Be well-spoken, authoritative and, most importantly, wrong most of the time.
In the absence of any real, new or compelling gambits for the media to obsess upon, kortsessions.com is having trouble finding material to illuminate or debunk. On top of this, I think this beautiful, dull (lacking volatility) market is, likewise, dealing the media fits. Ex. the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the lack of volatility, they have had little to complain or worry about, and we continue to make new all-time highs (S & P 500) almost every day. One thing that has become clear over the past fifteen month of penning this blog is, the go-to people, the experts and pundits, have a strong track record of being mostly wrong. Yet the bookers (both mainstream and financial) continually go back to these sources for their pearls of wisdom.
He’s Back
I really try hard not to be political in my posts, and what I am about to say will be taken as political (a slam against the George W. Bush administration). It is not. Republicans and Democrats, alike, voted to take us into the Iraq War number II. It turned out to be a costly mistake.
What really troubles me is the critical hue and cry that has developed against current U.S. policy in the region, not only from the current Republican leadership, but Bush administration officials. Most bothersome is the media, which over time has become quite editorial in its reporting, not taking these people to task. Plus, they continue to book them, give them airtime and never call them on their bona fides.
The choir led by Kapellmeister, former Vice President, Dick Cheney, asserts unbelievable charges in light of how wrong they got it when getting us involved in Iraq to begin with.
- ‘The Obama administration pulled out of Iraq too soon.’
- ‘We should have left a defensive force behind to protect against this type of incursion (the Iraqi’s would not allow it).’
- ‘By not asserting our power right now, we are showing weakness.’
These guys have no credibility. Why do we continue to see them? It’s because successful pundits are well-spoken, authoritative and usually wrong.
John W. (Jay) Jordan is also back!
The same dynamic is at work in the financial media. The go-to guys appear to be perennially wrong (or maybe right once). They just have to speak with great authority: plus, it does not hurt if they have been successful in business and worth big bucks.
A case in point is Jay Jordan. Three months ago we posted Session 97 (“Get ready for stocks to drop 25%”). This was Jay Jordan’s assertion in a CNBC interview at the time. He believed, very strongly, asset bubbles were forming as a result of Quantitative Easing (QE) and was forecasting a big market drop as a result. Of course, since then the S & P 500 is up 6%, and recently has closed in a string of new all-time highs.
In the first interview, Jordan was very critical of Fed Policy, both past and present. In yesterday’s piece (“Stock Market Overvalued”-6/19/2014) he gave Paul Volcker credit for doing the right thing in 1982 (raising rates through the roof to kill inflation). He didn’t say this three months ago when his comments were critical of Volcker. He still got it wrong when he said, (back in ’82) “asset prices cratered” (stocks down only 17%, not much of a crater, before heading off into the greatest bull market in history). He still claims that Bernanke and Yellen have it wrong, again in the context of new bubbles being inflated. As such, he asserts that we could be headed for a 20 to 25% drop. Jay is successful, well-spoken, rich (an authority) and, maybe, wrong again…A perfect pundit!
Tell me what you think?
P.S. In our clip on of Session 97, Jordan admits to the interviewer that “I’m usually wrong.” OMG!..and they continue to book him.
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.
Early on, Bush announced the “Axis of Evil”, and boy was he right! Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld!