November 7th Edition

Good Morning All,

I'll betcha a couple of hundred of them EEElectoral votes that I can name the capital of Africa and don't you worry China, your place in the North American Free Trade Agreement is secure. I wish this were an exaggeration and it may well be because one of Sarah's aides has assured everyone that McCain's campaign advisors are lying and that the Nieman Marcus dressed barracuda really does know that Africa is a continent and that South Africa is not just a region. I guess this brings new meaning to the "dumbing of America" syndrome of which we have each grown tired these past eight years. I would also hazard the thought that "executive experience" does not include the disciplines of high school geography, basic economics or current affairs. Sadly this probably means that we won't have Sarah to kick around anymore..... unless she gets the chance to appoint herself to the Senate or the Republican base is really stupid enough to entertain the prospect of her as a future leader. These revelations also tell us something about McCain's judgement and the blessing that a Barack victory has been to us all.

The Obama machine appears oiled and ready to go starting with the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff. A press conference today and news over the weekend to come will reveal more good stuff as we head into the all important G 20 meetings on the economy November 15th. We can rest assured that Obama's economic team will be in place by that time and that the likes of Paul Volker, Larry Summers and maybe Tim Geithner will be in attendance. It is not difficult to figure out that the light of interest will be shining on the incoming presence and not the outgoing dimness as the world convenes what is being referred to as Bretton Woods ll. I was going to do a piece on the history that surrounds this important subject area but "like" Iraq it will have to wait for time and space next week.

Employment numbers this morning are disastrous as were the revisions of the pre election data which makes you wonder what hanky panky might have been at work in this regard. Auto numbers and other earnings have also been frightening but remember that this is present and backward looking news, I am even willing to concede that not much is about to change for the better in the coming quarter but after that we may look ahead to much better news and goodness knows that stocks are a better buy now than they were last year when indexes were 6000 points higher and George Bush still had a year left to go in power.