"The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing,
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait,
When the gales of November came slashing.
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck saying
'Fellas, it's too rough to feed you.'
At seven pm a main hatchway caved in, he said
'Fellas, it's been good to know you.'
The captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Stocks were off a bit for most of the day as traders continued to 'digest' the recent run up in equity prices that culminated in the SNAP IPO.
As a reminder, there will be a Non-Farm Payrolls report this Friday for the month of February. The next week the markets fully expect the FOMC to raise interest rates 25 bp.
All things considered, we are now in the eighth year of this very labored 'market recovery.'
As you may recall, we had asset bubbles in stocks and housing that burst in 2000 and 2008 respectively.
So we are probably within a year or two at most from a stiff correction in financial asset prices. My estimate would be Oct-Nov of this year barring a 'trigger event' that sets things in motion earlier.
I know I have been a bit hard on the Democratic leadership of late. And they deserve every bit of it and then some. What a bunch of scheming jokers.
If it seems that I am giving less attention to the Republicans I am, but it is not because I think that they are better. As I have said previously they are probably too far gone for reform, having sold themselves to Big Money quite a while ago.
Given the political people with whom we are dealing in general and their credibility, I think evidence and facts presented up front are required from all of them. These anonymous leaks to the media are not credible in many if not most cases. And the media bias and willingness to mislead is getting completely out of hand.
Our leaders on both sides of the aisle look and act like a bunch of spoiled children and juvenile delinquents. And it is counter-productive and downright embarrassing.
Perhaps things will get sorted out in the next financial crisis.
I am not hopeful.
It may be just the right time for gold and silver, that carry little counterparty risk if held in physical form.
Have a pleasant evening.
