...on a Monday afternoon in March. Today's stock market rally was great and I hope Geithner's plan is as popular six months from now as it is today. But what I really found encouraging was the February existing home sales number which was up 5.1%, way above expectations. The median price for an existing home dropped 15.5% last month, but I think that's also encouraging. The more the price of real estate falls, the closer we'll get to a bottom. And housing is what this recession is ultimately about.
Howard Dean joined the CNBC crew this morning as a contributor, whatever that means. I always thought he got a bum rap in the 2004 election. Dean was the only Democrat I know of that had the cojones to come out against the Iraq War in 2002 and '03. You know, the war that just had its 6th anniversary and shows no sign of ending any time soon. I assume Dean must have been abrasive or arrogant in person because people like Tim Russert didn't seem to like him personally. That never helps a campaign. Dean was the front-runner until Al Gore endorsed him and Jimmy Carter sort of endorsed him; that was the kiss of death because he was no longer seen as an insurgent. His popularity never recovered and he lost the Iowa caucus to John Kerry. His detractors made much of his famous scream that night but it was already over by then. Kerry was the safer choice and went on to lose to Bush narrowly. I wonder if it would have been better to nominate someone like Dean and have him lose but at least go down fighting. Oh well, he looks prescient on Iraq, did a great job as chairman of the DNC and will probably see his favorite issue, health care reform, become a reality under Obama.
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