Quotes of the Day

I haven't had a lot of time to blog recently, so in a coming-back event, here are not one but multiple quotes of the day, spanning a variety of topics.

Richard Russell, editor of Dow Theory Letters, on January 31, 20007, in what now looks remarkably prescient given today's stock market carnage:

China is in a stock-buying super-frenzy with people mortgaging their homes, taking out loans, doing anything and everything to get in on that wild ride on the Shanghai Exchange. From below 1,000 in June of 2005, the Shanghai Composite has tripled to a current 3,000. The Composite has gone parabolic ... The price of the composite is an astounding 36% above its 40-week moving average. If you're looking for international trouble, you might start looking here. The Shanghai Exchange is on fire, and it's hard to know what to expect next. What would a stock crash in China mean? It would have worldwide implications, and it would be deflationary, particularly for commodities. By the way, the Chinese authorities are now actively warning the populace about over-speculating ("irrational exuberance"?)

Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, a conservative group that focuses on women's rights, on the Newshour on PBS about the new trend for states to mandate HPV vaccines on kids as young as 11 to eliminate their risk of cervical cancer:

About a little less than 4,000 women a year die from cervical cancer. About 36,000 people a year die from the flu, but we don't mandate that each person get a flu vaccine.

P.J.O'Rourke, author of "On the Weath of Nations" speaking in a must-watch interview with Paul Solman of the Newshour on PBS:

I've never been able to get it straight about what these people who are worried about the trade deficit are worried about. When they say that we're buying too much from overseas, that we're sending too many dollars overseas to get all these goods and services they got, they're saying that the American dollar is too strong and that is hurting our economy. And the result of this will be that the American dollar will get too weak, and that will hurt our economy. Well, make up your mind! What are you worried about? Are you worried that the dollar is too strong? Or are you worried that the dollar is too weak?