following mortgage he wrote recently in my part of New Jersey.
Purchase Price: $850,000
Down Payment: $50,000 (basically 5%)
Mortgage: 5-year, interest-only adjustable rate
Monthly payment: $3,200
Purchaser’s annual income: $82,000
Payment / gross monthly income: 47%
–But wait…there’s more. In Malibu, California, a 2BR / 2BA
mobile home is on the market for $1.4 million, with two others in
the area having been sold for $1.3 and $1.1 million. Remember,
sports fans, you don’t even own the land. Bubble bubble…
gurgle gurgle.
–An Iranian businessman, depressed, on the election of hardliner
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “I’ve stopped shaving, taking showers,
and wearing ties.” [Business Week]
–I didn’t know this. According to Harry Koza, who pens a
column for GlobeInvestor.com, Canada has the world’s largest
peat resources, equivalent to 14 billion tons of coal in fuel-grade
peat, specifically. It can be pelletized and sold to power
companies instead of coal, peat having the added advantage of
being clean-burning. And to paraphrase Robert Duval in
“Apocalypse Now,” “I love the smell of peat in the morning…”
–UnitedHealth Group is acquiring PacifiCare Health Systems for
$8.1 billion. UNH, the #2 health insurer, thus adds 3 million
plan members to its existing base of 23 million. Just recently it
had purchased Oxford Health Plans. Personally, having dealt
with UnitedHealthcare as an employer as well as member, their
customer service is terrific.
–There are certain stories that bore the heck out of me after a
while, one being the now resolved power struggle at Morgan
Stanley. But the news on departing CEO Philip Purcell’s golden
parachute is outrageous. It’s bad enough that he receives total
cash and prizes of $114 million for doing such a lousy job while
hurting the franchise; it’s some of the individual components that
are particularly galling, and not just the $43 million departure
bonus. To me the most egregious is Purcell getting to direct
$250,000 a year in charitable contributions using Morgan
Stanley’s money. “Pssst…there’s Phil Purcell. He’s been so
generous to the museum. What a guy.” Just shoot me.
Then you have Morgan Stanley co-president Stephen Crawford,
who agreed to a guaranteed $16 million a year for the next two
but, get this, he can simply resign by August 5 and walk away
with the full $32 million. Is this a great country or what?!
At least new CEO John Mack, having initially agreed to a
guaranteed $25 million each of the next two years, decided to
make his pay performance based instead.
–Analysts are split on just how many of Howard Stern’s current
12 million listeners Sirius Satellite needs to convert without
taking a bath on its huge investment in Stern. Estimates range
from 1 to 2.5 million. [Crain’s New York Business]
–ABC’s Live 8 audience on Saturday night attracted just 2.1
million viewers. AOL had an estimated 5 million users for its
free live streaming coverage…a sign of things to come and
another nail in the coffin for network television.
–U.S. Airways will no longer serve pretzels in coach, thereby
saving $1 million; which to me is more like peanuts.
–My portfolio: Thank goodness I held onto my lone energy
holding that is now about 9% of my overall portfolio. And the
carbon fiber stock is doing pretty well, though I haven’t placed
my big bet yet as I’m at about 10% of my portfolio with this one.
Throw in a little garbage and I’m now roughly 25% equities,
75% cash.
Foreign Affairs
China / Russia: Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian
President Putin met to discuss a range of issues. Both expressed
support for the other’s problem area; Chechnya and Taiwan. The
two then signed an accord that “recycled language China has
pushed in international agreements for decades: ‘All countries of
the world should strictly observe the principles of mutual respect
for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual nonaggression,
noninterference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and
mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.’” [Moscow Times]
But while Hu and Putin agreed to cooperate on a number of
energy ventures, the big prize, output from the Siberian pipeline,
continues to elude the Chinese leader.
Iran: Austrian documents purport to show that new Iranian
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad participated in the 1989 killing
of a Kurdish leader and two associates in Vienna. The head of
Austria’s Green Party wants an arrest warrant issued. In
response, the Iranian government threatened Austria if it pursues
this.
–Israel / Lebanon: The Israelis are concerned that with attention
focused on disengagement in Gaza and parts of the West Bank,
Hizbollah will use the opportunity to stir things up. The Israeli
Defense Force has basically issued a ‘shoot to kill’ order for
anyone crossing the border, while Hizbollah believes it has the
support of the Lebanese people in doing all it can to kidnap
Israeli soldiers.
Separately, Hamas told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
that it will not accept his invitation to join the Palestinian
Authority cabinet.
India / Pakistan: It didn’t receive much publicity in the West, but
a failed attack by Muslim militants on a disputed Hindu site
endangers the peace process as India blamed Pakistan for
supporting the terrorists, a charge Pakistan denied. One more
similar attack, however, and it could get dicey between these
two, quickly.
Philippines: What a mess. President Gloria Arroyo asked her
entire cabinet to resign in an attempt to get the focus off
allegations she rigged last year’s election, but the cabinet
members asked for her to resign instead. I don’t see how Arroyo
can survive more than another few weeks.
Zimbabwe: At a gathering of Methodist bishops in
Johannesburg, they issued a statement on Zimbabwe.
“We have on our hands a complete recipe for genocide; we’re
witnessing a tragedy of unprecedented enormity.”
The bishops were highly critical of South African President
Thabo Mbeki for pursuing his path of “quiet diplomacy.” Oh
yeah, that’s done a lot of good.
Random Musings
–I’d like to revise and extend my remarks on two items from last
week. First, I didn’t intend to leave the impression Sandra Day
O’Connor’s retirement from the High Court wasn’t important.
Of course it’s vitally so. However, from my own standpoint,
issues like these are best left to the talk shows. You’ll get your
fill of opinion from them. Second, as much as I’ve liked
columnist Robert Novak over the years, I do not agree with his
handling of the Valerie Plame case. But as for the whole Judith
Miller / Matt Cooper / Novak situation, frankly, I’m totally
confused as to what I’m supposed to be so irate about.
–Retired Navy Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale passed away at
the age of 81. Unfortunately, many Americans, and the history
books, are likely to remember him for his line from the 1992
presidential debates as Ross Perot’s running mate. “Who am I?
Why am I here?” But this was an American hero who received
the Medal of Honor for his incredible bravery during 7 ½ years
as a POW in North Vietnam.
–Live 8: What was that all about? Here is all you need to know.
P. Diddy Combs didn’t show up as expected in Philadelphia, his
rep issued an apology, saying Diddy “totally supports the
mission of Live 8 and is sorry he didn’t attend,” but it turns out
he was seen shopping in the Hamptons. And while LT and I
were watching the coverage, we were treated to rapper / producer
Kanye West, who in an interview said AIDS was invented by the
white man to hurt blacks and that crack was planted in the ghetto.
Here’s a suggestion to Bob Geldof, a well-meaning sort. In the
future just leave all the African aid pleas in the hands of Bono.
99% of the rest of them couldn’t give a damn.
[And once again Bono said all the right things following the
pledge on the part of the G-8 to double aid to Africa.]
–Unbelievable. Fox News has resurrected former New York
City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, one of the true dirtballs
of our time.
–The Star-Ledger had a story about a brewing battle between
New Jersey and Delaware over the location of a liquefied natural
gas terminal that is slated to extend into Delaware waters, or so
the Blue Hens claim. New Jersey’s Acting Governor Richard
Codey said “I’m sure we’d kick their ass.” True, we would; we
have more gang members, you understand.
–One of my favorite artists is Canaletto (1697-1768) and I see
one of his works went for $19.75 million at auction in London,
twice that expected. But if you go to a lot of art museums, you’d
know his nephew, Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780), often goes by
the name “Canaletto” as well. Hmmmm. Hope our buyer really
knows what he just took home. Surely the auction house
couldn’t care less. [This ends the high-brow portion of “random
musings.” We now resume our regular programming.]
–Congratulations to Takeru Kobayashi, 5-time winner of the
Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest, for scarfing down 49
dogs and buns in 12 minutes. Simply put, Kobayashi is one of
the great athletes of our time, though he failed to exceed last
year’s record 53 ½.
–Various studies are reaching the same conclusion. Children
with a television in their room were found to be lower academic
achievers, but it could have some benefit for 3-5 year olds.
Those with a PC and no TV scored best. [London Times]
–Before all hell broke loose, many of us were swept up in the
Olympic selection process. In the end, the Brits upset the French
thanks to the amazing stupidity of French President Jacques
Chirac. I have to admit, I continually underestimate just what an
idiot Chirac is, having given him the benefit of the doubt on
more than one occasion in the past.
Just the day before the IOC voted, for example, Chirac forgot he
had on a wireless microphone and in a conversation with
President Putin and German Chancellor Schroeder, was overhead
saying the British weren’t trustworthy and that “The only thing
they have ever done for European agriculture is ‘mad cow’
disease….It is the country with the worst food after Finland.”
[London Times]
Then Chirac compounded things by speaking French, not English
as the other four (including Russia and Spain) had done in their
formal presentations in Singapore. In other words, if you’re
trying to convince everyone you want to woo the world, you
don’t act so parochial.
So the final vote ended up being 54-50, London, with the Fins
having two votes. Ergo, it doesn’t take a genius to see that, at
worst, Chirac lost at least those two.
But also leave it to up to former 2-time Olympic gold medal
winner and Member of Parliament, Britain’s Sebastian Coe, to
come up with the words that truly put London over the top. As
part of the city’s final presentation, Coe took the stage and said
the following.
“When I was 12, I was marched into a large school hall with my
classmates. We sat in front of an ancient, black and white TV
and watched grainy pictures from the Mexico Olympic Games.
Two athletes from our home town were competing. John
Sherwood won a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles. His wife
Sheila just narrowly missed gold in the long jump. That day a
window to a new world opened for me….
“Today’s children live in a world of conflicting messages and
competing distractions. Their landscape is cluttered. Their path
to Olympic sport is often obscured. But it’s a world we must
understand and must respond to….
“My heroes were Olympians. My children’s heroes change by
the month. But every year the challenge of bringing them to
Olympic sport becomes tougher. The choice of Host City is the
most powerful means you have to meet this challenge…
“Today, in Britain’s fourth bid in recent years, we offer
London’s vision of inspiration and legacy. Choose London
today and you send a clear message to the youth of the world:
more than ever, the Olympic Games are for you.”
By their stalwart reaction to the terror attacks of this week,
Londoners sent a clear message of another kind and there is no
doubt they will put on a stellar show in 2012.
–Finally, this should have been a week where we celebrated the
amazing feat accomplished by NASA and Deep Impact….a
direct hit on a comet 83 million miles away. It’s truly amazing
what man can achieve. It’s also continually amazing how
wicked and cruel he can be.
—
Our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of the
terror attack and our best wishes for a speedy recovery to those
injured.
Pray for the men and women of our armed forces and those of
our allies, especially the Brits.
God bless America.
—
Gold closed at $424
Oil, $59.63
Returns for the week 7/4-7/8
Dow Jones +1.4% [10449]
S&P 500 +1.5% [1211]
S&P MidCap +1.9% [702…all-time high]
Russell 2000 +3.0% [662…all-time high]
Nasdaq +2.7% [2112]
Returns for the period 1/1/05-7/8/05
Dow Jones -3.1%
S&P 500 -0.0% [-0.01%]
S&P MidCap +6.0%
Russell 2000 +1.6%
Nasdaq -2.9%
Bulls 53.9
Bears 21.4 [Source: Chartcraft / Investors Intelligence]
Have a great week. I appreciate your support.
Brian Trumbore
