Research
It’s Money, Stupid!

The events of 9/11 not only changed the landscape of freedom, it also changed the landscape of money. This month (July) has been one of the most devastating months for stockholders since October 1987.  There are, of course, those skilled in playing puts – but for the average Joe who staked his future on Wall Street and gambled his retirement pension funds, it has been an “Excedrin month.”

If you please, it’s not just Enron; Global Crossings and now the largest bankruptcy ever by WorldCom MCI, which admitted it had improperly booked 3.9 billion; it had, in addition, a $41 billion debt load.  It’s much more.  Lying CFO’s and CEO’s book cooking accountants and sheer dishonesty and greed. I am told that one of our former politicians, when asked what was the most important thing, responded, “its money, stupid.”

We finally figured it out, our whole financial system is built on good faith and trust which have their roots in honesty, and there doesn’t appear to be an excess of that around these days.  How bad is it – well, in October of 1987 only 2 in 10 reported being hurt by the sudden stock market drop.  Now, 5 in 10 Americans have suffered financial devastation and 8 in 10 consider the stock market to be a “risky investment.”  The Wall Street blues have moved to Main Street.  Consumer confidence (trust) has hit the bottom and lawsuits abound.

The President, Congress and the Senate are running about like the “white tornado” trying to figure out how to reestablish consumer confidence. There is much discussion about who is responsible for this turn of events including the fall of the Dollar against the Euro for a 2½ year low and the burgeoning trade deficit.

Last month your opinions, on Privacy and Freedom, were really helpful. We hope you took time to consider them. This month, we need your opinions on MONEY.  Please help us by filling in the Research Questionnaire on our Home Page.  We will send you the results in our monthly E-gram if you sign our Guest Book, also on our Home Page, FamilySOS.