Game Plan for the Markets

We were (correctly, turns out) guessing that markets would open a little lower this morning because in the great game of Money, we have just been through options expiration.

What oftentimes happens is you get some weak prices immediately after and then the Big Players step in and load the boat. 

What it means, though, is that likely we will see new market highs this week, absent some event out of left-field.

Asia was up overnight, and so is part of Europe when I checked, and with the dollar down a bit, that means it will take more “money” to buy stocks and that will complete the illusion of stocks going higher.

In terms of economic news? 

Tomorrow we get the consumer price report – always good for a laugh – because last week I carried $200 worth of groceries up from the car – in one hand!

Meantime, the Cleveland Fed president and the Fed’s Vice Chair both have speeches today so if you find yourself desperate for something to read, the Fed Website will likely have text up later.  Bring coffee…everyone spouts pretty much the party-line especially when the Fed Statement was essentially neutral last time around.

Cruz’ing

I know a lot of my liberal friends (at last count, I had exactly one) would have expected us to lead with Ted Cruz dropping his hat in the ring for the White House.

Of course it’s not exactly news since he’s been running the whole time, but now it’s official.

The Washington post figures Liberty University is the perfect place for his launch…but whether it will be Bush-Cruz or Cruz-Bush is about the only strong ticket on the GOP side.  Sure, Rand Paul will be announcing April 7th, but this isn’t a quest for quality, it’s a quest for money.

By the way, notice how Cruz tilts his head back a bit – as though he’s looking down.  Very subtle thing, but very William F. Buckley-ish who had the same kind of look.  It must appeal to republicans.

Yes, Bush can write a bigger check and having two former presidents in the family doesn’t hurt tactics-wise.  But the Bush can can be painted with elitist and aristocracy labels, just as anyone with the name Clinton can be.  The only thing left is for the primaries to decide how serious we really are with the “new broom sweeps clean” concept.

Hillary, as I see it, has a lock on brooms. (rim-shot)  And, oh yes, O’Malley might be that stupid.

Now, About the Recovery

We can’t help but recall those famous words “It’s the economy, stupid!” as the report comes in about how more and more people are taking the cash-advance against their IRS refunds than ever before this year.

No Explaining “the Kneelers”

I don’t understand the British.  I mean, sure, I understand “The City” and how it wants to rule the world financially – got that, roger, check.

But when the remains of a former king are pulled out of the ground, put in a coffin and parades about and headlines like this “County swells with pride after thousands line streets to see Richard III procession “ result, I just shake my head.

Glorification of the Ruling Class at its finest…how people could have stood and soapboxes and proclaimed themselves free…just stumps me.  And now this.

The ‘Lost City of Mosquitia’

Government of Honduras has sent troops into the rainforest to protect a lost city that has been found in the wilds just over the hills from Trujillo where we were last month.  Seems likely the drug cartels and rebels will try to loot the place before real archeologists can get in there to comb through and catalog things.

Alzheimer’s Prevent Health Note

Madison Avenue Mike has been sending along some interesting things to be up on, including this press release about how a new mix of dieting techniques may stave off Alzheimer’s:

“A new diet, appropriately known by the acronym MIND, could significantly lower a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, even if the diet is not meticulously followed, according to a paper published online for subscribers in March in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Rush nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris, PhD, and colleagues developed the “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay” (MIND) diet. The study shows that the MIND diet lowered the risk of AD by as much as 53 percent in participants who adhered to the diet rigorously, and by about 35 percent in those who followed it moderately well.

“One of the more exciting things about this is that people who adhered even moderately to the MIND diet had a reduction in their risk for AD,” said Morris, a Rush professor, assistant provost for Community Research, and director of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology. “I think that will motivate people.”

If they remember…

Climate Swings

We’ve had over 10-inches of rain here at the ranch so far this year, although officially our patch of East Texas comes in at 9.03, down in the dry end of the county.

By comparison, Boeing Field in Seattle – notorious for rain – has had 9.99 inches year to date.

By comparison, Sacramento has had only 3.04 inches of rain, year-to-date, while Bakersfield has 1.86-inches while el Centro comes in with 0.58 inch.  Key food producing areas, capiche?

All of which is worth mentioning now because if you don’t plant veggies this year, the California vegetable basket prices are likely to be through the roof.

Something you might want to put on your agenda this spring – getting your garden in early.