[Posted 7:00 AM ET]
Mistakes Were Made, Part II
In watching President Bush the other night, I couldn’t help but
think “this is embarrassing.” It reminded me of the times in
college when I decided to hit a party or the local watering hole
instead of the library, and then the next day Professor Sears
would call on me and I’d get nailed for not being prepared.
Oh, I heard all the platitudes the next day, how Bush showed
resolve and defiance in restating the administration policy of
staying the course in Iraq. But to then gloss over his totally inept
responses to some of the reporters’ questions simply isn’t dealing
in reality.
And let’s talk about the press. I have as many problems with the
left-wing media bias as any other Republican, but some of the
drivel I heard this week was pure hogwash. Folks, thank God we
have a normally activist White House press corps. It keeps our
leaders on their toes, and honest. But you know what? The
reporters in attendance did an absolutely awful job. In fact, they
weren’t tough enough on President Bush.
Part of me understands why the White House refuses to admit a
mistake, anything, like in not firing CIA Director George Tenet
(just dreaming), or in not knowing that U.S. troop levels were
woefully inadequate for the postwar phase in Iraq. We’re less
than seven months from an election, after all. Clearly Karl Rove
believes it is too late to level with the American people. Tenet,
for example, could turn on the administration in a big way if he
was let go now. Look at the damage he’s doing while still
playing chief spook. “It will take us 5 years to implement all the
necessary reforms.” Oh, that’s a winner. And I guess the White
House feels they can’t admit the Pentagon treated postwar
security in Iraq as if they were securing Fort Ticonderoga, rather
than a huge nation with thousands of arms dumps and porous
borders with the likes of Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Now, 20,000 troops are being forced to spend another 90-120
days in Iraq beyond their original tour of duty because 1) they’re
desperately needed and 2) Donald Rumsfeld thought he could
do the entire operation on the cheap. Tens of thousands of lives
are cruelly being toyed with, including the families of our
servicemen and women, and over time this will have a
deleterious effect on retention and recruitment.
I addressed the dangers of the unprecedented troop rotation, by
the way, in this space 2/14/04. Why, Mr. President, with the
June 30 deadline fast approaching and every armchair general
knowing there would be chaos beforehand, wasn’t our military
better prepared? Why were some generals surprised? What have
you and the Defense Department done to change the culture that
has generals afraid to speak up for fear their careers will be
torpedoed? What are you doing to address our war (call a spade
a spade) with Iran and Syria, who are flooding Iraq with men and
materiel? What have you done to win over Ayatollah al-Sistani,
the key figure in the run-up to 6/30 and after? If nations are now
pulling contractors because of security concerns, how will we
win the hearts and minds if the reconstruction effort falters?
George Will said “The first task of government is order.” We
have a long ways to go before our leaders can look America in
the eyes, let alone Iraqis, and say one year after the fall of
Saddam we have achieved it. Thank God, the grunts of the U.S.
military always answer the call. It’s just a shame the leadership
often doesn’t.
Let me reiterate I am 100% behind this war. I know President
Bush will stay the course, but as one that is going to vote for him
this fall, I also see the shaky and, in some cases, plummeting poll
numbers and I think of the coming debates, when the candidates
vie for what will by then be the final 6-7%. At least John Kerry
doesn’t have a coherent policy of his own when it comes to Iraq
and the war on terror. I’d just like to be able to watch them
without covering my eyes.
Finally, though it’s after the fact, President Bush missed a huge
opportunity with the one-year anniversary. He should have held
a memorial service at the National Cathedral for all those who
have lost lives thus far in Iraq. It would have made for a great
scene; Tony Blair, other world leaders and family members in
attendance. Bush then could have given a speech along the lines
of his strong opening statement the other night. It also would
have been a way to show empathy on a national and global scale,
much like his stirring performance of 9/14/01, three days after
the attacks. It would have unified the country. But then I’m not
Karl Rove. In case you missed it the other night, he was sitting
there cringing, too.
Real Estate / Inflation
It is said that since 1945, there has not been a single year in
America where, nationwide, the value of residential real estate
has declined. Of course there are individual markets that have,
but overall there is certainly little doubt that owning a home,
over any significant period of time, has been a winner.
As for yours truly, I have seen this firsthand with my own
property, now held for ten years, but I keep shaking my head and
proclaimed at least four years ago that the real estate bubble
across the country was about to burst. I couldn’t have been more
wrong…perhaps the single worst call on this site.
But what of today? A terrific example of the environment in the
New York area was supplied by my friend Jimbo. He was cold-
called by a realtor asking Jim if he wanted to sell his home. “Ah,
no,” Jim replied. “Can’t say me and the missus were planning on
moving tomorrow.” The point being the supply / demand
situation in this entire area has gotten so out of hand prices are
being driven to ridiculously high levels. You all saw the latest
on Manhattan, for example, with the average apartment now
going for $1 million, up 20-30% in one year, depending on the
survey. Heck, even in the cheaper outer boroughs, prices have
soared up to 20% here as well. Or you have the latest from Los
Angeles County, up 29% year over year in March to a median
value of $375,000. [Los Angeles Times]
Sure, the above represents a rather extreme picture and not all
markets are this hot, but look what’s happening worldwide. I
have previously written of skyrocketing prices in Spain and in
Britain and regarding the latter, one London expert said prices in
his city are so out of control he forecasts a 30% crash, soon. [If
you needed more evidence of the insane market in London, you
need look no further than the mansion that was sold this week for
$128 million…$128 million…a world record price for a home.]
Then there’s Shanghai, where property sales are up 42% with the
average home price here having risen 24% in 2003. And in this
case you can’t just lay it all off on a burgeoning middle class.
There is a ton of speculation going on.
What’s important to conclude about the bubble, though, is that it
is becoming tougher and tougher in many areas for companies to
attract workers thanks to home values that are increasingly
beyond the means of the average prospect. [If real estate is rising
10-20%, and your wages are going up just 3%, after awhile new
home buyers, especially first time ones, are screwed.] I’ve seen
this in New Jersey, the shrinking of the middle class. I’ve read
about it in much of California, and many of you have told similar
tales in the rest of America.
But while inflation in real estate can be good if you’re a long-
time owner, there are other indicators that aren’t as good; from
platinum at 24-year-highs, to gasoline futures at their highest
level in two decades, to a consumer price index for March that
showed the core rate up a substantial 0.4%, double what was
expected. And if one wants to look for signs of economic vigor
that are frequently harbingers of inflation, look no further than a
reading on freight and passenger traffic, now at a 14-year-high,
or big increases in barometers of manufacturing in Philadelphia
and New York, or a new surge in housing starts that will lead to
more shortages in the building supply chain, or retail sales, up in
March by the highest level in a year.
Well, knowing all this, why is the Federal Reserve, whose #1
mission is supposedly to get ahead of the inflation train, still
on hold? For one, the low interest rate policy of the past few
years has stoked real estate at a time when this was basically
the only thing holding things up, and Chairman Alan Greenspan
has been afraid to pull the plug until he is certain other areas,
such as in employment and capital spending, can pick up their
share of the load. But also the raw data on which the government
relies continues to mask the inflationary pressures that exist
in the real world; healthcare, property taxes, college tuition…
you know the story.
But the Fed would also say, ‘Hey, look, with capacity utilization
at only 76.5% there simply isn’t a lot of pricing pressure, while
at the same time the rate of job creation, though improving, is
still at a low level; another factor containing official inflation.’
No doubt there is some truth in this. DuPont, for example, is
slashing 4,000 jobs because it said its customers still won’t
accept price increases. But while this may be the case in much
of America, the canary in the mine is over in Asia.
Japan just announced that wholesale prices have increased for the
first time in 44 months and pricing power in some sectors is
returning. China is also seeing some inflation, with consumer
prices up to an unsettling annual rate of 3% in March, after years
of flat or falling prices here.
And since we’re on the subject of China, it’s their boom, after
all, that is fueling the explosion in commodities and the
government, which is trying to reduce the rate of growth in the
economy to a more sustainable 7% rate, saw it expand at a 9.7%
clip in the first quarter instead. But while Beijing has issued
responsible policy statements, the local governments are ignoring
them and continue to go full tilt, laying on one irresponsible
capital project after another. It is out of control and as I’ve
written since December it’s tough to envision a scenario
where it doesn’t all end in a torrent of tears, as credit has now
been handed out to one shaky enterprise after another.
So maybe I just circled back to the reason why the Fed hasn’t
raised rates yet. Maybe Greenspan and Co. have in the back of
their minds that the Chinese bubble is about to burst and it would
be even more chaotic to embark on the long-awaited tightening
in this country, only to have to lower again next year because
Asia has collapsed and with it demand for U.S. goods and, then,
jobs.
Honestly, folks. This is what I’ve been wrestling with for
months now. For many sectors in Asia and the U.S. it’s nirvana
today. If capital spending ever truly picked up in America, it
would be even more so. But between real estate and China you
have two almost certain accidents waiting to happen and that
should give one pause.
It’s why while I said going back to December that the Federal
Reserve would raise interest rates in May (unlikely, but not as
crazy an idea as it once seemed), I also see a major slowdown in
world economic activity far sooner than others do and I haven’t
even discussed terrorism or a total failure in Iraq.
In other words, I’m saying the Fed will act soon, but that doesn’t
necessarily mean after all the talk of coming inflation it will end
up being the right move. Hopefully, this little treatise didn’t
leave you scratching your head. But today we have to deal with
a global economy, with many moving parts. It’s a complex
world, often leading to complex solutions…if one can be found.
Street Bytes
–Stocks finished barely mixed, with the Dow Jones picking up 9
points to 10451 and the S&P 500 losing 0.4% to 1134. But
Nasdaq took a 2.8% hit, closing at 1995, due to weak earnings
reports from the likes of Sun Microsystems (again), IBM and a
further negative surprise from Nokia. In the case of IBM,
investors were disappointed that global services were up only
1%, adjusted for currency moves, while Nokia followed up a
lousy first quarter report with a warning on the second.
–U.S. Treasury Yields
6-mo. 1.07% 2-yr. 1.99% 10-yr. 4.34% 30-yr. 5.17%
The 10-year Treasury closed the previous week at 4.20% and
rose to 4.45% by Wednesday, but Friday’s more sanguine
economic data, such as on industrial production and consumer
confidence, helped rally bonds a bit. Nonetheless, we’re back in
an environment of 6% mortgage rates and this is already
beginning to bite.
–“It’s 10:00 p.m. Do you know what’s in your bond fund?”
–Newsweek had some distressing news for President Bush.
Only 41% approve of his handling of the economy, while 56%
disapprove. One issue hurting the administration is the fact tax
refunds thus far have been well below estimates, owing to the
growing impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax and the
extremely confusing dividend income calculation. I’ve said this
before but the dividend tax cut was an incredibly idiotic idea.
John Kerry doesn’t know how to use it to his advantage, though,
and I’m not about to tell him.
–The Sunday New York Times had another of those pieces on
investing in Russia and the terrific performance of its stock
market, but as always these articles, while bringing up the over
reliance on high oil prices, fail to mention the political risk. This
is a nation sliding backwards, folks. [As opposed to, say, the
Chilean experience of the 1980s under a fading dictator,
Pinochet, who was nonetheless laying the groundwork for true
democracy. It’s the opposite in Russia.]
And if you needed further proof of the business climate in Russia
today, you had the case of the hired killer who while on his
motorcycle planted a bomb on top of an advertising executive’s
vehicle, killing both of them and two others. Lovely.
–Lockheed has evidently delivered 50 defective C-130s, though
the specific faults have yet to be made known to the public.
Separately, I came across this item on the C-130J in Defense
News (reported by David Phinney).
“Some critics find little justification for the escalating price of a
plane fondly viewed as a military workhorse, and they doubt the
benefits from the $1 billion in research and development claimed
by Lockheed.
“ ‘There’s no way a trash hauler should cost that much,’ said
Ernest Fitzgerald, management systems deputy for the assistant
secretary of the Air Force responsible for financial management
and cost savings.
“ ‘If anything, the C-130J should be cheaper, not more
expensive,’ he said. ‘I bought a computer in 1986 for about
$3,600 that now has the memory of a child’s toy. It should be
the same way with an airplane – simpler and cheaper.’”
–Inflation Update, Part II: Mark R. took his son Adam, 29, to
Hooters and reported back that an order of Buffalo Chicken
Strips has been reduced from 5 to 4 pieces, for the same price.
Just last week the Journal reported on how restaurants are
charging more for less, so throw Hooters in the mix. Meanwhile,
John F. passed along some important news on Folgers coffee,
which just enacted a 6% price increase despite what John says
(he used to be in the business) are depressed green coffee prices.
The reason? High energy prices mean it costs more to ship it
from Brazil and this is now being passed on to consumers.
–But wait…in the interest of fair and balanced reporting
(Copyright. Fox News), cotton is at a 10-month low. And
Crain’s New York says commercial insurance premiums in the
region are off 20%, something I’ve learned firsthand from
personal experience.
–The Washington Post reported that the SEC investigation into
Time Warner’s accounting of AOL’s advertising revenue is close
to resulting in charges. More than $400 million in sales is
“questionable.”
–In a suit to be filed shortly, the New York Stock Exchange will
be seeking $120 million in compensation from its former chief,
Dick Grasso. In negotiations, Grasso has reportedly offered to
give up $5-$10 million as long as it goes to one of his
charities…a non-starter for Chairman John Reed and regulators.
[New York Times] Yup, the 2003 “Dirtball of the Year” is once
again attempting to hide behind his charity work, just like all the
other corporate thieves, as I’ve long chronicled. Here in New
Jersey, we just saw another classic example in the arraignment
on fraud charges of Herbert Axelrod, 76. Mr. Axelrod, who
made his fortune in the pet-care products business, recently
received a ton of favorable press for selling rare instruments at
1/3rd their assessed value to the New Jersey Symphony. Turns
out the scumbag concealed “hundreds of thousands of dollars in
payments in the 1990s through Swiss bank accounts” in a tax
avoidance scheme that also involved his wife. [The Star-Ledger]
And you wonder why I am so cynical when it comes to the
charity game?
–On Friday, the head of Germany’s Bundesbank, Ernst Welteke,
was forced to resign over an ethics probe concerning the fact he
allowed Dresdner Bank to pick up a four-day hotel stay for his
entire family, to the tune of $9,175. Yeah, seeing as he is
supposed to be regulating the same bank, I’d say that was a
conflict of interest.
–Dumb report of the week: The Department of Energy projects
$51 oil by 2025. As if they have any freakin’ clue 20+ years
from now. We paid for this garbage, fellow taxpayers.
–My portfolio: I’m now down to 20% equities, 80% cash, the
latter in various safe houses scattered throughout New Jersey. I
sold the oil driller I wrote of the other week, the one I’ve now
made good money on three times in the last five years, and my
Indian Internet play because I couldn’t pass up a 66% profit in
less than a month. So I’m down to about 6% energy and 14%
assorted “stuff,” including 8% in highly speculative plays.
Again, I’m not necessarily negative on the energy group (which
for new readers has comprised up to 35% or more of my overall
portfolio), I just took my profits and believe I’ll have a better re-
entry point. Maybe it isn’t for 6-12 months, but that’s how I
operate. Now if you tell me the Saudi oilfields are going to be
torched tomorrow, then I’m underexposed.
Foreign Affairs
Israel: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who faces indictment on
bribery charges, is also under the gun within his own Likud Party
for his disengagement proposals for Gaza and parts of the West
Bank, with a referendum on the issue among Likud members
slated for May 2. So Sharon traveled to Washington for a jolt of
support and President Bush complied, calling Sharon’s plan
“historic and courageous.” Personally, it’s just another example
of abject failure on the part of America’s presidents going back
over 20 years, regardless of whether the occupant of the White
House is Democrat or Republican. It always boils down to the
election cycle.
Over the years I have been consistent in my opinion on this topic.
The U.S. must back Israel while its neighbors seek its
destruction, but at the same time our presidents have failed
miserably when it comes to the settlements issue. Save for a
momentary hard line or two, America has done nothing but suck
up to Israeli leaders.
So what do we have today? Sharon proposes to dismantle
settlements in Gaza containing all of 7,500 people, while leaving
92,500 of 240,000 in settlements on the West Bank (two of
which contain 30,000 each). This means that President Bush has
now sanctioned Israel’s formal annexation of some pre-1967
Middle East War territory. Bush says he is only addressing “new
realities on the ground.”
He should have said the “old realities remain in place.” Who
allowed 247,500 to settle in these lands? The United States.
And regardless of Sharon’s proposal, do you think more than a
handful will actually leave the more established settlements,
particularly on the West Bank? Of course not. Look at your
own town. Picture someone saying, “OK, you all leave.” Ain’t
gonna happen.
And that’s why this whole topic is such a farce. I’m not against
Israel acting unilaterally at this point, thus forcing the
Palestinians’ hands as they wrestle with their own leadership
problems. It’s just that the United States let this situation get to
this now untenable outcome. We controlled the purse strings,
but we let the Israelis build and build, sticking it in the
Palestinians’ eyes. In the end, though, we are talking years
before any of Sharon’s plan would even be implemented (save
perhaps Gaza), so we’ll be having the same discussion for the
rest of our lives.
**On a totally different matter, it is despicable that Google
refuses to change its algorithmic ranking system when it comes
to the results from plugging the word “Jew” into their search
engine. It isn’t pretty, in case you haven’t heard the story. I
have my own ax to grind with Google and its supposedly
superior technology. Plug my name in and see what comes up
first. My cousin Sam’s genealogy work. Heck, my brother is 2nd
for a book he illustrated, for crying out loud. [Not that he
doesn”t deserve the mention.] And if you plug my name into
Yahoo’s search engine, the first item is a 1995 press release
announcing my appointment as national sales manager at PIMCO.
Oh yeah, that’s cutting edge.
China / Hong Kong / Taiwan: A new University of Hong Kong
survey reveals that 67% of residents want Chief Executive, and
Beijing toady, Tung Chee-hwa to resign. Sunday’s pro-
democracy march drew up to 20,000, a far cry from last July’s
500,000 but a significant number nonetheless. Thankfully it was
peaceful. On the other hand, 120 were hurt in clashes in Taipei
as protesters there continue to call on President Chen Shiu-bian
to step down after March’s disputed election.
But of more import was Vice President Cheney’s visit to the
region as he reiterated that while the Bush administration favors
a “one China” solution to the growing crisis over Taiwan, and
while it doesn’t support Taiwan independence, it will continue to
sell the island defensive weapons as part of a longstanding
security agreement, especially when the mainland keeps lining
up missiles across the Taiwan Strait.
And back to Hong Kong, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
weighed in on Beijing’s recent call that any election reform must
first be approved by the National People’s Congress.
“The Chinese government’s ruling is Beijing’s latest effort to
rein in Hong Kong’s democracy movement and undermines the
very principle of one country, two systems…
“The people of Hong Kong have bravely demonstrated their
support for democracy by taking to the streets…and by the
continued willingness of leaders to speak out in spite of being
branded unpatriotic…
“We stand with them in their fight for universal suffrage…
(Beijing’s action was) a step backward for the people of Hong
Kong, a step backward for the rule of law, and a step backward
for freedom and democracy.”
North Korea: Vice President Cheney had strong words for
China’s leadership on the topic of North Korea, saying “Time is
not necessarily on our side” while presenting new evidence of
Pyongyang’s growing nuclear arsenal. I have to remind you all,
again, that it has been over two years since President Bush’s
“axis of evil” speech. We’re doing our best to address Iraq, but
the crises over Iran’s and North Korea’s growing weapons
capability is deepening.
South Korea: Impeached President Roh scored a huge political
victory in parliamentary elections that saw his supporters capture
a slim majority; clearly a result that will influence the
Constitutional Court in its decision over the coming weeks as to
whether the whole impeachment proceeding was legal. The
problem for the U.S., though, is that the Uri Party desires a more
active dialogue with the North and is against the hard line
favored by Washington and South Korea’s conservatives.
Separately, while there has been much talk of relocating the
37,500 American troops away from the DMZ and Seoul,
understand that nothing of significance will take place until
12/31/06, with full withdrawal scheduled by 12/31/07.
Afghanistan: 7 people from one family were killed near the
Pakistani border when Taliban gunmen stopped their car and
demanded to know if they backed President Hamid Karzai.
When they replied ‘yes,’ all except one were shot to death.
[BBC News] The next day Taliban killed a police chief and nine
of his guards in an ambush. Otherwise, everything’s hunky-
dory.
Canada: No wonder this neighbor of ours wants to be covered by
the still developing U.S. missile shield. China is pissed that
Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed to meet with Tibet’s spiritual
leader, the Dalai Lama. Beijing said it was encouraging
separatist activities. Of course the communists, who have
occupied Tibet since 1951, are trying to wipe out the Buddhist-
based culture.
Cyprus: The important referendum on unification is to be held
April 24 and it is shaping up to be a most contentious one. As of
today, the Turkish Cypriots appear to be ready to endorse the
U.N. plan, while Greek’s Cypriot leader has urged his people to
vote ‘no.’ The outcome won’t move U.S. financial markets, but
it’s worth watching for its impact on Europe, let alone the
structure of the European Union since Cyprus’ scheduled
admission is now in doubt. It also wouldn’t do a lot of good for
overall Greece – Turkey relations.
Mexico: A governor fired all 552 detectives in his jurisdiction
over drug-related corruption; a stark admission of failure that
took a ton of guts.
Random Musings
–Thomas Barnett, a former Defense Department official, had an
op-ed in the Washington Post wherein he said the U.S. needs to
develop an entirely new alliance with the likes of China, Russia
and India, as opposed to relying on our “Old Europe” partners.
This is ludicrous. Cooperation from Russia and China? Yes.
Alliance? Inconceivable. Of course the correct answer is my
long-discussed idea of a supra-alliance with Britain, Australia,
India and Japan.
–John Kerry is on “Meet the Press” Sunday. Must see
television. Then again, everyone has already made up their
mind.
–The Kerry campaign is worried sick about the timing of the
release of Bill Clinton’s memoirs; afraid the accompanying book
tour and buzz will overshadow their own message, whatever it is.
But I loved this classic description of the process from Jim
Rutenberg and David D. Kirkpatrick of the New York Times.
“Mr. Clinton, for his part, has increased the nervous speculation
about the book in Democratic circles by making a habit of
picking up the phone to regale friends with long passages and
even chapters of his prose. Mixing boyish enthusiasm with a
craving for approval, people who have received the calls said he
has proudly narrated excerpts about everything from college
antics with his pals at Georgetown to his 1995 standoff with
Republicans that led to a government shutdown.”
Thankfully, I don’t worry have to worry about such a call.
–Richard Clarke is already negotiating a movie deal. I doubt his
handling of the Rwandan genocide will be part of the script.
–The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, one of the
truly comical boards on the planet, failed to censure China,
Russia or Zimbabwe at its annual six-week boozefest filled with
wine, women and song, I imagine. At least it’s good for
Manhattan’s restaurant trade.
–“60 Minutes” had a segment on the problems Athens is having
as it rushes to prepare for the Olympics, now just four short
months away. The London Times added that amidst the
construction chaos, there is a very real possibility terrorists could
plant a weapon or two. Distressingly, the paper observed
security around the major construction sites and found “no
visible” presence at any of them. 80% of Greeks feel an attack is
“inevitable.” Then again, they were into tragedies thousands of
years ago.
–The porn industry has been shut down for 60 days because two
leading actors tested positive for HIV. This is absolutely
shocking.
–Along the same lines, sort of, Pfizer is offering a 7th
prescription of Viagra free! Since there are 7 or 8 pills per
prescription (so I read)…oh, you do the math.
–I watched practically zero of “The Apprentice” save
Thursday’s last ½ hour, but you couldn’t avoid getting to know
the contestants through all their various appearances across the
airwaves. So I’ve decided Omarosa is working with al Qaeda
and it’s but another sign that America’s fractured intelligence
apparatus is in need of more than just fine-tuning.
–Major League Baseball deserves a lot of credit for making
April 15 “Jackie Robinson Day,” a time to remember this
pioneer. I know I’ve commented on his widow, Rachel, before
but I watched her again on Thursday at Shea Stadium and
thought, damn, that is one classy woman.
–We remember Fabrizio Quattrochi, the Italian security guard in
Iraq who was taken hostage and then as the gunman’s pistol was
pointed at him “tried to take off his hood and shouted: ‘Now I’ll
show you how an Italian dies.’” [BBC News] We pray for his
family, as well as all the remaining hostages and theirs.
–I mentioned last week that an island in Micronesia where I have
a church, Yap, was hit by a typhoon and details are still
somewhat sketchy, including the fate of the church. What I do
know from news accounts is 98% of the homes were damaged.
But I noted a story in the Guam Daily News that adds a bit of
perspective. Some American tourists (Yap is known for diving)
from the East Coast were among the first able to leave the island
when the airport reopened and they had this account.
Julia Llewellyn of Maryland said “I’ve only seen something like
this in news reports. The sound of it is something you’ll never
forget.” Others expressed amazement at the kindness of the
Yapese. Washington, D.C. resident Raolu Kulberg said, “This
one woman…despite the fact that she had lost her house and
everything else, she was still there helping us get gathered up and
off the island.” Rick Llewellyn added, “Their homes were
destroyed, they lost everything, and there they were trying to
help us, doing things to get us comfortable.” Julia concluded,
“They were amazing. We will definitely go back and visit
someday because they were so wonderful.” And so will I. God
watch over them as they rebuild.
—
God bless the men and women of our armed forces.
God bless America.
—
Gold closed at $401…tough week. 12/31/03 – $416
Oil, $37.74…12/31/03 – $32.52
Returns for the week 4/12-4/16
Dow Jones +0.1% [10451]
S&P 500 -0.4% [1134]
S&P MidCap -1.6%
Russell 2000 -2.4%
Nasdaq -2.8% [1995]
Returns for the period 1/1/04-4/16/04
Dow Jones -0.0% [off one point]
S&P 500 +2.0%
S&P MidCap +4.3%
Russell 2000 +4.8%
Nasdaq -0.4%
Bulls 50.0
Bears 22.0 [Source: Investors Intelligence / Chartcraft]
Have a great week. I appreciate your support.
Brian Trumbore
