Where for art thou Alan?

Wednesday, February 15, 2006







Where for art thou Alan?






Today reality hit. No more FOMC (Federal Open Market Committe) meetings with Alan Greenspan reporting on taxes. No more decisions by Alan making us sigh in relief at no change, or grit our teeth at yet another raise. How many times this man has been blessed or cursed externally or internally especially by those who live and die by the market-traders,brokers- who have to scramble depending on the news to either buy or sell is unknown but no doubt the number is either awe inspiring or enough to make you cringe depending on the news he had to give us. I know since I was one of those who waited with baited breath to see what fate Mr. Alan G would cast upon my livelyhood with just a few mere words. It would be hard to dispute that few other people or events had the impact that this man did when he would say "no change" or "1/4 percent raise" in taxes.






No matter what he announced though it was hard not to respect the man and his no-bull attitude. Even though I haven't worked in the field for a number of years the news that he was being replaced still tugged at me, but he will remain a fixture no doubt and will not be disappearing just ask Walmart who he's speaking out against in pertainance to their wanting to own an Industrial Loan Corporation, which he feels shouldn't be allowable. "Greenspan urged Congress to close a regulatory loophole that lets businesses own an Industrial Loan Corporation (ILC), a type of bank operated for specifice purposes , such as processing payment." Hopefully this is proof that he will continue to stir the pot.






As the title of one link for a story about the premier of Ben Bernanke and the markets response stated, "the market yawned". Maybe because the news wasn't surprising...maybe because the reponse was predictable...maybe it had nothing to do with Alan Greenspan. After all can a market miss a man? That would be silly wouldn't it. Still, it's undeniable that after many years of service to the financial community Alan will be missed, and it will be quite some time before I for one don't do a double take when I see Mr. Bernanke sitting in that seat.










The quote about Walmart is taken from the following article:






www.usatoday.com/money/industries/ retail/2006-01-26-wal-mart-usat_x.htm?POE=MONISVA - 49k