Each Sunday (well...Monday this week), I toss out a few ideas that I have been thinking about during the week which don't quite make it into full-blown Posts. If I receive enough feedback on any given topic, I'll expand on it in the future. Let the commenting begin!
First - Retail update on the last shopping weekend before Christmas: J. Crew, Gap, and other midpriced clothing stores were just as busy as in previous years -- as predicted by moi 6 weeks ago, retail sales will be somewhat lower than the recent past but not a total disaster. However, high-end retail is a total disaster. Paul Stuart and Michael C. Fina were empty, and Tiffany's good floor traffic could be somewhat misleading as it is a magnet for tourists who can't afford the jewelry but want to tell their friends in Dubuque that they went to the famous Store on 5th Avenue.
Second - There has been a noticeable decline in stock volatility and trading volume over the past few weeks...far more than can be explained by the traditional Holiday vacation slowdown. What's going on? Are we setting up for the new Bull Market, as an endless string of pundits have predicted? Hardly. We are seeing the Beginning of the End of the 25-year mania for stock investing as a long-term guarantee of compounding wealth...the mistrust of Wall Street (AIG/Bear Stearns bailouts, Citigroup $300 Billion guarantee to stave off collapse, WaMu/Wachovia failures, Madoff/hedge fund lack of due diligence, excessive Executive/banker/trader compensation, annuities potential defaults, and so on) is starting to build. There's going to be mass apathy and anger (not necessarily in that order) towards stock investing over the next several years, and it is possible that we are witnessing the first stage of a total breakdown in the presumed pattern of comfortable retirement after 30 years in the workforce. I'll have much more to say on this topic in the weeks ahead.
Last, but certainly not least, a great story about generosity in the face of difficult times.
Posts
sounds like a dark reign is upon us, let's see how we ride it out.
ReplyDelete