Report From The Front

Really now, business is not like war. That is a crazy metaphor. Business is all about service. Business is about care. Business is about helping.

And I am happy to report that in my small business. In California, In Los Angeles County, In the city of Santa Monica.
MY NET INCOME IS UP FROM LAST YEAR>
In fact it is up a lot. This January and February compared with the same months in 2008 is UP 25%

UP 25%

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE IN THIS SECOND GREAT DEPRESSION?

Somebody has not been telling the truth about things.

things are not that bad
we are used to lies
lies to get us into wars
lies to get us to do all sorts of things
fear to get us to do all sorts of things

truth is
things are really quite good

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Zachary Karabell on economic punditry

"And while I have always said what I believe, what I believe sometimes has been subtly shaped by who pays the bills."

Disneyland Was Busy

Guess what this is!

It is a picture of Dumbo's tail.
Disneyland was crowded. It was a Saturday. No sign of a recession.
Things are about ready to recover. Let's party.

Bill Mahar Questions Growth Ethic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWbCNAq1G4

Above is a link to Bill Mahar show 3/6/09. He questions our growth ethic. Why must we always have more?

What we need is better distribution, ethical distribution, and responsible consumption. This requires education and thought and behaving like real human beings, not animals.

How Many?

How many bureaucrats does it take to change a light bulb?

They can’t do it.
It’s not in their job description.

More Of The Different

I still see almost no recession in my business. My business income is up substantially from a year ago.
Last summer I opined that I did not expect a recession because it just didn't feel like one to me.
I remembered 20% interest rates
I remembered the tech bubble and 9/11 on top of it.
I reembered the oil embargo and gas lines and the Nixon impeachment and resignation.
So I just could not see a problem.
Stocks a year ago were not unreasonably overvalued. Interest rates were being cut.
Even now. Things just don't seem as bad as I keep hearing.

So what does it mean?

Things have changed but people are slow to adjust.

The same old stuff doesn't work like it did.

New approach
New way
Most people are still working.

Most people are doing well.
A large minority is doing worse than usual.
But the percentage is still not that big.
Things are really not that bad. That is the truth.

People may feel bad because they lost money in stocks, or their house is worth less, but they weren't using that money. They didn't really need that money, so they invested it.

We still have more than we need.

Reality Is Seldom What We Expect

I still expect the markets to rally.

New lows are happening instead.

But I am still optimistic about the future.

I still expect a massive short covering rally.
I still expect a new bull market.
I even expect new highs in all the indexes!

I can be patient.
I will be patient.