T/A ETF AND INDEX

[capt_jmj]

No arguments here. Just like gold and other commodities, there is an intrinsic component and a speculative component of the price. Also, with people still losing jobs to the tune of ~ 500K per month, regardless of whether that number is decreasing, it means unemployment is still *rising*, and that means more mortgage foreclosures, more credit card defaults, and lackluster spending going forward, especially on big ticket items. When consumer spending is 70% of the economy, that dog doesn't hunt for long when ~ 17% of the country is out of work (yes, the *real* unemployment figure is much higher than the BLS's official number of ~ 10%, since many have given up looking or have taken part time minimum wage work). Of course, the socialist Obama and his cronies will want to spend more of your unborn grandchildren's tax dollars on more pork projects to make up the difference.

I frequently travel a ~ 15 mile stretch of I-40 between Nashville and Cookeville that was recently repaved with part of the Stimulus money, or so the prominently posted signs proclaimed. The thing was, we don't get a lot of freezing/thawing road damage down here and so the old pavement was still in perfectly good shape, but I guess it was our turn at the trough anyway. No doubt there were some union highway construction jobs that were "saved". A hearty "thanks" to all you hard working taxpayers who elected this Joker and band of idiots to spend our money for us.