Friday, October 31, 2014

If the US Chamber of Commerce endorses Joni Ernst in Iowa, you know she'll cave on illegal immigration

Everyone knows the US Chamber of Commerce holds a gun to the head of Republicans demanding they reach a compromise on illegal immigration with Obama and the Democrats. Joni Ernst obviously got the message way back in May.

When Laura Ingraham recently asked her about illegal immigration on the radio show, Joni Ernst immediately defaulted to the issue of worker visas. Ingraham had to remind her that many Americans are out of work and should come first before we consider importing workers. Joni Ernst reacted almost like she was ashamed she hadn't gotten the memo ahead of the interview.

Enough said.

Terri Lynn Land is basically a TARP Republican, not a capitalist who believes in bankruptcy

Terri Lynn Land quoted here:

I think that doing something to protect the auto industry was the right thing to do, but I would have preferred a plan with more private financing. However, if the options were choosing between going this route and doing nothing, I am glad the auto industry was preserved and is growing again.

Gold miners dive: VGPMX plunged to 8.91 yesterday, hasn't been that cheap since January 2002

The historical low for VGPMX was 5.05 on 8/31/98. The historical high was 40.02 on 5/19/08. The maximum NAV gain was 692.47%.

Alan Greenspan gave gold the kiss of death on Wednesday, suggesting it was a good investment idea going forward. Gold promptly fell out of bed, dropping $21.50 on Thursday and today is down about another $35 so far. Miners say they cannot remain profitable if gold departs much from the $1,200 range. Meanwhile the dollar is soaring toward 87 as the Fed has ended QE.

The maximum NAV gain for VTSMX, by the way, has been 414.31%.