Tick, tock...

In January, I wrote a letter to several of my friends entitled, "Big Trends of 2008", in which I postulated on a few economic trends. One was that the price of oil would go to $150/barrel, and that the Burl Ives trade-buying silver and gold -would be profitable. I promise to post the letter soon; real life requires me to be in NJ trying to figure out where to turn around, and why a sandwich in a hotel cost $28.

In the meantime, a few thoughts. Oil is at $145/ barrel, despite everything we in America try to do to get it lower; drill in the LaBrea tarpits, recycle used French Fry-excuse me Freedom Fry-oil in our diesel cars, and get our fat asses up and walk the 1/4 block to the Quickie Mart for a Twinkie. We have not had a major hurricane, blowup in Nigeria, or shutdown in the Strait of Hormuz to push prices forward, yet upward they go, or in the words of Buzz Lightyear, "To infinity and beyond..." My prediction; the price of gas will drop in mid to late August due to the "Walmart Effect". That is, back to school time is coming, and little Janie can't go back to school with last year's rags on. So what to do? Walmart "talks" to Exxon and BP and voila, cheaper gas for all!!!

If you can afford it, feed grandma fried chicken and buttered rolls; a fatal stroke or a massive heart attack will be better than what she will have to suffer if she has to go into the health care system in this country. Doctors are screwed, insurance companies are screwed, and pharmaceutical companies are screwed. No one is willing to cut costs seriously, so quality of care will pummet. In all seriousness, if you have a loved one who has to be admitted, you must stay with them 24/7 to make sure they get out alive. Who knew that the movie "The Hospital" with George C. Scott would be so prescient?

And finally, the silver and gold trades are on. Expect gold to go to $1065 and silver to $23. Learn to bake bread, plant vegetables, and get a goat for the milk. No matter what Robert Di Nero may think, you can't milk a cat...