“There”ll be pennies from heaven for youuu…and for meee!”
–The Skyliners (the best version)
Folks, no gloom from me this week as we discuss the action on
Wall Street. Announced earnings came in strong and there is no
reason to believe that what we will see on this front the next few
weeks won”t be positive as well.
The economic news was interpreted by the stock market to be
just right. Whether it was tame core producer prices, rising retail
sales or a comeback in consumer confidence, as Ray Stevens once
sung, “Everything is beautiful…in its own way!” Traders have
been looking for a summer rally and they”re getting it.
And even Alan Greenspan added to the merriment with some
positive talk on his favorite topic, productivity. Continued gains
here help to keep wage pressures low. That, along with
Greenspan”s feeling that heightened job anxiety also helps on the
wage front.
And technology shares got a huge boost from Yahoo! when the
company reported earnings that were 2 cents better-than-
expected. The stock had traded as low as $100 on Tuesday but
closed the week at $128. Everyone had been worried about their
exposure to fellow Internet companies with questionable finances.
Yahoo said not to worry. One noted analyst raised her earnings
estimates to 60 cents a share for 2001! Holy cow!
And then there was fiber-optics king, JDS Uniphase, purchasing
fellow fiber producer, SDL, for $41 billion. An incredible price.
Yes, analysts were falling all over themselves when it came to
talking up technology. Amazon.com rebounded as one firm
raised their price target to $130. eBay soared.
Then there was G.E., which once again beat estimates by a penny,
earned a grillion dollars, and fell afterwards…wait, how did this
negative thought get in here? We”ll have none of that.
Has the Fed engineered a soft landing? Everyone seems to think
so. And I can”t argue with this week”s data. Oh, forget for the
moment that the pickup in consumer confidence could auger that
the economic slowdown may already be a thing of the past.
Every expert I heard was able to project well into the future.
True, the Fed won”t raise interest rates in August (I have now
decided this to be so) but the experts seem united in the belief that
the Fed is finished for the year. Geez, it must be wonderful to
have that kind of power to look into the future and see a perfectly
soft landing. I guess I need to throw out my textbooks that
would argue if the economy begins to crank again, the Fed can
hop back into the rate game with both fists after the election. It
doesn”t matter, either, that most European economies are just
beginning to cook and that, despite warning signs, Asia”s
economic outlook looks O.K.
And who cares if Yahoo is now trading with a P/E of 200+
based on 2001 earnings. Heck, I”m going back to premium beer!
It”s now been 3 months since that terrible Friday in April
(the 14th) when the Dow Jones closed down 617 points and the
Nasdaq lost 355 (9.7% for the day).
Since then, the Dow has risen from 10305 to 10812 (5%) while
the Nasdaq has gained 28% in climbing from 3320 to 4246. [The
Nasdaq is actually up 37% from its May 23rd low.]
So let”s look at some selective Nasdaq issues and see where they
stand compared to their all-time highs. The first number is the
record mark. The second, Friday”s close.
Cisco ($82-$68)
Sun Micro (106-95)
Oracle (90-76)
Intel (145-146) *Intel hit a new high of $147, intraday, on Friday.
Qualcomm (200-63)
CMGI (163-46)
Commerce One (165-70)
FreeMarkets (370-55)
Amazon.com (112-43)
eBay (127-61)
Yahoo! (250-128)
The point is, leaders like Cisco and Sun have recovered nicely.
But most of the highflyers that will go down in history as being
part of the great bubble of ”99-”00 have a long way to go before
seeing their highs again. And, in all seriousness, we should be
encouraged that the carnage of the spring did serve a useful
purpose, that of instilling some form of rational behavior.
I”m not going to discuss valuation any further this time. [Imagine
how tough it is for me to bite my tongue.] I”ll leave that for next
week and I”m going to present both sides.
Meanwhile, at week”s end the bond market was not as excited as
their equity brethren. They focused more on the fact that retail
sales were, yes, stronger-than-expected, as well as the surprise
pickup in consumer confidence. It”s not so much that they are
worried about August, it”s what happens afterwards.
This coming week we have the CPI on Tuesday and Greenspan”s
semi-annual Humphrey-Hawkins testimony on Thursday. Few
are expecting any surprises out of either.
U.S. Treasury Yields
1-yr. 6.09% 2-yr. 6.41% 10-yr. 6.10% 30-yr. 5.88%
Street Bytes
–A Florida jury awarded $145 billion in punitive damages in an
historic class action lawsuit against the tobacco companies.
Personally, I”m sick and tired of these cases. If you smoked, you
knew the dangers. The tobacco companies have already been
penalized for lying to us. Tobacco is NOT an illegal substance.
Ergo, these other suits are without merit.
–The Bank of Japan may shortly increase interest rates, a major
step, arguing that the economy is ready to embark on a steady
recovery. The government, however, says the economy is still
stuck in neutral. Separately, the government opted not to bailout
the large department store chain, Sogo; a positive development in
that, just possibly, Tokyo”s leadership is serious about true
reform. But even a small rate rise could further roil already
shaky Asian currency markets.
–First line in an AP story this week: “Creative accounting
techniques are adding to the difficulty of evaluating the financial
health of technology companies, analysts say.” Just as long as
XYZ beats consensus by one penny, that”s all that matters.
–On a very serious note, CNN”s “Moneyline” reported on
Thursday that a Salomon analyst received death threats for
downgrading some semiconductor issues.
–Congratulations to my friends at PaineWebber for receiving top
dollar from UBS.
Energy
Per my discussion of the past few weeks, this week the
International Energy Agency added its voice to those warning of
a heating oil crunch this winter. Refineries, struggling to keep up
with the current demand for gasoline, are going to be late in
building up their heating oil reserves.
As far as OPEC is concerned, the market has been waiting for
Saudi Arabia to definitively state that they will be pumping more
oil. Statements from Iran and Venezuela appeared to be in
support of the Saudis. So why is oil still so high?
Even energy bulls like me want the price to retreat to the mid-20s
so we can start to develop some stability. If the price stays in the
$30 range, eventually it would begin to impact world economic
growth and Federal Reserve policy in this country.
Separately, major integrateds, like BP-Amoco, announced that
they were significantly increasing their capital expenditure
budgets which positively impacts my beloved little drillers.
—
I felt like much of this week”s review was already written by last
Sunday afternoon but, in order to explain this further, I have to let
you all in on the secret life of your editor.
Arising at 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning, I devoured two
newspapers and then went online to read the Washington Post,
wherein I found two staggering articles which I then mused about
as I jogged around the local high school track. It was now about
9:00 a.m. and I was joined by two rabbits (seriously) who hopped
along with me for a spell before rejoining about 10 of their friends
on the other side of the fence. This was apropos because the two
articles involved environmental issues and the Trumbore family
had recently had a Fourth of July discussion on the population
explosion in all manner of New Jersey wildlife.
At 10:30 a.m. I turned on “Meet the Press,” only to find that
Wimbledon was on. PO”d, I switched to “Face the Nation,” a
program which allows its guests about 20 seconds apiece to
discuss issues like missile defense, thus rendering the program
largely worthless. Troubled, however, by some of the comments
I did hear, I then proceeded on to church where I sorted through
all that I had absorbed over the previous six hours.
When it comes to environmentalism, I never understood the
opposition, for example, to drastically reducing the 100,000+
disease-carrying deer (giant rats) that we have in my state nor
why we put up with tens of thousands of Canadian geese who
deposit their crap on our fields and water supply. [As to the
latter, the realization that the geese were a secret part of NAFTA
is just hitting home.]
Often the priorities of environmentalists are just plain wrong.
And if you count yourself in this crowd you are about to be given
examples of what the “Big Picture” really is, one that is rather
unsettling, to say the least.
Joan McQueeney Mitric wrote a piece in the Post on the impact
of NATO”s bombs during the Kosovo conflict (and here I had just
blasted the war in last week”s piece). Mitric writes:
“By its nature war is destructive, but when the war is over the
destruction should end.”
You all recall the heavy bombing of the power plants in and
around Belgrade and Novi Sad.
“When NATO”s bombs slammed into food-processing plants and
automobile factories, oil refineries and electrical transformers,
they released large quantities of long-lasting chemicals that
Americans would not tolerate in the smallest amounts in their
own backyards.”
The Danube River, a water source for some 85 million people,
not just in Serbia, but in friendly Romania and Bulgaria as well, is
severely contaminated for generations to come.
Remember Times Beach, Missouri? The EPA spent $200 million
in evacuating and cleaning up this tiny town because it was
contaminated by dioxin.
In Serbia, we released PCB contaminated oil. One billionth of a
gram (a nanogram) per cubic meter is considered dangerous. In
one single bomb blast of a car plant, two tons of contaminated oil
was spilled into tributaries of the Danube.
In fairness, the Danube has always been dirty. But now it”s
deadly. Did our military planners know that they were impacting
the lives of Romanians and Bulgarians when they bombed Serbia?
Did they give a damn? Will we help the Romanians and
Bulgarians clean up their water? And when Milosevic is gone,
will we do anything for Serbia?
And have we learned the following lesson: The next time a
dirtball like Slobo refuses to back down, we should go straight for
the jugular and blow up the palace. It”s cleaner that way. By our
prior actions, however, we have sown the seeds of future terrorist
acts against the U.S. and our allies and certainly have done
nothing to stop the increasing tide of anti-Americanism.
The second case that environmentalists should be acutely aware
of concerns the ecological disaster that is Russia. Mark
Hertsgaard wrote an opinion piece which told of how President
Putin recently abolished his nation”s environmental protection
agency, “Yet (his) action has attracted virtually no attention from
Western politicians or news organizations.”
For example, one million tons of oil – the equivalent of 25 Exxon
Valdez spills – leaks out of pipelines and into Russia”s soil and
water every month!
But lest you think the damage is simply confined to their own
territory, remember that Russia continues to dispose of nuclear
debris and spent fuel from the old Soviet Northern Fleet into the
sea. And the ocean is now home to used submarine reactors.
Add to this the fact that plutonium is crisscrossing Russia with
abandon and you have the scary scenario that these supplies will
be hijacked and used in terrorist acts.
So environmentalists, now you have some real issues to sink your
teeth into and I will use what power I have in this pen to support
you. Don”t concern yourself with deer hunts or the protection of
snail darter-like creatures. You have bigger fish to fry.
And now the real point of this exercise. It has to do with, you
guessed it, missile defense.
As you are all now aware, the third in a series of tests for our
national missile defense system (NMD) failed miserably. Not only
did the “kill vehicle” not separate from the booster rocket (the
simplest of maneuvers in this otherwise complex operation) but
the decoy contained in the intended target failed to inflate as well.
So, just as I wrote last week, the hue and cry went up.
“Is it the right system?” “We couldn”t even do the easy stuff.”
“We shouldn”t even be worried about threats from Iran, Iraq or
North Korea.”
Since between the “Week in Review” and my “Hotts Spotts”
pieces I have covered the technical aspects of NMD ad nauseum,
let me comment as briefly as possible on the first objection. No,
the system we are testing is probably not the right one. Without
getting into specifics you can find in my archives, upgrading our
existing ”gis cruiser capability may be the way to go. But the
testing of this other system should still continue.
And I can”t believe the experts who have determined that we will
never have to worry about an attack from rogue nations. How
the heck do we know what future threats will exist? Why are we
supposed to believe that leaders will always act rationally?
Suddenly, some are now calling North Korea”s Kim Jong-Il a
“rational” figure.
[Of course what happens on Thursday? North Korea announced
that it will not discontinue its missile program but will discuss
curbing exports of its missile technology if it”s paid enough.
Specifically, it is asking the U.S. to give them $1 billion for
halting exports! Seems to me that fits the standard definition of
blackmail.]
CBS” Bob Schieffer, on “Face the Nation,” asked one of his
guests, “Senator, isn”t the main threat to our security a suitcase
bomb?” It”s one of many, Bob.
As I was sitting in church, contemplating how to close the circle,
I thought about the game of football. You often hear about
teams employing an 8-man front, used to defend against an
opponent with a strong running game. But it”s never an 11-man
front. Why? Because you still have to cover the receivers to
protect against the bomb! [And, sports fans, I was thinking of the
great “Mad Bomber” himself, Raiders QB Daryle Lamonica.]
No, to paraphrase one of my favorite commentators, Robert
Novak, those who are against NMD don”t mind if we bomb
Belgrade but they also don”t seem to want to protect Americans.
And the same scientists who now say that missile defenses don”t
work are the ones who were touting a nuclear freeze in the
1980s which, if it had come to pass, would have left a far more
dangerous world than we have today.
But let me wrap up by putting something on the table. The main
argument against NMD goes like this. “Heck, a nation like Iraq
or North Korea would never launch a missile at the U.S. because
they know we would in turn destroy them.”
Suspend for a moment thoughts about whether or not leaders like
Saddam or Kim Jong-Il should be expected to always act with a
human face. Here”s my point. With the increasing degrees of
collateral damage caused by modern warfare, will every American
president just automatically blast away an opponent who dared to
attack us?
Get out your world map. Annihilating Iraq impacts our ally,
Turkey, as well as possibly Jordan and Israel. Wiping out Iran
could do a number on Saudi Arabia, as well as, again, Turkey.
Fallout from destroying North Korea would devastate South
Korea, and possibly Japan (let alone the fact that China would be
none too pleased).
Without a missile defense, we are a sitting duck. And we might
not be able to fight back in a manner long proposed by the
textbooks. Just food for thought. I”m assuming our leaders think
about this from time to time in the war room.
Follow-up / Anti-Americanism
David Sanger of the New York Times wrote a piece last Sunday
that is the perfect complement to my thoughts on anti-
Americanism from my 7/8 review.
“Americans…tend not to be…mindful of how their own power is
viewed around the world today. It is resented. So much so, says
(presidential historian) Michael Beschloss, that ”one of the most
important questions Americans should be asking the presidential
candidates is, ”How do you plan to respond if Russia and Japan
and China and Europe find ways to frustrate American power?””
Russia
President Putin gave his “State of the Nation” address to
Parliament wherein he described a crumbling country, with a
falling birthrate and aging population threatening to turn Russia
into a “senile nation.” He called Russia”s economy a “house of
cards, supported by high oil prices.” Russia, he declared, is
becoming a Third World nation.
So, after that cheery bit, Putin then went on to talk about Russia”s
emotional commitment to democracy. Only a democratic state,
he said, is capable of protecting civic, political and economic
freedoms.
Then a few days after this speech, the government raided the
offices of Media-Most again as the Kremlin stepped up its
campaign against the opposition as well as the oligarchs.
Separately, a top executive was killed in a contract hit.
As to the situation in Chechnya, here are some excerpts from a
lead editorial in the Washington Post this week.
“…President Clinton denounced so eloquently, and fought against
with such tenacity, (ethnic hatred) in Kosovo. He”s had less to
say about Russia”s assault on the Chechen people. But Mr.
Clinton”s reticence looks statesmanlike next to the fawning
friendship German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has bestowed
on Mr. Putin. This week European Union foreign ministers
released $55 million in aid to Russia that they had frozen last
December to protest the war. What”s changed since then? The
Chechen capital of Grozny is still in ruins, the bombing continues,
the Russians have yet to credibly investigate or punish a single
case of torture. But the war is no longer on television.
“In 10 days Mr. Clinton and other leaders of top industrialized
counties will meet with Mr. Putin in Japan at the annual G-8
summit. If the leaders express forceful and public disapproval of
Russia”s abuses, Mr. Putin might believe there is some cost to
continuing human rights violations. If they smile and shake hands
as if all is well, they will highlight their own hypocrisy while
betraying the hapless Chechens and the few Russian human rights
activists campaigning in their behalf.”
Since I blasted the French last week, it does need to be pointed
out that, on the issue of Chechnya, French President Chirac has
exhibited guts in being the most outspoken critic of Russia”s
actions.
One thing is clear, unless there is some sort of comprehensive
peace in this region, over time the violence will spread and our
interests will be increasingly affected.
China
Their story this week is really part of my earlier discussion on
NMD. In very stark terms they said that deployment of NMD
would have “serious ramifications.” Arms control talks between
the U.S. and China did not go well. No sooner had our
representative left Beijing then China”s top negotiator also added,
again, that giving Taiwan an increased missile defense capability
will not only “lead to serious confrontation” between the U.S. and
China, but would also force China to renunciate all existing arms
proliferation treaties.
Middle East Peace Talks
As of this writing, there is no hard news on the Camp David talks
between Israel”s Barak and the PLO”s Arafat. A deadline of
September 13 for unilaterally declaring Palestinian statehood has
been set by Arafat. Many argue that the date, first established
years ago as part of the Oslo Accords, should not be used in the
inflammatory manner that Arafat chooses to use it for.
For his part, Barak survived a no-confidence vote in the Israeli
parliament but his coalition is now just a minority in the Knesset.
But one has to separate the disparate parliamentary elements from
the will of the Israeli people. Most polls show 52% support a
comprehensive peace agreement.
Barak did do one helpful thing this week and that was to drop
Israel”s proposed sale of a $250 million radar system to China,
one which could be used against our own forces should war erupt
in the Taiwan Straits.
As to the impact the talks could have on our own election, I will
defer comment until I see what emerges next week.
More International Affairs
Syria: Bashar Assad, Hafez”s son, won only 97.3% of the vote
which confirmed him as the new president. His father used to get
99.9%. The electorate in Syria pricks their fingers and marks the
ballots with their own blood. I just hope election workers are
wearing gloves.
Iran: There were major demonstrations between hard-liners and
reformers this week, the first in quite awhile. Iran also charged a
14th Jew with espionage.
Zimbabwe: Police overreacted at a World Cup soccer qualifying
match between Zimbabwe and South Africa. At least 12 died in
the stampede that followed police shooting tear gas into the
crowd. South Africa won 2-0 and I still say they were screwed in
not getting the 2006 Cup.
Fiji: Remember the name George Speight. He is the rebel leader
who has single-handedly destroyed this nation. Speight is perhaps
the biggest racist in the world, certainly right up there with
Robert Mugabe, only this Dirtball of the Year candidate has
targeted ethnic-Indians.
You all know the story. Speight and his band of losers took over
Fiji”s parliament and held the ethnic-Indian prime minister hostage
for weeks until releasing him this week. Speight has put his
cronies in charge and he vows that from here on, the heretofore
tropical paradise will be pure Fijiian. The ethnic-Indians, who
make up 44% of the population, will never hold decision-making
positions.
The rebels took over all of the resort hotels and the economy is in
ruins. Good job, Speight. If there is justice, someone will get
this guy.
Vietnam: The U.S. and Vietnam normalized trade relations after
25 years. I saw a rather comical exchange on the BBC between a
U.S. trade representative and the BBC anchor.
U.S. Trade Rep: “Vietnam is clearly interested in our consumer
products.”
BBC: “What products would they be interested in?”
U.S. Trade Rep: “Well, harrumph, harrumph…” The woman
couldn”t name one…So I”ll offer a few suggestions. Start off
with toilet paper, Kraft mac & cheese, rice-a-roni, cattle-roni…
Greece: You think our forest fires are bad, check out Greece.
Unbelievable destruction as the record heat wave has led to
hundreds of blazes.
AIDS
The largest conference on AIDS was held this week in South
Africa and leaders in the fight against the disease got to see,
firsthand, how frustrating the battle can be. South African
President Mbeki continues to deny that HIV and AIDS are linked
as he seeks alternate treatments and cures.
The tragedy in sub-Saharan Africa just gets worse and worse.
Over 12 million children have now been orphaned with that figure
projected to hit at least 28 million over the next few years. Life
expectancies in many of the hardest hit nations are expected to
plummet to 30 years.
So are current efforts too little too late? Of course they are. The
Western world ignored the carnage in Rwanda, what makes you
think they would treat this any differently? One American doctor
labeled the current situation “Genocide of the heart” as to the
reaction in the U.S. and other rich countries.
Now I know there are those who say Africa can”t even help
themselves, what then can we do? But, outside of some heroic
relief organizations, we haven”t even tried. However, fear not. It
is rumored that President Clinton may make a trip to Africa after
the Democratic convention…to ensure that Gore gets 85% of the
black vote in America, of course.
This Week in Politics
Paul Alexander of Bloomberg News reports that Bush”s short list
for vice president is down to governors Tom Ridge (PA.) and
George Pataki (N.Y.), as well as Elizabeth Dole.
George Bush addressed the NAACP convention, something Bob
Dole stupidly didn”t do in ”96. One poll this week has Bush
capturing 17% of the black vote, higher than Dole”s 14%.
In the New York Senate race, Rick Lazio and Hillary are in a
deadheat according to the latest Quinnipiac poll, 45-45.
And on the legislative front, House Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Bill Archer has recommended something I”ve called
for, increasing the maximum contribution on IRAs to $5,000 from
$2,000. If you do this and gradually raise the retirement age on
social security, I firmly believe you don”t have to do anything
more on the social security front and we can all stop playing
games.
The Senate voted to repeal the death tax but passage looks
unlikely as President Clinton will veto it. Maybe next year.
Finally, a survey of a different sort. Asian-Americans now
makeup about 4% of the U.S. population. Southeast Asians
generally vote Republican, Japanese lean heavily Democratic.
[Source: Washington Post]
Random Musings
–So what can I add to the Harry Potter discussion? I guess
nothing, except that I couldn”t believe the article I read by a Yale
blo-hard, professor Harold Bloom, complaining, among other
things, that Potter books don”t ensure that kids will read more
sophisticated fare.
Actually, I wrote recently that Thomas Paine”s pamphlet,
“Common Sense,” was the most successful initial offering in
American history (based on sales per population). No one
mentions that this is probably the real record J.K. Rowling is
breaking.
But I join the chorus singing, “Bless you, Ms. Rowling.” I spent
my childhood summers doing three things; playing wiffle-ball,
Strat-O-Matic Baseball (great for developing math skills) and
reading “Lord of the Rings” a bunch of times. As to the latter, in
watching CNN”s “Crossfire” the other night, I realized that James
Carville was Gollum.
–On Friday, Jonathan Alter had a disturbing profile on “The Today
Show” of rapper Eminem. As Alter pointed out, while John
Rocker deserved the scorn of a nation, what Rocker said is
nothing compared to what Eminem sings about.
–Some of you are sending me e-mails and then when I reply your
company kicks it back. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “Mr.
Gorbachev, tear down this firewall!”
–Richard Williams deserves credit for raising two champions in
Venus and Serena. But yes, I still think Richard fixed the semi-
final match between the two. But let”s give Mr. Williams a shot,
as quoted in the current issue of Sports Illustrated.
“That”a a goddam shame that people come up with that bull—-,”
Richard said last Friday. “When McEnroe and his brother
played? When Chrissie Evert and her sister played? No one
asked them that. But everyone comes to us with a goddam bunch
of bull—- when it comes to that. You got the two best girls in
tennis right here, and if it wasn”t for Venus and Serena, this
bull—- tennis would be dead, because Hingis and the other girls
aren”t worth selling. And people come with a bunch of s— like
that? That is disgraceful.”
Thank you for your time, Mr. Williams. But you forgot Anna?
–Next time your kids are complaining about the beef-a-roni, just
say, “Be glad we don”t live in a shanty next to a garbage dump
like they do in Manila.” At least 150 died at one such sight when
rain loosened the garbage, it rolled over the shanties and then
caught fire. But I”m reading an account by Reuters and I come
across this line.
“The dumpsite has been the home of about 80,000 slum-dwellers
for two decades, a grim symbol of the widespread poverty in the
mainly Roman Catholic country.”
What the heck does being Roman Catholic have to do with it?
Oh, I see, it was from Reuters. Very British, I guess.
–The New England Journal of Medicine has an important report
that lifestyle choices are far more important in preventing forms
of cancer than one”s genetic makeup.
–A new study reveals that 800 deaths a year are the result of
people running red lights. I”m sure you all have noticed a big
increase in violations over just the past few years. I, myself, go
through intersections far more cautiously than I ever did before
and I wish I could shoot out the tires of those who put our lives
at risk.
–I read Sports Illustrated”s cover story this week on the ongoing
homer barrage in baseball. It just gets more and more depressing.
Some of these sluggers of today couldn”t hold a candle to the
likes of Stargell and McCovey, let alone the true great”s…Ruth,
Aaron, Mantle, Mays, F. Robby, Killebrew…Yes, I”m 42 and
living in the past. I can”t imagine what you fans of age 60 or
older are thinking.
I”ve covered the reasons for the barrage extensively in “Bar Chat”
over the past few months but I”ve reached one conclusion.
Baseball won”t own up to its problem until one singular event
occurs and that day is probably just around the corner.
My guess? Heretofore singles hitter, Baltimore Orioles shortstop
Mike Bordick, will become the first player to hit 5 home runs in a
game. That will be the travesty that wakes everyone up. And the
saddest part will be that the record will stand long after baseball
comes to its senses and begins to coat the balls with lead.
*If you really want to get depressed, watch HBO”s latest
installment of “When It Was A Game,” Monday night the 17th,
covering baseball in the ”60s. I”m crying already.
Gold closed at $282
Nymex crude oil, $31.40
Returns for the week, 7/10-7/14
Dow Jones +1.7%
S&P 500 +2.1%
S&P MidCap +4.0%
Russell 2000 +2.7%
Nasdaq +5.5%
Returns for the period, 1/1/00-7/14/00
Dow Jones -6.0%
S&P 500 +2.8%
S&P MidCap +16.4%
Russell 2000 +7.5%
Nasdaq +4.4%
Bulls 49.5%
Bears 30.9% [Source: Investors Intelligence]
Brian Trumbore
