Co-brand Partnerships

award-5.gif (6517 bytes)

topsite.gif (1668 bytes)

webfifty.gif (6027 bytes)


 
drop_center.gif (2753 bytes)


wpe1.jpg (2095 bytes)


FREE EMAIL
Email Login
Password
New Users Sign Up!
 
MAILING LIST
Sign up for our weekly e-mail newsletter!
Tell Me More!

Enter your e-mail address
subscribe
unsubscribe
NEWS SEARCH
WEB DIRECTORY
WEB SEARCH
 CITY GUIDES
search by:
 WEATHER

Current Weather
Enter Your City, State, or Zipcode:

   

MASTERING
THE TRADE

ORIGINAL, INTERACTIVE SEMINAR ON TRADING USING
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
 

 
EARNINGS ESTIMATES

Enter Symbol

U.S. QUOTES

Enter Symbol:

U.S. CHARTS

Enter Symbol:

TECHNICAL OPINION

Enter Symbol:

CANADIAN CHARTS

Enter Symbol


 SEC FILINGS

Search For:
 

Company Name
Ticker Symbol

 BROKER RESEARCH
Exclusive Broker

Research
Enter Ticker

 

 

 

Contributed by Bill Bonner
Publisher of: The Fleet Street Letter

PARIS, FRANCE 
FRIDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2000 

 

Today:  The Major League

In Today's Daily Reckoning:
*** Big Techs still have some air...but how long will it 
last?
*** 'Prospects for a Soft Landing Strengthened..." Maybe.
*** Bonds fall. Euro and oil hold. Could this be the 
'tipping point' for the dollar? The candidates debate...

*** More beating on the hull yesterday. The Big Techs are 
still alive...pleading for the oxygen of investment cash.


*** The Nasdaq rose 19 points. Juniper banged up $9, but 
when the day was over even it had become faint - ending 
up just 25 cents. Cisco went down. Microsoft fell $2.50. 
Intel fell below $60. 


*** Microsoft's price puts it once again below the strike 
price for options handed out a few months before. Will 
the capitalists be exploited once more...while the 
workers' options are again re-priced? We will see.


*** While the Nasdaq managed a small gain, the Dow sank 
further, down 94 points. Why? Well, who knows... 
McDonalds stock fell $1.50 - to its lowest level in 2 
years. The brand names - Colgate, P&G, and McDonalds - 
are major global enterprises. They suffer from a high 
dollar. It makes it hard to export, and revenue from 
overseas operations goes down...while dollar-based costs 
increase.


*** One of the big costs is oil - which has tripled from 
its low of less than 24 moths ago. Crude held above $34 
yesterday. 


*** The Producer Price Index appeared yesterday - showing 
that wholesale prices were under control...at least if 
you ignore the price of oil and food. Take out inflation, 
in other words, and prices don't appear to be rising.


*** "The prospects of a soft landing for the U.S. economy 
strengthened," said the Financial Times, "with 
publication of figures showing a fall in wholesale prices 
and a moderation in consumer demand."


*** The decline in consumer demand, as Dr. Richebacher 
has pointed out, is a result of the stagnant 'wealth 
effect.' Both the Dow and the Nasdaq are down for the 
year. People are not feeling much wealthier this year - 
and beginning...barely...to cut back on spending. The 
trade deficit, just to remind you, for the first 6 months 
of this year is as great as for all of 1998.


*** The CPI comes out today. If it, too, albeit thanks to 
the magic fingers of BLS statisticians, shows a 
moderation in inflation... "the next rate move might be 
downward," according to the FT.


*** The bond market is not happy about something. 
Yesterday, the European Central Bank intervened on behalf 
of the euro. It was emphatic about not intervening. And 
still claims that it did not. Yet, perhaps on a Wim, it 
bought $2 billion worth of euros. 


*** So, the euro rose slightly against the dollar. And I 
can't help but wonder if this might be the 'tipping 
point' for the greenback. The Danes are supposed to vote 
next week on joining the euro-bloc. The odds are only 
50/50 that they will go along. Either way, the news could 
have a big effect on the struggling currency. But sooner 
or later, something is going to push the dollar into a 
downtrend against the euro.


*** You'll recall I reported earlier this week, that 
Kevin Klombies had predicted the ECB would make a move 
within 5 trading days. Well, he was right. Although "the 
2.2 billion 'drop in the bucket'," says Kevin "is 
certainly not an intervention...it draws the line in the 
sand for the market." (see: A Perfect Financial Storm Is 
Gathering http://www.dailyreckoning.com/imra4)


*** Long bonds fell $1.25 per $1,000 of face value 
yesterday. Higher oil prices...perhaps a topping out of 
the dollar...bond investors are worried. 


*** This might be a good time for worrying. Mr. Bear is 
capable of doing a lot of damage in a short period of 
time, if he set his mind to it. And his summer vacation 
is over.


*** "Corporate debt has reached a record 46% of GDP... 
and for the first time ever total consumer liabilities 
exceed annual disposable income." says Strategic 
Investment's David Tice. And "while... businesses have 
been piling on debt, banks have been ratcheting up risk 
in their loan portfolios. So-called 'leveraged lending' 
now represents more than a third of the...loan market, up 
from just 7.2% in 1993. Leveraged lending - loans that 
are below investment grade - has grown from $20 billion 
in 1993 to $391 billion last year." By comparison the Fed 
puts the total banking industry at a trillion dollars. 
Chase will head south, merger or no. 
(see: The Best Days For Big Banks are Behind Them 
http://www.dailyreckoning.com/body_headline.cfm?id=496)


*** "Fuel is starting to flow again..." the FT reports, 
"as UK counts cost of crisis." New Economy or not, 
Britain proved surprisingly vulnerable to an interruption 
in the energy supply chain. A report from the scene, 
thanks to William Fleckenstein [siliconinvestor.com]:


"It's all dry and NO GAS here...No taxis in London...a 
strange sight. I went out in my "Black Limo" mini Morris 
(40 mpg) this morning and it's all gone... The M25 and 
all other roads were like that scene with Charlton Heston 
in "Omega Man" where he was the last man alive. I was 
that man!!! The shops are now running out of food...I've 
never seen anything like it...As I speak, it's just been 
announced that the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force are to 
be mobilized to deliver emergency fuel to the hospitals."


*** And on the west side of the Atlantic, Bush and Gore 
have agreed to bore the public by throwing slogans and 
jingoes at each other in debate format. Wouldn't it be 
much better if they faced off in an Ultimate Fighting 
Championship...armed with the weapons of their choice? It 
would be so much more entertaining. And the winner 
wouldn't have to be determined by checking a poll...but 
merely by checking a pulse.


*** Seriously, though admittedly gratuitously, it would 
be so much better to choose Congress by lottery. It would 
be much more representative of the public...and no one 
would have a career or financial conflict of interest. No 
campaigns. No campaign contributions. And no annoying 
elections.


*** Then, let Congress elect a president. And don't even 
bother to tell us. The best president will be anonymous 
...like the President of Switzerland...whose name we do 
not know...nor do we care.


*** Yesterday, after receiving a sentence of 3 months in 
prison for blowing up a McDonald's, a sheep farmer from 
the Larzac region in Southwest France "vowed to continue 
his fight against globalization and what he views as bad 
food."


* * * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The U.S. dollar is at an all-time high against the South 
African rand.

Now is the best time to make double-digit gains and snap 
up the bargains in South Africa... and enjoy 1st class 
accommodations, guided "big game" drives. It's your 
chance to save thousands of dollars on diamonds, sit in 
on high-level meetings with top CEO's, and much, much 
more... 

Join us for The South African Financial Safari, November 
9-21, 2000 and for 12 incredible days, you'll experience 
South Africa like most can only imagine; don't miss it - 
spaces are filling fast, call Amberlee Huggins now at 1- 
410-223-2633 or register online:
http://www.worldfinancialseminars.homepage.com/drsouthafr
ica.htm
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 



THE MAJOR LEAGUE 


"There's Adam Clymer, a major league a**hole with the New 
York Times."

George W. Bush


In the early days of the century...before everyone seemed 
to go daft...journalists were different. Reporting was a 
lowly craft, practiced by disreputable, untrained people 
who drank too much.


Of course, reporters had bad qualities too. Many were 
illiterate and a few were simply insane. But it didn't 
matter too much, as people didn't take very seriously 
what they wrote anyway.


But since then, reporting the news has gotten its own 
'ism' - as in journalism - and the trade has gone 
immeasurably downhill.


Instead of reporting what they see and hear, they aim to 
contribute to one of the great popular sensations of the 
day. Perhaps they are revealing to the world the horrors 
of the modern rag trade - with its sweatshop labor in 
Malaysia and Thailand. Or, maybe they are uncovering the 
evil of 'red-lining' by lending institutions, who hope to 
reduce their losses by staying away from areas where they 
are most likely to end up with a bad debt. And every 
reporter on the campaign bus hopes that he will one day 
make it into the major leagues of journalism - and have 
his name on the Pulitzer roster next to Woodward and 
Bernstein, for bringing down an unpopular leader with the 
power of a laptop computer.


Whatever they are covering, they try to work their 
stories so they amplify whatever popular hysteria is most 
appealing. Had there been modern journalists on the beat 
at the time of the Salem witch trials, for example, you 
can bet that the Pulitzer hounds would have outdone each 
other to uncover every lurid detail of the charges. Would 
evidence of the alleged witches' misdeeds have figured in 
the reports? Of course not. There was none...and there is 
no power, no glory in stifling a popular sensation.


During the 1980s, a similar sensation swept through 
America: the mass and grotesque abuse of children at day 
care centers. Reporters jumped on the story like a 
Congressman on a defense contract, each one hoping that 
this would be his big break with the Pulitzer committee. 
The charges were trumpeted in huge bold-faced type...and 
on the evening news...in the nations' various yellow rags 
and news-entertainment shows. 


Then, the public prosecutors - spotting an opportunity 
for their own 15 minutes of fame - leaped onto the case. 
Janet Reno, conspicuously, presided over one of the most 
sensational prosecutions in the nation.


And had not the day care centers been such penny ante 
enterprises, the tort lawyers also would have shown up.


But it was all hooey - as Dorothy Rabinowitz has 
chronicled in the Wall Street Journal. Anyone with half a 
wit could have seen it was rubbish - just by looking. The 
testimony was generally extracted from pre-schoolers by 
quack psychologists. Since the toddlers were asked to 
participate in fantasy - they didn't know where to stop. 
So they provided prosecutors with incredible stories - of 
subterranean rooms, monsters, and sexual violations which 
were physically impossible. 


It was nonsense. But popular sensations have a mind of 
their own. The prosecutors and juries went along with the 
hysteria...and reporters amplified it with more charges 
...new revelations...and confirmation from various 
charlatan 'experts' and public officials. 


The whole spectacle was sordid. Only many years later - 
after reporters and prosecutors had moved to more 
powerful positions - were the convictions quietly over-
turned and the innocent people, one by one, lamely and 
pathetically, allowed to take up their own lives.


A reporter's career goal today is make it into the elite 
corps that trails along with presidential candidates. 
Better yet, perhaps he can get onto the editorial page - 
where he no longer has to distort the facts to fit his 
sensationalist agenda, but can opine directly on them.


In today's International Herald Tribune, for example, 
Flora Lewis tells us that "US Military Policy Ought to be 
Getting an Airing." Ms. Lewis seems to have some opinions 
on missile treaties, the readiness of U.S. troops and so 
forth - which she wants to share. And she seems to think 
that strategic planning "should be put before the 
public." 


The public, of course, has no more idea of strategic 
military planning than Flora Lewis does. But the 
motivation behind the editorial piece is not to improve 
the security of the U.S. - but to make military policy a 
matter of crowd thinking and popular sensation.


Likewise, Richard Cohen, tries for a purchase on the same 
issue. "Is the U.S. Too Timid to Use Its Forces?", he 
asks. The headline is senseless. No one doubts that the 
U.S. would use its forces if it were attacked. What Mr. 
Cohen is really encouraging is the sensationalism of 
foreign military intervention. "Bring in Radovan 
Karadzic," he says, coining a catchy phrase, "dead or 
alive."


He points to Britain's smooth handling of the 'West Side 
Boys' in Sierra Leone and notes that "The West Side Boys, 
and other outfits, are much less likely to mess with 
Britain again."


Gee, if dealing with gun-toters, assassins and kidnappers 
were so easy, how come Britain has been bogged down in 
Northern Ireland for a quarter of a century? But you're 
not supposed to examine the details of these editorials 
closely. This is mob thinking...intended to feed a 
popular sensation...not intended to be worthy of real 
thought. Entire nations are transformed into the cartoon 
characters of professional wrestling - the good, the bad, 
and the ugly. We are supposed to root for the good guys, 
turn over half our earnings so it can used for various 
mob-causes...and never count the cost. Casualties? "We 
Americans," says the Washington Post writer beyond the 
draft age, generously, "take casualties all the time."


Cohen is the worst kind of editorial writer. Glib. 
Foolish. A jingo-monger without a mirror, incapable of 
noticing how ridiculous he appears. But Richard Reeves, 
over in the far right-hand column, is more clever. He 
watches himself. 


Reeves reports on Bill Clinton's attitude toward the 
press as relayed by his former press secretary, Dee Dee 
Myers. 


"I've heard him talk about it," she said. "He was out 
there taking the risks, putting his a** on the line, 
trying to make the world a better place..."


(I am relieved to discover that at least our president, 
or Dee Dee Myers has a sense of humor.)


"And they (the press)," Ms. Myers continues, reporting 
the president's thoughts, "were sitting on the sidelines 
taking potshots..."


But Reeves defends the press corps with at least as much 
hilarity as Clinton defends himself:


"That's the way it should be," he writes. "We're there to 
shout if the emperor has no clothes."


Shout? Spotting an emperor with no clothes, the typical 
journalist is more likely to bend over and kiss his bare 
a**.


Your reporter, just telling you what I see and hear,


Bill Bonner


P.S. What effect has the press corps...and the new 
worldwide Solomon's Porch of the Internet...had on the 
biggest popular sensations of our time - the dollar and 
equities? I'll take up those issues next week. Enjoy your 
weekend.
 
 
 
 
About The Daily Reckoning:
The Daily Reckoning... "more sense in one e-mail than a month of CNBC."  That's what readers are saying about The Daily Reckoning.

Bill Bonner, recognized internationally as a brilliant writer, entrepreneur
and publisher of The Fleet Street Letter, offers you his daily market
commentary absolutely FREE. For the first time, outsiders are getting a peek into his powerful and profitable investment insights. Bill's practical contrarian advice empowers even average investors to protect their hard-earned wealth and achieve amazing gains.

Bonner writes his email letter from Paris, France, each morning --
describing the wacky, wonderful world of investment, politics and everything remotely related. Irreverent. Sharp. Honest. Thoroughly, unabashedly contrarian. It's also among the fastest growing e-letter on the Internet.  It's a brand new service... but it has a distinguished history..

For nearly 62 year, The Fleet Street Letter, the oldest investment
advisory letter in the English language has consistently delivered
invaluable economic and political foresights to savvy investors. Current readers regularly enjoy impressive investment gains even as the market falters. Here's more from his online readers...

"My small portfolio has followed true to my wife's description of my
investment philosophy, "buy high and sell low." However, that has changed since I started religiously reading DR... I credit this reversal of fortune directly to The Daily Reckoning"
(Timothy)

" Your Daily Reckoning is the best in business commentary... mixing
serious warnings and the state of the market with gentle humor"
(Makram)

"It is actually better than some of the newsletters that I pay to
get"
(Joe)

"Your statements and philosophy have kept me from storming into the market and in fact [I'm] making some money in put options" (Frank)

Open your mind with the most stimulating e-mail newsletter that you'll ever read, The Daily Reckoning. To receive this free daily email newsletter click here now.

 
Search for it at the TulipSearch Open Directory
Investment Bookstore Investment Newsstand Market Mavens Report

TULIPS AND BEARS NETWORK SITES

 

FINANCE
Tulips and Bears
Contrarian Investing.com
Internet Stock Talk
Traders Message Boards
Traders Press Bookstore

NEWS AND INFORMATION
TulipsWeather
Freewarestop.com
TulipsMail
TulipsEspa�ol
TulipSearch
TulipNews
TulipCards
AllMusicSearch.com
City Guides
Travel Center
Bargain Bloodhound

WEBMASTER TOOLS

BecomeAnAffiliate.com
TulipDomains
GoSurfTo
TulipStats
TulipHost...coming soon
TulipTools...coming soon
...coming soon




Questions or Comments? Contact Us

Copyright � 1998-2002 Tulips and Bears LLC.
All Rights Reserved.  Republication of this material,
including posting to message boards or news groups,
without the prior written consent of Tulips and Bears LLC
is strictly prohibited.  'Tulips and Bears' is a registered trademark of Tulips and Bears LLC


Last modified: April 01, 2001

Published By Tulips and Bears LLC