Baptism in Blue - The weekend DR

The Daily Reckoning
Weekend Edition
September 11-12, 2004
Baltimore, Maryland
By Addison Wiggin and Tom Dyson

"In the spring, they plant 85,000 tulips. Tour buses come from 5 different states
to see our tulips…"

Your entirely misplaced British editor was in a truck with Rudy 'the Rude Dog'
Strukoff, a local blues musician. The Dog was showing me around a large garden on
the way to his house.

"I've been to a party in that one, and that one…oh yeah, and in that one several
times…" Rudy is pointing out some of the houses in his neighborhood, "…and that
guy over there's got a wine collection so big, it's probably worth a million dollars."

We were headed to the Voo Doo Lounge, Rudy's Blues club, to think up some lyrics for
a Daily Reckoning Blues track. "Try'n keep it simple, you know, one syllable words
work best. And a theme, or a story, something like that," The Dog advised. "Otherwise
you lose the single most important element of a blues song - it's got to be cool…"

Here at the Daily Reckoning, we don't know much about composing Blues songs and even
less about being cool - we leave that to the Rude Dog - we just provide the doom and
gloom…

But we can't, at least, not in the markets. Stocks and bonds rose together last week.

Tech stocks were strongest. The semiconductor index gained 7.2% last week, in a huge
26-point bounce.

After steep falls in the chip sector the week before last - including a one-day 7%
drubbing for Intel - the semiconductor index was 36% below this year's peak. "The
extreme weakness in the chip sector seems quite extraordinary when considered in
isolation," says the Speculative Investor 8 days ago, "but what's even more
extraordinary is that several of the world's most important technology stocks are
down by around 40% from their highs with the S&P500 Index only down by 4% from its
high. In fact, even the tech-heavy NASDAQ100 Index is only down by 12% from its high."

And then yesterday, the Speculative Investor after the rally: "It's generally not a
good idea to get enthused by powerful 1-2 day advances during bear markets because
they happen quite often and are seldom the precursors to multi-month rallies…however,
in light of the relative strength in the SOX and the fact that the NASDAQ100 Index has
just confirmed the multi-week highs recently achieved by the S&P500 and the Dow, we
now think the odds favor an upside breakout…."

And Bill Bonner, last week: "You expect something to happen…and then, when it doesn't
happen, you're surprised. After awhile, you begin to expect that it will never happen;
then you're surprised when it does. The financial world is always full of surprises."

What kind of surprise? Impossible to say. But no surprises last week, the Nasdaq gained
2.7% to 1,894, and the Dow added 53 to 10,313.

If nothing much was accomplished in the markets on Friday, even less was accomplished
in the Voo Doo Lounge, Friday evening. We were in a Blues club; the markets had closed
and the special beer fridge was full. And instead of working, we watched the Rolling
Stones play to a packed-out Wembley stadium in 1989 on a wide screen T.V.

P.S. The Rude Dog has produced a c.d. called Baptism in Blue. It's a collection of
Baltimore Blues with performances from guitarist, Linwood Taylor and from Mark Wenner
of the Nighthawks.

If you'd be interested in hearing one of Rudy's c.ds or finding out more about the
Baltimore blues scene, follow this link to Rudy's website:

We love Jim Rogers. We loved him when he was being bearish on the dollar in the '80s.
We loved him when he was being bearish on the dollar in the '90s. We loved his
first book, Investment Biker, and we loved his second book, Adventure Capitalist.
And guess what…he's bearish on the dollar in both!

Despite his seemingly perennial views, Jim Rogers has made shed-loads of money in the
markets. But more importantly, even if you have absolutely no interest in the markets
or in Jim's views on where you should invest your money, Adventure Capitalist is still
a great read.

Jim Rogers covers 116 different countries in a three-year road-trip - putting him in
the Guinness Book of World Records. He uses his experiences to impart his unique
investing wisdom and show you how to profit from this ever-changing world.

100% Accuracy… With Average Gains of 100%!
Your Chance to turn $5,000 Into $1 Million With the Hot Streak of the Decade

If you were one of this hotshot analyst's loyal readers in 2005, you would have had a chance to make money on every single one of his recommendations. And not just small gains, either - the average gain was 100%. Catch this streak while it's still hot - and learn how quickly you could turn $5,000 into $1 million.

"…What makes courage worth celebrating is that it is as rare and as delightful as a
liquor store that still makes home deliveries. It is uncommon…and persists only
until stamped out by regulators, legislators or a bullet to the head. The idea of a
whole nation of it is preposterous…"

"…I should note that this makes a very big difference in retirement lifestyles.
At a 5% return, we are talking about the difference between $2,400 per year and
$11,000 per year on that original $10,000…"

"…The nascent emerging market desk of a New York bank hired Carlos in 1992.
He had the right ingredients for success. He knew where on the map to find the
countries that issued "Brady bonds," dollar-denominated debt instruments issued
by less-developed countries. He knew what gross domestic product meant. He looked
serious…"

"…There are a lot of risks, of course. But you know that already. I mention
it now simply to remind you that seventy percent of your total return in any
investment comes from being in the right asset class. In other words, you can
own the best company in the world, but if stocks are in a bear market, you're
in the wrong asset class…"

"…Today, looking at the future, prognostications are once again for more of
the same of what we've had recently: low interest rates, higher prices for
stocks, bonds and real estate, Alan Greenspan, inflation, contained financial
crises, loose credit, more consumer spending, the continued primacy of money
over value or values, the belief that things simply cannot go seriously wrong
without some painless fix…"

From the Most Important Financial Mind of Our Time…

"The only two investment strategies I'll follow this year." The world's most respected market analyst just revealed the two best investment strategies for 2007. These are the ONLY two money moves he intends to make over the next 12 months.

He almost never shares his personal strategies, but we're going to GIVE you both these strategies for FREE right now, PLUS membership in the world's most elite investment research circle. Click here for more: