The winter of our discontent

As we move into March, most people are turning their eyes toward spring. People everywhere are making plans for spring break, St. Pat's, or at least a 3 day weekend. Sports fans are gearing up for the NCAA tournament, and the return of major league baseball. Globally, everyone is hoping and praying for an end to this cruel bear market and a sense of direction from our government leaders instead of promises for the future and talk of more bailouts for broken corporations who are deemed too big to fail. The markets are oversold but there do not seem to be any buyers in the wings. To make matters worse, the eastern half of the country has just been pelted with another layer of snow! Well, spring does not officially begin for 3 more weeks. I guess everyone's favorite groundhog was right 4 weeks ago! But fear not! There are plenty of good things happening around us. Tiger Woods is back! He has played his first tournament and the knee surgery appears to have been a success! U2 is coming out with a new album this week! Their first one since 2004. Gas is still selling below $2 per gallon. This is a personal economic stimulus package that keeps on giving. Homes and cars are selling at terrific discounts. If you are in the market for something new, this is a buyer's market! Banks are actually lending money. Despite the media's broadcasting to the contrary, most banks are lending money to qualified people who are looking to borrow. Give your banker a call, he's wants to make a deal.
There are plenty of opportunities in bonds. If you're looking for better yields on your cash, forget CD's and money markets, go for bonds. Bonds are the new stocks! Forget gold. Didn't you learn anything from 1999? Buy low, sell high. Stocks and bonds are selling at a discount, gold is not. OK, class dismissed...see you tomorrow!