Fed up with the Fed

My stocks didn’t fair too badly yesterday. Things could have been much worse. SCUR surprised my by finishing up seven cents to close at $6.77. CLRK managed to hold and finish above $17.00 so that psychological support holds.

Today looks to be off to a good start anyway; all of the futures are up significantly and the overseas markets are largely positive. Yesterday Oracle’s earnings beat Wall Street’s estimates and also forecasted solid growth for the current quarter. Because Oracle surprised the Street and forecast strong growth for the current quarter, their shares were up 13% in the after hours markets and will be one of the catalysts for a rally this morning. Had Oracle not forecast solid growth, then their shares may even have dropped.

Oil, on the minds of most market participants over the last few weeks, managed to slip below $61.00. This will add further fuel to the fire of any morning rally. A low price of oil will cause a broad based market rally. The only variable in today’s market rally is the Fed decision due out this afternoon at 2:15pm.

The Fed is expected by most market watchers to leave rates unchanged. However, most of the market participants will be taking a close look at the accompanying statement. The business economists and the analysts will be looking at the statement for clues about where the Fed sees the economy and inflation going in order to determine what the Fed is thinking about future rates.

This whole system is one giant farce if you ask me. Why should a bunch of people that are out of touch with reality decide what I have to pay for interest rates? These guys have no idea what inflation is, what the middle class do, their struggles to make ends meet. In fact these guys are so out of touch with the majority of people, the hard working middle class, that they have shrunk their numbers. The numbers of the middle class are shrinking and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. So these guys must be doing something right.

My all time favorite of the Central bankers is Alan Greenspan, whose senility never ceases to amaze me. This guy is often heralded as the greatest of all time, yet most people could never understand what the hell he was saying. Greenspan even acknowledged this himself when he said, “guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I said.” Now here’s a guy, with the stated objective of confusing people, running the monetary policy of the country.
These guys even go so far as to say that some level of unemployment is a good thing. They actually call it a natural level of unemployment and know what it is. Last I hear somewhere in the 4.5% - 5% range. But these bankers and economists can say that because they are never the ones laid off or part of that 5%. I’ll bet their tune would change if they were unemployed for any length of time.

All I know is that with each passing week my paycheck buys less and less. Yet these senile old men are going to sit in a room behind closed doors and decide what’s good for me and the rest of the free world. The best part is that none of these people have spent any time in the free world and most have no clue about the real effects of inflation and unemployment. None have ever done a hard days work for meager pay and wondered how they will make it to the next paycheck or what they need to cut back on to make a go of life. These guys and their rich investment industry friends have no concept of what stuff costs and what it takes to get things. Yet here they are affecting my life and yours but all the while ensuring that the pockets of their rich friends get fatter.