Please leave comments to amplify your answers, as this poll is related to some research I am conducting for my book. Thank you in advance for participating!

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Both Hanukkah and Christmas are about the celebration of God’s miracles to the world. Yet, there are many who simply see it as a time to “celebrate”; although celebrate nothing in particular. As a Christian, rather than be offended by the “hijacking of my religion”, I have faith that God has a plan for all of us; that we are all on a journey. When people talk about the joy and “spirit” of the holidays, the door is already there and open - all it takes is a single step through it. Maybe this is part of God’s plan. The omission of God in much of the celebratory activities - for me anyway - is steeped in this sense of hope.

I try not to reflect too much on the attacks by secular activists on my natural, inalienable freedom to express my beliefs. I can sustain these direct, politicized assaults on our freedom, but I think many fail to understand how all of this impacts day-to-day life. Simple things -  like a friend or relative, who expresses “discomfort” when you say a blessing with your kids before the meal in a restaurant -  make it clear how effective the secularization of our country has been. The “right” not to be offended is considered more important than my Right to practice my religion; even in something as basic to our beliefs as prayer. That a person who would be offended if I did not thank them for purchasing a meal would be offended if I thank God for providing is dismaying.

Hanukkah without God is meaningless. Christmas without Christ is nothing. If you celebrate as a believer, the meaning is obvious. But if you are “celebrating the joy and spirit of the season”, I ask you: Why is there joy and what is the spirit? The answer is simple - you are caught up in the joy and spirit of God’s miracles. Try to remember what “the holiday season or Xmas” would be like without the spirit of celebration; without the joy. Then try to save being offended for something other than the reason for that joy.

Happy Hanukkah & Merry Christmas

This is a transcript of a discussion on yesterday’s show:

President-elect Barack Obama calls it “the largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.”

The New Deal – all over again.

Most of the infrastructure spending being proposed for the massive stimulus package that Obama and congressional Democrats are readying, however, is not based on anything new. The money will go to projects that have been on the wish lists of state highway departments for years.
Obama wants to “rebuild America” with an “infrastructure bank” run by a new board that would award $60 billion over a decade to projects such as high-speed rail to take the country in a more energy-efficient direction. But the current economic issue has put some pressure to start projects immediately – low hanging fruit - “use it or lose it,” according to Obama. What he means is that while America is in a spending mood, we gotta get some stuff started. Gotta get the spending started. But let’s take a look at the New New Deal – and actually the Old New Deal for that matter.

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By Steve Selengut
http://www.sancoservices.com/
http://www.kiawahgolfinvestmentseminars.com
Professional Investment Management from 1979
Author of: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read”, and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”

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Every fall, especially in opportunity rich markets like this, I encourage investors to think about some year-end strategies that make the final calendar quarter a special time in all markets. Several forces are at work, all of which have links to conventional Wall Street wisdom; none of which promote good long-term investment decision-making.

This year, we have the added excitement of anticipating a new, perhaps economically too liberal, administration taking over with an already implanted, and demonstatably inept, congress. The markets are in a truly unprecedented state of “uncertainty overload”. What’s an investor to do— or not to do?

Typically, the November syndrome has features that impact in both directions. It causes weak prices to fall even further and strong prices to climb higher. This year, the strong category requires a microscope for candidate viewing, while the weak seem to have inherited the listings. Money Market funds and Treasury securities are the low yielding, lower-risk, depositories of choice.

At the individual investor level, the mad dash to lose money on equity securities has begun. The idea that this is somehow a good thing is an anomaly created by a counter productive tax code and an industry that has a vested interest in perpetuating the absurdities it (the IRC) creates.

Assuming that we are dealing with investment grade securities, lower prices should most logically be seen as an opportunity to add to positions cheaply— not as an opportunity to reduce one’s tax liability on investment earnings. There is, and never will be, a good loss or a bad —.

Naturally, both you and your CPA feel better with lower tax bills, but why sell a perfectly good security at a loss to produce pennies on the dollar in tax relief? Speculations, sure, valueless securities, why not? But when nearly all IGVSI stocks are at their lowest levels in decades, selling for losses should be the last thing on your mind.

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