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Author Archive for DJ Durant

Mr. Durant is a Wealth Creation Strategist with Financial Architects in Clive, Iowa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Siena College in Loudonville, NY and an MBA from Ashland University in Ashland, OH.

Two Weeks

Two weeks ago today, the Obama Nation was gloating. Sweeping victories in the general election, Democrats now control the White House and both houses of Congress. Well, it’s been two weeks, so that means it’s time for me to get out of my fetal position, stop throwing up, an assess what’s transpired since then.

In the last two weeks, there has been a steady stream of companies lined up at the Treasury Department’s door to obtain “equity stakes” from the American taxpayer. I admit that I was one of the first (and few) to defend Treasury Secretary Paulson’s and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke’s bailout/rescue/money grab in an effort to shore up a global economy on the verge of total economic collapse. This was, and is, an unpopular position, because the consensus was, and is, that stupid management decisions should not be compensated for by the American taxpayer.

My argument [...]


Barack Obama and Morality

I’ve spent the last week–this one leading up to the election next week–thinking about what it is about Barack Obama that really bothers me. I mean, he seems a likeable-enough guy, good-looking, even-tempered, well-spoken. I’ve read Charles Krauthammer’s endorsement of John McCain, and of course, the editorials of my favorite conservatives at the Wall Street Journal, namely Daniel Henninger and Kimberly Strassel. But it was while watching the Dennis Miller piece on The O’Reilly Factor Wednesday night that clarified what it is about Obama that terrifies me. Barack Obama clearly doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong, and his entire life story illustrates it.

Barry’s mother was from Kansas, and in his first campaign advertisements, he talked about how she gave him her “Midwestern values”. Really? How do those values compare to two other notable Kansan’s–Bob Dole and Dwight Eisenhower? When was the last time[...]


Above Reproach

Sometimes it takes several days of events to unfold in order for me to put my thoughts in order and develop a coherent article. Such has been the case this week.

I’m a pretty disciplined reader of the Wall Street Journal. It’s not that I don’t want to read other newspapers, but I only have so much time, need to read it for my profession anyway, and can get a liberal prospective from any other media outlet at any time. Sometimes, it helps to read the Journal editorials just so that I know I’m not crazy.

I’ve been following the interesting events lately surrounding the current economic pounding the country is getting. I’ve commented[...]


Government Intervention

One of the reasons the Dow Industrials index rose 936 points and the broader indices rose more than 11% in one day was because on a global scale governments decided to inject capital into banks and financial institutions.  As I read today’s Wall Street Journal, the credit markets had become so dysfunctional that the only [...]


Obama vs McCain

These are interesting times.  I can’t believe America is considering the following resume to be leader of the free world.
National experience:  143 days
Executive experience:  none
Administrative experience:  none
Foreign Policy experience:  none
Economic experience:  none
Our country is so adrift, so desperate for ideas that we will actually consider a neophyte for President!  He prances around on stage, derides [...]


Panic

My mother called me this morning.  “I’ve been worried about you.  Are you okay?”, she asked.
I told her that I was fine; that you only lose when you sell.  Which got me thinking…What rules should investors employ in this market?

You only lose when you sell.  The same fundamental reasons for investing in the first place [...]


Debate #2, The Morning After

Question of the Night:  Why should we trust either one of you?
Good question.  In typical politico style, I heard both candidates answer in this manner:  “Blah, blah, blah, yak, yak, yak”.
I don’t know how I would have answered the question if I were either McCain or Obama.  There’s nothing in either of their past to [...]


Market Panic

All right, perhaps panic is too strong a word, but my goodness, it certainly does feel like one. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5% today and is now down 30% since January 1. The S&P 500 is down 33.7% year to date and the NASDAQ is off 35.6%. This is indeed a bear market, but there is nothing rational about it whatsoever.

The sell off appears to be about nervousness investors are feeling about the future, the global economy, the bailout, corporate earnings. I try to keep a cool head, but the Dow is down 800 points in two days and even I wonder where it’s going to end. Then I remember what Warren Buffet said…


2008 Election Thoughts

I’m tired of everyone dumping on George Bush.  I’m the first to admit that he has some serious leadership deficiencies, but he is the President and won the job fair and square twice, despite what the Libs think.  As President, he deserves our respect, just like Nixon and Clinton did.  For eight years, I had [...]


Moral Hazard

If you’ve not read Daniel Henninger’s column in the October 2, 2008 edition of The Wall Street Journal, I encourage you to.  In this column, Mr. Henninger defines the term “moral hazard”, particularly as it relates to Wall Street, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Congress.  He writes:
Borrowers across America took a dive for low- [...]


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