Blog Spot

I have come to the realization that…well, I’m old. Aside of the sparing need for hair cuts, the increase need for glucosamine and an ambivalence toward The VH1 Music Awards, I’ve lived long enough to have seen the end of financial life as we know it…for at least the fourth time.

‘Anybody remember the name, Charles Keating? Studious looking chap. He was the head of Lincoln Savings, and later, the personification of the failed Savings & Loan debacle of 1989. Due to that collapse, the fear of the day was a “run” on remaining banks. Funny thing happened on the way to America’s financial collapse. It never happened.

While still in possession of a mostly full head of hair, I remember the housing crash of the early 1990’s. Here in California, we lost several large military bases to closure. And with those went the entire military economy Southern California was built upon. I distinctly remember both the large number of “For Sale” signs everywhere, and getting home loans approved at 12% interest rate. Yep, 12%!! And you got the whopping choice of a 30 year fixed rate or a 30 year fixed rate. Not to minimize any individual’s financial hardship of the day, but it seems that in the long run, the housing market recovered quite nicely. So once again, the demise of America never got around to happening.

Then we can move on to the more follicley challenged time that was the dot.com bust of 2000. Let’s hearken back to the stupidest commercial in history. ‘The pets.com hand sock puppet commercial of Super Bowl XXXIII. Can anyone see ANY reason to pay $500,000 for a commercial of a guy wearing a dog sock, puppet, thingy? Me either. Shortly after that, the dot.com bubble went bust. Personally, I think the puppet caused the collapse. Just my opinion. Anyway, once again, financial ruin was to spread through out the American financial system. After we all found the sky still in place, know what happened? Not much. Twenty-Somethings got real jobs where conference rooms didn’t have ping-pong tables in them. And we all adjusted.

Now here we are in 2007. My wife cuts my hair in record time and there’s nothing left of the entire mortgage banking industry. Worse yet, no one will ever buy a home again. Cities will be left vacant and there’s a great chance we’ll all live in tents. This is when I’m GLAD I’m old. Not so thrilled about the bald thing, but old, I’m good with. We are in the beginning of a market correction. It’s ugly, it’s not a lot of fun, and it too will pass. There are some very foolish lenders and some equally foolish borrowers that will suffer. But if you are in line waiting for the “Financial Crash of the New Millennium”, I hope you went potty first. And when does the millennium stop being new?