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James48843

Time to reflect

Rating: 3 votes, 3.33 average.
In the bustle of day-to-day watching the markets, one needs to take the time now and then, and step back, and look at the big picture. Here's what I mean---

We just had one of the biggest swings in my market memory. We had months and months, and years and years, of outstanding gains.

Followed by a real "THUNK" down. All the way down to 666 on the S&P. Sometimes I wonder if God was just having fun with watching the S&P go to EXACTLY 666 before turning it around. Sometimes I think God has one weird sense of humor.

Anyway, since that time, it's been "GoGoGo" back on the positive side. Except that throughout "modern history", we haven't had more than eight months of postive returns, even in the best of times.

So, was this past year--January through March, just a fluke? And is this jump back upward since March been a fluke too?

I have to wonder.

The facts are-- that companies are still hurting. Bad. Car companies, consumer goods companies, financial companies- everybody. Everybody out there seems to be still in an earnings downturn, and that is simply not a positive thing.

My boyhood home county continues to have an unemployment rate above 17%. Even where I live now, the unemployment rate is above 15%. And it's been that way here for a while now, and no prospect of that rebounding any time soon.

I wonder what the rest of America is doing right now -- how many Dads don't have to go to work tomorrow, because they don't have a job now to go to. And how will that play out over Christmas- when a lot of them will be losing their homes to foreclosure.

A good friend of mine from college wrote me the other day. He's been out of work for almost a year. He's blown through his 401(k) for living expenses, and is asking if I know of anyone hiring any place, for ANYTHING.

Yes, this recession is a hard one. Toughest one in a long, long time. But I remember the recession of 1981-83. Unemployment was about the same then- except I was a young 21 at the time, without much of a chance to get any kind of a job back then.

I keep remembering how bad it seemed at the time. But I made it through those days. I ate a lot of potatoes then. Bought a 20 pound bag and made it last for weeks. Ate a lot of rice too. And lived with friends while I struggled through. Those were good friends.


Same thing now. We'll get through this shaky time in our economy. America has a lot of resilience. We'll be back. Maybe different in a lot of ways, but still, we have some things the rest of the world will never have. We have a lot of resourcefulness. And we have "spunk".

I moved my own money over to "G" last week. Thought we have had a nice run north for a while, but sooner or later, the markets will take a good look at earnings, and we'll have a retrenchment again. It's not over until the fat lady sings, and I don't think she's given her final song just yet.

But a better day is ahead. I know it is. And I have something money can't buy. I have a beautiful wife who loves me. And a wonderful teenage son, who is going to soon become a great man.

And I have a dog. A beautiful black lab, who is, at this very moment, lying sound asleep in the living room chair a few feet away from me as I write this.

He is sound asleep. His feet are arching skyward, his paws are moving ever so slightly, as he sweetly dreams of running across the field behind my house, chasing invisible rabbits at top speed.

Man, my dog has a good life.

And so do I.


Here's a toast to the future of all of our retirement funds. (Clink).

And the good life.

A warm fire.

Hot cocoa.

A loving spouse.

A child who is still in school.

A roof over our heads.

And a dog.

It doesn't get much better than this.

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Updated 10-27-2009 at 07:27 PM by James48843

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Comments

  1. Show-me's Avatar
    BIG AMEN BROTHER!!!
  2. mayday's Avatar
    You have to appreciate the simple things in life.
    It doesn't get much better than that.
    You have your priorities straight James
  3. Buster's Avatar
    So true Jim, So true
  4. Minnow's Avatar
    Good on ya, Jim.
  5. Bullitt's Avatar
    For too many people I think money is their End and that they're never going to be happy. Your message may serve as a good reminder for all of us.

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