Sunday, August 10, 2008

By the Jewels

Is it just me or has the news that an American attending the Olympics in China was killed by a Chinese been swept under the rug already? Could you imagine what would happen if a Chinese attending the Olympics held here were killed? Are we that big of a weenie country already?

No, I am not straying into politics as this blog is about money and portfolios. But think about it - the USA up to its eyeballs in debt, at the mercy, so it seems, of oil producing nations, and is for sale to the rest of the world thanks to our cheap currency.

Don't tell me the dollar has bottomed and the world is A-OK for American business. The word "dramatic" was used to describe it but give me a break. Look at this chart and tell me how significant it really was.


Now how does it look? Real dramatic, right? The final peak of this chart took place in early 2002 and last week's dramatic rally is barely noticeable.

I'm not saying that the dollar has not bottomed. All I'm saying is that we are searching for anything nice to say and behind it all we seem not to want to piss off the Chinese.

Now, that is power.

Here's one more tidbit thanks to the Foundation for the Study of Cycles. The power on planet Earth moves from East to West and back again in a more or less 500-year cycle. Asia dominated a millennium ago. Then Europe rose to power and ceded it to the USA. And now where is it already settling?

What's in your international portfolio?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Traveling abroad and getting murdered? A risk you take, but no greater a risk than being killed in your own backyard. A tragedy? Absolutely, but this killing in China should not be the cause of another war. It was random and no different than a killing on the streets of any neighborhood in USA.
You are on track with the dollar....what rally?
Don't take my thoughts on the murder the wrong way, I am sympathetic and send my thoughts out to the family, but, your reaction is a little to far on the other side. It is okay to be impacted like you were, but it was nothing more than every day life in this wacko world we live in.

Michael Kahn said...

I'm not looking for a war but rather the lack of coverage seems disturbing to me. We seem to be walking on eggshells with China - witness Mattel's apology for fuss everyone made over Chinese made toys containing lead paint. China should have apologized, not Mattel.

By the jewels.

T.C.B. said...

Ye of short memory.
Remember in 80s when Japanese car import was accelerating at warp speed, a Chinese American who was mistaken as Japanese got his head bashed in with an aluminum bat in Detroit by angry auto workers?
Shit happens everywhere all the time.
It becomes a real trouble when one loads personal feeling onto it and start giving meanings to it.