I know

You all look to me for guidance in troubling financial times(Tongue Firmly in cheek).

Lehman Brothers, a primary dealer and investment bank..... Went boom this weekend.... Always good to know that it happens to the investment elite.

One of the big Famous Analysts Meridith Whitney, was taken aback by the implosion.

the first thing you should learn about is the business cycle, and that is that it's a series of "Boom Bust" cycles. There was a Tech boom, a Materials boom, a Finance boom, housing boom, Nanotech boom, solar boom..... and they each get a bust.

The housing boom was pushed by a finance boom. Our Beloved Mistress Julie was part of that boom, and realized she didn't want to be part of it, and is smart enough to realize that It's in contraction.

The economy is the same way, In general, it Expands and contracts..... as much as I want to blame "Bush" for the contraction... contractions are just the way of the game... Now I can talk about how he has made it worse, and how all our politicians have not and still arn't trying to solve the problem, and would rather finger point like 7 year olds.

The funny thing, is that when the "CONTRACTION" is in wallstreet, they think it's Armageddon. All politics are local. But as wall street analysts are freaked out because.... Well because, this time it's your head on the block, it gets a little extreme.

So, as they panic about this, put it in a bit of perspective. The finance industry was way too large, and is contracting..... it will contract to the point where it is Way too small. Then it will Rebuild. There were way too many people sitting around pushing people into "No Document" loans for homes they could never afford. Those people are gone. The people who Gave the Loans for the Homes, They are Gone..... Now it is time for those who Sold the Mortgages and loans to go gently into that good night..... or not so gently.

But It's all part of the game, in the 30's thousands of brokers went bust, in the 70's, and quite a few in the 90's. Nothing new here...

Once again, If you understand that there is that boom bust cycle, and you accept that the pendulum swings one way then to the other, You have to realize... You want to invest on the Waining side of "Fear".... This morning I figured we were hitting some Solid Fear in the market, but what I wanted to see, is that fear start to subside. That is a sign of the turning point in a market.... It didn't happen, and we kept selling all day. So... Maybe fear will be on the Wain tomorrow or the next day.

But if it were Armageddon, would you think that gold would be going Negative, selling off into the 750's.... That isn't fear... and the value of your dollars Vs. the other currencies.... Well It is at a still within a 52 week High value..... THAT IS A GREAT THING. Concerned..... always good to be concerned, but not like I was concerned when the dollar made new lows every day...

Lehman had a chance to sell numerous times.... they made a choice to go bankrupt. We still have about 50% too many investment bankers, Maybe some of them can live off the 'Tit' of some banks. But it probably still isn't over, But hopefully they smarten up and contract the business on their own.

As i see it, it is a good thing that there are a few thousand less people trying to pick my pocket.