A solemn Council forthwith to be held at Pandemonium the high Capital of Satan and his Peers
John Milton
-Paradise Lost

The first use of the word Pandemonium was in 1667 in John Milton's "Paradise Lost." It is the name Milton gave to the capital of Hell that Satan and his fellow demons, vanquished from heaven, established as their base of operations.

The book itself is about the fall of man and seeks to justify the ways of God to men. Hieronymus Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights" (1500) is perhaps the best illustration to that, and matches the book written by Milton.

The art world brought to life many great paintings that illustrated pains and commotions of hell with visuals so strong viewers can smell and even feel the tingle of fire and brimstone.

So it was only a matter of time before the capital of Hell came to mean more in the English language:

A. Wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos
B. A place or scene of riotous uproar or utter chaos

This was the goal of the Occupy Movement yesterday with the blessing of the administration, financial support and training of the unions, and encouragement by the general media. OWS was supposed to create pandemonium.

The day fell flat, washed out in New York City and wiped out in the rest of the nation by a country of people more concerned with making money and feeding families than listening to the whining of people that want to begin life on Easy Street. Perhaps there was no greater blow to the day than the stock market rally. The Dow surged to four year highs and stocks for the most part were mostly higher.

Pumped or Pleased

The spark came from a better-than-expected ISM number that saw the employment component soar to its highest level since last June. Although we are a service economy, many economists, and a few politicians looking for a rebirth of manufacturing in the United States, make that data series the second most important monthly scheduled release.

I still wonder about the bump in manufacturing spurred on as a low-cost alternative to China, massive debasing of the dollar and a trade war. Of course I want fair trade and smart trade and the rest of the world to buy our stuff. Of course domestic demand is critical as well. I'm reluctant to say we are in the midst of a "renaissance" in manufacturing, but things are better.

Still, even with the manufacturing number and a boffo earnings season, Wall Street continues a cautious rally that has thus far masked a historic run. Yesterday, backing and filling coupled with light volume gave the impression of doubt and caution. This is how the market has been able to enjoy the greatest stealth rally in history. Nobody is excited about the move or its implications. Even after that strong manufacturing number, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stumbled to close up an unexciting 66-point.

Where is the excitement? Where is the sense we have come through the worst? Where is long-standing agreement that Americans suspend logic and look at the bright side?

I call this the dropout society, where people are unmotivated and not driven. We have dropped out of the jobs market. We don't want to be entrepreneurs. We don't have that zest for life that had nothing to do with economic circumstances in the past and everything to do with excitement about the future. Heck, while those OWS knuckleheads failed to disrupt the nation, younger people are already in a state of depression. A new report from Pew Research reveals one in five adults between ages 25 and 34 live with their parents or in other "multi-generational" living arrangements. This is the highest level since the 1950s.

People are still shopping, but for the most part, you don't hear buzz about that must have product. Save for the hype on The Hunger Games, it feels like summer blockbuster movies will be formulaic and run of the mill, making money on higher ticket prices but not truly capturing the public's imagination.
Same for books, save that steamy book that has a lot of women hot and bothered. The point is we don't seem to get excited about anything or even very angry for that matter. Last night I had Hon. Geert Wilders on Payne Nation and this is a man with passion.

I understand he is a lightning rod for many, but he is firm on his positions that the Netherlands must get out of the Euro and stop being a transfer nation whose wealth supports southern European countries, and that Islam is destroying his country. He has the kind of conviction that leaves few people with an indifferent opinion. I really can't say the same, even in politics in America. Let's face it, most people that like President Obama like him because of the promise of a more leftist second term and most people that like Romney like him because he might bring America back to its heyday. Yet, there isn't overwhelming enthusiasm for either candidate.

Yesterday the market was pleased with the ISM report and even tried to get pumped, but that lasted a couple of hours. Maybe it's just not in us anymore.

Tidbit

Last night in Afghanistan, President Obama once again extended an olive branch to the Taliban asking them to join in a new nation. It reminds me of the story of the scorpion and the frog—not going to happen. I remember the Taliban from two sentence articles in Time magazine when it was a couple thousand students. They are not going to abandon their goals. What's irritating is why the White House is willing to compromise with the Taliban but will not stop its full frontal assault on American businesses and capitalism.

This morning the Taliban announced it will launch its annual Spring Offensive beginning Thursday.

Today's Session

That ADP report is out this morning. It's the report Wall Street would love to dismiss out of hand when it's disappointing and embrace when it's good. This morning it's awful! The street was looking for 170,000 jobs created last month, but the tally was 119,000, and manufacturing lost 5,000.

Gains from yesterday could be erased within thirty minutes of trading today. The ADP number doesn't have to be a perfect harbinger of tomorrow's official jobs data, but the number is enough to get us to hold off on not forcing the issue and relish our cash position.

Comments

What puts me in a frenzy?? The fact that no matter how hard I work, I continue to live paycheck-to-paycheck. I am in a frenzy twice a month when I get my paychecks on the 15th and the last day of the month and the money is gone before all my bills are covered. I live robbing Peter to pay Paul. What puts me in a bigger frenzy is looking at the protesters on Wall St. If they want what the wealthy have, they NEED TO GET JOBS!!!!!!!!! Tired, tired, tired of the entitlement mentality of half of this country. And, I do not consider Social Security payments to seniors or the truly disabled an entitlement. Entitlements are the perfectly healthy people who sit on their rat arses collecting welfare!!!! Mary A. Manson on 5/2/2012 9:44:01 AM

The excitement about life always, always has to come from the inside. If the economy, etc., outside is "flat," then so be it. Inside is what counts. Remember also Milton's piece from "Paradise Lost": "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n." QED George Stelzenmuller on 5/2/2012 10:02:25 AM

ONE NATION for ALL One Human being for all. K WORK WORK together That incl.the know it all and the gutter people. Josef Brunner on 5/2/2012 10:14:03 AM

There is a sub-set of Murphy's law which states: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. To get ahead, you must expect the following punishment: 1) Government regulation and retribution, 2) Civil Litigation by somebody who wants a piece of your action, 3) Patent infringement by foreign and domestic competition, 4) Employee and ex-employee law suits, 5)Discriminitory taxation, 6) Predatory practices by banks and insurance companies essential to your business. Other than that, unless you want to be one of the herd of drones, the business world is wonderful. No wonder we are all depressed. z on 5/2/2012 10:42:03 AM

I get in a frenzy when people who are "highly educated" in finance, economics, etc. who have to know better just dont get it; are mesmerized by the "rockstar" culture and continue to tout the accomplishments (???) of the current administration. I get in a frenzy that anyone who has any knowledge of American History and the heated battles, both verbal and not, concerning the birth of the American Dream of the Republic, could even THINK of casting a vote for almost anyone in the upper levels of this current administration. If they prevail, this Nation is in deep trouble as we will have lost our way. Marie C on 5/2/2012 11:04:55 AM

I'm excited that at my age I can still put my socks on while standing up! Gary Brandin on 5/2/2012 12:20:18 PM

As an artist I now have the increasing feeling that I will not have the quality of life, which includes freedoms and the ability to sell my 'work' to an increasing (i.e. affluent/intelligent) portion of society that I once enjoyed. Rita Orr on 5/2/2012 12:56:23 PM

A state of pandemonium is what this country will become if the demmie/progressives succeed in keeping the big-eared one and his broad-beamed wife in our White House for another four horrendous years. delta on 5/2/2012 1:01:56 PM

I've been enduring a frenzied pandemonium drought lately, but yesterday I finally picked up some stagnant projects, made some progress, and finished the day surprisingly elated after the struggle. Success rewards strife. Patricia Flynn on 5/2/2012 4:11:39 PM

Have you ever watched a truly dysfunctional CEO run a perfectly good company into the ground? Like the lookout on the Titanic, he just fails to acknowledge the disaster that lies ahead. "This ship is unsinkable," he tells himself, and then -- no surprise -- it sinks. The country is in the same predicament. Nobody in leadership wants to acknowledge the huge drag on our economy represented by the dysfunction that has been eating away at our society for decades. The Dems see it, but just want to throw money at it. The Republicans react by just cutting the money without fixing the problems. Yet social dysfunction has been growing like a cancer for decades. Cutting taxes and spending will help, but won't fix the underlying problems. It reminds me of the time I visited a "drop-in" center for the poor in Bklyn. "Clients" were laying all over the place stoned out of their minds, but the people who ran the place thought they were helping them. That's what drives me up the wall! Nobody wants to face what's really killing us. The liberal ideologues just feed it, and the conservatives just hope it will go away. That doesn't work in real life, and it's not going to work here either. There is just no bigger drag on the economy than all those intractable social issues that we can't just wish away. Dennis Howard on 5/2/2012 5:22:21 PM

What gets me excited is hearing a 5 year old say something on Sunday morning that shows he is really getting the point of the Bible lesson. I get a charge out of being a referee on a middle school soccer field and observing the character growth of some of our better youth as well as watching a really good coach make that growth happen because he loves them and is willing to tell them that honesty, hard work, and sportmanship are ALL vitally important to becoming a true success. What breaks my heart and leaves me depressed and unexcited is the whole gammit of the media. This includes presidential speeches, announcements from both major poltical committees, the story lines for shows on "family" channels, any of the news programs, and definitely the advertising. In all these venues, it seems that blatant lies are the norm and that bad character is glorified while good character is assaulted. I think that spirit of lying makes it hard for any thinking person to get excited by anything in the public sector, because it takes a massive amount of research to get to the truth these days. The liars just keep pumping their lies and we can't believe anything we hear. And sometimes the whole story is ridiculous, too. I hear about 5 ads every half hour for Time Warner Cable TV, phone, and internet. First, they lie about the price. I have the minimum package and it costs twice what they say. Then the lie about the service, claiming you have help waiting at hand on a moment's notice. I have been waiting for them to get me dependable service for 2 years. Then they claim that their internet service can support everyone in the house gaming at the same time. Well, it won't even support one person surfing without big delays. And they know it, because they advertise in the same ad that they will boost your internet speed for 6 months for free (now why would they boost internet speed when they just told you there was no delay at all). Lies, lies, and more lies. Now we have federal leaderahip (president, Congress, & many federal courts) that has no regard for the truth, media that makes policy statements rather than digs for truth, companies that show no accountability, and entertainment moguls that have no understanding at all regarding truth, character, or morality. Is it really any surprise that the populace shows little excitement regarding anything that emanates from any of those garbage dumps. I believe in Americans (unlike the Obamas). I believe we are, for the most part, people with good hearts and good character. I believe we Americans have become frustrated with the national public sector and have just turned our excitement to the smaller community where accountability and truth are easier to find. Bob G on 5/3/2012 2:22:16 AM

Tweet

 

Home | Products & Services | Education | In The Media | Help | About Us | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | All Rights Reserved.