A Friday night send off will be in effect so get your requests in. Last weeks contest winner has selected a great tune and I am sure I will be pretty loose tomorrow night.
Turning Things Around
Economic Disconnect looked in the mirror last December and was not too happy with what I saw. Besides the amazing good facial looks (HA!) the old body was not what I would call "all it can be". I got on the scale and it read 165 pounds! I am 5 foot nine inches tall. Knowing that a vacation was at hand in the Spring I got the fine idea to try and make some progress. It has been quite a journey.
I bought a 3-way boxing set up (this one) that has a heavy bag, double end bag, and a speed bad for the old school boxing training that I used to do when I was a lot younger. I started in January.
After 5 weeks I felt tired, but very good. My hands were not bothering me much (I quit boxing due to chronic hand brakes/pain) so I was positive. I got on the scale and I was at 148 pounds! I guess I was carrying quite a bit of "extra" weight! Wow. At this point I could go 6 full 3 minute rounds on the heavy bag and a couple rounds each on the other bags with the weight training I do as well.
Tonight, after the last workout I will do before the beach, the scale reads 154 pounds, but none of what came back is the bad stuff. I can do 15 full rounds on whatever I want and I had to buy heavier weights for the strength training part. Not too bad. Of course this ate up time I could have been doing plenty of other things and my right middle knuckle looks about 2 times bigger than the left one, but I wanted to do this for myself very much. I am happy with the progress I made.
Remain Calm, It's Easier That Way
Nothing too in depth tonight, I am a bit tired and I am mentally on pre-vacation.
What I wanted to talk about tonight is the almost orgasmic response some have had over the "hard" data (pun intended) that seems to imply the return to absolute highs of, well, everything in short order. I could debate the problem with a bunch of this, but I really have thrown that towel in. Instead I wanted to take a step back and show you what I am seeing from my macro seat and welcome your input.
Right now the story is that consumer spending is at old highs, and going by retailer stocks going WAY higher still, home buying is on the rebound with a price breakout at hand, auto sales are ready to explode (sans nasty Toyota, what a scam), and anything else you want to throw in. Ok, I'll play.
At the same time, as in right now, we have:
-Unemployment at 9.whatever % (and if you buy that number, read USA today and not this blog)
-Wages have decreased for years
-The Home ATM is closed
-Savings are still non-existent
-bla, bla, bla you get it
To accept that the situation is old way normal means you accept that all the people without a job, less income, less access to free cash via home cash extortion, etc do not even count in the grand scheme of things. It is that simple.
With unemployment payments going on 2 years and looking for extension to even longer, food stamp usage at all time highs (there's your breadlines idiots), millions of homes either sitting empty or having squatters, I mean "defaulters" living for free, and US states looking like Greece on a good day financially, you have to ask what is going on.
To this I think of the film "Fight Club" and the scene where Project Mayhem replaces the safety cards in airplanes to show what really happens when a plane is going down:
Instead of the calm, serene view you get the panic that must come from such a thing.
I offer this:
IF
-If 10% of this working country can have no job, but be paid by the government to be calm
-If a record number of people need food assistance to stay calm
-If a never before seen number of people are losing their homes but remain calm due to various help programs or just free living to stay calm
-If the stock market, which is the EASIEST thing to goose, looks good many may remain calm
-If tax breaks which bite you in the butt can entice fools to buy cars and homes not only remain calm but get excited
THEN
-How many more can "remain calm" under the same process?
Right now this all works because, and let's stop playing nice, the world has to get down on their knees and "service" the United States due to this dollar reserve currency thing (too long to get into). Can the US be the engine for world growth if our central bank prints cash to pay all the "remain calm" types, buys our own debt and pretends its "temporary", runs deficits that makes no sense by any honest reckoning, and gets the biggest free ride of all time?
It will until it does not.
I have been so wrong on so many things. I admit that. It happens. I guess I figured people could think, but they just believe. Huge difference. Huge.
Now go buy Amazon (AMZN) on the dip and buy a GM car and then a house to park over the car. Might as well go all out, what could stop you? Above all, remain calm.
Have a good night.
