My best guess on near term market timing. Markets should selloff or stay flat untill the end of tax loss season. I think Dec. 24 is the last day for tax loss selling in Canada. Markets should rally Dec. 30 and 31 as mutual funds attempt to improve year or month end statements. Markets should sell off in early Jan. without the support of mutual funds. Canadian markets should rally before Jan 20 in tandem with US markets due to Obama's new deal. Markets should decline as someone will find a reason to be disappointed by the new deal. JMHO anyone care to comment or make another prediction. Ecuador suspends payments on Government Bonds. To those of us who formerly held ARU where would we be without the Kinross bailout( not what we called it at the time)? Reminds me of a story.

The Parable of the Cold Little Bird

The sermon at church on Sunday opened with this parable:

Parable about the Bird, the Cow, and the Cat

A bird was flying south for the winter. Cold and hungry, the bird found refuge in a barn on a farm. His wings were nearly frozen stiff with icicles. The bird thought to himself, “I am dead for sure.” He layed on the ground waiting to die.

A cow in the barn came by, sniffed around and unloaded a big, stinky load of crap on top of the bird. The bird was drowning in cow caca and thought to himself, “I am dead. I am dead.”

Although the cowpie stank, it was warm and helped thaw the bird, bringing much needed warmth. The bird struggled a bit and managed to poke out his beak to breath. The bird thought to himself, “Yes, yes, I am alive! I’ll be okay!”

The bird was so happy to be alive and warm again, it began to sing. A cat in the barn heard the singing and came over to investigate. The cat discovered the bird within the cowpie, dug the bird out, and ate him.

Moral of the story:

1. Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who gets you out of caca is your friend.
3. If you are warm and happy and covered in caca, don’t sing about it.

This is a parable that accentuates the importance of perspective.

In our lives, often we get off track when we loose perspective.

Our relationship with others is confusing and difficult when we don't have an accurate perspective. Last thought for today. Recently I bought shares in New Gold Inc. (NGD) . Today the stock was up 25% to $1.72. Anyone follow this stock? Looks interesting to me. Regards, wdboat