"`But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
`Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. `Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!'
It held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.
`At this time of the rolling year,' the spectre said `I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!'
Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly.
`Hear me!' cried the Ghost. `My time is nearly gone.'"
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
"I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organisations, specifically banks and others, were such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms."
Alan Greenspan, apologising for his disastrous, ideologically-biased policies promoting financial deregulation, 23 October 2008
"Two souls, alas, are housed within my breast,
And each will wrestle for the mastery there...
To speak the truth, as truth to me appeared,
Caused noisy protest, I was hooted down.
Such unpleasant incidents occurred
I ran off, to be on my own,
into a wilderness. Utterly forsaken,
I fell into that devil's grip, and was taken.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust
Stocks were a bit wobbly today, after Friday's power rally.
There are three short term events that are worth watching.
The first is the FOMC announcement on Wednesday. It is widely expected to be a non-event. But we will have to see what if anything that they say about future actions.
The second is the British general election on December 12th, which could have quite an impact in the currency markets.
And finally there is the deadline of Sunday December 15th for the imposition of additional chinese tariffs.
The stock option expiration for December will not be until Friday the 20th.
Of course there will be the usual economic and earnings data which may move markets as well.
Gold and silver held primarily unchanged today.
Have a pleasant evening.
