Hi Folks,
I hope you had a great weekend. It was "Gasparilla Day" on Saturday, Tampa's toned-down version of New Orleans Mardi Gras. Fortunately, the weather was awesome... perfect for the hundreds of "revenue enforcement officers" to issue frivolous tickets/citations to a mostly harmless public, collecting lots of bounty for the city and making time and 1/2 for doing very little (at one point, I saw about 35 standing around doing nothing--again, this was a harmless crowd of merrymakers--but getting paid).
Hm...
It's little wonder municipalities around the U.S. are going broke. Question is, what are these guys going to do when they lose their jobs when the city cuts back, just like Newark, Jersey did? Honestly, I don't think anyone is going to get upset for them when they can't find a new job.
But I digress. Sort of.
You see, this is some of the data (i.e., bankrupt municipalities) most people in this country don't know about. Nor do they understand the implications, like how some municipalities are slashing jobs, infrastructure spending and not mailing pension checks to their retired gov't workers--instead, they're issuing I.O.U.'s (gee, try using one of those at your local Piggly Wiggly).
Which leads me to...
Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions on the proposed "blog". If you still want to send me a note, please do! You can always reach me directly at clay@claymarafiote.com; and, yes, I like reading your comments. I'll definitely keep you in the loop as things progress.
Getting back to one question about "doom and gloom" scenarios and those publishing them, here's what I have to say at the moment:
The general public, that is the "masses", are always late to party, wrong, or usually both. So, from where I sit, it's a good idea to watch what this group is doing, then seriously consider the doing opposite. History proves this time and time again. Put another, a "contrarian" point of view, as unpopular, uncomfortable or even unsettling as it might be, could be the correct one.
Remember Copernicus? His observations, calculations and research led him to state the Earth actually revolved around the sun, which flew in the face of the accepted belief that this planet was the center of the universe. Not only was he ridiculed and labeled a heretic by government and religious leaders, but he was put in jail.
But, despite him going against conventional thought, not following the status quo, he was right. And it took a lot of courage and integrity for him to "call it as he saw it."
Of course this is just one off-the-cuff example. The point is history is a GREAT teacher.
One of my policies is this: "Look, don't listen." Hence, my affinity for price charts. And this applies to other areas as well. I mean, the Bureau of Labor Statics can TELL us all day that unemployment is below 10% or that it dropped .4% from the last month, but without LOOKING at how they derive this number, it's really just a lame statistic obscuring the bigger picture. Still, the masses accept it as a good sign.
Sigh.
I could go on, but there's something we all need to remember, which is this: regardless of what happens in the economy, there is ALWAYS opportunity for those who look for it. The masses tend not to. Rather, they sit back and complain, hoping someone (other than themselves) will fix the situation for them.
So, while I'm not a fan of the current economic picture and how the unsuspecting people (or those unwilling to confront it) may be effected, I'm looking for the upside, the opportunities. The truth, whatever it is, is neither "good" nor "bad". It just "is". We (i.e., people) get to qualify it however they want. And, how they do is based on their perspective. For example, one person might believe a falling euro is a "bad", BUT for the guy who shorted the euro, it's the exact opposite, in fact, he's excited about it tanking.See what I mean? It's all about perspective.
That's it for now. More later....
Cheers,
Clay
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