BUSY PEOPLE

The saying, "If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person," is quite true. a) Being busy means you get things done and this is one of the biggest pleasures in life. b) Being busy makes you feel more important, which is healthy. c) Being busy is exciting. d) Being very busy discourages the wrong sort of thoughts and makes you feel like you are contributing to the pack!

The Global Markets and all the people who invest in them as well as the great management at the companies are very busy right now.

Is the economy slowing, is the US dollar declining, is the stock market do for a major slide and what will happen to the future political environment....Smart people who run one of the world's largest hedge funds at Goldman Sachs lost a material amount of money again last month fighting the market.

There are very material changes taking place in the global macro picture and most people are focused not on this but trying to figure out the short term micro issue of the day.

The most important investment themes for the balance of this decade are:

1) Inflation (rising)
2) The US dollar (lower)
3) Interest rates (long term up)
4) Commodities (going higher)
5) China and Asia (going higher)
6) Gold (going higher)
7) Peak Oil (going higher including natural gas and coal)
8) The general stock market (very mixed and will become more volatile)
9) Taxes (going higher)
10) China's new $350 billion investment portfolio. (what will they do with it and how aggressive will they be?)

Current stock selection and asset class choices will require intense focus to be successful and profitable on a risk, tax and inflation adjusted basis.

Danny Boy seen here is observing "ice out" always a big event here in Minnesota. This usually happens right around the first week in April. Danny is always watching out for the pack!