In the commercial real estate market we have always paid a lot of attention to the cycles in the economy. Fortunately we learned a lot from the recession in the late 70’s - well…..I was just a kid but my Dad took the recession on the chin and he’d say the lessons he learned form that trial were invaluable. Ever since that day, and including the years that I have worked for him, we have always kept a weather eye on the mortgage rates and health of the housing market. Over a year ago we were sitting in our office discussing how the new creative financing of homes was going to make the next cyclical downturn particularly nasty. While we knew it was coming and were are well prepared and insulated, neither of us would have expected the downturn to be so precipitous.
It has been wild watching the volatility in the markets recently. It is becoming the proverbial train wreck that you just can’t turn away from. The emperor is strutting around in his birthday suit but everyone is still complementing him on his nice new threads. That is everyone except Jim Cramer. Cramer is the host of the market wrap up show called Mad Money. While my blood pressure can only take a few minutes of his pontificating at a time I do think he falls pretty close to the mark, more often than not.
Check out this YouTube clip of his recent rant about the true state of the markets. Finally someone is screaming that the Emperor is buck ass naked.
Holy crap! Now, THAT’s mad money!
If Greenspan were still in the hotseat, I have to say I’d be a little more comfortable. I’m just not sure about the fed right now though :\