Hi Bill, Ken & all - yes, the Y2K liquidity really bit the mkt bad in the past 12 mos. And indeed, Chmn Al's 1st tightenings were really calling in the loans! In a way, a few cyberfriends here on SI have warned against it. But alas, some of us were too warped up. And many of us thought the bottom was nigh!
Ken, during a new year dinner party, a friend of mine and I were engaging in a heated, but friendly, argument. He did not believe in the *coming* recession. I countered that the NAPM trend and the likely auto inventory were indicative of one. He wanted to use the traditional yardstick but I thought the bad news were only held back by the Santa Claus [y'know, it is not nice to fire or layoff workers during the festive season!]
Anyway, hindsight 20/20, Mr Chambers certainly speaks for a lot of CEOs suffering.
The real question for us is, what is next. I ve no doubt NT will rebound. However, I am beginning to wonder, when? The debacle has destroyed a lot of my capital. So, I don't have the luxury of B&H. As a matter of personal feeling, yesterday collapse is the last straw on the camel's back for my view of LTB&H strategy in the stk mkt. Since I am using my mutual fund hldgs to accomplish the LTB&H purposes, I may turn my stk portfolio into a trading vehicle. Just thinking out loud
best, Bosco |
