Senator McCain Doesn't Know the Price of Gas

According to the Huffington post and several other sources a reporter from the Orange County register asked Senator McCain what was the price of gas. The senator replied that he didn't know and it was some time since he actually pumped his own gas. The purpose here is not to take a pot shot at Senator McCain. Rather, the real issue is that so many of our leaders are out of touch with the day-to-day realities with which we must all contend. Does Senator Obama fill up his gas tank? Likely not. He's under heavy Secret Service protection and these agents and others drive him around. But before he became a candidate, did he do this? Does Senator Clinton go shopping at the grocery store and know the price of a gallon of milk? I don't know, but these things are very important if you say that as president of the United States you are going to work hard for the people of this country. Talking to the people about these problems isn't enough to gain a full understanding of what people are concerned about. Perhaps it should be mandatory for the presidential candidates to go shopping at the grocery stores, pump their own gas, and actually pay their own bills.

Investing with the Television Talking Heads

There is probably no worse investment decision you can make then one based on investment advice of the people you hear on CNBC or any of the other television networks. Almost all of the people they have on the TV giving you investment advice make a living from selling stocks. That should give you a big clue right there. These people make money from selling stocks; if you're not buying stocks they're not making money. Sometimes, as in the present circumstances when the market is terrible, the best thing you can do is not buy any stocks.

At a time like this people should be more concerned with capital preservation and capital gains. Unless you are willing to do a significant amount of homework you are better off sitting on the sidelines and watching the carnage from a safe distance. Today, while I was on the treadmill at the gym, I was listening to CNBC when they introduced two stock analysts. The first one began immediately by saying it was time to "buy the financials." I almost fell off the treadmill from astonishment. The savant's reason for buying financial stocks was that they were at a seven-year low and now was a time to begin accumulating them. The problem with this logic is that for the past eight months people on television have been telling us poor suckers at home that it is time to buy the financials because they have hit bottom. Well for the past eight months the financial stocks have found bottom after bottom after bottom.





This doesn't mean there aren't some stocks that shouldn’t be bought. These are ones that sold off significantly from their highs, but their fundamentals are very strong and will continue to be so throughout this bear market. There are very few such stocks, and one characteristic of the current market is that there are wave after wave of what is known as sector rotations. This means that a group of stocks that had been hot and going up, is suddenly sold leaving you holding a good stock at a bad price. So whenever you are watching television and someone tells you to buy a stock, the best thing you can do is turn on the comedy channel and you get a real laugh.

Real Recession and Statistical Recession

Recent reports of significant declines in auto sales and home sales gave further evidence of an economy in serious trouble. Major department chains are scaling back plans for new store openings and increasing numbers of vacant stores are appearing in shopping malls and strip malls. But the government keeps issuing its own reports telling us that there is no recession. An article in the Wall Street Journal stated that, "Stronger gains in consumption and exports pushed U.S. gross domestic product higher in the first quarter, revised government figures showed, further evidence that the U.S. avoided recession in the early part of the year albeit with anemic growth."

The economy is headed downward regardless of these statistics. Wealth is disappearing as housing prices decline and stock portfolios values decline. The signs are all around us but apparently these things don't count as long as the government is able to produce statistics that say we aren't in a recession. If your basement is flooding, but the government says there are no flood conditions, what are you to believe?

Christian Leaders Speak Out for Obama

Dr. James Dobson recently attacked Barack Obama for a 2006 speech that Obama gave on his Christian faith. Does he speak for you? A coalition of pastors and other Christians, lead by Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell are standing up for our Christian faith and supporting Barack Obama.

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Gas could fall to $2 if Congress acts, analysts say

Limiting speculation would push prices to fundamental level, lawmakers told

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Obama Calls For Closing "Enron Loophole"

The “Enron Loophole” -so named because it was added at Enron’s behest- has kept the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from overseeing the oil futures market and investigating cases of excessive speculation, the campaign explained in a policy paper. Obama would close the loophole by requiring that US energy be traded on regulated exchanges.

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