END OF THE YEAR

Well, at last we are heading East for Christmas with the Virginia Clan and them heading back to the Fly-Over Zone for Christmas II/New Years with the Illinois Clan.  That's actually more work than Congress is going to put in as with the passage of the budget bill they are G O N E.  Good times for all.

Think I got it right for a change in yesterday's post as just about everyone was coming to the understanding that yesterday was a pretty good head fake and as predicted, nothing happened in the markets today except that the 10 year ticked up to 2.95 before settling back to 2.92 which, at the risk of repeating myself is nothing.  Oh yeah, Jacob/Jack set a letter to the Speaker proclaiming the Feb. 7th. was the absolute, final, completely terminal, last day for raising the debt ceiling after which all life ends.  As though anyone cares because if J.J.'s boss winds up with the dirty end of the stick sometime in January over Obama Care, life will surely end for The Leader as The Leader.  The Republican Party has never been very good at finishing off a wounded opponent but this time may be different because if it goes wrong they may not have to do a thing.  So January could be a telling month in the politics of the nation and most everything else will revolve around the Obama Care outcome.

Europe is a mystery.  Six days to Christmas and there are still people to be found speaking about issues of import.  You would think there might be a sign in conjunction with this event to signify it's exceptionalism…like a star rising in the East perhaps, but there we have it; the Brits getting testier with the Germans, the ECB getting testier with the Germans and the Germans getting testier with everybody over who is going to rule Europe…my, how times have changed.  It's back to the banks of course with the underlying issue being do we have "national" banks in the sense of political affiliation as presently exists or do we have one overseer in the form of the ECB or an entity created expressly for that purpose which is what is needed but which no one wants.  This is one of the first battles of the new year.

And so, we are off.  I may check in before Jan. 1--in fact, I probably will.  But in the mean time, best wishes for a most Merry--and if strikes you--Blessed Christmas for that is what it is all about to be honest.  The Very Best of New Years to you all and the hope that as good as this year may have  been, 2014 will top them all!

Cheers!

Charlie