Cuban freedom

They say that the Cuban government is allowing its citizens a little bit more freedom to express themselves. That's all well and good. However, what they really need is a stronger economy. They need outside investors. Let the investors come in and stimulate the economy. The people are ready to work for very low wages. Let the government bureaucrats get out of the way with their red tape. Invite the Chinese to come pay a visit - the Koreans too. They seem to know a thing or two about stimulating the economy. Hire this topless woman as an interpreter - even if she does not speak Chinese - she can learn, no?

DEBT

From a prescient newsletter: By Porter Stansberry: "This is how America ends – with the lie that we all can live at the expense of our neighbor and borrow endlessly. Rather than simply face a downturn in the economy, we plan to borrow trillions of dollars our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay. Rather than let all those people and institutions that took on too much debt (like GM) be liquidated and restructured, we plan to risk a hyperinflation. Rather than insist homeowners who can't afford their mortgages lose their homes, we would jeopardize the credit rating of the country. It is all madness. None of the government's bailout plans will solve any of the problems. The government can only shift the burden of the failures. Instead of bondholders and shareholders being wiped out, taxpayers are put on the hook. These actions will temporarily resuscitate the economy – but cause a permanent decline in the value of the dollar." If the first and second lienholders foreclose on the U.S. Treasury, we can all go wash dishes in China and Russia and Quatar and other foreign places in order to work off the debt to them. No problem.

Celebrations

This makes perfect sense to me. From Tom Dyson: “The Fed has aimed its printing press at the real estate market. The government thinks the falling real estate market is driving the recession and the credit crunch. If it can get the real estate market rising again, it thinks it'll be able to beat deflation and solve all our problems. So any signs of life in the real estate market will validate the Fed's strategy and generate a burst of optimism in the stock market. As I've been reminding you over the past month, the Fed's strategy is absurd. The best way to get prices rising again is to let them fall. The housing market needs to find the price where buyers and sellers meet. The more money the government throws at the market, the longer it'll take for prices to find their true equilibrium and the more time we'll be stuck in a recession.” The woman at left is waiting for us to act responsibly, so please hurry.

Listen to me

The instability in the stock market is being caused by nothing but fear and the instability and unreliablity of investors themselves. Listen to me now - buy cheap stocks and hold on to them. Period. Don't sell, don't move, don't panic, don't run, don't cry, don't collect $200 - nothing. Stay still and everything will be fine. The stock market is not for babies to begin with. If you're going to be selling at the first hint of lower earnings, play Monopoly instead. You'll make more money there.