Where Did the Swine Flu Go?

I thought we were still in the middle of a swine flu pandemic, the re-emergence of an old strain - slightly mutated - that threatens the global populace. Last month, there was a shortage of the vaccine, did we get it? Is everyone happily vaccinated now? Or, has swine flu prevention just become a regular part of our lives such that swine flu fear and the accompanying fear-mongering headlines are no longer necessary. Or, has swine flu simply gone the way of avian "bird" flu or SARS? Maybe there is not enough room in the news cycle, what with all the economic collapse, healthcare reform and unwinnable wars we are surrounded with. Not to mention Tiger Wood's early morning solo car crash at the end of his driveway followed by a wife wielding a golf club and the subsequent admittance of "transgressions" on his part.

Schools and businesses have loaded up on hand sanitizer and education initiatives to help people learn, yet again, hand-washing techniques which we all should know by now is the single most effective method for preventing any type of contagion. Hasn't there been a sign in every public restroom for the past 30 years? Hopefully, it is all sinking in and people continue to be careful, for the cold weather is rapidly approaching and by extension the worst of the cold and flu season. Maybe there will be a decrease in simple colds and flu as an additional bonus from all the swine flu preventive methods we are all supposed to be practicing. Whatever the case, I'm doing all that I can do to prevent myself from getting sick. Excuse me while I go load up on some more vitamins.

The Dow Plunges Nearly 400 Points as Street Rejects Geithner's Plan

I am still trying to figure out why the market tanked so hard today. I thought Wall Street was waiting with baited breath for the stimulus package to be passed which it was. Last week the market rallied on its supposed passing but did not drastically tank when it did not, it was ultimately sent back for more tweaking. Granted the tweaking was ridiculous since the Senate and House Bills were only a few billion dollars off and in a bill worth over $800 billion, the supposed tweaks were muscle flexing without any true consequence.

Anyhow, Wall Street must have been disgruntled with the new Treasury Secretary's proposal for the remaining TARP funds. I am understanding that the market went down nearly 400 points because it is possible that Investors did not like the fact that additional funds would be needed - everyone knows that the proposals are not nearly what is required but we are too far in debt to provide the truly costly package that is needed, they did not like the public-private investment partnership that was proposed - well the financial institutions have soaked up the first round of TARP funds plus the trillions from the Treasury and the Federal Reserve and still have not freed up the credit markets opting to keep the money to shore up their balance sheets and underwrite their bonus packages, and lastly they did not like that there were not anymore specifics on the remainder of the TARP funds because he mentioned that banks would be held more accountable and their balance sheets would now be "stress-tested" for market viability before they received more funds.

Apparently there is confusion in the plan, it did not explain the whole "bad-bank" proposal that would now buy up bad assets, Paulson's original plan that was never implemented, and it seemed to indicate that banks receiving bailout funds must adhere to more stringent rules where they would be required to lend but mostly the Street is unhappy because Treasury Secretary Geithner did not provide enough specifics of the whole plan. Too Bad.

The market certainly went hopping and ga-ga over Paulson's original 3 page bailout proposal to Congress but now that the Treasury Secretary states that the financial crisis is still bad and there is still lots of risk, the Street is choking. It seems to me that Investors are plain old mad that the Government is not promising to do all the spending itself; it expects Investors to help out. All the Investors want is a full-fledged Government Guarantee of funds. They did not get it today. Good. Let's start playing by some rules. Wall Street can't continue to reap bonuses without some skin in the game.

Thank Goodness for the Olympics

The dog days of summer are just that; dog days. The economy is in the toilet and no amount of massaged news can reverse reality. We are getting a little bit of a reprieve at the gas pump with gasoline prices now averaging $3.89 a gallon, down about 40 cents a gallon since July. Unfortunately, for middle class Long Islanders, this is not enough savings to stave off the indebtedness we are all facing and the fact that the home heating oil season is soon to be upon us. Thankfully for the past few days and another week or so to go, we have had the distraction of the Olympics and these games have been far from ordinary.

The sheer magnitude of the opening ceremonies captured our imaginations so completely that we were immediately swept up in the glory of the games. There is no way to deny that the Chinese are a force to be reckoned with; a new rival. We were completely upstaged in these opening ceremonies, for most of us felt that America (or any other country for that matter) could not have, would not have, produced anything so breath-taking and amazing, yet we are enjoying the games. It is a dichotomy that speaks volumes. There is a tacit understanding as we cheer for America that this is our last chance at glory; we have to win the most medals or more medals than the Chinese at least. We are now directly competing against the Chinese with our athletes as they are with us, mano a mano, except we compete with our last vestige of status, our advantage, a (perceived) dominance in sports. I’m certainly enjoying every minute of it. May the best country win!