Remember the advice I gave way back in September 2008…..

And that advice was to sell in May and go away.  I follow that rule religiously and especially when I see the price of gas go through the roof.

The DC crowd is evidently still completely out of touch with what average Americans are going through financially day-to-day as most have seen their standard of living erode significantly since 2004 as the country speeds down the bankruptcy highway in debt to the tune of 6 figures for every man, woman and child.  When all the chickens come home to roost it will be very bad folks.

The way I see it Obama has about 9-12 months left to turn things around.  Since he chose to pay bonuses to the Wall Street crowd instead of locking them up  for what they did he is in reality no different from the republicans that bailed them out to begin with meaning the public has nothing to lose by throwing his sorry ass out next year unless he turns things around.

So in a change of pace from our recent emphasis on more local topics, I’ll add that my latest foray into Ginnies has exceeded my expectations from a pricing standpoint and in today’s day and age the 3.18% YTD yield isn’t half bad either. For those familiar with the work of Nassim Taleb, a good part of the trick is to manage downside risk and ginnies do that right now.

Some recent headlines that partially explain why I’ll be on the sidelines with my long-term money until there is a substantial market correction:

Consumer Confidence falls unexpectedly in May. ~ LA Times

Every Single American Needs to See This Video ~ Hey folks a trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there. Chump change huh? This link to the Daily Bail is indeed a must see despite the fact it is 2 years old now, especially for the journalists and other inquiring minds that read these pages. They Wall Street Crowd and their water boys in DC won’t stop until we’re all financially bled white folks. The topic: Off Balance Sheet transactions at the Fed that no one at the fed seems to know a thing about. More links to Bloomberg’s reporting dating back to 2008:

Finally from today’s Sun Herald. ~ US stocks off sharply; 6th down week looks likely

sop