Loose Ends 2013
The Dow and S&P are near all-time highs . Stock markets all over the world have enjoyed significant gains this year . Gold was hammered in its worst year since 1981 . The economy remains sluggish , perhaps unusually sluggish . Where is the employment? 1.3 million Americans just lost their unemployment benefits . Where is the strong middle class ? Is everybody debt-free and fully liquid ? LOL. Are you kidding me? Despite persistent optimism , this nation's economy is precarious at best . History will record that Obamacare started on the day the government shut down . That is remarkably metaphorical, I think. Although the major health insurance carriers all seem to be betting on Obamacare , the biggest expansion of the welfare state in America since Medicare itself is off to a woeful start . In fact, Obama is off to a stumbling final term as president. He looks even more ridiculous and unskilled than George W. Bush at the start of his horrible second term .