What’s Important Right Now

I must admit to be vapor locked in terms of writing the last few weeks.  Things are happening so fast that it is difficult enough to maintain the focus on clients and investing much less create some sort of narrative.  I will do better and post more frequently, here is a collection of things I have been thinking about the past week and today.

I am utterly opposed to bailouts for any industry that do not come in the form of equity investments ie the US governments’ bailout of the auto industry in 2008.  Warren Buffet and Primecap made a bad investment, tough, do better next time.  The industry execs that bought billions of stock to inflate their own compensation can take it on the chin.  This goes for the cruise line operators that don’t pay taxes in the US and every other industry.  Money goes to retaining/supporting workers and equity investments, end of.

Don’t even get me started on the Republicans’ horrible idea for a $500 billion slush fund to bail out Trump and his buddies, let ’em bleed.

None of this matters until we get some kind of handle on this virus which means cutting transmission rates now.  Test and test and test again, it’s the only thing that will work, nationalize industry to produce medical supplies and confiscate any currently being held in the private sector (Oh Facebook is “donating” 750k masks, why did they have them and why are we finding out about this TODAY???).  I am hearing dumb ideas (as usual) emerging from the Fox News bubble that we should just go back to work and let the virus run it’s course.  If you want mass casualties AND a prolonged depression then that’s a great idea.

Get money to people out of work, get supplies and backstop our heroic medical professionals, get the military mobilized and the National Guard in the streets.  The longer we wait the worse the pain, if it sounds like I am pissed off, I am.  Remember who failed us during this time.

Read the above, Epsilon Theory is just do damn right on and the Lt. Gen. gives me so much hope.

When you’re done watch McCoy Tyner who passed two weeks ago.  I saw him at Oberlin in the mid 1990s and he was transcendent