Ponder This… was first published in March 2005 in newsletter format with partial intent that it would serve as a body of thinking intended to give a so-called “heads up.”

At that time, the housing bubble - having been spurred on by a global central-bank-inspired game of reflation, with Alan Greenspan as the central actor in the act - was at its height, the equity markets had rebounded solidly from their late-2002, post-internet-bubble lows, most people were generally convinced that good times were due for as far as the eye could see, if not a general birth right, and debt-based consumer buying was keeping the ever-growing number of sub-developments filled. Needless to say, we were not greeted with a chorus of cheers at our gloomy assessment, fully correct in retrospect, that a once-in-a-lifetime credit bubble, un-backed by historically verified key fundamentals, had shown on our door steps waiting to wreak havoc on the unprepared and unaware.

We existed to spread awareness and preparation, even if we were looked at funny when we went to gatherings of friends, family and associates.

Some people loved it and appreciated every step of the process, some seemed to not really get it and/or not care, others seemed a little annoyed that we would even put something like that together. The response ranged the gamut. The most gratifying responses were those from discerning individuals who understood the essence of our “heads up.” They were the ones I was looking to speak to when I wrote my words and organized a collective to put together a modest free rag. Sure, shaking friends and family awake who otherwise didn’t care to listen or research themselves was a goal, but the real beauty was witnessing those who took heed and researched for independent, verifiable, reasonable answers on their own.

I hope you were one of the ones who dug a little deeper and got your stuff together to weather the now present storm that is bearing down on the people ever more significantly nearly every day.

As I write this, the S&P 500, a quality gauge of the market as a whole, indicates that in October 2008 you would have been far better off if you had sold your equity holdings the day we issued our first issue in March 2005. Today the S&P 500 closed at 996 and change. In March 2005, it was at roughly 1,200. This is a 20% loss over a 3.5 year holding period. Folks would have done better holding short-term treasuries, precious metals, or even simply buying some bulk food for storage. And this takes into account the reality that the first couple of years of Ponder This… the market continued to gradually, persistently, wearily edge higher. The five year chart is below:

At this time, with the same entities that greased the wheels for this potentially society-wide debauching running the show (i.e. the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, the Demopublican stooges, the bubble/air-headed media, the established “wisdom” or lack thereof, etc.) we face potentially even more pain. Just last week they passed a boondoggle of a “bailout” which basically just ensnares honest, prudent, hard working folks into the mix to transfer risk off the books of failing institutions. On a nearly month-by-month basis the operating government and related tools push further and further policies of long-term destruction and liberty curtail. It’s wrong and, at times, comical.

With all of this feces hitting the fan, a solemn blogger such as myself can only hope that a few good folks out there took heed and took steps to get their stuff together in front of the storm. There is still time to continue to prepare and put yourself and your family in position to avoid most of the pain. Securing proper supplies is one area of preparation any sensible person ought to be thinking about. There is never anything wrong with being prepared - think of it like this: it is better to be prepared and be wrong, than to be unprepared and be wrong.

With all that said, all I can say, dear readers, is that I sincerely care about the well being of my fellow thinking folks on this earth and I hope that each and every one of you is achieving the peace of mind that every individual must seek during their time here. With hard work, ingenuity, prudence, personal due diligence, education and proper planning, we can survive and prosper even through any tough times that may befall the world-at-large. Even if times seem tough, keep your head up, keep working hard and seek goodness, and we’ll all come out of this thing more worthy individuals than we would have been minus any perseverance. Cheers.

Filed under: Current Events, Economics, Politics, Social Mood