The Muddle Through Fed

This week the Fed offered us their forecasts for 2008-10 for the economy, inflation and employment. We will look at some of the details which I think will be of interest. Then we glance at some data on the savings rate which suggests consumer spending may be in for more of a challenge than many think. There is a lot of ground to cover.

But first, I just got a note from good friend Dr. Mike Roizen (of You the Owner's Manual, Oprah and at least a dozen #1 best-sellers fame), who has spoken at my Strategic Investment Conference for the last two years. I invited him to be my guest again this year. He wrote back, "Thank you so much! I will be there! This year is too fascinating and the speakers you have too good to miss - Mike R"

He's right. And you only have a few weeks to register, as the regulations require us to cut off registrations 30 days prior to the conference. You can't procrastinate on this. My 5th annual Strategic Investment Conference, to be held in La Jolla April 10-12 (co-hosted by my partners at Altegris Investments) has Paul McCulley of Pimco, Don Coxe of BMO (two of my favorite economists anywhere, and simply brilliant speakers), Rob Arnott, data maven Greg Weldon, George Friedman of Stratfor, as well as your humble analyst and a dozen hedge fund managers who will show you how they navigate in these troubled waters. By the way, George's new book should be at the conference ahead of the bookstores. He has been writing on how the geopolitical world will change over the coming century. I have read a rough copy, and it is fascinating.

Attendees at previous conferences generally rate them as the best conference they attend in any given year, and often the best conference they have ever been to. We do try to do it right. The conference is limited to those with a net worth of over $2,000,000, due to regulatory requirements. I simply hate to put limits like that, but rules are rules. You can register and learn more by clicking on the following link.…