Sunday musings

This is a shorter column this week due to a reason that I will mention a little later on.

So on we go..........................

Well the American government avoided defaulting with a grand compromise.

Right?

You are more than incorrect  in that sad assumption. The markets have tanked. Resources, commodities are dropping as fears of another recession and possibly depression, both in the United States and the World emerge.

One of the worst decisions a person could make today would be to sell their stocks at a loss instead of sitting down with their financial adviser to plot a long term strategy that accounts for the peaks and valleys of investing in my opinion. That being said, this is little comfort to those whose retirement is based solely on stocks and are watching their value erode back to 2008 panic levels.

Remember me saying that the AAA+ credit rating of the States would suffer no matter what?

That has happened as the credit rating agency Standards and Poors has downgraded the rating to AA-, a state lower than that of Canada which presently sits at AAA+. This will immediately impact all facets of the American economy starting with interest rates on business and consumer rates. Drying up lines of credit, causing employers to limit new hires and probably review existing staffing levels with a look at reductions.

There exists a very strong likelihood that there will be a generation emerging that is over educated, deeply in debt, and highly unemployed as older workers refuse to retire and remain longer in the workforce. We see this is Spain and Greece and those two countries are on the edge of class warfare as a result.

Have you seen the pictures taken through bars of Hosni Mubarak on trial for his life in Egypt? There are many people in that country and indeed in the world that thought that this day would never happen.

There was a massive religious demonstration in the streets of Cairo this week by Islamic fundamentalists demanding an end to democratic reforms and the implementation of Sharia law and of course them running it as they see fit. I guess women’s rights are not worth a tinkers damn to these people.

I really fear that the possibility of a religious war starting this decade is a real possibility. The concept of the Global Village is at threat.

We went to Vancouver this week for a short break from the daily grind.

I have to laugh at how we go there and decide we were twenty again and walked all around the city for six hours a day! It is going to take a week for my poor aching tootsies to heal.

It is a wonderful city with so many wonderful things about it. The temptation to move there is very strong.

Are you old enough to remember Lucille Ball from the I love Lucy show that aired in the 1950s? Well she would be 100 this weekend. What a wonderful comic she was. In the series which she and and her husband Richardo Arnez (Rici Ricardo in the show) starred in, a number of now tame topics were introduced. The most trail breaking was  that when her real life pregnancy was  followed on the show and then the episode where she gave birth (off camera of course) was watched by over 71% of the television audience in the United States! What networks would give for that kind of viewership today!

Well we are  into the month of August and the hours of sunlight are starting to decrease and temperatures are slowly moderating, can Fall be far from now? I do not know about you but the older that I get, the more I dislike Winter and the snow, ice and cold and darkness that is part of it.

Perhaps the only solution is to keep buying lottery tickets and hope for a winner so that one can buy an island retreat somewhere.

Sigh.

Anyway, there are still plenty of great times and weather ahead, so get outside, take a stroll, have a tea or just sit in the sun for a while and enjoy the good things in life that you have.Because there are many millions of people out there that would switch places with you in a blink of an eye if they could.

And as usual, have a great week out there and take care,

flatlander52