AllupInyourBiz

It is a little bit disconcerting when the largest financial stakeholder in the US government goes on the air and expresses concern about it’s debtor’s ability to repay. I mean, what would happen if China called all of their notes due, today? Would they foreclose on our government? Would Jiabao show up at the Whitehouse with a couple of marshalls, and be like “alight Bam, hand over the keys. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” These are all things that would have been important to contemplate before making rash budgetary decisions. This is one huge issue where I hope that I never get to say “I told you so.”

[photo: Diego Azubel/European Pressphoto Agency]

But could it be that this:

Is a result of this:

[photo by Gettyimages]

I saw this graphic today on Animal New York, and it got me thinking.

The amount of money represented in the graphic above, is one billion dollars. One trillion dollars is one thousand times what you see in the picture. That’s a lot of cash. Ok, now that you have the mental image of one trillion dollars, try to put it into a practical example. I hate Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh as much as the next guy, but Rove has published a couple of articles recently that have really gotten under my skin (not because of the author). The reason they bothered me, is because the content of the articles, points to all of the discrepancies of the campaigning Obama, vs. Commander in Chief Obama. Today, a different Carl, sent me the link to an WSJ Op. Ed. piece authored by Rove. A lot of it was repeat content of an article published earlier this week, also authored by Rove, dealing with bait and switch. But the part of today’s article that blew my mind, was the following:

Not even Team Obama can forestall unpleasant reality. And among those America now faces is Mr. Obama adding $3.2 trillion to the national debt in his first 20 months and 11 days in office, eclipsing the $2.9 trillion added during the Bush presidency’s entire eight years.

Whoa! $2.9T is a lot any way you slice it. But to Bush’s credit, it was spread over 8 years, including all of the 911 and war crap. The Obama administration is a runaway train and the boiler fire is being stoked by pallets full of money. 20 months?!!! $3.2 trillion?!! Ok, so now take the money in the picture, multiply it by 1 thousand, then multiply that by 3.2. It may just be my limited imagination, but I’m having a hard time even picturing the image of 1 thousand times what is in the graphic. Was this really the kind of change that we were looking for?

I thought that this video was a pretty clever way of portraying what happened with the economy.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

I’m really seeing the fruits of that hard fought stimulus package, right about now. Or maybe this is just a reaction to Oscars, Hahahah. Wouldn’t it be awesome if bankers had a Wall Street equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscars? All of the Wall Street players could have a big televised party  where they get together,  blow smoke up each other’s arses  and give each other awards on TV. Don’t forget to mix in some extremely biased political views during the award speeches. Why not? I feel like Bernie Madoff and John Thain are probably as notorious as Sean Penn, these days.

For the love of all that is good and holy, I hope so. It always amazes me how cyclical the global markets are. The Japanese indices had gains, we have gains. Sometimes I can’t help but think of a dog chasing it’s tail.

Update: 4:15 P.M.– aaaannnnd, we are (barely) back above 8000.

Former Governor of MA, and GOP figure in the recent election, submitted an OP Ed piece for the NY Times this week. The article addressed the floundering domestic automotive industry. Romney is a self made independently wealthy individual (Bain Capital) whose father was a Auto industry mogul before becoming a political in Michigan. You would think that these things would qualify Romney to speak on the topic of solving the problems of domestic auto producers. Indeed, Romney is qualified. But Romney’s article “let Detroit go bankrupt” does not delve into any sort of complex strategy based on his expertise as a Private Equity genius. Instead, Romney merely asserts that decisions should be made using common sense. Hmmm, imagine that. Romney astutely points out that “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.” Romney also suggests that bailing out the floundering auto makers will only prolong the inevitable. I couldn’t agree more.

It looks like all the market needed was a little Columbus day luck.  Call it Money Monday. Shortly after 4:00 PM today the DJIA is almost +700. Could it have something to do with the fact that today is a bank holiday?

Cue, dive bomber sound effect. the Dow has now dropped almost 7 points and continues in the same trend. We still have 3 hours before the market closes. Any bets on if the margin of loss will be as big as last Monday?

For the first time since 2004, the DJIA has slipped below 10,000. As of mid-day today, it has slid almost 5 points. In the wake of the bailout bill being passed by the house (then signed by Dubya), the media once again, is silent, regarding any correlation that may exist between the promised renewed trust in the credit market, and the direction of the DJIA, today. If this is what renewed trust in the credit market looks like, we are in big trouble. The most infuriating thing, as a voter, is that the elected representatives blatantly acted against the will of their constituency, in this case. If the bill were of lesser magnitude, it probably would not be so aggravating. But this legislation will undoubtedly have repercussions for decades to come. If you are a voter, make sure to hold your reps accountable for their actions next month when you are in the cast your ballot. When representatives fail to do as their title suggests, and represent, they are not doing their job, and need to be replaced.