My View

                               
Some random thoughts from a warped and fevered mind...

$12.1 TRILLION. Think about the magnitude of that number. A very large, almost imcomprehensible number. And yet we live with this number every day. It is the amount of our national debt. To frame this in numbers that may be more relevant, every man, woman, and child in the United States is on the hook for $395,000 as their portion of the debt. And it is growing. The Obama administration has petitioned Congress to raise the debt limt by 1-1.5 trillion additional dollars. We are placing a financial burden on future generations- our children and grandchildren- that is unconscionable.

I wonder what disease cured ham had.

It's always interesting to me what passes for journalism today. Forbes Magazine, generally a reliable source of business news, did an article that examined and valued each NHL franchise.  I don't have a quarrel with their valuation of the Predators- it is purely guesswork on their part since the team is privately owned and does not disclose their financial information publicly. However, in their brief overview of the franchise, they stated "The Predators have suffered from...embarrassing play on the ice..." Really? This team has made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons and has been one of the most competitive teams in the Western Conference. The article further goes on to state "The rumor mill is buzzing that the owners are looking to sell the team...". I have some questions for Kurt Badenhausen, the editor on this article. Did you come to Nashville and see the team play? Did you speak to anyone in the ownership group about the supposed potential sale? Or did you just decide to lazily repeat tired rumors under the guise of reporting? And the main stream media wonders why they are losing customers.

Build a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Picking through the rubble of the Madoff fraud and other frauds that have been perpetrated recently, one thought comes to mind. "If it is too good to be true, it probably is." A trite adage that we have heard from childhood, but one apparently by which we are unwilling to abide . Madoff promised and supposedly delivered uncharacteristically consistent returns, regardless of what the market was doing. Other con men have promised outlandish returns that were totally disconnected from the market and have successfully duped investors. In each case, the returns on these investments were far beyond what was reasonable in the market. Every one of us has a responsibility to examine a prospective business or investment deal. And if it appears too good to be true, it probably is.

Curiousity killed the cat, but for a while, I was a suspect.

And that my friends, is my view.