SLOW IMPROVEMENT

It's Been a Long Improvement Process. A month ago I could barely walk upright. Although I am not totally pain free, It's great to be more mobile at this point. My memory may be less than stellar but I can hardly remember being laid up for so long at any other period of my life. I am just waiting to reach a level where I can maneuver a suitcase through the airport and fly to Denver.

The Market Continues to Decline. In my last post I questioned whether or not we have reached the point where the market corrects from the raging bull market we had last year. I anticipated it for several months while the market continued to go stronger. If nothing else, I expected a seasonal correction when the market tends to drop during September and October. While history shows that is most often correct, it is definitely not that simple. I had other reasons to expect a correction to include high unemployment, low consumer spending levels, and high foreclosure rates. At this point, the bottom line is that the market has dropped around 5% from its high and my guess is that it will go lower.

You Can't Separate Politics From The Economy. A lot of folks think I want to blame the Democrats for our difficulty. I have been highly critical of the administration and their economic policies; however, I am equally critical of the other party when they attempt to expand the government role in managing our economy. It isn't that I think the government deliberately de-rails the economy. The problem is that governments over-estimate their ability to be a positive influence. For example, consider their attempts to re-structure mortgage debt to allow more homeowners to avoid foreclosure. So far, they have restructured just over 1000 loans in the state of Colorado. If that is the best they can do that would be better off to quit trying and use the money elsewhere. Ask Realtors, mortgage brokers, and appraisers about how well they are regulating those industries. They have done far more harm than good with their attempts. Each party has their own constituency that they want to help. The Republicans are accused of favoring corporations and the democrats are accused of favoring unions. There is some truth in both these accusations. A more level playing field would probably help us all.

Hopefully, I Will See My Colorado Clients Soon. In the meantime, I will do my best to keep an eye on our investments.