Saturday, September 10, 2005

ISM Index shows growth slowing--Fed may stop tightening

Financial Data out this morn shows that the rate of Growth, or the ISM Index has slowed, and combined with the news that consumers have dipped into their savings to keep up their spending plus the damage of Katrina, has prompted speculation that Greenspan, who is famous for only reacting to catastrophe rather than proactively avoiding it, will now cease raising interest rates.

I have been lookin for some good news, folks, and usually in the midst of terrible news it means good news in some perverse way, and most likely for bond markets, that rise when people can't bear the risk of stocks.

I hate to go over the inverted yield curve again, but this event or some bad event causing a recession, is exactly what the inverted yield curve predicts. It is rarely wrong. I had hoped it would be wrong this time. It wasn't.

Oh, the other good news is the generosity of Americans, who have begun to respond in their generous fashion that has made them famous.