“Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt was a lot of things to many people. To some, he was simply a regulator … to others a calmness. His “fireside chats” are often looked back on by historians not for their economic resolve, but for their tone. He had a wonderful temperament. He was a man of principle.
These, of course, are not the kinds of leadership qualities that you have been waking up to in the early mornings of 2008. I spend most of my reading time these days studying Hoover and Roosevelt, their economic policies, and the respective successes and failures associated with their decisions. There is always much to glean from history, and as Santayana said best, those who have not learned her lessons “are doomed to repeat them.”
While I have been a resident bear for some time now, I am not in the “Great Depression” camp… certainly not here and now. I continue to hold the line that 2008-2009 will be much more like the mid 1970’s than any other period – but let me be clear, no economic point in this country’s history is a carbon copy of another. Today’s unique differentiation lies in the interconnectedness of global market factors. This is not 1974. This is 2008. This is a world where global information and asset classes trade hands real time. This complex system of markets waits for no one. It is always on.
Today is Veteran’s Day in the US. Today is Remembrance Day in my homeland. Today is Independence Day in Poland. Today is a day to reflect and be thankful for the men and women of principle who have served their countries.
Michael Bloomberg is an American capitalist who is now serving his country. He built an iconoclastic American company that continues to provide the world with the faster and cheaper investment tools that quickly delineate fact from fiction. Bloomberg left Wall Street after the 1970’s meltdown and started his business with what he knew best – his principles.
Those who don’t respect duration in investment modeling probably dismiss what they usually do when endowed with an investment tool like Bloomberg – context. Bloomberg’s business didn’t even exist until 1981… and now, 27 years later, we have the weaponry at our fingertips that allows us to traverse the global plains of market data as fast as you can click and read.
This morning, a top 3 Bloomberg story headline is “Bonuses for bailed-out Wall Street Should Go To Zero” – this is sad. When America came out of the “Roaring 20’s”, President Hoover was in a compromised position of over-seeing a society that had lost its moral compass. The “Trend” was first and foremost for financial wealth. The “Trade”-off was the Great Depression. Today we don’t have that – but we do have much to fix.
Whether or not the folks at “Investment Banking Inc” pay themselves the bonus pool they have allegedly allocated to themselves or not this year is very much looking at the tree. The forest is being ‘You Tubed’ by Americans in their investment savings and portfolios. Every day that they are misled, America votes and sells these stocks lower. Chris Cox and his cronies can’t stop gravity. These over-geared financial firms have disintermediated themselves via short term compensation compromises. Now the process is in motion to replace them.
The US stock market is paying less and less attention to these horse and buggy whip “Investment Banks”, and starting to look beyond them. Goldman and Morgan Stanley can lose 5-10% of their value, daily, and people in this country are no longer surprised. Americans are a people of progress and change. They are done with the conflicts, the compromises, and the constraints of a financial system that lost its way. Old rules and said leaders of American financial institutions “are not necessarily sacred… principles are”… and if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have my feet on the floor early every morning, charging our business forward.
Bottoms in markets are processes, not points. The change needed in this country will take time. That’s what investing has always been about. Take your time this morning. Read and reflect. This is not my gospel. These are the principles that great American Capitalism has always been built upon. God bless America’s families today, especially those who have lost loved ones serving our countries’ principles.
Keith R. McCullough
Long ETFs
JO – iPath Coffee –Vietnam and the Central African Republic have officially established diplomatic ties with a statement signed on Nov. 10th in Hanoi. Coffee is among the agricultural staples that is encompassed in the plan for economic cooperation.
EWL –iShares Switzerland- Julius Baer fell over 6% to a decline of 56% YTD. The largest remaining independent private Swiss bank announced a decrease in AUM due to outflows as well as investment decline.
EWA –iShares Australia- Australian business confidence reached a record low of -29 in October, down 21 points since September to the lowest recorded level.
EWG – iShares Germany – The ZEW survey of German investor confidence rose to -53.5 in November from -63 in October, an unexpectedly bullish move.
FXI – iShares China – Customs data shows exports increased 19.2% y-o-y in October, down from 21.5% in September. Imports rose just 15.6%, the lowest level since June 2007 bringing the trade surplus for the month to $35.2 billion. Industry group leaders expect tax rebates on copper and aluminum exports to be re-introduced in the near term,
VYM – Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF – Revised AIG bailout terms spurred the Markit CDX North America Investment Grade index to decline slightly by 1 basis point to 186.5 in anticipation that carmakers may also receive capital injections.
Short ETFs
UUP – U.S. Dollar Index – The dollar rose against Latin American currencies as yields for the region declined.
EWW – iShares Mexico - Consorcio Ara SAB received authorization from regulators to proceed with its 26,000 home Citara project despite financing concerns.
EWJ – iShares Japan - The Economy Watchers index, a survey of sentiment among small business owners dropped to 22.6 for October, the lowest level since the survey began in 2001.
EWU – iShares United Kingdom – Leaders from the three primary political parties called for tax cuts to soften the recessionary blow. The pound reached 82.15 pence per EUR, an all-time low.
IFN – The India Fund – -- Stocks of state controlled refiners rose on news of a 4.6 billion infusion of government bonds to compensate them for losses created by subsidies. The Rupee fell 0.5% percent to 48.12 for the largest single day decrease in a month.
Keith R. McCullough
CEO & Chief Investment Officer