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

THE WEEK THAT IS

And it should be a beaut.  Barring a last minute compromise, the U.S. government beings shutting down at midnight.  I wonder whether anyone will other than the 1,000,000 or so "folks" as The Leader likes to call them who will stop getting pay checks in order to maximize the negative aspects of this.  Ugly and kinda stupid for all concerned but this ain't nothin' to the goings-on in Italy where there will be a no confidence vote on Wednesday as a result of every body's favorite, Sr. Berlusconi ordering a couple of his hand-picked deputies to resign from the coalition government in an attempt to keep himself from being kicked out of the Senate.  Why you ask?  Well, the Italians have a quaint little law that says if you are a Senator you cannot be incarcerated.  Mr. B., having been convicted of a few, ah, missteps would in fact wind up right there.  I think it goes back to Roman times but then again, half the country is 2000 years old.  It was easier then...ruling the world and such.

And before that bunch came the Greeks.  Kinda looks like they turned out the same way.  The constabulary arrested a bunch of legislators for being and acting like Nazis...whatever that means these days...causing a considerable disruption in parliament and no good whatsoever for the financial outlook of the country.  So here we have Italy and Greece at the doorsteps of political crises, Spain struggling with continued double digit unemployment, France rethinking whether they can tax their way out of their mess as the Germans, astride the continent, try to figure out how to put this broken egg back together without causing consternation all around (hint:  I don't think they care).

Finally, Obama Care starts tomorrow.  The lies that will be told will be spectacular in scope on both sides.  Oh yeah, this is going to be some week.