Tag Archives: DC

Current Events

All Dollars and Little Sense

3 Comments

Good day fellow patriots and conservatives. Haven’t posted in a few days as I have been overwhelmed with tales from the swamp creatures and their devious ways. The trial is over, and as we expected he was was found guilty, albeit with Joe and the b**ch from california ( I refuse to capitalize the name of that foreign land) spouting off at the mouth there is lots of ammo for an appeal. Let’s keep praying for it to happen..

And of course the House voted to make DC a state. Oh isn’t that great two more leftist senators and one congressman for the swamp. I don’t hold out much hope from the senate to strike it down; too many leftist republicans in there. So, how will we arrange the stars in the flag?  That will be fun to watch.

From my tone you may wonder what is going on. Well at my ripe age, I refuse to get excited about what happens. Oh, don’t get me wrong. When the war comes, I shall man the lines as I have done before, and if anyone offers me a billet such as a battalion commander, I shall rise to the occasion, as I am sure you will as well.

Had lunch today with two old fellow retired colonels with whom I have served several times, but not seen them in a while — I really don’t know why since we are all retired.  Joining us was another local retired colonel and a retired captain. Of course the items of discussion was a few war stories and lots about the swamp. It’s always a good time when Marine brothers can get together — I miss that.

Okay, what’s the post? Well , as many of you know, I am an Economist by education and full time hobby. I enjoy playing in the market. Today’s post came from my old friend and contributor , Eric Maresca. As a market player I found the article interesting and a dire warning to those who do as I do. Read and learn

By Eric Maresca

The stock market bull rally that got underway after a giant fall last February and ushered in the COVID era has been relentless. Who would believe record highs were even possible after such a swift drop during a pandemic, followed by political turmoil and civil chaos.

After the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again and went on a printing spree pumping trillions into the economy through three stimulus packages, the benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were catapulted to virgin territory. Likewise, we are in the midst of a cryptocurrency revolution where their hourly values run like an amusement park roller coaster.

With the M1 Money supply – the amount of liquidity available for spending – also at an all-time high at $18.4 trillion, the potential for one of the biggest economic booms in U.S. history is primed.

This optimism has predicted a strong 2021 second half.

The larger concern is 2022 and beyond.

Historically, long periods of low interest rates combined with a growing federal debt is no yellow brick road to Oz. You cannot ignore the laws of physics, gravity, or economics, as the government is spending itself into oblivion. From 2010 to 2019, the aggregate GDP growth was nearly the same Uncle Sam spent in COVID stimulus.

With so much stimulus finding their way to Wall Street, stock prices have been inflated. To underscore how pricey stocks are all you have to do is to juxtapose the price-to-earnings multiple at 31.5 and the price-to-sales at 2.9. At the peak of the dot-com bubble in March 2000, the price-to-earnings ratio was 29 and the price-to-sales ratio at 2.3. In addition, the stock market capitalization-to-GDP ratio that measures markets relative to the economy that peaked in 2000 at 140%, stands today at 190%.

Can you whisper bubble? Such a pop would result in a fiscal 9/11 and catch many nascent investors napping. Many were too young to recall the dot-com bubble burst over a generation ago and will pay dearly.

As the stock market rolls along, so does the national deficit. In fact, it seems to be about the only thing that is mushrooming faster. This should concern plenty, but along the D.C. Beltway such matters are dismissed.

 Stock trading has drawn plenty of new players armed with their “stimmy.” Rather, than paying bills, buying necessities, or paying down their debts, these emerging investors have turned day trading into gamification. With success they gain confidence and buy more shares, but the market’s present trajectory won’t last. When it drops many will see it as a fire-sale opportunity.

The stock app at center stage is aptly named Robinhood having taken its namesake from the English Democrat who robbed from the rich and redistributed their wealth. In this stimulus era of Robinhood fever and GameStop, why waste time researching good companies at reasonable prices, and then waiting years for returns to compound?

Apps like Robinhood, SoFi, Webull, and Public.com can be fun, but addictive, and a bookkeeping nightmare.

Such internet trading platforms make basic tax-abating strategies difficult to implement. Buying and selling stocks by the lot can lower your tax bill by choosing which shares to sell. However, selling specific lots are difficult or impossible to do online as sales are based on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis, where the oldest shares are sold first.

These time-honored tactics may be the least of their concerns when the market turns because it will. Once the public buys in, time is short and the potential for disaster gains momentum. When the melt down commences, nearly everyone will lose more on the way down than they made on the way up. Melt Downs do not end quickly, but over time. If the market is one thing – it is unforgiving.

Market peaks are clear in retrospection, but not in the moment, but the warning signs are there.

Do not confuse a bull market for brains.

As the timeworn adage rings: “Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” That applies for booms, too.

Mot people do not have an exit plan like trailing stops that protects your gains and prevents you from losing more money. A diversified portfolio and fixed selling points is always your friend.

In my ECON 101 class the professor told a story that I have found over the years to an absolute. “Put five Economists in a room and ask them a simple question and you will always get at least six answers.” I have been trimming my portfolios for the last two months. I have more cash than I have ever had, upwards of 30% cash, and I keep building it. I have good stocks e.g., DOW down over 300 points today and my portfolio was up 1.9%. But I keep taking some profits and paring down. I believe it is coming folks; somone has to pay the bills the swamp is piling up.  Greg is talking common sense.

Originally posted 2021-04-22 17:16:31.

Current Events

Obama Begs Americans to ‘Give Joe a Chance’

5 Comments

Sorry for the lack of posts of late; been trying to stay away from the computer and such for a while to allow my blood pressure to get back to norm. It didn’t work! Therefore, I looked at a variety of sources today and picked up on a few things I thought were actually funny, so here is a potpourri of “stuff” you may enjoy (or not).

From Keely Sharp

Former President Barack Obama openly congratulated Joe Biden for being the “president-elect” on Saturday, and asked Americans to “give him a chance.” Yeah right, you scum sucking, arrogant, Muslim loving, anti-American dipshit, why weren’t you asking the country to give your successor a chance. He never had a day’s honeymoon, while you had eight years by the MSM. You and your band of thugs were after him even before he was elected just in case he did win. Then when he shocked the hell out of you by beating the bitch, you really went after him full force. Now you ask us to give Trader Joe and Ho and chance? You are nothing but a hypocritical piece of human waste.

“I know he’ll do the job with the best interests of every American at heart, whether or not he had their vote,” Obama said. “So I encourage every American to give him a chance and lend him your support.” Ditto , see my comments above you pitiful scum sucker.

The former president warned that Biden faced tough challenges after taking office, citing “a raging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril.” OMG, where did this come from, you been living under a rock fool.

He encouraged all supporters of the campaign to stay involved with the fight as active citizens of the country. They better stay involved, because we certainly are!!!!

“We’re fortunate that Joe’s got what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way,” Obama declared, “Enjoy this moment. Then stay engaged. I know it can be exhausting.” Yep, you can bet it will be dude!

Gag me with a spoon.

* * * * *

More from Keely Sharp

Wow! New York Governor Andrew Cuomo must have forgotten that he is part of the party of love, acceptance and tolerance. He showed great hostility towards President Donald Trump during his appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Monday.

Cuomo confessed that he would have “decked” Trump if he was not the governor of New York.

“I bit my tongue so many times I have tongue scars,” Cuomo said. “Here’s the trick, Howard. I want to speak to the better angels. I want to lift people up and I want to show Trump for what he is by opposition.” Ha, I doubt those tongue scars are from biting it. LOL

“I also had the practical situation: I needed him to help New York,” he continued. “That was my job. If I wasn’t Governor of New York, I would’ve decked him. Period. He was attacking me. He was attacking my family. He was anti-Italian. He was every nasty thing.”

He also got upset that Trump nicknamed his brother, CNN’s Chris Cuomo, as “Fredo” after he continued to attack the president.

“It’s not funny. First, the mafia stereotype has been such a stain for Italians for so long —and that’s where they go when they want to get cheap and nasty,” he said. “I said to him, ‘You want to attack me? Attack me. I don’t have a problem with that, but why are you bringing my brother into it? He’s just doing his job.'”

I let some of his followers comment on his statements. Here are a couple.

  • If you weren’t the governor, NY State would be very much better off. YOU are the reason NY is the most escaped-from state in the Union. You want to “deck” someone? Deck the guy who looks back at you from your bathroom mirror while you’re shaving, and deck HIM. You have some nerve hawking a book you wrote praising your own leadership (haha) during the pandemic. You caused the deaths of over 6,000 people who died in those nursing homes. If you call that leadership, then I’m the tooth fairy.
  • If Cuomo wasn’t the governor someone would have already beat the crap out of this thug! He caused those people to die in the old folks home and is trying to blame it on anyone but himself. No way. That turkey did it all by himself and he deserves the blame and the shame!

* * * * *

Breitbart reports:

Obama said that the results of the election proved that the country was still “deeply and bitterly divided” and that Biden and Harris would have to lead the effort to bring the country together.

Obama said he could not be prouder for Biden and his wife Jill as well as the “groundbreaking” achievement for Sen. Kamala Harris as the first woman and the first black woman to serve as vice president. First woman? Maybe. Black? Nah. Ho? Yes.

Let’s all give a gum buy ya for Trader Joe and the Ho

Have a great week folks and remember what tomorrow is. I told my young Marines once that while I had lots of military heroes, I only had one or two civilian heroes. And Martin Luther King Jr. was at the very top of that list. I feel certain he has roiled over many times in his grave during the BS coming from BLM thugs summer.

 

Originally posted 2021-01-17 14:29:53.

Current Events

One More Time

15 Comments

I thought I was done with Mr. Mattis, but then I received an email with an attachment from a gentleman who writes for several magazine. I was moved by his article and asked if he minded I use it on the blog and he enthusiastically endorsed the use of it. So, here it is. Enjoy one last spit balls at Mr. Mattis. In case you cannot pick it out, he is a Marine, albeit, a poor one in my eyes, but he is still a Marine.

A Mad Dog’s Lament

By: G. Maresca

When Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis was nominated as President Trump’s secretary of defense, he needed a congressional waiver to be confirmed because federal law prohibits former military officers from serving as secretary of defense within seven years of retiring. That waiver came without restraint as Mattis was well-known and respected throughout Capitol Hill.

Many veterans were pleased Mattis would be serving again especially Marines, as one of their own would be at the pinnacle at the Department of Defense. Those who follow the Corps were well acquainted with Mattis and many anticipated he would eventually be named commandant. That was not to be as Mattis’ days were numbered when he rightfully disagreed with President Obama’s dreadful multi billion dollar Iranian nuclear deal.

That only endeared Mattis even more.

Being a hero is no guarantee that one day your ego will not get the best of you. History is littered with such individuals like Alcibiades, Napoleon, and even Benedict Arnold.

Throughout the Corps’ storied history, no Marine has ever served as president, or vice president and only two have been appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since that rank’s inception in 1949.

Over the past half century, Mattis is likely the most recognized Marine since the legendary, Chesty Puller.

In the latest issue of the Atlantic, a magazine that has scaled the leftist alps for over a decade, Mattis lives up to his Jarhead moniker of “mad dog” going on the offensive criticizing President Trump.

Mattis condemns Trump’s walk to St. John’s, an historic church that was torched the night before that the Washington D.C. mayor refused to stop, “as a bizarre photo op.” Trump’s appearance underscored religious liberty that is enshrined within the Constitution that Mattis once swore to defend against all enemies both foreign and domestic.

Mattis continued: “Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.”

For eight years Barack Obama fanned the flames of racial enmity in such a way that the media and apparently Mattis advocated.

We are now agonizing through its consequences.

Speaking after the launch of NASA/SpaceX Trump declared: “The death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis was a grave tragedy. It should never have happened. It has filled Americans all over the country with horror, anger, and grief. Yesterday, I spoke to George’s family and expressed the sorrow of our entire nation for their loss. I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack, and menace. Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos, are the missions at hand.”

Divisive?

Where is Mattis’ condemnation of the Democrats’ condoning riots that has killed and destroyed the businesses of hundreds, if not thousands? Where is his disapproval of the politicization of federal law enforcement agencies arranging clearly false plots against political opponents, including a fellow Gen. Michael Flynn, and a sitting president?

Where is the outrage about such seditious, if not treasonous acts that continues to divide the nation that threatens the constitutional order Mattis professes to revere?

Mattis went on to denounce Trump’s threat to use the military to restore order. Perhaps Mattis is not the historian he claims to be possessing a personal library of over 7,000 books, or that he has no qualms about ignoring how prior presidents utilized the military to quell riots in order to serve his own political agenda.

After all, generals are inherently political as all senior officers are congressional appointees.

Mattis is revealing himself to be another covered and concealed member of the D.C. swamp, who doesn’t want to participate in its demise, maintaining what the last general who called the White House home (Eisenhower) dubbed, “the military industrial complex.”

Mattis resigned as Secretary of Defense because he objected to Trump removing our troops from Syria where Mattis believed the Kurd’s would be decimated, but weren’t.

It appears Mattis and Trump are probably more alike than not with a dominating personality.

Mattis’ diatribe does nothing to heal the nation. Perhaps these former high-ranking military officers need to continue the tradition of self-censorship to maintain the reputation of the armed forces as non-political.

However, it is certainly Mattis’ First Amendment right not to abide.

Mattis might want to undertake Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s advice and “just fade away”. If not, then he needs to stop with the political pontificating, and book writing, and throw his cover in the ring and run for public office.

Bottom line in November: Trump or Biden.

If Mattis believes Biden is the answer, the general has more than his crossed rifles – crossed.

 

Originally posted 2020-06-11 15:48:46.

Recent Posts

DC Bound

14 Comments

I apologize for being UA. The FL winter sabbatical was not the typical vacation away from the frozen north this year. We decided to sell the manufactured home, so we spent the winter trying to put as much lipstick on the pig as possible. I, very grudgingly, became something I truly never wanted to be – a painter. I always hated painting of any sorts; if it involved a brush or roller I ran. But I have to tell you by the time I got to the last room, sadly I was getting pretty damn good.

There was much else going on besides my painting apprenticeship.  Last fall I came up with the idea of taking my kids (Fox Valley Young Marines) on a trip to Washington, D.C. My initial plan was get on the train in Chicago one evening and wake up the next morning in D.C.  Well, I soon discovered we would wake up the next morning several hours from D.C.  The transit time is unbelievably long, and if you think it is the cheapest way to go, as I did, you are wrong. It’s cheaper to fly all things considered.

Then the kids set out doing fundraisers for the trip, all winter long, and by the way, this was one of Chicagoland’s worst winters ever, standing in front of stores like Wally World, Jewel’s, etc. with coffee cans asking for donations.

I set up a Go Fund Me Account, we had a highly successful Bingo night, bake sales, pizza sales, and much more. I took to the electronic air waves and sent out requests to every Marine and Navy brother in my address book. That alone was the most successful, my civilian staff and parents are beside themselves with how my Marine and Navy brothers came through; I mean BIG TIME!

So, on 25 June at 0600, we will depart Chicago by way of a fancy motor coach and head to D.C. arriving somewhere around 2100. Hotel is booked, sites are booked, meals are paid for, tickets purchased for sites that charge  entrance fees. Everything is pre-arranged; the coach stays with us the entire time. My bride found a travel Agency just south of us who specializes in setting up tours for students to travel to DC; that’s all the do and have been doing it for years. Expensive, but they take care of everything, and we raised more than enough to cover the charge!

I wanted to send out a thank you to everyone who had anything to do with us reaching our goal, and even surpassing it by quite a bit. We could not have done it without so many folks reaching into their heart and their wallets. I have some kids who will probably never get the chance to see their Nation’s Capitol because of their station in life, but it’s these kids for which I am so immensely proud. They are making something of themselves and this trip will bolster that.

Where are we visiting you ask? Well, all the war memorials, Einstein, MLK Jr, Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln memorials, Arlington National Cemetery to observe a funeral of a Marine hero, who was one of my mentors on the drill field, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, the White House, the Smithsonian, a tour of Marine Barracks 8th & I to meet the drill team and color guard, and of course special seating at the famous Friday Night Parade.

All of that and more during the four days we will be there. We will finish up and board the coach after dinner Saturday, 29 June for an all night trip to arrive in Chicago around 0600 Sunday morning.

Are the kids pumped? You bet they are, and everyone in the unit is going along with seven registered adults as chaperons.

Once again, thank you all for your support to make this once in a lifetime event happen for my kids!

Originally posted 2019-05-01 10:29:47.