Support Red Fridays

I just received this message from Sharad Karkhanis.

>As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays...'

Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed One of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and Cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our Service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'

The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and He is coming home very soon.'

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom.. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear Something red..

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once 'silent' majority is on their side more than ever; certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is....We need your support and your prayers.

Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.

Congressman Hinchey Aims to Federalize Hudson Valley

I just sent the following inquiry to the National Park service. The Kingston Freeman reports that Maurice Hinchey aims to include the Hudson Valley in the federal parks system. The article is very vague as to the identity of the bill or what the effects would be on development, the ownership of firearms, hunting, and the sale of real estate. I have contacted Congressman Hinchey's office for a copy of the bill and have sent this inquiry to the National Park Service.

Dear Park Service:

I live in the Catskills about 25 miles from Kingston, NY. In the November 3 issue of the Kingston Freeman, a local newspaper, there was an article that stated that Congressman Maurice Hinchey has proposed a bill to turn the Hudson Valley into a national park.

I have a number of questions for you as the article was not descriptive of the effects of this policy.

1. What regulations normally accompany the establishment of a federal park in a developed region? Here in New York we have the Catskill Park, in which I happen to live, and the Adirondack Park. There are regulations that apply in the Catskill and Adirondack Parks that do not apply elsewhere.

2. Do you have a model or a developed set of regulations for another park region that would be similar to the regulations that would be put into effect should the Hinchey bill pass?

3. What would be the effect of establishing a park on economic freedom in the following areas:

--building houses
--building septic tanks
--sale of real estate
--liens on property not deemed environmentally acceptable?

4. Would there be an effect on construction such as limitations on the amount of real estate development, and/or restrictions on how sewage systems are designed, and/or limits on size, drainage and other environmental effects of real estate construction?

5. Would there be effects on hunting, the introduction of wildlife, the use of firearms and/or on fishing?

Thank you.

Mitchell Langbert.

London Times on America's Feeble Dollar

The London Times has an excellent article on Obama's weak dollar strategy. The article notes:

"All of this means that investors do not believe that President Barack Obama will respond to the enormous pressure put on him during his visit to Beijing and take steps to strengthen the dollar. The president and Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner might talk the talk of a strong dollar but they walk the walk of a declining one. A weak dollar should lift exports and cut imports, which in White House terms means jobs for American workers. And it is jobs that the president asks his aides about first thing every morning. With reason."

The article notes that there are risks associated with gold investing, in particular the chance that the Fed will attack inflation. The article inaccurately attributes the Volcker Fed policy to Reagan. Carter appointed Volcker and he instituted his monetarist strategy during the Carter administration. Reagan allowed him to continue. But Volcker reinstated inflation in the early 1980s and the Reagan administration was for it. They called it "supply side economics".

A likely scenario is that Obama and Bernanke will resist limiting monetary expansion until a strong inflation is underway. There will be plenty of time to exit gold when they do exit. Even if they do exit, the credibility of the dollar has been permanently reduced. I'm not sure that even if the Fed strengthens the world will take the dollar seriously in the future.

Help! America Needs Financial Advice!

Question from Reader:

>"Do not trust the socialists in power. Get out of the dollar. Buy commodities (GLD, HUI, DBA, the Euro via Everbank or UDN)."

>Dear Mitchell,

I have been hearing about collapse for over a year now. I am VERY worried. Next year when the commercial "adjustable" mortgages start re-adjusting, many claim we will spiral out of control, and at that point, nothing may be able to stop it......

>I have a bit of money from my Mom.....Lord KNOWS how hard she and Dad worked for all ten of us to have the best they could provide. I have the money in two savings accounts. Should I convert all of it to gold or euros do you think? I do not want to lose what little is left. Our retirement funds were decimated.......and I am STILL out of work with no prospects in sight. I am hoping to start a small community based business with a neighbor....but this has not been the greatest year for me....and things health wise are NOT looking any better.

>I have debated "buying down" our mortgage so that payments on the house would be much lower. We were VERY lucky to get a fixed rate mortgage some years ago at 5.5%. But the payments with taxes are high, and I don't know when I will have an income again......

>I am really worried about the dollar's collapse. I appreciate any advice you may have......GOD Bless you,

Dear Reader: Do not panic. I would advise you not to pay off your house but rather, if necessary, get on the sub-prime bandwagon and borrow up to your eyeballs. In inflation debtors win. People with cash lose, so get rid of it. Get rid of your bank accounts.

I'm sorry that you lost in the market. All investments are risky. I would advise you to purchase a range of the things in the list you clipped: GLD, HUI, DBA, UDN. I would not put all my eggs in one basket.

Some commentators are afraid of bankruptcy of commercial banks. Hence, buying Euros through a CD has that risk. But otherwise, diversifying out of the dollar and possibly shorting the stock market is a good idea.

GLD is a gold ETF and it is taxed as a collectible, at 28% rather than at the lower capital gains rate. Gold stocks, are volatile and risky. They can go up alot more than gold, but they can also be affected by a stock market collapse. I lost money in 08 because of that very problem. The gold stocks can easily go down 70%. Gold is volatile but less so than the stocks.

If you put your money in gold, you need to be able to live with a 40% decline without panicking. IF you put your money into gold stocks, the variability is larger.

There is a stock, SH, which is the short-sale equivalent of the S&P 500. It goes in direct opposite to the S&P 500. You and I wish we had bought that in summer 08. You might consider this:

30% GLD
10% UDN
10% HUI
10% DBA
10% SH
20% SPY
10% SLV

These are:

GLD= gold exchange traded fund;
UDN = dollar short exchange traded fund;
HUI=gold stock index exchange traded fund;
DBA = agricultural commodities excahnge traded fund;
SH = S&P 500 short fund;
SPY = S&P 500 exchange traded fund;
SLV = silver exchange traded fund.

Alternatively, you could try this:

Cash: 50%
GLD: 50%

or

Cash 30%
UDN 20%
Gld 50%

or

GLD 100%

or

SH 90%
GLD 10%

Shorting the market now is of course risky. It could continue to go up because of the monetary infusion last year. But it has had a good run; Americans are heavily in debt; the Chinese are ticked; and the national socialists are in power. I would not be optimistic.

You might also look at international stocks but I would wait. If there is a stock market decline in the near future it will infect the international stocks too.

I am not a prophet and cannot foretell with any certainty what the markets will do. I do think gold is going up and if you put 100% in GLD you would not be crazy in my opinion. If you are bullish and put your money in the S&P 500 you could do well from hereon in, but there is a risk of stock market collapse. I would not be an unrepentant bull at this point.

The reason for a possible market collapse is this. The stock market is going up because of a large infusion of money last year. That can continue for a while. However, it is also inflationary. As inflation starts (dollar declines) the Federal Reserve Bank is subjected to pressure to withdraw some of the dollars. This will cause interest rates to rise. When interest rates rise, the stock market falls.

But let's say the Fed doesn't withdraw the dollars. Then, inflation escalates. Interest rates then will rise because bond investors want higher returns. It seems like there's a good chance for a market decline at some point either way.

It is easy to know what will happen, difficult to know when. The rising SPY could continue for another year. The stock market could double before the collapse. No one could know this. Unless you had inside information about the banking world last year, it would have been difficult to predict that the collapse of their balance sheets would have occurred.

So I don't know what to tell you. In an inflation, borrowers benefit. The St. Louis Fed tracks money statistics, and they are scary. I cannot say for certainty that the gold market will go up.

If you want to take a risk, buy gold stocks. Check out the Kitco site each week. No one knows for sure what will happen, least of all me.

Where I am heading right now, but I'm taking my time, changing a little each week:

SPY 10%
GLD 50%
HUI 10%
SH 5%
SLV 5%
Euros CD 20%