HALF-FULL REPORT 08/28/09

We are told that we must say something good about the recently dead.  OK, here goes.  Ted Kennedy is dead.  Good.

When his terminal brain cancer was announced in May 2008, the HFR commented thusly, for it is worth repeating now:

The HFR’s goblet is raised this week in sympathy to this young lady and not to her murderer.  She is Mary Jo Kopechne.  Her death at the hands of a drunk Ted Kennedy served one purpose for which America must be forever grateful:  it prevented his ever being elected President of the United States.

The HFR goblet contains no mawkish, treacly, fawning oleaginous encomiums to a man who has done more objective damage to his country than any American alive today.  Millions more would be alive today if it were not for his truly fanatical crusade in the Senate to allow mothers to murder their unborn babies for any reason whatsoever.

Those millions have been replaced by countless hordes of illegal aliens thanks to his immigration bills of 1965 and 1986.  No one – no one – has done more to destroy American culture on purpose by being the key advocate of every culturally destructive  left-wing lunacy for the last 40 years.

On purpose because there is clear evidence he was a traitor, offering to work with Soviet leaders such as Yuri Andropov to thwart Ronald Reagan’s efforts to win the Cold War.

The HFR does not gloat upon the pain and suffering of any fellow human being.  His type of brain cancer is fatal and cannot be cured.  It affects the area of the brain that controls speech, writing, and reading.  The HFR hopes that his suffering will be minimal and his passing peaceful – but nonetheless raises a full glass of gratitude that he will soon no longer be in the Senate and in a position to do further damage to America.

Of course, the Zerocrats are now using his death to exactly that:  further damage to America.  That the Democrat Party could lionize this evil anti-American, so personally revolting the London Daily Mail’s obituary of him is entitled "The Senator of Sleaze," explains the pit of irretrievable immorality into which it has sunk.

***
The depth of that Dem pit became yet more apparent this week with fresh revelations about Charlie Rangel’s massive tax cheating.  The House Ways & Means Committee chairman is already under multiple Ethics Committee investigations (which the Dems are obdurately stonewalling).  Now it turns out that Charlie hasn’t reported another $1.3 million in outside income.

Charlie belongs in jail, not in Congress – just as Teddy belonged in prison after Chappaquiddick, not in the Senate.  The giant dam of Dem sleaze may well burst in the 2010 elections.  What would really help is a straightforward compilation of crookedness committed by Democrat politicians, with each crook like Charlie getting their own chapter.

Such a book would have to be written by a top notch smart and savvy journalist who’s also a good and witty writer.  The HFR nominates TTP’s Jack Kelly – and even suggests a title:  A Government of Crooks.  It’d be a guaranteed major best-seller.  If you think this is a good idea and would like to offer Jack Kelly encouragement to do so, you can email him at [email protected].

***
A worried TTPer sent us a warning he received this week (8/24) from a Canada-based investment advisor, and asked for an HFR comment:

This is an alert that a stock market crash is imminent in the TSX [Toronto Stock Exchange], Dow, and other global stock markets.  Get out now before it’s too late! Safety can be found in gold, silver, and bonds.

It is imperative that you take cover now. The coming weeks will be turbulent to say the least. The crash will start Wednesday or Thursday of this week.  Get out of long positions. REPEAT: Get out of long positions! I don’t care if you’re invested for the long term.

The Dow is going to 2300. It will be a stomach-churning ride if you have any money in the stock market.  Forget all the rosy nonsensical predictions made by Bernanke & gang. The US is in a depression. 34 million are on food stamps. Dow 9500 just doesn’t reflect that reality.  The FDIC went bankrupt on August 14, 2009!

You have been warned.

The HFR is always leery of sky-is-falling apocalyptic doomsayers.  That said, it is very hard to see how the market runup – a 3,000 point gain in the DOW since early March – can be sustained.  There’s nothing holding it up.

The S&P PE ratio is at a record – which means lunatic – high.  Yet the Fed is now admitting that unemployment is really 16%. 

Add in the giant Baby Boomer generation that is now into saving and retrenching, avoiding spending like the plague;  the Zerocrats disincentivizing businesses to the max; and hallucinatory deficit spending – and an off-the-cliff market crash seems inevitable.

The question is when.  Certainly not this week as predicted above.  Next week, next month, next year, who knows?  The only advice the HFR can give here is:  avoid panic.  No freaking out.  Make for the exits cautiously and carefully.  Yet recall the strategy of Bernard Baruch (1870-1965 – the Warren Buffett of his day).  When asked what was his secret to acquiring so much wealth, he replied:  "Selling too soon."

***
This does not, however, mean selling everything too soon.  There will always be opportunities.  Take a look at an article by my old pal Ambrose Evans-Pritchard this week (8/24) on China’s near monopoly on rare-earth minerals required by many cutting-edge technologies.

This would seem to imply that savvy investors will be looking into non-Chinese rare earth suppliers like Arafura Resources in Perth, Australia (ARU on the ASX Australian Stock Exchange), Great Western Minerals in Saskatchewan, Canada (GWG on TSX), Avalon Rare Metals in Toronto (AVL on TSX), or Molycorp Minerals in California.

Apocalypses are religious occurrences, not economic ones.  Stay cool and you can make money in any market.

***
One of the HFR’s favorite spectator sports is watching the rivalry between China and India – especially militarily. 

Tired of seeing the Chicoms build a series of encircling naval bases around them – such as Gwadar in Pakistan, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, and Sittwe in Burma – India has decided to build a major naval base in the Indian Ocean, specifically designed to "contain Chinese influence."

Its in the Maldives, a group of tropical paradise islands known to scuba-divers as one of the most magnificent dive locations in the world (your humble HFR author can personally attest to this).  Although the article linked above does not reveal the specific island among the 1,000 that make up the Maldives, the HFR can.

It is Gan, upon which the Brits built an 8,700 foot runway when the Maldives were their colony.  It is the main island of the Addu Atoll which has an enormous protected lagoon capable of sheltering any size of naval armada. 

A lot of folks live on Addu’s islands, 25,000 in all, and would love the jobs the Indian base will give them.  It’s a win-win deal all the way around except for the Chicoms. 

And there’s frosting on this cake.  Gan is the southernmost of the Maldives, which makes it not that far away from the US military’s giant (and secret) Indian Ocean naval and air base at Diego Garcia.

DG’s runway is so big that its serves as a B-52/B-1/B-2 bomber base as well as a back up for the Space Shuttle.  It’s a major US sub base, listening post, and serves a variety of other functions.  It’s a seriously smart move for the Indians to position their anti-Chicom naval base such that they work in tandem with ours.

***
A number of news stories appeared this week describing the latest method of making methamphetamine called "shake and bake."  It’s much faster, simpler, and cheaper.  Shake-and-bake "can turn the back seat of a car or a bathroom stall into a makeshift drug factory," and at a fraction of the cost.

Which means the drug will be more available to more people, especially teen-agers who are too stupid to resist.

It is time, then, to revisit TTP’s explanation of The Nightmare of Meth (March, 2006). 

This is now a free access article.  If you know anyone who might be susceptible to the temptations of meth, please send it to them.  Meth is a nightmare of straightforward brain chemistry.  Understanding that brain chemistry will help folks avoid the nightmare.

***
We’ll end this week with a question – ever hear of a guy named Bill Whittle?  Neither did the HFR until a TTPer sent in his discussion on Pajamas TV:  The Truth About the Tyranny of Political Correctness.  It’s worth taking the time this weekend – it’s 13 minutes long – to watch it.

***
Oh, Ps:  Perhaps you saw the headline today (8/28):  Honduran President Makes Offer To End Political Standoff – and thought those gutty Hondurans are capitulating to international pressure to give in to the communists.  Nope, no way, José.

The deal Micheletti is offering is that Zelaya can return to Honduras with political amnesty in exchange for which both Zelaya and Micheletti would formally resign their competing presidencies.

This is really clever.  It makes it impossibly hard for the US or other comsymp governments to impose sanctions now – and it is a reasonable offer that Zelaya will refuse.  He’ll refuse because he’s a Chavista egomaniac – but now the onus is on him to compromise as has Micheletti.

Micheletti loses nothing, for he wants to retire anyway – he’s an anti-Zelaya.  And Zelaya, as a private citizen, will still be open to criminal charges for the millions he stole.

Really smart.  Good for the Hondurans.  Again.