Office of the President-Elect?

Doesn't even exist. There's no mention of it in the Constitution. One thing's for sure about the new guy: he likes his spotlight time. He got a lot of flak early in the campaign for making speeches in front of a podium with the now-famous "O" seal -- in fact, McCain make a joke about it in one of the debates. You didn't see that seal much after that, until the night of the election. Now his podium is ordained by the sign proclaiming "Office of the President-Elect". OK, whatever. If that's the worst thing to complain about, then I'm good with it. Just one thing, Mr. President-Elect: I hope your arrogance and pomposity is strong enough to protect you during those long lonely days and nights of struggling to keep things together....

An Open Memo

To: Stock Market
From: Johnny Lunchpail
Re: Bear market

OK. You made your point. We took you for granted and you got us back in spades. No one is laughing anymore. Even the talking heads on CNBC are looking dazed. How many times do I need to see Cramer throw up his hands? No one can explain it now, other than it's just pure correction against pure greed. Lots of folks are seeing their savings wiped out, and every time they try to double down via dollar cost averaging, they get wiped out even worse. Citi is under $5/share -- what is UP with that? They're yelling at each other on Fast Money and on Hardball. It's like there's nowhere to turn. Everyone is looking for the magic door out of this hell hole. Buy bonds? Can't afford to live off of that ROI. Buy more stocks? There's no value there anymore, cuz there's no bottom. Christmas is coming and everyone's freaking out because they no longer have any money to buy their honey expensive jewelry or Junior the GI Joe with the Kung Fu Grip. As Scotty would say, "we're losing power in the engines and I don't know why".
In a strange way, this is creating an artificial cleansing, like we need to be shaken so hard to get us back to reality of what's really important.

Irrational Exuberance, The Next Generation

As I awaken from my unexpected writing slumber...
The election is over, and we have a new President-Elect in the midst of transition. There seems to be a plethora of writings out there waxing poetic about what the future holds with this breath of fresh air. It was wise to hold emotions in check so as to take it all in without being jaded from the rose-colored glasses being freely handed out. Let's start by saying that the country is well-served by this change in administration -- the past 6 years in particular have weighed very heavy on the conscious of America. There is no argument that change is needed; both sides were very aggressive in their message, and it's safe to say that either would have been more aggressive in their approach to solving problems than what we've seen to date.
What needs to be understood is the incredible complexities of every major issue -- these problems will not be going away any time soon, no matter who is in charge. The POTUS-elect is starting to see just how big these issues are, so don't be surprised if it takes time to unwind the problems that were so easy to target and ridicule just two weeks ago. It was good to see Obama make his make his election night speech in somber overtones, as if he was suddenly saddled with the weight of world (and he is, and will be for at least four more years, starting now). There are many pundits out there that should take this "hint" equally as serious. The last thing this nation needs is to be overwrought by a new stream of irrational exuberance over the change in political direction without fully comprehending the ramifications and scope of the problems at hand. Deeds, not words, are what is needed today. The question remains as to whether both sides will put aside their differences long enough to solve the problems instead of engaging in more partisan bickering. Your move.