There's a nature preserve behind my house, which gives me the feeling of living in the country, especially in the summer, yet I'm minutes from New York City. The nice thing about this is watching nature up close. There is a single-minded determination in nature that seems to fade farther in mankind as we become wealthier and smarter. But nature is all about survival. The irony is we have become so advanced that basic survival skills are fading as our children learn from memes that pique curiosity but only add to cerebral debate.

Saturday morning I found myself tossing and turning almost in beat to the feint drumming of a woodpecker. I want to believe this is the same woodpecker that emerges at the start of each spring drumming to attract a mate and mark his territory. My homeboy on the stick doing his thing to make sure he lives another day. For a long time I also thought the woodpecker was actually eating all that bark only recently have I learned they're drilling holes looking for grub and sap. It seems odd in way this bird has the most powerful of tools for a diet of insects.

Woodpeckers have two backward toes instead of one to give them leverage and feathers that become extraordinarily stiff for balance and leverage.  

Other birds afforded this kind of weapons look for animal prey but the woodpecker, call him crazy, and are cool with banging his head against trees to lick up bugs. Mankind of course has the ability to become a woodpecker or eagle with respect to skills and determination among the species. But as each day goes by there is less need to develop such skills. Now there is a huge debate about raising the minimum wage 24% as part of the fairness initiative.

Forget about hunting and pecking for food and shelter in our eco-system as birds of prey become the prey, while those birds that never leave the nest get the rewards.

It's a backward system that goes against the laws of nature and even the would-be laws of fairness. It's what has caused this recovery to drag and confusion to linger. It's slowed the wheels of commerce driven by ambition and profit-motivation.
If insects and saps were delivered to woodpeckers without effort, at some point they would lose one of their toes, the stickiness of their tongues, and the thick skills that allow for hammering against trees.

The same will happen in America if we continue the War on Success and Redistribution of Accountability that punishes those that do everything right, including the sacrifices needed to climb the ladder of success.

Today's Session

It's a quiet morning, but then again Mondays have been mysteriously vulnerable this year mostly lower each week. All the big economic news is out, but there will be extra vigilance on data out this week to corroborate the jobs report. We are not going to force the issue this morning. Note, we are more than 20% in cash, so make sure you are in line-call your rep. If you don't have a rep, send me an email and I'll have someone speak with you today.

Comments

How can Washington continue to believe in giving money to people as there is no end to the money pot. Somewhere it has to stop. R. Eugene Lawson on 3/11/2013 9:50:29 AM

Hi I find things more surreal today than odd. here is s post on the subject of minimum wage http://www.citizenkehoe.com/?p=372. Stay well. Kevin Kehoe on 3/11/2013 10:06:13 AM

If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, why do they have locks on their doors? willie on 3/11/2013 10:06:49 AM

With all our growth in technology, why have we not figured out how to design automobiles with the gas fill always on the drivers side? Richard Glenn on 3/11/2013 10:16:34 AM

What seems "odd" to me, is that this country is going down the socialist path at brake neck speed, even though history tells us that socialism is extremely inefficient and eventually detrimental financially and socially. I'm amazed almost daily! Gary Clayton on 3/11/2013 10:16:58 AM

What seems odd? Washington!!!!! Why are they (politicians) fighting about a reduction in the increase in spending when they need to be cutting 40% off the last budget that was passed. They have to get this done before interstate rates go up or well have to cut 60% out of the budget. A balance budget amendment is in dire need. Scott on 3/11/2013 10:21:00 AM

I find it odd that people are so afraid of 200 million, law abiding, citizens having guns while Obama with a pen is far more dangerous. Mike Pederson on 3/11/2013 10:22:15 AM

May I call you Charles? Thank you for supplying sanity to our mornings. We are 77, built our business, passed it to our 4 sons who helped us build our business. We now spend time hoping the country survives the next 4 years. We pray!!! bernice turner on 3/11/2013 10:22:25 AM

that fact the you spell "beek".....as "beck" Seems odd......... scottlv123@hotmail.com on 3/11/2013 10:26:40 AM

Charles, You are breath of fresh air. Enjoy your life experiences sharing and your stock analysis. You and Dr. Carson are the kind of role models inner city kids should emulate. I look forward to hearing your words get louder and travel farther in the coming years. Tom Anderson on 3/11/2013 10:27:56 AM

Odd to me is that when the DJIA was at 6,500, then it rises to over 14,000 and all you hear is when is the next 15% correction. My take, just enjoy the high but make sure your portfolio is diversified so you can manage risk. It amazes me that what is more risky: CD's paying< 1% or Apple stock<$500. Risk is just a part of investing. Like you said Charles if most people believe they are invested in the stock market by owning one or two stocks then in my belief they are sadly mistaken. Stephen Trussell on 3/11/2013 10:27:57 AM

Heard you this morning on 850KOA Denver. Good stuff! We drive down the street looking at the price of gas going up and up and look for a reason here... refinery fire or off line for new blend, bad weather somewhere, etc. Not that the answer that China isn't a "bicycle economy" anymore. The world know uses what we've used for years. Supply and demand. HalGee on 3/11/2013 11:00:57 AM

In 99 % of media news reports, (averaging 22 seconds) about the jobs statistics there is never a mention of the amount of support to business is coming from 1--Our massive deficit spending and 2---the massive amount of money B B is printing every day. What would the numbers be without that stimulus? J.Lee John Lee on 3/11/2013 11:25:52 AM

I find it really odd that you NEVER see Anna Wintour and Corey Feldman in the same room together. Hmmm... Frank in Chicago on 3/11/2013 11:31:04 AM

I don't believe there has ever been a country where liberalism has been successful. So why do U.S. liberals believe they can make it work here? Rod Miller on 3/11/2013 11:41:16 AM

There are many cases where reality goes against intuition. If you really want to mess with your mind, try understanding spacecraft orbital rendezvous. But on a financial side, I can see that because of Obama's policies, the rich are in fact getting richer and poor getting poorer. So much for attempts at redistribution. Jan Railsback on 3/11/2013 11:47:14 AM

We have more in common with woodpeckers than you would think. We also butt our heads against a wall to earn a living. z on 3/11/2013 11:47:20 AM

I find the pesident the odest man in the world.....who is he, what is he,why the Muslim contact, why the speech in Cairo that started the Arab Spring. As a half Jew, why does he surround himself with Jews yet tomwayne on 3/11/2013 12:12:13 PM

Sure, as the Fed prints unlimited amounts of dollars, the debt is approaching $17 trillion and every other month there is a financial cliff or crisis, why not invest your dollars in the stock market? When the Big Boys exit the party, it will be too late. Rich on 3/11/2013 1:39:13 PM

I find it odd that President and First Lady Obama would let themselves be "front" people for anyone. They surely are intelligent enough to learn quickly what should be done by leaders of, what has been, the most amazingly good, though not perfect, country in the Earth's history. Being both smart AND attractive, The Obama's could have easily "looked good", in every sense, while enhancing the future of the USA for the benefit of all. How can 2 such people, joined together, come to such a place where we now find them, looking bad. How odd. How sad. Wondering How on 3/11/2013 1:48:35 PM

What I find odd is what euphoria is driving the market to new highs? Is it the booming economy? ( obviously not) What is behind the new highs? Definately going to follow your advice and put some in cash. THANKS! Appreciate your fresh views. Wish you would run for president! :) Eileen on 3/11/2013 2:00:22 PM

I find it odd that everyone is exhuberant about the stock market but don't seem to think much about what happens when Ben Bernanke's musical stimulus stops, rates rise and our debt service on our 16 trillion debt consumes us. Add to that the huge bubble that is starting to burst in student loans and I think we have the next financial crisis coming to a head. I love to hear woodpeckers when I hike but I always wondered if they get a headache. Michelle on 3/11/2013 2:16:54 PM

Speaking of the stock market . . . All of the media is talking about the DJIA hitting a new "record". What they are ignoring is that it took nearly 5½ years for the stock market to even recover to its previous high, recorded on Oct. 9, 2007. The average rate of increase during the one year prior to the old record was 6.32 points per day. Compare that to the "new records" now being set (which took 1450 days to attain, at an average rate of .12 points per day), and you will get an average per day increase that is 472 TIMES greater than the "new records" being touted by the media. (Note: These calculations are a/o 8Mar13b) Steve on 3/11/2013 2:21:44 PM

Recently, when I handed the barista at my local a five dollar bill for my coffee, he held it up to the light, checking to see if it was counterfeit. A five?? I questioned, he replied that we're living in crazy times. Hmmph. Patricia Flynn on 3/11/2013 2:52:35 PM

What seems odd to me is the myth that mankind is getting smarter. While it is clear that our technology continues to advance, our brains most assuredly seem to be shrinking. We see it at the polls, in that Obama was reelected predominantly by youth who failed to connect a string of lies in the past 4 years to improbability of carrying through on any future promises. My generation was not a bunch of geniuses, but we could see a little clearer than that. We also see it in the SAT results. The scores keep falling, until a Demoncrat administration pushes to have the tests revised so that the scores will jump up radically so that they can claim to have improved education even though the dominant trend continues down. It is said that century ago, the average person could recall a string of 18 digits. Now, the average person can only recall a 9 digit phone number if they write it down. Bob G on 3/11/2013 6:04:41 PM

It seems "odd" to me that federal employees owe 3.5 billion dollars in back taxes, so the "oddity" is that if you pay taxes, your tax dollars provide a job to some people who take your tax dollars but don't pay taxes themselves. Cappy on 3/11/2013 11:03:33 PM

I believe you have hit the nail on the head. We as a country need to take action quick or our beloved country which I fought for and was wounded in battle will be gone. May God Bless You. Sincerely Dale Sutton Dale Sutton on 3/13/2013 5:01:45 PM

In today's world I find your anti-spam question too difficult to answer correctly! Jeff Norris on 3/30/2013 10:48:58 AM

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