French Dips and Double Dips

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(C) Copyright Arthur Levine 2011
Words: 501
Keywords” Double Dip, French Dip, Recession, Depression

I’ve always believed that food and economics go together, and in many cases the former can help predict the later. Let’s spice up your favorite French Dip recipe with some tongue in check prognostication as to whether we are going into a Double Dip Recession. Please be careful not to make your economic recipe too salty. We wouldn’t want the sauce to leave a bad taste in your mouth as you try to cut your loses, or the smell of disaster overcomes your senses.

I’ve noticed that often as the price of food goes up the prices of stocks go down. Maybe this has something to do with the law of diminishing returns or inflation. I’m not sure, but I do know that the cost of milk, meat and corn products are up over the last few months to say nothing about roast beef. Roast beef is important not so much as an economic indicator as the stuff we need to dip into our French Dip sauce. Rolls are a given, but The Gross Domestic Product and payroll numbers cannot so easily be quantified or qualified for that matter.

I guess what I’m saying is that economic forecasting is a lot more difficult than deciding what to have for lunch. Maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe too many of our brilliant TV talking head forecasters are stuffing their faces with so much food at the noon time break or in courtesy green rooms at breakfast that they can’t think straight. Just the mental image is making me nauseous. And I thought it was the falling stock market that was giving me an upset stomach.

Hesitation has never been a virtue. If you are going to eat a French Dip please be sure to make really strong lunging dips or else you will end up with barely a taste of the real stuff. This is not a case where a little dab will do you. Put some shoulder action into your dipping.

The same I think is true with the buying and selling of stocks. If you’re a bull lung right in and buy as much as you can stomach. If you’re one of those bearish Double Dip aficionados, sell, sell, sell. Don’t hold back. Liquidate before the powers that be liquidate your positions for you. Be true to the smell of fear you are experiencing.

First you are going to have to make up your mind, which way everything is going. Are we in for a French Dip or a Double Dip? Are we about to experience more pain or some pleasure for a change?