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meant to post on prior thread

How long before Protectionism arrives?It has been on my mind a lot lately. After all, Free Trade is the pathway the jobs followed when they left the USA.Populism is on the rise and all that is needed is a strong voice to point out what Free Trade has done to the average worker to turn the apple cart upside down.In this morning’s paper, we have another ‘throw the bums out’ letter to the editor. Get rid of ALL incumbants! I must admit, it sounds like a rather intoxicating idea. The sentiment that both parties are simply 2 sides of the same coin seems to be taking hold, and the stage is set for a strong “leader” to emerge – wraped in the flag and promising jobs….and punishment for the wrong-doers in our midsts. You know – the bankers and multi-nationals that brought on this mess.Meanwhile, current leadership still beats the drum against ANY protectionist measures and jobs continue to disappear….and as I watch Squawk Box, they are stammering and stuttering because all the numbers came in below forecasts this morning. Not what they were expecting, it seems.It won’t be long before the average Joe and Jane is ready for this message. Just wait and see.Independent Contractor

It seems most people are lost:-) Perhaps, the professor just wanted to get rid of us:-) I will have to start thinking about posting somewhere else… Post count is not working

As always, for those who are interested, I have a new post up at The Light of Day:http://medic-thelightofday.blogspot.com/2009/12/congressional-failures-and-health.htmlHope to see you there.BTW – Professor, this place does not have the homey feel of our old digs…..

If you Google the others (under blogs) you may note many are not posting elsewhere. OR I did find you onhttp://seekingalpha.com/user/502687/commentsThe link I found at your site,http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/12/bernanke-arm-ok-head-explodes.htmlIs an interesting post from CR. I have maintained that Geithner and Bernanke would do all they can to bring home prices up, hence Geithner decision NOT to sell his house.With home prices rising presently (Entry level in San Diego), I would like to know what will happen with interest rates going forward. Bernanke’s decision to refinance into a fixed rate is interesting if done for self serving reasons in anticipation of higher rates.I maintain they will do all they can to create inflation as we must reset with higher rate and taxes so we can created another 30 years of growth as we did after Greenspan squashed inflation with 17% mortgage rates in 1981. I would like to find some reliable historical home prices during the late 70’s and early 80’s along with U6 unemployment record aligned with the mortgage interest rates. See http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/federal-reserve-fighting-inflation-in-the-1970s-and-restraining-the-housing-market-today-the-federal-reserve-is-juicing-the-housing-market-trying-to-cause-inflation-researching-the-1970s-and-1980s/For some incomplete yet good data. Creating inflation with high unemployment should be difficult, but can it be done?hlowe

BTW, you can’t win them all. I gave up on most of my short positions yesterday. I kept EEV, EUO, DZZ, FXP. My largest short position was TWM which also proved to be the worse one. The hedging adventure cost me 100 basis points of my ytd return which now stands at 12.4%. In the last few days, I also bought several high dividend stock to the ex-dividend date so I’ve been working to increase my equity exposure from both ends. My equity exposure now stands at 40%+ . If the market keeps going up, my equity exposure will be reduced automatically come Jan 16 as I wrote covered calls in virtually all my holdings, and at this rate, most will be taken away from me. As I have said many times; once again, I acted too early:-)