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Pastimes : I AM A MINDLESS ZOMBIE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (146)	9/11/2002 7:13:57 PM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 258

Hello Maurice, MZ Bill Fleckenstein publishes his mindless rantings. Well, I'll have to take umbrage with labeling Fleck as a Mindless Zombie. He is now, and always has been, anything but a MZ. You can label him a perma-bear, or a contrarian, or afraid to tell an itsy-bitsy, teeney-weeney white lie (for the benefit of the economy), but Fleck has never run with the herd, never... Fleck has always been critical of Mr. Greenspan, even predating the bubble years of 1998/1999. I can recall as early as 1996 (I think Neil Cavuto?? was the guy on CNBC at that time), Fleck was calling for tighter monetary restrictions, and believe me, back then, Fleck was almost a solitary voice screaming into a raging bull wind. Who in their right mind wanted the bull market to end? At least that was the predominant herd thought process throughout the '90s... Please don't confuse two separate and distinct issues. The first issue is criticism of the Fed, and by extension, Mr. Greenspan. The second issue is the loss of wealth, and some people's propensity to blame others for their losses, instead of looking in a mirror. Fleck has always been critical in the extreme of Fed policies and Mr. Greenspan's speeches. He was critical all during the bull market period, when virtually everyone was making huge bucks. Fleck criticized the economic policy, and repeatedly warned about the coming market collapse. There was nothing to blame on Mr. Greenspan at that time, because as of then, no collapse had occurred. So Fleck has not changed his opinions one bit, and does not deserve the label of MZ. Fleck did not lose the type of money that the MZ's lost when the bubble collapsed, so he's not pointing the finger of blame at the Fed for his own losses. But he is making the case that had the Fed taken much tougher stances way back in 1995-1997, that the price that is being paid today would likely not be as severe. No, Fleck has not joined the herd. Rather, the herd has come full circle to Fleck. During the bubble years, Fleck was only rarely a guest on TV, as he represented doom and gloom, while everyone else was a party animal. Fleck was left to graze in a pasture far away from the green grasses where the bulls dined. Only after the greenery was all consumed, and dead brown roots appeared where green shoots once proliferated, did the bulls migrate over to Fleck's pasture. And now that the herd dines there, you've mistaken Fleck for a MZ. He is not. He has not changed his viewpoint one iota. I'm sure the man has his faults, but being a MZ is not among them. I admire Fleck for his unrelenting stance ever since I first started reading his columns here on SI. Regardless of whether or not one likes or reveres Mr. Greenspan, Fleck has been one of the few good guys wearing a white hat as long as I have read his columns. KJC

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (146)	9/19/2002 6:18:17 PM
From: David W. Taylor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 258

>> Bill Fleckenstein . . .mindless >> Repetitive, maybe, but far from mindless. I have been a long time reader of Fleck's. When he moved recently to RealMoney.com, I stopped reading his stuff rather than contribute a single cent to Cramer, the real mindless zombie. Fleck has been correct and on point, since at least 1998. His stuff is endlessly recycled and available at Contrarian Chronicles for free about a week after it appears on Real Money. His viewpoint may seem extreme to some but he is simply 100% correct.