I have really been having a tough time finding material of kortsessions lately. Egregious hyperbole and fear mongering have been hard to find, considering the Euro/ Cyprus events of last weekend. The media has been rather muted, as Cyprus, population one million, smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean, did not get the talking heads to Defcon One (eminent, nuclear market meltdown). There have been a few chirps in this direction.
One came from that notable commodity/ bond market seer Rick Santelli. Since the bottom in 2009, I do not believe that Mr. Santelli has had one positive thing to say about the bailouts, TARP or any subsequent policy move by the Fed or government, regardless of how effective those policies might have been in avoiding another “Great Depression”. If you had paid heed to his negative, laissez-faire rants over the past four years, you would have likely not been an investor in a great market. Much of what Santelli has had to say was sculpted by his political views. So I caution you again, do not let the political rhetoric determine your investment rational, as most politicians know little about business, and even less about economics and they seldom do what they promise. Caveat Santelli. We have hyperlinked one of Rick’s more choice rants, where he advocates, a la Herbert Hoover, to rein in stimulus and cut federal spending at the bottom of the 2008/2009 collapse…hello U.S.A. circa 1933.
Back to Santelli’s comment du jour…he questioned whether the Cyprus situation might be another “Archduke Ferdinand moment”. For those of you too young to remember (me included) the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination in Sarajevo in June of 1914, it was the flash point for the carnage of Europe’s First World War. Mr. “S” was intimating that Cyprus might be the trigger for a European or, maybe worse, worldwide financial carnage.
Recent history would indicate crisis springs eternal in the spring (every spring) in Euroland …at least the last four years in a row. Every year Euroland seems to muddle through. So, we are probably due for a correction, which would be normal and healthy, even if the Cyprus situation were the trigger… so be it.
The information presented in kortsessions.com represents my own opinions and does not contain recommendations for any particular investment or securities. I may, from time to time, mention certain securities for illustrative purpose, names where I personally hold positions. These are not meant to be construed as recommendations to BUY or SELL. All investments and strategies should be undertaken only after careful consideration of suitability based on the risks, tolerance for risk and personal financial situation.