[jwh_Denver]

Once the war is over, oil prices will plunge, the markets will take off and consumer and business confidence will be restored. It will be back to good times again, so on Wall Street, the feeling is let the war begin and let’s remove all impediments to investing and the economy. Iraq in the minds of analysts and money managers is this year’s excuse for falling stock prices.

This is where I'm at odds with Jim Puplava. If this is going to be the overall perspective of the market it will show up on the tape. And you can't fight the tape. It doesn't matter what the facts are now or that the markets are being manipulated or whatever. You make money by going with the overall perspective until the facts scare you out. Back at the beginning of 2000 how much of the smart money was seeing maybe one of history's biggest bubbles go up and up while they knew it was going to break but held to make the bigger bucks and finally bailed out on enough is enough or just plain fear?

Facts will show up on the tape sooner or later but the tale of the tape is what matters now.

[steveegg]

File that quoted excerpt under the "Jim Needs an Editor" file. From my readings of the WrapUp and Storm Watch series, that reads as Jim's explanation of Wall Street's behavior, behavior that he has regularily belittled. It was constructed poorly, however.