The Slow Drum Beat South Continues

I have perhaps been a bit Chicken Little and the sky-is-falling kinda guy lately, so you might think I take solace in the fact that the market is down big time. Indeed, approaching the lows of October 10th. Truth be told, I put a third of my retirement back into equities a few weeks ago, so this down market makes me lose money (though admittedly it opens opportunities for the two thirds still in Treasuries). Mind you, my thought (not advice) is that the bottom is a bit lower, and perhaps 15-30% lower, but guessing (predicting) a bottom is fool’s gold. Don’t ask me, ask a financial advisor.

Again, the Bloomberg headlines tell the story. Mind y0u, these change throughout the day, but right now they say the following:

•China's Industrial-Output Growth Slumps, Adding to Risk of Deeper Slowdown
•Asian Stocks Extend Global Rout on U.S. Treasury Plan, Intel Forecast Cut
•Mizuho May Sell $3.2 Billion of Preferred Shares in Japan to Boost Capital
•Citic Pacific Cedes Control to Parent, Hands Over Foreign Exchange Losses
•Hedge Funds Lost $100 Billion in October on Withdrawals, Eurekahedge Says
•Paulson Scraps Plan to Buy Troubled Assets, Shifts Focus to Consumer Loans
•GE Says U.S. Will Guarantee Up to $139 Billion in Debt for Lending Unit
•House's Boehner Demands Fed Name Recipients of $2 Trillion in U.S. Loans
•North Korean Nuclear Samples Bar Undermines Verification, South Korea Says

You can try to find the silver lining here, but truth be told this is a bad slate of news. I am still caught up with Asia. China is in for a world of hurt and when China sneezes, the U.S. has a stroke (or at least a nasty infection). For those in college in economics or finance following this, ask your professor about this. Today Best Buy publicly said that they have never seen a consumer environment like what they are now facing. All the rules are down the tubes. If your professors have lost less than 10% in their retirement from peak or gained in their investments otherwise this year, I would not mind listening to what they have to say. I suspect they cannot meet this rather minimal criteria.