The Market, Energy, Political Page, Part 3, T+46 -- December 21, 2018

Loony tunes: Don wrote early this morning: This is the first time I have seen the value of the loonie below $0.74.

• Canadian dollar: $0.7373.

Don follows this stuff closer than I do and has been following it longer than I have, so he would know. [Actually, the loonie has been lower and it has been trading in a range for the past couple of years, but Don's point is well taken -- the Loonie says Canada is closed to business.]

I remember going to Canada when I was a Boy Scout -- best part of trip -- buying Canadian toffee and I remember how much one could get for an American dollar. My introduction to global finance. Laugh. Had I paid attention, I might have beat George Soros. LOL. See this note from July 26, 2016. Wow, I wrote some "good stuff" back in the day. Not so much any more, it appears.

Loony tunes: I have no trouble "understanding" the gyrations of the stock market. What I do not understand is how economists (not Trump) can go from talking about a GDP of 6% just six months ago to a recession six months from now. Feels like a lot of manipulation going on. But that's fine. If so, this, too, will burn itself out. Meanwhile, some folks are going to do very, very well -- as usual. [Later: perhaps US market manipulation is "our" equivalent of the "Yellow Vest" movement in France, which, by the way, appears to have burned itself out.]

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, relationship, or travel decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

Speaking of travel: this from the Drudge Report. I did not click on the link; I have not read the article. Simply the screenshot:

LOL. Ninety-nine percent of young folks, when asked why they don't want to join the military, cite "frequent moves" as one of the top ten reasons why they don't want to enlist.

When we returned to the US, back in 1997, after thirteen consecutive years overseas we were surprised that some folks had never lived anywhere other than the county they were currently living in. Most had never even lived in more two different homes. And those that had -- generally same town/city if not the same neighborhood.

Our first stateside posting after returning to the US was LA: lower Alabama.

When our older daughter said she had just moved from Turkey, one of her classmates thought that was a city in northern Alabama; she was asked if they had a mall in Turkey, Alabama. I kid you not. For me, moving from Texas to California would be "living abroad." Same with folks moving from Boston to Texas. Or Nebraska to Portland (Oregon). Bernie won't even move back to Russia.

But if a third did leave, that would leave a lot of room for all those migrants that want to come in. But LOL, a third of Americans "thinking about leaving the US to live abroad." Maybe I misread -- the screenshot simply says "country." Maybe the article is about Venezuela. Or Honduras.

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Time For A Bit Of Organ Music

E. Power Biggs