- Quite the ballgame yesterday, with 3 runs scored in the top of the 9th by the Blue Jays, only to see the A's counter with 3 in in the bottom of the 9th. It was a Milton Bradley game(for ages 12 and up)! Walk-off 3 run dinger.
- The Federal Reserve Freakies are in front of the mic again! Just when folks were convinced that the Fed would take a pause in the rate hikes and were seeing some confirmation via the slowing economy, here comes St. Louis Fed Freak William Poole with some jolting commentary: St. Louis Fed president William Poole said he hasn't made up his mind whether the Fed should raise rates at its next meeting on Aug. 8. "I am still 50-50, we still have important data yet to come," Poole told reporters after a speech to the Southern Legislative Conference. The economy is pulling in two different directions, with inflation pressures rising, but growth slowing, Poole said. Er. Uh. DUDE! Higher energy prices are taxing consumers, and folks aren't spending as much at the malls and restaurants. If you keep hiking rates, you will create a recession. But, the Freakies have been down that road before, haven't they?
- All this seems to have caught Wall St. a little off guard. We are in the monthly strength period as 401(k) money hits mutual funds. August is normally a weak month for stocks. So if the Fed is going to create a lot of uncertainty and scare folks, once the 401(k) adds are in it could get interesting. The Freakies are meeting again soon, so we'll have that to look forward to. Of course, the silver lining in Poole's comments? Poole is not a voting FOMC member this year. Woohoo!
- Hmm... What to do for lunch today?
- Lets be honest. Hizbollah (and other terrorist groups) won't accept any peace offer that doesn't include the destruction of Israel. They'll just keep on killing.
- Giant yellow Israeli scorpians. Looks like they're good for somethin'...
