Well, August has been an amazing month. The weather for the most part has been great, and a lot of people around here look like they spent time at the beach. I see those golden tans and try to not get too jealous of their sun drenched outdoor healthy look. But I do take solace just knowing that at least my face and arms have some color. But my chest is so white that I could take my shirt off in the fog and people would think I’m a lighthouse!!
August was filled with sports beginning with the Olympics held in France. What a great job they did hosting. The planning and the care that went into making it a great venue was just amazing. Did you know that most countries actually lose money hosting this event. A good example was Greece in 2004. Greece spent almost 9 billion dollars on the event. But 7 billion got dumped on the taxpayers. That comes out to about 56,000 per household. That did not include the costs of building a new airport or updating their metro system. Days after the Olympics ended, Greece warned the Euro-Area of their public debt representing 6.1% of their GDC which was more than double the limit allowed in the Euro-Zone.
That said, the American athletes made a great showing setting some Olympic as well as world records. Also, it was great coverage of the events by the networks. Thank God they got away from that up close and personal crap they used to do. If I heard one more story about somebody’s puppy dying when they were just three years old, I think I would rip my hair out. All these athletes worked and trained for years, just to get a shot to compete for a medal. The odds of making an Olympic team are slim at best. If you do make a team, then what are the odds of getting a medal? Congratulations to all the participants. You represented the USA well.
Now I know you are waiting at the edge of your seat to know how our softball season went. If I had to describe it in two words it would be, “We Sucked!!” Really, we finished the year almost in last place with an 8 and 17 record. It was the worst team that I have ever played on. (Venting) Honestly, to play in this league, you must try out. Then you get rated based on what the coaches feel your ability was during the season. They then go through a draft where a coach picks his team for the season. If you don’t get drafted, they move you down a division. Going through all of that, you would think a player would give his all on the field. Half my team just really didn’t care or even try. On paper, we were a good team, but together, well you catch my drift. Trust me, you didn’t want to be around me on the field.
Now for my take on the market. As you know, we are having a pretty good year with our investments. I still like I.T. As well as large Cap Domestic equity. The S&P Index is still performing quite well. I really believe that the market will stay pretty steady for the rest of the year. It will still drop occasionally, but history has shown us that it does come back. Also, I do think the Fed will drop interest rates by the fourth quarter which will also have a positive effect on the market. Now the big question is, how will the new Democratic ticket affect the market. My answer is that I don’t think it will. As I always say, “Voters vote with their wallet.” It is always to the benefit of the incumbent for the markets to do well.
That’s it for this version of my blog. Have a great rest of the summer and check out our podcast.