Autobiographical Corner
Whew. Another whirlwind holiday. When I rolled over at 6:10 a.m. yesterday morning, I couldn't believe it was already time to get up. I was plastered to the mattress after five Christmas celebrations, which included stops in Detroit and car troubles.
Overall, it was a very nice couple of days. Tuesday at the office was awfully rough: clients wanting their stuff, mail stacked on desk from the 24th and 28th, etc., but hey, it beats starving. Just as employee job satisfaction went up dramatically after the October 2008 meltdown, my contentedness with client demands went up dramatically . . . and I had already been thankful for my good client mix.
BTW: Thank you very much for patronizing this blog through Amazon. I had my second-best month ever. It's much appreciated.
Shoulder Shrug Investing
Cyberspace is filled with economic predictions for 2010. The predictions I trust the most: shoulder shrugs, like Bonner's here. Entertaining, filled with facts . . . and says nothing that helps, through no fault of his. He doesn't know. Nobody does. Even this guy who says a lot I agree with--Prepare for a Keynesian Hangover (WSJ)--doesn't know.
I'm sticking with my plan: stay away from the U.S. equities. I went ahead and liquidated another chunk of U.S. equities yesterday. I never thought they'd bounce back after the Dow slumped to 6,000, so I figured I was pretty freakin' lucky to get back up to 10,500, so I cashed in a chunk and bought this highly-intriguing closed-end fund.
I also continue to brace for inflation, though the whole inflationary prediction now has me nervous since everyone and their mother says it's coming, which is a classic sign that it's not coming. Plus, Robert Prechter has me thinking a big deflationary dip could be coming, though his analysis seems part-economic, part-psychobabble. Heck if I know, but I'm slightly hedging for deflation by holding a small amount of extra cash in a very safe bank. If we get a dash of deflation next year, I want to be ready to buy stuff cheap.
