Blinder & McTeer on Fed Cuts

My sense of the direction of interest rates, the markets, commodities and the dollar are ALL one big question mark. Nearly every financial metric of any significance and its associated underlying data is now (rightfully so) regarded with skepticism.

I think there is more hood winking (~collusion) going on among insider “smart money” players on Wall Street right now than has EVER occurred in history. Bush is political toast and has essentially given up on doing anything material for the remainder of his term; which includes investigating any questionable market activity or enforcing current security laws.

So what we are witnessing right now is the last great money grab by the party in power with an administration looking the other way. We are currently being raped and pilaged financially every time you buy groceries, go to the doctor or fill-up your vehicle with gas. The Futures Market has been transformed from a means of hedging future purchases by businesses actually producing something to nothing more than organized gambling. (Kind of like greenmail.)

Since nearly everything is off-the-charts there is little guidance as to what to expect next. It’s indicative of a financial orgy. And frankly, no one on Wall Street gives a damn! However, there is good news, after the elections, all of this non-sense will quickly disappear and things will begin to move back toward some semblance of normalcy.

Problem is…I not sure anyone even knows what normal is anymore. They also have no clue how future generations will be able to survive in the financial environment we will have left them. Shame on us greedy selfish b#stards!!!

I went to a reunion of my old friends (fast approaching 50) a couple of months ago and walked away with a sense of doom. Other than the few of us with pensions (NYC worker, postal employee and milk truck driver) no one had much in the way of savings and forget about 401k’s. These are my blue collar friends.

My white collar friends: they are on their 3rd refinancing, 1st two for credit card debt, third one for college tuition or have had to dip into their 401k’s because at 50 you become prime layoff material in marketing and ad agencies. So they are using this money to survive today, thinking that they will once again find $100k jobs though for some its been years. Other friends in their mid-50’s tell me they have $100k in their 401, with no other equity and think they can retire at 62.

Me: I have a pension and have been putting in $15,000 a year in my 457 for the last few years but still know when I retire (62?) that I will be moving away from NYC, not because of want but because I couldn’t afford to stay.

This country is in for a shock in the next 10-15 years when the baby boomers decide to retire. Yes there are those who have become rich, but for many they have been using their houses like piggy banks and their 401k’s as an afterthought. Having little equity and a 20 year mortgage at 65 can’t be encouraging. And the cry will go out that we have to bail these people out. Because American’s love capitalism until it smacks them in the face, then everyone becomes a socialist and wants government intervention.