[Posted 7:00 AM ET]
Iraq
If I’m the Bush administration, my chief concern is ‘What will
the television pictures look like this summer?’ As of today, the
June 30 deadline for turning sovereignty over to an Iraqi council
of some sort appears to be solid as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
has agreed to the timetable as long as direct elections are then
held by year end. The Ayatollah also wants to ensure that the
interim government, post-June 30, has power limited to
preparing the nation for a vote, while at the same time an interim
constitution has been delayed, one outstanding issue being how
do you define the U.S. and its military? The U.S. is to be a guest
rather than an occupying power, but under what conditions, if
any, will it be allowed to use force?
Sistani still refuses to talk to Americans such as Paul Bremer,
though we have no real choice but to go along with his wishes.
He does, however, listen to Kofi Annan and his chief
representative, while for his part, Annan noted Iraqis growing
impatience, citing “massive unemployment, rising disillusion and
anger.” The nation is becoming increasingly polarized.
But with all the bashing of the current Iraqi Governing Council,
including at times by yours truly, in the interest of balanced
discussion I note the following opinion of the Washington Post’s
Jim Hoagland.
“Now the entire council is being regularly denounced as feckless
and corrupt by anonymous State Department and other U.S.
officials quoted in the Post, the New York Times and elsewhere.
One intended effect of this is to establish that whatever goes
wrong in Iraq is the fault of the Iraqis, not the brilliant minds in
Washington who were just trying to help…
“Let the council be the council and get on with its work.”
Finally, this week Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
accused Syria and Iran of allowing terrorists to cross the border.
No kidding, Mr. Secretary. Some of us farsighted types said
back in April we had too few boots on the ground in Iraq; troops
needed not only to help secure the borders, but also the ammo
dumps. You, however, remained adamant this wasn’t necessary
and this ill-advised stance has cost the U.S. and its allies dearly.
I hope some of you got to watch the latest installment of PBS’
“Frontline” on Thursday, a superb, 2-hour history of the war,
including interviews with key British, American and even Iraqi
generals involved in last spring’s fighting. No doubt, some who
viewed it will say it was nothing but anti-Bush propaganda,
particularly because about 10% of the show was devoted to the
times when the U.S. mistook civilians for military targets, but
you can’t escape the truth either. Nonetheless, the brave men
and women fought with distinction and supreme courage and this
should be required viewing by every American.
But when it comes to Donald Rumsfeld, “Frontline” was
merciless and I’m in complete agreement. History will not treat
this man well when it comes to the war, particularly the
aftermath. Face facts, he blew it.
Wall Street
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned this week
that with regards to government-sponsored mortgage giants
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the larger the debt they take on,
the bigger an issue it becomes and it’s “not in their control to
comprehend all the risks that can arise.” In other words, we’ve
had it good the past year or so but there could come a time when
the markets will need to seek immediate medical attention.
Some of us have been reminding folks that financial accidents
can happen, and while Greenspan acknowledges there are many
bright people working on risk management at Fannie and
Freddie, one need only turn back to the example of Long-Term
Capital to understand that even geniuses can fail.
The danger is that for decades bond holders in particular have
taken comfort from the implied guarantee that the federal
government would step in to make investors whole should there
be a systemic failure due to chaotic financial markets, or a rogue
trader, whereas the chairman says that the actual rules must be
spelled out, one way or another, as the balance sheets expand
to gigantic proportions. Other federal regulators have also
made clear that Fannie and Freddie rely far more than they
should on manual accounting systems (which can override
computers), thus adding to the risk of human error, or
financial chicanery.
[We also learned on Friday that Greg Parseghian, Freddie Mac
CEO for all of six months in 2003, received total cash and prizes
of over $19 million for his work. Congratulations!]
Meanwhile, on the positive side, Mr. Greenspan opined that U.S.
household finances are in good shape despite overall debt levels,
but of course that has mostly to do with soaring real estate
values. And then Greenspan weighed in on Social Security,
saying that eventually benefits would have to be cut unless the
government adopts a new inflation index that would reduce the
existing cost of living escalator, as well as other moves such as
raising the retirement age further and reducing the growth in
government spending. He didn’t, however, advocate raising
taxes, which Democrats then had a bit of fun with, and the whole
issue is now guaranteed to be part of the campaign from here
forward.
Street Bytes
–The markets finished mixed, with the S&P 500 eking out a gain
of less than one point (to 1144.94), while the Dow Jones lost 36
points and Nasdaq dropped 8, to 10583 and 2029, respectively.
For Nasdaq it was the 6th straight weekly decline, though all of
the losses except one have been of the less than 1% variety.
There was some good news on the capital spending front from
the likes of Qualcomm and Sun Microsystems, but if you’re a
contrarian, you couldn’t help but notice the level of money
flowing into equity mutual funds, in January the fastest pace in 3
years, while sentiment readings such as the bull / bear reading
below continue to flash warning signals, though admittedly it’s
been this way for well over 6 months.
–U.S. Treasury Yields
6-mo. 1.00% 2-yr. 1.64% 10-yr. 3.97% 30-yr. 4.84%
German Chancellor Schroeder announced early in the week that
the European Central Bank should lower its key interest rate in
order to weaken the euro. The existing exchange rate with the
U.S. dollar is “not satisfactory” in his words and clearly the
European export sector has been hurt by the falling greenback
which then makes American goods more competitive, while
increasing the price of European goods sold in the States and
elsewhere. Schroeder was later followed by similar calls from
France and then at week’s end the ECB announced that inflation
in the European Union is running at just a 1.6% annual rate. In
other words, there is room for the ECB to act should they choose
to do so. As you would expect, the dollar itself reached it’s best
levels in over a month.
But back to Alan Greenspan, it was a particularly busy week for
Mr. Bubble and among his other pronouncements was his remark
that American homeowners and homebuyers would be better off
choosing adjustable rate mortgages over fixed ones. This is
typical. He’s telling you to take on more risk, just like we’ve
been encouraged to do in the stock market through artificially
low interest rates the past year in particular. Granted, if you are
only going to be in your home for 5 years or so, maybe this
makes sense, but when rates finally do rise, and it WILL happen
one day, sports fans, ARM holders will get whacked.
And back to Greenspan’s call to use a new inflation gauge that
would lower the official rate for the purposes of determining
Social Security benefits, this also took a lot of gall. Here in the
real world, you and I know that inflation, as measured by the key
items in one’s life, such as food and energy, insurance,
healthcare, property taxes and college tuition, is running far
above the official consumer price index data as it is.
–Energy: The focus this week was largely on Saudi Arabia, with
debate continuing to rage as to the true state of its reserves. Of
course right after the U.S. and its allies went into Iraq last spring
this became a question there as well. Just how much do some of
the world’s leading producers of crude actually have and, just as
importantly, how hard is it to get to? Both Iraq and Saudi Arabia
have fields that are in disrepair, though for their part the Saudis
vehemently disagree and say all is, err, well. What it boils down
to is the point I’ve been making for ages, that being, long-term
the world has real problems assuming even a minimal amount of
growth in the global economy. Those looking for alternative
sources, though their hearts are in the right place, need to face
the reality that before these can really have an impact, we could
be facing headlines such as “Problems filling tankers in Persian
Gulf…level of supplies questioned.” There’s only one short-
term solution and that is to drill more and add pipelines.
Regarding the latter, the Kremlin is reportedly close to
formalizing an agreement to build a pipeline to the Pacific Coast,
thereby opening sales up to the likes of Japan and the U.S. I
noted a few weeks ago this could be President Putin’s most
important decision of the year and it appears he is snubbing
China, which sought its own pipeline from Russia for its sole
use. This, however, was a Yukos-led plan and Yukos being in
trouble these days didn’t help. However, lest you all say of this
new project, “Ah-ha! That’s an immediate source of energy for
some major consumer nations,” I need to remind you that it will
take 5-6 years to complete.
–Related to the above, France’s Total is the latest to sign an
agreement with Iran, in this case to build a liquefied natural gas
plant and export facility, which comes on the heels of Japan’s
deal the previous week to develop an oil field in the land of the
mullahs. Washington is not pleased, to say the least, as this
further complicates matters in trying to crack down on Iran’s
nuclear weapons program.
–The Justice Department will block Oracle’s hostile bid for
PeopleSoft on antitrust grounds, as Oracle’s Larry Ellison vows
to fight on. And there is an antitrust investigation looking into
possible price fixing in the global memory chip market,
involving companies such as Samsung, Hynix and Micron
Technologies.
–But wait, there’s more…Microsoft continues to be under the
antitrust microscope, both in Europe and Japan. It seems to me
that Bill Gates and Co. need to settle these issues post haste or
the shares will continue to be dead money. It’s also obviously
why Microsoft is leery of parting with more of its cash, such as
in the form of an increased dividend, without knowing what its
exact obligations may be as a result of any final judgments
against the company.
–New York Stock Exchange CEO John Thain expects former
chairman, and dirtball, Richard Grasso to return a “very
substantial” portion of his payout. Grasso, through his attorney,
said “Eat my shorts,” or something like that.
–We congratulate Genentech for the success of its recently
approved cancer drug, Avastin, which also led to a nice bump in
its shares. No doubt more strides have been made in the last five
years than the previous 25 in the cancer-fighting field, but I still
caution investors not to jump at the first news release from some
of the smaller outfits in particular that tout a study without
impressing upon investors that the drug may still be 5-7 years
from coming to market, if ever. Don’t worry about missing the
first double. If the drug works, there will be plenty of
opportunity to buy into the story.
–Outsourcing: The other side of the debate. In a column from
Bangalore, India, the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman took
the pulse of things from the founder of 24 / 7 on the issue of
whether or not outsourcing is bad for America.
“Well, (S. Nagarajan) answered patiently, ‘look around this
office.’ All the computers are from Compaq. The basic software
is from Microsoft. The phones are from Lucent. The air-
conditioning is by Carrier, and even the bottled water is by Coke,
because when it comes to drinking water in India, people want a
trusted brand. On top of all this…90 percent of the shares in 24 /
7 are owned by U.S. investors. This explains why, although the
U.S. has lost some service jobs to India, total exports from U.S.
companies to India have grown from $2.5 billion in 1990 to $4.1
billion in 2002. What goes around comes around, and also
benefits Americans.”
–U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick had an op-ed in the
Wall Street Journal defending the recently completed U.S.-
Australian trade deal, one which I slammed.
“In trade negotiations as in all walks of life, it is important to
remember the Ninety-nine Percent Rule: Do not pass up an
overwhelmingly positive result just because tough compromises
had to be made on the last 1%….
“Yet after this agreement was announced, some supporters of
free trade chose to focus instead on a single agricultural
commodity, accounting for less than 1% of two-way trade, that is
not liberalized in the agreement. Standing on lofty principle,
these critics seem to discount the agreement’s overall
significance, both for America’s economy and for the cause of
global trade liberalization. It is time to pause, take a deep breath,
and reflect on what has been achieved.”
I took a deep breath, Mr. Zoellick, and I’ve reached the
conclusion you are nothing but a political hack. No doubt, there
are big benefits for both countries, but you’re missing the
freakin’ point. You go on and on (I’ve quoted just a small piece)
about prior trade deals with the likes of Canada and Israel and
how everyone doesn’t always get what they want, but you don’t
say anything about the paramount issue of the day, the war on
terror. Maybe other critics have missed this point, too (they
have), but nothing is more important and the sugar subsidy that
has so infuriated the Aussies will cost us down the road, and for
what? Some political contributions from a few sugar barons.
It’s sickening.
–Incredibly, the chairman of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson
was forced to resign when it was revealed he had spent
considerable time in prison back in the 1950s and 60s for a string
of armed-robberies.
–AT&T is eliminating another 8% of its labor force…4,600 jobs.
–Various state pension plans and fund managers are withholding
their votes for Disney Chairman Michael Eisner. Of course
should he be forced out he’ll walk away with $100s of millions
and have the last laugh, proclaiming “Suckers!” as he heads to
Space Mountain.
–NBC had a typical story of our times, this one concerning
United Airlines and how it’s slashing healthcare benefits for
early retirees as part of its plan to re-emerge from bankruptcy.
The whole pension system in this country is like Love Canal,
slowly poisoning the water supply, sapping the spirit and
strength of those who are now being penalized for past loyalties.
It’s a horrible reflection on our country, its values and ethics,
especially when you can point to excessive executive pay at
many of the very same outfits that later drowned. It’s also a
great issue for the Democrats.
–Energy producer Calpine’s inability to market $2.3 billion in
bonds needed to address its 2004 debt obligation is but another
example that the boom in junk bonds is over. Investors are
demanding higher yields to accept the risks inherent in the sector.
–Inflation Watch: Rubber was up 41% in 2003, thus hurting tire
manufacturers; lumber is up 17% since December, adding to
housing costs; and Mark R. reports that his cleaning lady hiked
her fee $10, or 15%!!! So pick your poison.
–My portfolio: I haven’t made a move in weeks, but thanks to a
nice surge in my biggest energy play, I’m now about 45%
equities (35% or so energy) and 55% crinkled cash; edges torn
off, infuriating storeowners who balk at taking the currency.
International Affairs
North Korea: The 6-party talks renewed this week with the same
result; Kim Jong-Il’s Orcs, we have to assume, continue to build
bombs while the U.S. refuses to budge on its proposition that the
North must dismantle its weapons programs before Washington
will entertain thoughts of compensation and security guarantees.
South Korea, on the other hand, is pushing for the North to first
freeze its operations, then dismantle them, in return for aid and
peace treaties. But as I noted before, if I’m Kim, I certainly drag
things out until after the U.S. election. A new round of
discussions may nonetheless be held in April.
[Note: A follow-up to my comment of last week that the U.S.
could suffer thousands of casualties before a major response is
mustered should Kim cross the line, due to our overstretched
military. Some of you may been thinking, “Aren’t the 37,000
troops currently in South Korea being moved away from the
DMZ to prevent this?” Yes, but no one is going anywhere until
fall at the earliest, at least that’s my understanding from what
I’ve read. For its part, South Korea does realize it needs to
eventually take over full front-line responsibilities and it’s
moving towards that end.]
Iran: As expected, the conservatives wracked up a new majority
in parliament in the sham election of February 20 that excluded
hundreds of reformist candidates. We now sit back to see how
the students react this spring, while the mullahs consolidate their
weapons programs.
China / Hong Kong: The debate over “one country, two systems”
is heating up yet again as Beijing has been criticizing the
opposition in Hong Kong for not being loyal to the motherland,
with the leading paper dragging out a speech by Deng Xiaoping
citing his criteria for true patriotism, a none too subtle hint to toe
the party line or face the consequences. And then there is the
issue of ‘underground churches,’ with 2 Christian leaders facing
life in prison for “revealing state secrets” to a foreign
organization. Beijing, of course, didn’t give any details, such as
in ‘what foreign organization?’ [Agence France-Presse]
Russia: President Vladimir Putin sacked his cabinet, including
the prime minister, a Yeltsin holdover, as a way of saying he
wants to wipe the slate clean for his next term following the
election on March 14. [I’ll predict Putin garners 84% of the
vote.] The move really wasn’t that big a deal, however, as some
will undoubtedly be brought back to serve, except the prime
minister who was sympathetic to oligarchs like former Yukos
chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the latter continuing to rot in
prison.
Then there is the tussle between Russia and Qatar concerning the
assassination of Chechen rebel leader Yanderbiyev a week ago.
Qatar arrested 2 Russian agents (a 3rd was released) in the killing,
while Russia said Yanderbiyev’s death was “linked to the battle
against terrorism” and that the suspects shouldn’t be charged
with murder, as Qatar has done.
Britain: Everyone knows that all nations spy on each other, even
allies, and that the United Nations is simply a nest of vipers, with
a few legitimate diplomats and bureaucrats mixed in for good
measure. But when Clare Short, a former member of Tony
Blair’s cabinet, accused Britain’s security services of spying on
Secretary General Kofi Annan as part of the run up to the war
with Iraq, she crossed the line. Geezuz, keep your mouth shut.
[Sorry, I’m a Blair fan and this could hurt him, big time.] Of
course the U.S. is probably involved in some form or other if the
story is true, but this is something that normally comes out with
time, when the earth has moved on to other things, such as in the
case of former Reagan official, Thomas Reed, who just wrote a
book on his experiences 20 years after the fact; totally
appropriate.
Separately, the U.K. is moving closer to a national identity card
as worries increase over the potential flood of immigrants from
new E.U. members (mostly in Eastern Europe). Under the
proposal, those arriving without any means of support would be
deported, rather than soak up the entitlement benefits now in
existence. A good move.
Japan: Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, was
sentenced to death by hanging for masterminding the 1995 nerve
gas attack on a Tokyo subway that killed 27. This son of Satan,
however, was fully capable of far worse destruction and the
Japanese people, in a perverse way, are lucky he exposed himself
in the killing of ‘only’ 27 that day. It’s also a stark reminder of
how when al Qaeda’s top leaders are finally taken out, the threat
goes on for the rest of our lifetimes as others fill the void.
Singapore: I was reading an interview with the nation’s defense
minister in Defense News and he was asked about the issue of
piracy. It’s easy to forget that with all the activity in the waters
surrounding Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, for starters, a
very real threat is that pirates / terrorists board a tanker and ram
or detonate it somewhere. [This is my conclusion, not
necessarily that of the defense chief. So far, a link between
terrorists and pirates who board ships merely to plunder them has
not been established.]
Random Musings
–I won’t comment on “The Passion of the Christ” until I see it
myself (which won’t be for a few weeks), and I may not after I
do so, anyway. But to those who say it is virulently anti-Semitic,
I thought George Will had the right approach. The real problem
today is political anti-Semitism as opposed to the religiously
motivated variety. Will cites examples such as France and
Germany, though I was surprised he didn’t include the worst
offender, and the one with the greatest immediate potential to do
bodily harm, Russia.
–One of the remarkable points made in the “Frontline” program
on Iraq was this fact, from an insider in the Defense Department.
We targeted Iraqi leaders 50 times, such as in the opening salvo
where we thought we nailed Uday or Qusay, at least, and didn’t
get it right once. 0 for 50. Now understand, the military hit the
assigned target all 50 times. They did their job right. The
problem was our intelligence. Unfortunately, this led to
countless civilian casualties.
–As for President Bush’s call for a constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage, as I noted last week I’m disappointed this
topic could easily dominate debate this fall. I also found it
interesting that a Los Angeles Times poll shows Californians
split 47-46 in favor of an amendment, while 57% oppose San
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s handling of the issue.
–Back to movies, I have never had so many of you comment on
one as you have in the case of “Miracle.” Two thumbs up!
–Dick Morris had an interesting point in a New York Post op-ed.
Because of our success in the war on terror, especially in terms
of not suffering a follow-up attack at home, President Bush is
being hurt because it allows the people to focus on other issues;
or as commentators such as George Will and Robert Novak have
remarked, the country just doesn’t feel like it’s at war. Of course
it would help if the president would ask us to sacrifice a little.
–So Ralph Nader is running again. I’m not so sure he won’t
back down by June, but regardless, I would agree his impact will
be less than in 2000, though obviously even a 1,000 votes here or
there could rock the boat in key states, except I also tend to
believe they would be mostly Deaniacs; folks who probably
wouldn’t have voted otherwise and thus aren’t really taking away
from the Democratic candidate.
–John Edwards has been campaigning in New York this week,
blasting Wall Street with his staid mantra, “George Bush spends
more time on Wall Street than Main Street.” Well, in the New
York City area it’s a pretty dumb line of attack because love it or
hate it, success on Wall Street is huge for the overall economy in
this region. Edwards does have a good point in saying the most
important thing to do with our educational system is to prepare
kids in math and science…
—…which leads me to the issue of President Bush’s already
forgotten proposal to get back to the moon and on to Mars. I’ve
been giving this a lot of thought and for those of you who
ridicule Bush’s plans, I urge you to take a look at my 2/19
edition of “Bar Chat” where I posted President John F.
Kennedy’s speech on NASA and the U.S. space program from
September 1962. In it, JFK fully admits that the race to the
moon was in part a jobs program and I would now say, what’s
wrong with that? President Bush should be doing the same.
The Senate has already approved a $318 billion transportation
bill (a jobs program), so why then isn’t anyone, on either side,
mentioning that we want to encourage the kinds of math and
science jobs of the future that a coherent, renewed space effort
ensures? And to those who are falling for the line that it would
be too costly, bunk. The opposition is putting out one lie after
another in this regard. It’s a matter of priorities. Do you want to
encourage the kinds of jobs that any Latin American immigrant
can do? Or do we want to compete with the engineers and
scientists that China and India are now beginning to mass
produce?
–David Ignatius of the Washington Post on John Edwards and
his anti-NAFTA stance. “(It’s) the economics equivalent of
joining the Flat Earth Society.”
–Aside from voting on the Democratic presidential nominee on
Tuesday, Californians go to the polls to give a thumbs up or
down to Governor Schwarzenegger’s prime initiative, the $15
billion bond issue that will consolidate the state’s debt and allow
it to move forward. Schwarzenegger’s approval rating is a super
65%, according to a recent Los Angeles Times poll.
–A “60 Minutes” segment last week on illegal immigrants from
Latin America and their extensive “boosting” (shoplifting)
operations in the U.S. was more than a bit disturbing and certain
to hurt efforts to increase the levels crossing the borders. [Yes, I
also thought Andy Rooney was incredibly obnoxious with his
thoughts on religion.]
–Julia Holtz had a piece in the International Herald Tribune on
the plight of cows in India and the sanctuaries that are being
established to care for abandoned ones that otherwise live off
garbage. [Picture the quality of the milk that some of the poor
then drink…then again, don’t.] It reminded me of a chief
frustration of mine when I spent a few weeks in Cochin (the
spice capital of the world) back in 1985 as part of a work
assignment. I’d read in the local papers every day of the
pedestrian deaths in the country because people walking their
‘sacred’ cows competed with heavy truck traffic on the roads. I
used to lie awake at night in my hotel room trying to figure it all
out. I couldn’t.
–I just realized I have 4 more years to be in the key 18-49
demographic. Some of us have to console ourselves with
thoughts such as this as we age.
–People talking over each other on talk shows should face felony
charges.
–I gave a speech to the local Rotary Club this week and saw my
grade school principal, the great Wilbur Nelson. You always
think back to your youth and the teachers who may have had an
impact on your life, but Mr. Nelson was a classic example of
how it’s the principal who really sets the tone. He was a leader.
So if you see yours around town, thank them.
–Turkmenistan’s strongman Saparmurat Niyazov is now
demanding that all men get rid of their beards and cut their hair.
According to the BBC, he gave no reason for the new edict. And
if you plan on renting a car in Turkmenistan, whilst traveling
about, whatever you do… don’t turn on the radio! That’s illegal
too. In other words, no “traffic and weather on the 8s” here.
–As a follow-up to my pieces on eating farmed salmon, I saw an
AP story that said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is testing
hatcheries in the northeast “for dioxin and other pollutants
because of fears they could be picking up contaminants from
commonly used feeds.” OK, that much we already knew. But
check this out.
“One of the most immediate concerns is with Atlantic salmon,
which do not die after spawning, and, unlike their Pacific
cousins, can be used for years as brood stock in the hatcheries.
Other long-lived fish, such as lake trout, could also be affected…
“When the fish become too old to be used for breeding, they are
released into lakes and other waterways in the region for
recreational fishing.
“Because they would have been eating the feed longer, the older
fish may have higher levels of contaminants…”
Yikes. So, basically, when you catch one of these suckers, the
least you should do is ask Mrs. Salmon or Mr. Lake Trout just
how old they are.
–Finally, President Bush has received heat for not attending any
funerals of American servicemen and women killed in Iraq or
Afghanistan. While I somewhat understand, my own problem
has been in his not holding a memorial service or, as a reader
pointed out to me, not even calling for a moment of silence
during the State of the Union address. So I have to make note of
a piece by Kevin Baker in the February / March issue of
American Heritage which supplies some historical context.
“George Washington…laid down an explicit precedent on the
subject, albeit in the case of a prominent civilian. Invited to
attend the funeral of Cornelia Roosevelt, wife of the New York
Senator Isaac Roosevelt, in the first year of his Presidency,
Washington declined, even though the national government was
in New York City. Were he to attend, our first President wrote,
‘it might be difficult to discriminate in cases which might
thereafter happen.’
“Even as the commander of American troops during the
Revolution, Washington attended only one funeral of an
individual soldier that American history specialists at the Library
of Congress can confirm – that of Jack Custis, his stepson and
aide, who perished of camp fever at Yorktown.”
Then there was Abraham Lincoln. Of course you have the
greatest funeral oration of all time, his Gettysburg Address, but
two years earlier Lincoln attended the funeral of an aide from the
President’s years in Springfield who was later killed in
Alexandria, Virginia, by a tavern keeper “for having cut down a
Confederate flag after a minor engagement there.” [Baker]
Lincoln later wrote the man’s parents.
“In the untimely loss of your noble son, our affliction here, is
scarcely less than your own. So much of promised usefulness to
one’s country, and of bright hopes for one’s self and friends,
have rarely been so suddenly dashed, as in his fall…
“My acquaintance with him began less than two years ago;
yet…it was as intimate as the disparity of our ages, and my
engrossing engagements, would permit…
“I never heard him utter a profane, or an intemperate word.
What was conclusive of his good heart, he never forgot his
parents…
“In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of
your sorrow, I have ventured to address you this tribute to the
memory of my young friend, and your brave and early fallen
child. May God give you that consolation which is beyond all
earthly power. Sincerely your friend in a common affliction –
A. Lincoln.”
—
God bless the men and women of our armed forces.
God bless America.
—
Gold closed at $396
Oil, $36.16…us energy bulls love this. Consumers hate it.
Returns for the week 2/23-2/27
Dow Jones -0.3% [10583]
S&P 500 +0.1% [1144]
S&P MidCap +0.8%
Russell 2000 +1.0%
Nasdaq -0.4% [2029]
Returns for the period 1/1/04-2/27/04
Dow Jones +1.2%
S&P 500 +3.0%
S&P MidCap +4.4%
Russell 2000 +5.1%
Nasdaq +1.3%
Bulls 60.2
Bears 17.4 [Source: Chartcraft / Investors Intelligence]
Have a great week. I appreciate your support.
Brian Trumbore
