October is the Cruelest Month for Stock and Financial Markets

T.S. Eliot famously declared "April is the cruelest month" in his poem, The Wasteland. Apparently, Eliot was no stock investor. For those holding stocks, it is October which has been the cruelest month. October 1929. October 1987. October 2008 . . . Wasteland indeed.

The spectrum of national pessimism varies depending on one's political credo; from the communists, like our President, to the "Hannitized" and the Glenn Beck fans, who still feed into the party line shouting "mega-dittos!" and "You're Great American!" from Juneau to Tallahassee. Hannity implores his base, "let not your heart be troubled!" Easy for him to say. This once-great nation remains distracted with the prospect of national healthcare while the economy languishes in peril.Those with little capital have no choice but to weather the storm with a combination of precious metals and US dollars. Those with money to invest are seeking offshore safe havens. Outside the far right and the far left moves a segment of investors looking beyond the pale of American politics to growing worldwide sanctuaries.

Many Americans ask, where is it any better than here? Truthfully, not too many places unless you are a socialist, but there are oases where freedom is a way of life and not a marketing slogan. Paraguay and Uruguay are two countries drawing international investors because of tax benefits (Paraguay's income tax is 0%), cheap land and labor, political stability, and a variety of other merits. As free marketers know, economic stability is never built on a mountain of credit. Also, it is difficult for a central bank to control the population when 90% of the people do not own bank accounts.

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