[Posted 7:15 AM]
“I just told my client he has to work an extra five years.”
–A quote from a stockbroker friend of mine.
In talking to other friends on Wall Street, as well as some folks I
met at an investment seminar this week, it would appear that
reality is finally starting to set in among a majority of investors.
This is both good and bad. If you believe that the markets can”t
mount an authentic rally (instead of these fake ones we keep
having) until everyone has thrown in the towel, well, we”re finally
seeing some of that. Many of my associates told me that it”s only
been in the past three weeks that their clients have called them
with genuine concern. You”ll recall I thought that was going to
be the case a year ago, when Nasdaq cracked for the first time.
Hey, so I was early! But concern then would have avoided a ton
of pain later.
And if you”re a contrarian, you had to love CNBC”s focus the
other day on mutual funds that can go “short,” bear funds which
bet on falling share prices. Yoh, guys, now you show them after
the Nasdaq has fallen 67%! And, in classic contrarian style, the
day after the piece the Nasdaq rallied 9%.
So what”s the bad news? Everything else, and there was a ton of
it this week. While the Federal Reserve governors keep telling us
recovery is just around the corner, reality tells you otherwise. For
starters the March employment report showed the greatest loss in
jobs since 1991. And there were a slew of further profit
warnings, as well as rumors of significant financial distress
involving some of America”s biggest names (Lucent and
Motorola). Throw in a bankruptcy filing for California”s largest
utility, a spate of new layoff announcements, an authentic foreign
policy crisis for a new administration that is still trying to staff up,
plus new lows on erstwhile market leaders which give them the aura
of a mixed-up middle school student, and you basically have a
Jackson Pollock original.
It”s as if the realization is setting in that, yes, the economy has
seized up. And as gloomy as I was all last year, I never
envisioned Nasdaq share prices as low as what we are witnessing
today. As I watched this shyster give a presentation at the
seminar this week, I kept glancing at the clients in the audience.
Most of them appeared to be over 60 years of age and there was
some real pain on their faces. I just wish I could have talked to
each one of them a year ago before disaster struck.
But as for today, I don”t know exactly what I”d tell them. You
can certainly build a case for saying the worst is over, but, at the
same time, I also strongly feel that at the end of the day 5%
returns on stocks, from this point forward, are what we can
expect for years to come. And if that”s the case, why wouldn”t I
keep most of my money in cash, or a conservative fixed income
vehicle?
And as for the Fed, the rapidly emerging credit problems (which
were so darn predictable) have to shake them out of their stupor
…like this week. To wait until May 15 to reduce interest rates
again is way too late. [It already is too late but we”re trying to
deal with the future as best we can.]
What is particularly frustrating is that Alan Greenspan made some
strong statements on trade this week at a Senate committee
hearing. He said that economic slowdowns invariably lead to
protectionist policies across the world. So he does understand
what I”ve been railing about the past six months in particular.
Well why doesn”t he act more quickly then to save the world?
Why is there this disconnect in that brain of his? It”s so easy to
draw the right conclusions. As for my own, I don”t know why
this piece of me still thinks we can skirt recession, but the opinion
is being eaten away like a brain riven with holes from mad cow.
There is no middle ground here. We either survive or we suffer
through a scenario that begins with the letter “D.”
Street Bytes
–Bonds rallied anew on the depressing economic news at week”s
end, hitting multi-year lows in yield on the short end of the curve.
But now it can be said that the market is really priced for
perfection, i.e., the short end is discounting not just one more Fed
move on interest rates, but about three or four big ones.
U.S. Treasury Yields
1-yr. 3.88% 2-yr. 4.06% 10-yr. 4.88% 30-yr. 5.46%
–Energy: Details are still sketchy on the Friday filing for
bankruptcy by California utility Pacific Gas & Electric. I”ll have
further comments next week. But for now, there was Governor
“Sleepy” Davis on Thursday, finally speaking to the whole state
about his scheme to save it from disaster this summer. As the
Washington Post put it, “a convoluted plan to keep reality
invisible.” It”s almost to the point where it”s not even worth
writing about. We all know it”s going to be a brutal summer.
And to top it off, California”s Sierra snow pack is about 60% of
normal; so much for the hydropower option.
But in an effort to come up with something optimistic in the face
of all this gloom, it seems to be escaping the energy experts that
some OPEC members now have spare capacity. Venezuela, for
example, is developing a huge amount of it. Couple this with
slowing worldwide demand and you have a scenario for massive
cheating on the production quotas established by OPEC.
Gasoline prices may still be high this summer because of various
environmental restrictions, but it shouldn”t be because of soaring
oil prices.
–The 5-year annualized return for science and technology funds
is now at 14.0% vs. 14.2% for the S&P 500. [Source: Lipper]
You can draw your own conclusion. Mine would be that the ride
in tech wasn”t worth it. Which leads me into this week”s discussion
of…
–Telecom: On Winstar Communications, a network provider, as
reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“(Executives) say they have been trying to sell large chunks of
excess capacity in the company”s nationwide broadband
network.”
Now, of course, every company in the telecom sector today could
issue a similar statement and “excess capacity” would be part of
it. And for providers like Winstar, it is impossible to go back to
the capital markets for more funding just to maintain current
operations. Thus, as in their case, job losses are the result.
Winstar will be laying off 2,000 of 4,500 workers, immediately,
and the other 2,500 might as well go home too.
Other companies issued similar pronouncements, like Tellabs and
Sycamore Networks. And wireless providers are reporting
slower subscriber growth than expected, as in the high-profile
case of Verizon. But it continually amazes me how some still
don”t get it. Here is a quote from an AP report on Friday.
“Companies like Nokia…are banking on the expectation that the
next generation of mobile phones will in fact be handheld
computers capable of making phone calls, sending e-mails,
broadcasting movies, playing video games, and eventually digital
photographs.”
What? Are you nuts? I”m going to watch “Gladiator” on a
handheld?
–Rumors swept the Street on Wednesday that Lucent was about
to file for bankruptcy. For a time the stock traded below its split-
adjusted April 1996 IPO price of $6.38. Amazing. And
devastating for those whose 401Ks contain Lucent and little else.
–The number of IPOs in the first quarter of 2000 was 136. In
2001, 21.
–The European Union is looking to stick it to Intel for its
supposedly anti-competitive practices. It”s on an issue like this
where President Bush”s incredibly stupid move on the Kyoto
Accords two weeks ago carries weight. Europe is in no mood to
do us any favors. [Just so we”re clear. Yes, the Kyoto agreement
on global warming was an awful one which needs to be
renegotiated. But Bush flunked Diplomacy 101 when he told the
Europeans, in essence, to shove it. And in today”s economic
environment, we are in no position to do so.]
–Inktomi is a company that develops software applications for
the Internet. On April 3, 2000 the shares traded at $191. This
week they hit $3. And then there is QXL Ricardo, a European
online auction site. Johnny Mac loves to send me notes on how
this outfit was about $600 just over a year ago. Today it”s
around $2. I”ll never forget the analyst, about 12-years-old, I
think, who in trying to make a name for himself a la Henry
Blodgett, set a split-adjusted price target on QXL of $1,000.
That day it rose to over $600. Then the Street realized the
analyst was probably trying to pump the stock so he could get
more people to log on and check out his Pokemon card bids.
[This last bit is not exactly factual.]
–Fortune magazine had its annual list of the Top 500
corporations in America, by revenue. The Top 3 were Exxon
Mobil, Wal-Mart, and General Motors. What I found interesting
was that Cisco was #107 (up from #146). I bet if you asked ten
people on the street, 9 would have said Cisco was Top 20 due to
the amount of attention we pay to the company and others like it.
My point being, through this whole technology revolution /
debacle, we have far too often lost sight of the real world; the one
which the average American spends most of his or her time in.
–South Korean officials announced this week that they will prop
up their stock market by using state pension fund assets to
purchase shares; in other words it”s a rigged market, just as is
every one in Asia.
So with this in mind, I was astounded to hear investment “guru”
Harry Dent tell an audience this week (of which I was part) that
the model portfolio should have a 20% exposure to Asia (ex-
Japan). What? Are you nuts? [The StocksandNews “phrase of
the week.”]
–I got a kick out of a Journal story on McDonald”s in France and
how they are combating the mad cow scare by offering “Le 280
Grammes,” a burger twice the size of the Big Mac. Good for
them, I thought, and the campaign would appear to be working.
But that initial thinking on my part lasted, oh, about 15 seconds.
Then I got to musing, “Boy, they are setting themselves up for a
ton of litigation.” Better to retrench and lay low until the scare
blows over, I further mused.
I mean, just look at W.R. Grace, the latest casualty of the
asbestos wars. The incubation period on mad cow is similar to
the claims being made on the asbestos front for exposure that may
have occurred 30 years ago. I am not downplaying the tragic side
of the asbestos debacle, but the litigation that is forcing
companies like Grace to seek protection in bankruptcy courts has
to stop…immediately. As the Journal pointed out this week,
Congress continually drops the ball on tort reform and when
someone like President Bush proposes what any average
American would consider responsible liability limits, our liberal
press, and the trial lawyers, go ballistic. This issue is as important
as any other in America today. And if you doubt that, just ask the
hundreds of thousands working for companies like Grace how
they feel.
–Xerox delayed publication of its annual report due to an
ongoing inquiry into its accounting practices. Xerox should be
listed in Asia.
–The New York Times had a piece on executive compensation
wherein the average CEO of a large company earned $3.9 million
last year; that”s salary & bonus…but not including stock options.
I don”t have much of a problem with that. But when you throw
options into the equation, it can become quite obscene. For
example, in another survey, Citigroup”s Sandy Weill has an
estimated value on his equity (including options) of $28 billion.
[Actually, that”s only about 100 A-Rods.]
–Last 12/23 I stated that market bear David Tice had a target on
Nasdaq of 1000. This week on CNBC he lowered it to 500 in 12
months. I said last December that 1000 would spell Depression.
I guess that means that Nasdaq 500 would spell “Super-Duper
Depression!”
–The Nasdaq”s 7 best percentage gains have all come since the
Nasdaq peaked at 5048.
–For obvious reasons, I have never commented on the troubles
that some sites similar to mine have had. But I do have to make
an exception in the case of TheStreet.com. This week they
announced further layoffs to the tune of 20%. It was all so
predictable. Two years ago, when I saw they were taking down
new office space on Wall Street I thought, that”s it. I started my
career on the Street with a firm that once exhibited the same kind
of hubris on the real estate front. We were out of business shortly
thereafter. And of course that”s one of the reasons why Silicon
Valley”s own commercial real estate market is cratering. It
doesn”t make a helluva lot of sense to take 40% or so of your
original capital and waste it on expensive digs. But that”s what
today”s arrogant “leaders” did.
–The situation with the airlines and the various strike threats that
loom in our future looks increasingly ominous. My forecast of
“barely avoiding recession” could be shredded like Oliver North”s
documents if the nightmare scenario unfolds.
–Auditors questioned the ability of online grocer Webvan to
survive. But since about ten people in America use Webvan,
attention should really be focused on an issue featured in last
week”s hard-hitting episode of “The Simpsons;” that being the
bag-boy strike.
–Strategist Don Hays on Alan Greenspan: “If you look at
Greenspan”s record in the past, he has never, ever, ever called the
economy right and never called inflation right. Why should
somebody like that have his hands on the puppet strings?”
[Source: Barron”s]
–275,000 American households have a net worth of $10 million.
–My portfolio: I said I would only discuss it if there was
something worth bringing up, so this week I feel obligated to
remind those of you who are following my personal moves that I
have a decent chunk of my assets in a junk bond fund. This week
the high yield sector got crushed as a result of all the different
stories on the shaky credit of some corporations, as well as the
overall economic tone. Since my fund is as high quality as you
can get in the junk arena, it lost substantially less than most of the
others in the group. But make sure if you are in a junk fund that
you understand the risks. And if you”re quoted distribution rate
seems unusually high, like 10% plus, that means one thing…you
have some real grade D (as in “default”) junk in there…and that
isn”t a good thing.
China
Once again, we have an example of why you just never know.
And it”s also why we spend so much time on the “wild cards”
here at StocksandNews. The reaction of the Chinese government
thus far certainly is no surprise to your editor. Just two months
ago I completed a series on Tiananmen Square for “Hott Spotts”
and I have written countless times in this space that China is beset
by huge identity problems. What we learned from the Tiananmen
Square massacre of 1989 was that there was a split at the top
between those favoring dialogue with the students and those like
Deng Xiaoping who sought to maintain a strictly Communist
regime, and thus avoid a collapse a la that of the Soviet empire,
while still allowing a certain amount of reform.
Today, nothing has changed. It”s the nationalists (undoubtedly
represented throughout the Chinese military) versus the reformers
(whom one can assume occupy some of the higher positions in
the Communist Party). And after this week, you are all now
experts on China”s past and their inferiority complex. It doesn”t
help that the government is able to whip up nationalist feelings by
pointing to the bombing of their embassy in Belgrade and then
drawing a line to the spy plane incident.
One of the big problems in this particular case is the fact that
President Jiang Zemin is slated to step down at the end of 2002.
We are thus on “legacy watch.” He does not want to appear to
be “soft” in the eyes of his people. Yet at the same time, he
clearly understands that the economic reform program he has
helped to promote must continue. China needs good trade
relations with the U.S. or the Chinese economy could collapse,
leading to massive unrest (not that this can”t happen anyway).
So we have all these crosscurrents. China continues to torture
and persecute dissidents (like the American University professor
Gao Zhan, who was formally arrested this week on spy charges,
thus almost guaranteeing conviction and a lengthy sentence),
while at the same time it seeks the 2008 Olympics for the
purposes of showcasing Beijing.
And then there is Taiwan. China has to believe that unless they
immediately release our 24 servicemen and women, they are
virtually guaranteeing that the U.S. Congress will approve a
massive weapons sale to Taiwan. Jiang knows it, but this is
where the nationalism angle gets in the way. And on a separate
note, what this whole episode should point out is something no
one seems to want to address, an issue discussed here many times
previously.
Taiwan manufactures over 50% of the chips used in the U.S.
Yes, much of that production is under U.S. ownership, but that
won”t mean a lot if China were to invade the island. [*But it
would be a good way to reduce inventories, eh?] Regardless of
what arms sales Congress may approve, it will take years before
the weaponry is useful to the Taiwanese military. Ergo, this issue
isn”t close to going away.
And lastly, the Chinese get a kick out of the American fear of
casualties, something which should be disconcerting to our
leaders. The Washington Post quoted a Chinese military source
as saying:
“The People”s Liberation Army genuinely feels that Americans
can”t tolerate death. They look at your yellow ribbons for these
servicemen and your casualty-free Kosovo and they think that
they don”t have the will.”
More International
Japan: Prime Minister Mori finally announced he”s resigning but
wouldn”t say when, while the government announced economic
bailout plan #543 and the people went zzzzzzz. Early in the
week, a key survey of business confidence slipped for the first
time in 27 months, so it looks like the economy is heading back
into recession. Just as in the U.S., Japan”s largest
corporations are reducing their levels of capital spending.
And the yen was sliding until late in the week when it recovered
some. While a weak yen helps Japan”s exports and is a way for
them to grow out of their problems, a severe decline would only
anger interests in the West and Asia (as they lose business) and, in
the case of Asia, could spark another round of devaluations, a la
1997.
As for the U.S., our currency has remained strong because for the
last ten years the U.S. economy and markets were the best game
in town. And while our economy has now gone into the tank, the
dollar has remained strong because the feeling has been that any
problems are temporary. Obviously that is now subject to debate.
Which leads me to a topic I have been loathe to bring up because,
1) it can make your brain hurt, and, 2) to discuss it earlier would
have been a waste of time; the topic being our “current account
deficit,” or, simply, the difference between what the U.S. exports
and what we import. This deficit, $435 billion and growing since
1992, is another way of stating the level to which we are living
beyond our means. In a stable economic environment it”s not
worth bringing up. But as the U.S. and the world tumble, it is.
One of the big advantages of a strong dollar has been the fact that
cheap imports help to keep the rate of inflation down, and,
secondly, foreigners find value in our financial instruments or, in
the case of Daimler, for example, see value in the corporations
themselves.
If the dollar were to fall, however, our level of imports would
decline as they become more expensive. That”s a way to reduce
the current account deficit. But, at the same time, a sharp decline
in the dollar can lead to a sell-off by foreign investors in U.S.
assets because it would reduce the value of their holdings. So
that”s why the topic comes up from time to time. I”m not saying
that the doomsday scenario is about to unfold, but I finally feel
obligated to bring it up and the next month or two could be telling
in the level of interest the topic is accorded.
But back to Japan (the preceding did have everything to do with
it as well), last week I mentioned the flap over the latest history
textbook and, this week, the book written by nationalist historians
was approved for use in Japan”s junior high schools. China and
South Korea immediately protested the lack of sensitivity to
issues like the massacre at Nanking and the treatment of South
Korea”s “comfort women.” Educators did at least tone down
some of the worst rhetoric.
Russia: President Putin went before the Russian people and
painted a bleak picture of the economy (at least in this instance he
was telling the truth). He then said that the army”s goals in
Chechnya had been achieved and that the troops would soon be
removed (here he is lying…Chechnya was another waste of
human life).
And on the issue of freedom of the press in Russia, the last
independent television station, NTV, was the victim of a
government coup as folks loyal to Putin were placed in charge.
[Ted Turner also acquired a minority interest but his power to
influence direction at the station is limited…and he”s a whack job
anyway.] Mikhail Gorbachev, who has regained some influence
in the Kremlin, had the guts to say that the NTV takeover was “a
challenge to our entire society.”
Middle East: I have to be honest. This week it was the same old,
same old, though the Bush Administration hinted that it would
take a more active role in the process than has been the case since
the president”s inauguration.
Britain: Prime Minister Blair did postpone local elections for the
first time since World War II due to the foot-and-mouth
epidemic. The national elections were to piggyback off the local
so it now looks like June for both. The estimated slaughter of
animals has reached 940,000.
Balkans: Yugoslavian officials said Slobodan Milosevic could face
the death penalty for his crimes against the state. Slobo thus
becomes our “Irrelevant Person of the Week.” At least the
situation in Macedonia appears to have stabilized.
Mexico: President Vicente Fox deserves a ton of credit for
keeping one of his campaign promises in appearing to have
brokered a peace with the indigenous Indians of the Chiappas
region. He invited the leaders to state their case before Mexico”s
Congress; just a gutty, brilliant move. Dos Equis for everyone!
–Philippines: Former President Estrada, the B-movie actor who
ended up being a F-president, was arrested on corruption charges.
–The others: 3 places not to go anytime soon. Maoist rebels in
Nepal killed 35 police officers in a series of attacks this week. [I
must say I didn”t realize that this ongoing conflict has claimed
1,550 lives since 1996.] While in Pakistan, a stampede at a
religious shrine killed 40, and in Sri Lanka, another stampede
killed 11 at a rock concert. Yoh, people, just…slow…down.
Random Musing
–Taxes: Well, I”ll say it again. We”ll see what emerges from a
House / Senate conference on this issue now that each one has
passed its own version of tax relief, but this is the last
opportunity to get some real change in marginal rates. There is
hope, I guess. But if you only read a communist rag sheet like
the New York Times, and didn”t have an open mind like your
editor (it really is, I swear), you”d probably take whatever they
write as gospel.
Of course the Times is hostile to anything that helps the average,
hard-working American; it”s for the down-trodden, you know.
So I read with particular interest an article on Friday that had the
following headline.
“In Bush Stronghold, Tax Plan Helps Few.”
The article goes on to describe a poor woman in Helena,
Montana, struggling to make ends meet. It”s a real
tearjerker. Then at the end the following is thrown in.
“On Friday night (Carrie) won $180 on electronic poker. She
took the children out to dinner and paid $60 on her credit card,
she said.”
Electronic poker? You deserve your misery, lady. And of course
the Times reporter was too stupid to put two and two together,
so he doesn”t point out the incongruity in all this and he obviously
doesn”t mention whether he asked Carrie if she had lost $300 the
previous week.
–While we”re on the subject of taxes, the best proposal to come
along since the original IRA legislation, raising the limits on
annual contributions to $5,000 and for 401Ks to $15,000 is
hanging by a thread. How can the poor benefit? ask the
opponents. Are Americans no longer to aspire for advancement,
an improving lifestyle, a nice vacation, a car or home that they
can afford? Folks, these next 12-18 months are crucial in terms
of the kinds of fiscal and social policies we are likely to face
over the next 20 years.
–No way. A study was released that said 1 in 5 high school boys
carried a weapon to school last year. These kids are lying. I
went to a public high school, with kids from all socio-economic
levels, and I never, ever, heard of someone packing a weapon. I
asked one of my classmates, Jimbo, and he doesn”t recall
anything either. Now granted, we graduated in ”76 and I know
times have changed, big time, but this kind of garbage only
heightens the level of anxiety.
–Wine.com laid off two-thirds of its employees. Alcohol abuse.
–Congratulations to Duke and Coach K for capturing the NCAA
basketball title. As for Shane Battier, All-American Boy, all I can
say is I wish there were more like him.
–I have nothing to add about the possible discontinuation of
Saturday mail delivery, other then that I”d be careful complaining
to the clerks.
–CBS News anchor Dan Rather was the featured guest at a
recent Democratic fundraiser in Texas. Now there is an obvious
problem with this but Rather is playing the weasel, saying he
didn”t know what the event was really all about.
–In the last decade, 85 Seattle fishermen have lost their lives out
on the high seas. Add another 15, the crew of The Arctic Rose,
which went down in the Bering Sea.
–Bill Clinton was in India, offering his help to recovering
earthquake victims. Not to be disrespectful or anything, but you
all know the reason why he went. Something like the last 20 Miss
Worlds and Miss Universes seem to have come from here.
“Hey, cutie…”
–And then there is the case this week of the wife of the outgoing
U.S. ambassador to India, who enraged wildlife activists when it
was discovered she had a shahtoosh shawl – a luxurious wrap
made from the throat fur of endangered Tibetan antelopes.
According to the AP, “Three to five of the antelopes, called
chirus, are killed to make each shawl. The shawls cost $2,000-
$5,000 each and are so fine that they can be pulled through a
wedding ring.”
Environmentalists say chirus are slaughtered by the thousands in
China (the population has plunged from 1 million to just 75,000)
and their hides are taken to Kashmir where the fiber is woven into
shawls. The purchase and sale is illegal in both India and the U.S.
And I didn”t realize that some wealthy women in the New York
area have had to return their shawls recently when confronted by
authorities.
So there I was last week, writing of the Wild Yak Brigade in
Tibet and their mission to prevent poaching of chirus, and I didn”t
realize there was a bigger story here. But perhaps it”s fitting that
we end our in depth coverage of the noble Yak in this manner, the
moniker for a band of Tibetan warriors whose job it is to save the
little chiru. We have learned in the past few months that the Yak,
himself, is endangered in the Himalayan region, though the
domesticated variety is doing just fine, thank you. And we have
also discovered that the Yak is energy self-sufficient. But it is
time to bid adieu to this mangy, yet majestic animal. Long may
you live, Sir Yak. Live free or die!
–What makes golf such a great sport? I was watching the
Masters Thursday and 71-year-old Arnold Palmer hit two great
shots that probably weren”t duplicated by the rest of the field the
entire day. It didn”t matter that he shot 81 for the round.
Now yours truly is an incredibly lousy golfer, especially
considering how much I”ve played in my life, but 2 or 3 times a
year I can hit a shot just like a pro, and for most of you, it”s
probably one or two shots each round.
Could I ever hit a Randy Johnson fastball? No.
Could I catch a pass over the middle with Ray Lewis about to
knife, err, smash me in the back? No.
Would I want to go up for a rebound against Karl Malone? No.
Can I even skate? No.
But every now and then I hit my 6-iron pure. That”s what is great
about golf.
–Sports Illustrated had an interview with a hairstylist who takes
care of sports and entertainment figures, like the New York
Knicks” Latrell Sprewell, who like their hair done up in cornrows.
We now have an answer to the question all of you must have
asked yourself at least once.
Q: “How often do you do (Sprewell”s) hair?”
A: “About once a week.”
Q: “So he doesn”t wash his hair for a week?”
A: “He tries not to get his hair wet. Wet hair makes the cornrows
frizzy.”
All together now….Ohh, gross!
Hummus closed at $2.89 a pound. The futures exchange is open.
Cubic Zirconium: $22.46
Gold closed at $260
Oil, $27.06
Returns for the week, 4/2-4/6
Dow Jones -0.9% [9791]
S&P 500 -2.8%
S&P MidCap -2.7%
Russell 2000 -3.5%
Nasdaq -6.5% [1720]
Returns for the period, 1/1/01-4/6/01
Dow Jones -9.2%
S&P 500 -14.5%
S&P MidCap -13.4%
Russell 2000 -10.1%
Nasdaq -30.3%…incredible
Bulls 48.9%
Bears 38.3% [Source: Investors Intelligence]
Note: For you market junkies, I have a good piece in my “Wall
Street History” link.
And folks, don”t forget we have archives on everything here.
Just click on the icon at the bottom for each link. The same goes
for “Lamb in Command,” who is currently in the midst of
rescuing Dolly the sheep in an adventure destined for the silver
screen. [Revenue for the site, you know.]
Have a great week!
Brian Trumbore
