SLOW ROAD TO RUIN

The battered American economy is faltering and everyone knows it-- The Gross Domestic Product grew below 2% last quarter and a month or two down the line will more than likely be revised downward-- So proximate to such negatively desperate hysteria surrounding and engulfing both parties in the high-stakes midterm elections all the numbers currently coming from the markets and the governments world wide must of necessity be held in suspect for their politically repercussive effects but there is no mistaking those most certain facts repeatedly gaining credibility by slapping us across the face-- How sane can either party be to seek political authority with the mega-meltdown waiting in the wings??-- Eavesdropping on the conversation of two grandmotherly matrons privileged to live 'on the island' both ladies in tones of resignation lamented the gone world of easy wealth and how their grandchildren will suffer through the blight of the coming wake-up call-- They see it also-- Maybe our congressional hacks are so institutionally insulated from the disturbing nature of current data that they will be the last to know-- Current campaigning is a game anyway vulgar, rude, unctiously moneyed and so embarassingly devoid of prescriptive thoughtful debate it seduces itself and stains everything it touches--

No longer capable of being denied the Housing Bubble is bursting in dramatic ways-- -- Sharply falling new home prices dumbled down last month by amounts not seen in 35 years-- Owners have been starkly warned and are bracing for further carnage-- Sellers looking for short term quick-fixes shouldn't go there unless pain is a pleasurable option-- Those builders not sidelined in desperation continue to build toward oblivion adding to the paralytic inventory-- More price declines in both new and used homes are expected throughout 2007 echoing the freefalling dissolution of the Great Depression-- Markets that reveled in hyper-increases will pay the piper with more severe reductions as the slow road to ruin unwinds its way downward--

Are corporate earnings showing enough muscle to be truly optimistic??-- Are their numbers accurate -- Or is this a 'build-it-and-they-will-come' hollywood-type fantasy market??--Last Chance Gulch....step right up!-- Bubble??--You need Bubbles??--The recent stock market run-up into the ethers of Dow Jones record breaking levels have masked the continuing poor performances (Sony's profit plunged 94 percent for the quarter) of some blue chips-- Collapsing housing prices and sales indicate it will be hard times for everyone from construction companies to the top heavy home finance and real estate occupations as existing inventories extend outward to 6 to 8 months--For example, Caterpillar can expect slowing sales of bulldozers and truck engines which further hemorrhages the Not So big Three before extanding outward to auto parts suppliers and purchasing managers etc.-- Wallmart reported seriously disappointing sales in September-- Coca Cola diddoed-- Intel motherboards took it on the chin--

The uncertainty extant the world economy over whether American consumers will continue to buy ad infinitum thereby fending off recession is too late by a half-- Easily accessible credit is like heroin therapy for savings-challenged consumers who obviously couldn't care less where their hard earned coin ends up or whether their children will have to clean up their indulgent mess-- They have been spending money they haven't earned for so long it works like addiction-- Name any addict rich or poor who gives a rat's eyelash what becomes of their kids and their future when the hunger for a theraputic fix descends-- The politicians at the fed won't pull the plug anywhere near an election if at all--Only in Great Britain was Santa Klaus ever nervy enough to actually put a lump of coal into the Christmas stocking-- Consumptive jaded Americans hang their stockings up year-round but immunity to fatigue even the Fed cannot guarantee--

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan may or may not believe Christmas should celebrate the birth of Jesus but donning the monicker of Scrooge would have meant going even farther beyond the pale-- He did iterate however this week something quite ominous in its factual simplicity, "We're beginning to see some move from the dollar to the euro, both from the private sector ... but also from monetary authorities and central banks,"-- Some of those in the private sector include the world's Dope Lords who find the dollar a lot less macho than it used to be-- Not that the powers that be would desire such, but if you add a diminishing dollar to a collapsing housing bubble to a lower worldwide oil production to the potential defeat possibly imminent in the incendiary cauldron of blood-soaked Iraq it is quite easy to see why no one at any stage of this long-in-the-tooth cycle in any position of real authority is willing to risk facing the rough music of reality just around the corner and level with the American people about it-- Not even Obama our newest celebrity saviour--

Now for more bad news -- Word out is that Golf as a pastime is flailing--