Happy B-Day USA!!

I hope you're all having a great 4th of July!! I managed to get up to the mountains and spend some quality time amongst Mother Nature.

It's on days like this that we have to remember that this country has been strong enough to endure a multitude of financial storms, but yet emerged stronger after they have passed. That's the nature of the USA, the American people, and our culture that recognizes humanity's unalienable rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"..

It's time to return to a government (and economic system) that is " of the people, by the people, for the people". To recognize that both of these institutions are tools to SERVE THE PEOPLE, not control them. They are tools "to promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity".

That said, the people must recognize the truth, understand it, and be willing to resolved the problems. And we must understand that "Big Money" in this country is not the kind of COMPETITIVE CAPITALISM we to achieve a better future. What we are seeing now is MONOPOLISTIC CAPITALISM, asserting it's control over the marketplace and stifling innovation and entrepreneurial forces within our culture and economy. It's turning out markets and financial system into casinos where "skin in the game" investing takes a backseat to derivatives, hedges, and Credit Default Swaps that provide profit when capital and assets are deflated and/or destroyed.

So remember that the challenges we face in coming months and years are temporary and they too will pass. But it will not be easy, and communities will need to come together in support of one another.

Now.. on to some reading that I found interesting.

David Tice has been a long-time bear and runs the "Prudent Bear" mutual fund. He's been bearish since I first became aware of him back in the '90s. That said, sometimes he makes some sense and brings up some good points. And maybe, like a stopped watch, maybe the course of the financial markets and his sense of bearish timing are finally coming into alignment:

Will S&P retest 666?

First of all, I found it actually ominous last year when the S&P hit the "number of the beast". Just TOO freakin' coincidental, if you ask me. Suddenly in all the panic selling the "Big Money" put in orders to buy the S&P at 666? Come on now.. ;0)

Back to Tice. He brings up critical points related to state and local budgets forcing the laying off of hundreds of thousands of employees. And this cycle of layoffs is just beginning because they were staved off by the Federal stimulus last year. It's very unlikely that the market has much appetite for another such stimulus, but as US bond rates descend back towards previous lows, that may change. Money demands a place to be "parked", and Obama's stimulus provided just that. However, as I've mentioned before, that money was utterly wasted and created few, if any, sustainable jobs.

So read those points and ponder the future. And pray it doesn't come to pass.

And if you would like to read where this country should be heading, a good start is with "The Capitalist Manifesto":

"The Capitalist Manifesto"

The Great Disconnect

Additionally, I've previously read Peruvian Economist, Hernando De Soto's work, "The Mystery of Capital":

The Mystery of Capital

In both of these works, the authors disdain monopolistic Capitalism. True Capitalism releases the individual talents of the people to innovate and prosper. But current capitalism has evidenced itself as denying common people the ability to access capital, either by excessive bureaucratic interdiction (regulations, permitting, licenses, taxes, fees) and/or through monopolist capitalists/aristocrats using legal and governmental means to protect their capitalist fiefdoms from competition.

Capitalism is flawed and it needs to be fixed so that it benefits the most people. But it's merely an economic tool to guide the process of ensuring the prosperity and economic security of our people (and people around the world).

Scrutinizer