Greed, Gordon, and the Bear

It’s only been two days since America elected a new president and the Dow is already down 10 points.

There are obviously other reasons specific to the daily economic news that is contributing to the decline. Hopefully today the market will rally and this "market down again" routine won't persist. But the realization that Obama really is the new president isn’t helping the market. When Obama promises to essentially soak the top 5% of income earners to redistribute their wealth should it be surprising that the markets would react?

“Paying taxes is patriotic” as sayeth Joe Biden. Or is it true that “greed is good” as sayeth Gordon Gekko?

What would you be doing right now if you happened to be earning over $250K a year? Unrestrained greed is a killer of the soul. But it’s also true that we’re to be good stewards of the money we earn. Avoiding taxes is a major sport in America. Nobody enjoys or seeks out ways to pay higher taxes.

Hopefully, in the days ahead Obama will demonstrate the pragmatism his media cheerleaders attribute to him. He can start by retracting the self-defeating "eat the rich" tax proposals he made during the campaign. Otherwise, all of us greedy market investors will need to make peace with the bear market that follows.