Lyle's Blog

FOMO is an acronym for “fear of missing out which seems to be what’s happening with the stock market these days. For sure there are some very legitimate reasons for stocks to rise, reduced taxes and regulations, better business climate and refurbished trade deals and we have also reached the point that Joe Blow is gaining courage to jump into the fray too. The “pie” is looking pretty good.

There are contrary indicators that investing is reaching confused territory. Gold rose 5% in December whilst the stock market rose 3.1%. Usually gold rises as a reaction to economic doubt on the part of the public. This time it’s not the case. It would seem that the Trump economy is literally raising all boats, even the gold ones.

However, this time I think the rise in gold is a result of buying on the part of nations and central banks. I truly believe leaders of countries and central banks worldwide are worried that the Keynesian economic system they’ve base all of their decisions on leaves them less confident in building houses made of cards.

Unfortunately most of the population make their decisions based on feelings. It’s very hard to resist the lure of FOMO but being disciplined in finances is the best insurance of keeping as much of your money as possible.

So, what’s the best thing to do? I can only offer what makes sense to me so you must do your own do diligence. In short, I’m not credentialed in financial planning. With that said (to keep me out of trouble), this is what I may do myself.

First, taking some profit soon seems prudent. or more likely putting in a tight stop loss order would be a great safe guard. I personally like the stop loss approach because I “feel” the bull market may get more life pumped into it. Here I am, making decision based on feelings!

USMCA, reformed NAFTA, finalized trade deal with China, and further benefit from reduced government regulation will provide further impetus to the economy. This is why I feel good about the economy.

Cass Information Systems reported that freight shipments were down YoY 3.3% which seemly would indicate we’re headed in the wrong direction. Their 2020 prediction is a flattening of industrial output and so shipping will also flatten. 2020 will be a “yo-yo” year.

The Donald Trump Presidency has been good for the economy because he’s a hard negotiator and doesn’t like to waste money. His re-election will ignite the economy if the Republicans regain control of the House. If that happens, then the bull run will last for a while longer, in my mind as much as ten years because of the enormous amount of money that will be spent on infrastructure.

Whatever the case I remember that what ever goes up must come down and it’s only a matter of time before those socialist indoctrinated young people take over and hone their skills on reshaping America. Till then, enjoy the ride.

Proverbs 17:17 tells us that a friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity. That’s the definition but as we know, when the going gets tough you find out who your real friends are.

People become your friend because you have money or offer things they want or need in their life. Sometimes it’s because we have something in common like sports or politics. But a real friend loves you without need of a reason.

Abraham was called a friend of God. By definition, Abraham loved God and God loved Abraham. Jesus called His disciples friends. He loved them; He cared whether they perished. He loved them at all times. There wasn’t a moment that He didn’t love them. He said he was their brother and what according to scripture is a brother born for? Adversity. When calamity strikes your life you need a friend; you need a brother.

Christ was born to save us from sin or adversity. That’s why Christ was born. We were without strength to save ourselves; we needed an older brother to save us from the things that try to destroy our soul, the things that are adverse to our eternal security.

Proverbs 18:24 “A man that has friends must show himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”

Abraham must have showed himself friendly to God. He wanted a relationship with God. We have to want a relationship with God if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ. Jesus is our older brother. He was tempted in all the ways we have been tempted. The difference between Jesus and us is that His relationship with His father had never been broken. They were in one accord. Jesus prayed daily, conferring with God about everything. At the close of every day it was “not His will be done, but the Father’s will be done.

So Jesus as the older brother knows what’s ahead; He’s been there, done that. We can trust in Him because it is He that is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. He can be trusted. God wanted us to have the same closeness with Him that His son Jesus has. God wanted to restore us and for that to happen, the older brother had to pay the price the Father demanded.

God had been dishonored,rejected, despised, and His authority questioned resulting in the same declaration that fell from the lips of Satan; we wanted to be the god of our own lives. We knew the difference between good and evil. We were good; God was evil.

Jesus was born for that sole purpose of redeeming the world, making a way for mankind to be acceptable to God. And who could pay that price but the very son of the living God?

We all (hopefully) have friends. The best friends are near to us. We do things with and for each other. We’re to love them as Christ loved us, to the end, closer than a brother. As imitators of Christ, we look at our friends not with continually noting of their short-comings but with eyes that see them as precious in the site of God. If they’re unsaved, we want their salvation. If they are brothers in Christ then we are to encourage them and they us in our service to God.

So I encourage everyone to go that “extra mile” in service to your friends. Love them as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. The way the world knows we are followers of Christ is because of our sincere love one for another. Feed your friend if he is hungry, give him drink if they are thirsty, clothe them if they are cold, and visit them in prison if the world puts them there. Love them. That’s how we gain the favor of God.

I shouldn’t spend any time on this. It’s too annoying. But there seems to be hardly anyone with the guts to say what needs to be said. If you need further background please do your own investigation. I for one am monstrously offended by the U.S. Navy naming a future aircraft carrier after Harvey Milk.

Milk was a California politician and serial-pedophile who preyed on underage young, troubled youth. His popularity and hero status protected him from detractors. Homosexuals in general don’t care about age, hence the age of consent is not of much import.

But we live in the age of homosexual dominance. LGBTQXYZ have immense power in our society and any criticism is always deemed as discriminatory and bigoted. Everyone is so afraid of being labeled a homophobe that the mention of the dark side of homosexual sex is usually avoided.

I’m not avoiding it. Homosexuals have just as much propensity to take advantage of vulnerable people as heterosexuals. The idea of giving homosexuals carte blanche access to our children is nothing more than abuse.

The “twinkle-toe” community is dangerous in its assault on our values and culture. The envelope is being pushed at every opportunity. We have lewd, crude and rude trans/whatever people driving acceptance down the throats of our children. The result is an obvious increase in the number of homosexuals and a cultural desire for no sexual restraints.

Homosexuality is sexual deviancy that has gained wide acceptance in our culture as have other destructive practices. Naming an aircraft carrier after one of the more obvious deviants in our country is both deplorable and frightening.

When the U.S. government and all corporations are flooded with employees who love depravity, we know the writing is on the wall. It’s only a matter of time before the collective madness of our society catapults us into a dark sexual future in which there is no escape and no return.

So, it’s up to you to just say no to the leftist sexual lunacy. Will you? I don’t know but what I do know is most of us are too busy to be bothered with morals.

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. That was the message given to shepherds 2000 years ago. The event, the birth of Jesus Christ, was to offer to men a way to have peace with God. Men were sinners, an affront to the purpose of God. The Bible says that God is angry with the world continually. He loves His creation (us) but hates the evil we do.

He never offered freedom from war, because only men can offer peace to one another. It’s interesting to note that in the millennial reign Christ, He will rule with a rod of iron. If there is to be peace with men, it appears that men aren’t very cooperative just because Jesus Christ is on the throne.

We are told that, if it is at all possible, to live in peace with men and we are to protect and take care of the widow and the fatherless. Mankind is always on the path of doing wrong deeds. When men debase themselves to the point of wanton killing of the innocent and defenseless, it is our duty to intervene.

But let’s get back to having peace with God. Being at war with God has dire consequences for our souls and our eternal security. Because loves us He offers us the gift of Jesus Christ, His son, to pay the price for our sin. Jesus humbled himself to a position He can not rise from, that is, Christ becoming a man. Jesus cannot be unborn, He cannot not undo death on the cross, He cannot undo the feeling of being rejected by His father. He paid what His father required. It is finished. We have a choice to make, following Christ or following ourselves.

So we say Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! To make our “merry” and “happy” eternal, we need to accept that gift from an angry God. He’s still angry at the world and will be more so with those who reject so gracious a gift.

I’ve been on twitter for a couple of months and have to admit at best it’s enlightening and at worst, depressing and a waste of time. Depressing because it’s hard to believe the proud stupidity of so many and like all the other screens we watch, nothing productive comes of it. There is a desire by many to achieve “followers” but basically twitter is just a tangent reminder of how divided our country is. There just doesn’t seem to be middle ground anymore.

Mayor Pete (certainly not my pick for president) has suddenly been accused of systemic racism, not being gay enough (?), and among other sins, having worn of all things the Salvation Army apron in a picture. Not that I’m feeling sorry for Pete but I’m sorry for how everyone must parse their words ever so more carefully to avoid the rage crowd.

These nutty but dangerous monitors of everyone’s malfeasance are products of a Marxist college system countrywide. The only way to put some kind of brakes on the madness is to remove government funding from non-producing citizens. Working in the private sector may shake some sense into those whose reality is Google-based.

But let’s look at the hypocrisy of the lunatics. The Salvation Army is known for all the work it does for the poor. Indeed, it lives up to the vision of the founder, William Booth. Of course that’s the problem the left have-it was founded by a minister of the Christian faith and remains Christian today. You would think that the work they do would be applauded by anyone but in the minds of the left, the only “good” must come and be accredited to the state not to God. It is Christ that is their enemy and it is Jesus Christ and the faithful that must be extinguished. To them it is they who are good and Christians who are evil.

Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan, how he helped the person that had been robbed and left in the ditch to die. In the eyes of the Jews the Samaritans were just worthless half-breeds, much like the left think of us. In the story, I don’t think the fellow in the ditch cared who was helping him. It would’ve been nice if the Jews walking down the road had helped him, but alas the good deed was left to someone of “less” value, a Samaritan or in today’s world, the Salvation Army. And today the left forbid businesses giving to the Salvation Army. They face the rage mob if they don’t comply. Leading the Gestapo are the LGBTQ biology deniers. They are ruthless thugs just like the Nazis were and we have given them too much power and power corrupts the morals and the judgement. That being said, we must for the sake of our children and the world at large, be bold in holding the line against the ravaging desires of sinful men.