Worthy Opinions » Christian

The fickleness of the stock market as a predictor of the economy versus just a responder to the economy played out clearly in the past week. On March 5th, CNN reported that the market had broken a five-day losing streak, bouncing off of twelve-year lows. “The markets opened higher and never looked back, following reports that China’s economy may be improving.” Umm. Well, they looked back the very next day and the day after that and the day after that. The price of tea in China was a silly reason for the market to rise in the first place, but we must remember it is overseen by a combination of villains and village idiots.

On January 30th, Germany’s news publication Spiegel reported, “The bailout packages aimed at shoring up financial markets in Europe are getting increasingly expensive. A creeping depreciation of currency is inevitable and state bankruptcies can no longer be ruled out.” Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “There is a rumor going around that nations cannot go bankrupt. This rumor is not true.”

Some people keep talking stock, whether they’re right or wrong, and stay with their pollyanna beliefs. Others take stock of their own predictions, ignore what they want to believe, and look at reality square in the face. We’re now at a perfect time for taking stock of some recent predictions.

We’ve all heard the plan for saving the nation. Create a “Bad Bank.” Deposit all the bad loans in the nation into the bad bank, and flush them away. The bad bank will buy these loans with money that is minty fresh. This magic money will come from the next generation. Our legacy to them will be the world’s worst bank. The beauty of it is, they feel our pain, and we don’t. Their pain, our gain.

Sometimes you have to take off the gloves in order to knock the empty air out of someone. In his February 6th column, National Review Online’s Economics Editor, Larry Kudlow, pointed out that stocks were trading high that Friday, in spite of a massive plunge in jobs. As one of the gurus of the old economy, Larry explained this disconnect: “The stock market is telling us the economy’s future is a lot brighter than its past. The stock market looks ahead; the employment report looks behind.”

The word “depression,” which I was using a year ago, is the only thing about the economy that is gaining currency. This dismal word has now flopped off the lips of General Electric’s CEO and Great Britain’s Prime Minister like a dead fish. Another D-word, “denial,” still holds the teeth clenched when it comes to speaking the word “depression.” We only speak of that word, looking backward because no one likes to admit they’re currently depressed. It’s fine to talk about later when the wine is pouring.

Today begins the Chinese Year of the Ox. I wasn’t sure how much stock to put in the Chinese Year of the ___ stuff. (Right now I’m not buying stock in anything.) Then I had a brainstorm. I can easily see if there is anything to this Chinese New Year stuff by looking back at what 2008 was the year of.

I was still feeling kind of swishy in my belly this week as I read about various CEOs who brought down fat bonuses by bringing down their banks. And I was thinking, what is it that a top-of-the-line CEO does to bring down one of the world’s largest banks that makes him or her worth a seven-quadrillion-dollar bonus? I mean what particular niche of genius makes these barely-street-legal CEOs better at bringing down their banks than those stock CEOs who only get profit-sharing plans because their little institutions keep humming right along in perfect health?

Did the people who elected for “change” in America really know the extent of “changes” that an administration under the new President would bring? The forefront of change is coming by first changing the civil rights of America. The President has stated that this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all citizens with dignity and respect. That sounds like liberty and justice.

If one wishes to understand the direction of the nation, one only has to look at the prayers that were offered during the inauguration. The prayers reflected the man who occupies the Oval Office who told the nation, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.”