Corporate Bonds

Maturity	Yield	Yesterday	Last Week	Last Month
2yr AA	4.46	4.54	4.55	4.60
2yr A	4.53	4.59	4.59	4.65
5yr AAA	4.56	4.67	4.67	4.77
5yr AA	4.68	4.74	4.74	4.82
5yr A	4.77	4.83	4.83	4.88
10yr AAA	5.13	5.20	5.18	5.27
10yr AA	5.01	5.10	5.13	5.18
10yr A	5.13	5.19	5.17	5.22
20yr AAA	5.50	5.59	5.59	5.56
20yr AA	5.72	5.72	5.70	5.80
20yr A	5.77	5.75	5.71	5.81

Not much has happened in the Treasury yield curve in two weeks. But yields have come down a bit, sending bond prices up. Behind that move is the hyped up inflation data ("biggest plunge in 56 years!"), plus a dollop of hope, and the realization that if equities are going to rally, the dividend yields are not going to look as attractive.

Interest rates and bond yields.

Just like the previous week where on Tuesday and Thursday morning, there was a bit of pop in the bond market, this week the FOMC move was used to hype the interest-sensitive equities on Wednesday, and bonds on Wed. and Fri..

I just get very suspicious when a whole week's move is compacted into an hour or two, and then everybody points to a good week.

CFC, FNM and FRE all popped up after the FOMC, but by Friday, FRE was showing weakness.

US Bond Funds -- Monthly Data Charts

SHY Monthly data series chart:

IEF Monthly data series chart:

TLT Monthly data series chart:

AGG Monthly data series chart:

LQD Monthly data series chart:

TIP Monthly data series chart:

US Bond Funds -- Weekly Data Charts

SHY Weekly data series chart:

IEF Weekly data series chart:

TLT Weekly data series chart:

AGG Weekly data series chart:

LQD Weekly data series chart:

TIP Weekly data series chart:

US Bond Funds -- Daily Data Charts

SHY Daily data series chart:

IEF Daily data series chart:

TLT Daily data series chart:

AGG Daily data series chart:

LQD Daily data series chart:

TIP Daily data series chart:

US Bond Funds -- Hourly Data Charts

SHY Hourly data series chart:

IEF Hourly data series chart:

TLT Hourly data series chart:

AGG Hourly data series chart:

LQD Hourly data series chart:

TIP Hourly data series chart:

Consumer Finance -USA -- Weekly Data Charts

Consumer Finance -USA -- Daily Data Charts

Consumer Finance -USA -- Hourly Data Charts

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Commodities:

The Commodities Research Bureau (CRB) Index " since Nov-18 called the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index " was down "0.44 pct W/W to 326.36. Not bad.

But listening to CNBC's Larry Kudlow you'd think it went to zero, and that the USD really had a great week. NOT.

After $CRB could not establish a new high when oil and gold had peaked Monday and Tuesday, there was a big sell-off of commodities after $CRB hit a new high (341.53) on Tuesday. I'm surprised the index wasn't off more. I'm glad it wasn't.

Do we really need to have CRB re-branded with those two names? What an insult.

Besides, the names Jefferies isn't so hot in my books after the 1980's conviction of founder Boyd Jefferies, along with other notable scoundrels like Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken, for stockmarket manipulation. I just don't understand why Jefferies would not change the name.

Reminds me to tell you about a great stock market book " one of the best of all time " "The Predators' Ball: The inside story of Drexel Burnham and the rise of the junk bond raiders" Connie Bruck, 1989.

This is a must-read for traders who want to have a look into the demise of capital market integrity in the 1980's by some of the leading people on Wall Street. Same thing is going on today with so-called "Private Equity" gangs.

I'm not talking about hedge fund traders, who are completely legit; I'm saying Private Equity gangs. They don't need to sell high-yield bonds, they simply use the low borrowing rates today, and some expertise in bankruptcy law and about the workings of defined benefit pension plans, to pull off theft.

And while on that point, it's easy to scare unsophisticated people about a Stelco underfunded pension plan (US$1 billion) as the reason for bankruptcy, but have a look today at the funding shortfall of the Exxon Mobil pension fund.

To save you some time, XOM's pension assets are $18 billion, and the liability is $26.2 billion. So, if the deficit is so much a problem, why doesn't Lee Raymond just use some of that $34 billion in cash to set things right?

My point is that issues become problems when people want them to look that way. Then when thieves get into the picture, the issues become emergency problems in need of a 100 pct screw job on the shareholders, plus hundreds of millions of dollars borrowed from taxpayer's funds in trust with the government.

But I digress. Reuters/Jefferies CRB and Boyd Jefferies got me started.

Weekly CRB Commodities Index:

Daily CRB Commodities Index:

Weekly Crude Oil:

Daily Crude Oil:

Speaking of XOM, Crude Oil contracts (NY Crude EOD chart at StockCharts: $WTIC) were down "0.57 pct to 59.05 this week. Spot dropped to $58.06.

A cycle high of 62.85 was hit Tuesday. I still see support at about 56.

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Gold:

Gold closed down "4.40 pct W/W to 503.20 (Continuous contracts) after being up that much the prior week. Spot closed at 502.50.

It was quite a week as Gold hit a spike top of $541.00 on Monday, followed by free fall that apparently started in Japan triggered by a doubling of margin requirements on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and a piling into the Yen as the USD simultaneously went into free-fall.

My antennae told me something big was about to happen so I got up at 3:00 am ET, and I started reporting ("your faithful servant") at 3:40 am.

Some people think I don't sleep. Truly I do " but with one eye open on the market monitor.

A week ago I warned: "Tuesday is going to a test of the faithful. It's FOMC Day. Rate Hike Day. What's this? Thirteen first downs and counting?"

Anyway, gold and silver, platinum and palladium prices came out of their funk on Thursday. Whew!

And for those who think that it was the Little People of India and China suddenly throwing away their gold to street people, think again. No, no, no. The Little People are still hoarding their gold this week, and will be next one and the one after that.

And if you are not convinced then Larry Kudlow must have you believing that the Little People of India and China were also throwing away their platinum and palladium at precisely the same moment. NOT. They don't even know what platinum and palladium are for Pete's sake.

Oxen and rice paddies, maybe.

No, somehow I think these were some of Larry's friends in Washington and in the upstairs trading rooms at Humungous Bank & Broker. In fact I kinda think the "Gold" man Sachs knows a lot more than he's telling us.

You see, if the "Gold" man is "commercially" short a gazillion contracts on the COMEX as I suspect, he has got to take the metals prices down a notch or thirty in order to square his books. Otherwise this week's humungous profit report would not have been so befitting the name.

Do you think Eliot Spitzer could look into this on behalf of the Little People? That good deed might even propel him into the White House in 2012.

Weekly Gold EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Gold EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Gold Bullion index.

If gold was down "4.4 pct on the week, then silver was worse.

For the squeamish, $SILVER was down "5.42 pct W/W to $8.52. Ouch!

Back in the ‘80's I used to hear the Silver Crazies say that word a lot. But they are a persistent group. There are more conspiracy theorists among the Silver Crazies than at the opening of an Oliver Stone or Michael Moore movie.

But like I say, "Even Texans don't mess with silver & gold bugs when the action heats up."

Weekly Silver EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Silver EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Silver Bullion index.

Platinum closed flat at $1006.90. Actually that was a week ago.

This week, platinum closed at $961, which is a hit of about $46 on the week. In fact in 3.5 days, platinum was down to a low of $946.00, which like silver, palladium and gold gave the shorts time to cover, and make a few dollars for the year-end vacation.

And no, the Little People of India and China were not gifting their platinum to GM and Ford to help cut the costs of engine parts. Just a rumor, started by that guy LeBeau in Chicago. LOL

Weekly Platinum EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Platinum EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Platinum metal index.

Palladium was up +5.27 pct W/W to 285.87. A week earlier it was up +2.78 pct.

Palladium outdistanced all the other precious metals on the downside for the 3.5 day free-fall. PALL was down "7.52 pct W/W to close at $264.38.

And I thought they had friends in Zug! Maybe those friends " the Metal Men " are AC-DC? Ever thought of that?

Weekly Palladium EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Palladium EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Palladium metal index.

Aha, here is a metal that did not crash. Copper was down, but by just "0.45 pct W/W to 204.49. Copper had hit a record high of 205.86 just two weeks ago, and has stayed snuggled up ever since.

So, the short squeeze is still on, or else the world demand truly is that great. I guess the Party Exec Committee can lift more copper than all the Little People.

Weekly Copper EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Copper EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Copper metal index.

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While gold was crashing "4.4 pct on the week, the goldminer producers weren't having such a bad week after all. I guess the "Gold" man Sachs isn't holding too much NEM, which is befitting a banker who'd prefer to trade contracts.

The Philly goldminer index ($XAU) was down just "0.47 pct W/W to 122.36.

Weekly U.S. Goldminers Index:

Daily U.S. Goldminers Index:

The XGD Toronto Exchange-listed goldminer iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index ETF TSE:XGD was also weak.

XGD was down "1.33 pct W/W to 58.80. I'm long; it could have been worse.

The Weekly data RSI is now down to just 65 and the Daily RSI is a piddly 55.

The worst this week was going into the close on Wed. For those who survived the onslaught, Friday was up +1.5 pct on the day. But you didn't hear that on CNBC. They were too busy interviewing John Snow, who was thinking his snowstorm had sent those snowbirds from Canada south on vacation.

Little does he know what it's like to stand with a Molson's in your hand at the corner of Portage & Main in Winnipeg in January with the temp at a nippy "45 degrees. You need to carry a battery pack for the block heater in your backpack " the one you need to plug into your beer holder.

These Canucks haven't met a "Snow" man yet who'd get them to throw away their precious metals.

I mean even Pierre Lassonde, president of America's Newmont, and Chairman of London's World Gold Council, is a ex-Montrealer. And you know this weekend it snowed there, I think, two feet. And the locals were down on St. Catherine with a Molson's in hand talking about how the gold price was looking neat, and how they bought the dip.

Here are the Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts for the TSX Goldshares (XGD) index:

XGD Weekly data:

XGD Daily data:

XGD Hourly data:

For an interactive look, here are links to the Hourly data charts of three groups of proven goldminer stocks. You can click on the tabs for the Monthly, Weekly and Daily data charts.

List #1

List #2

List #3

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Forex:

The trade-weighted USD index dropped from a prior week's 91.26 to 89.71.

Listen when America loses a 90 on the way from 91 to 89, there is a serious problem going down. If, as is likely, you never heard that at CNBC, or from the "Snow" man, then I'll have to break the news.

It's not pretty. Kinda like a CSI episode where the coroner reaches into the abdomen and pulls out... well, you know.

When all the money in America disappears to the tune of "1.70 pct in five days, I don't think the "Snow" man ought to have been singing "God Bless America" there on the TGIF Show on CNBC. But then again maybe that's why he was. And why he said he was headed off to Mexico.

Where they have a silver mine or two.

Last week in this space I wrote: "The USD had ... a fairly big drop of "0.72 pct W/W. Now I don't want to tell you how much "0.72 pct of the total value of money in the United States is " for fear you may have a heart attack " but let me say it's more money than Wall Street made in bonuses this year... lost in a week. Next week could be worse. And I'm afraid to tell you what the Cara Crystal Ball is saying for January 2006. The old joke "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you" doesn't even apply. If I tell you, you'll die of a heart attack anyway."

So don't say the "Cara" man didn't tell you what was going down. You should have known something big was about to happen when I started posting blogs at 3:40 am on Monday morning, for Pete's sake.

Weekly U.S. Dollar Index:

Daily U.S. U.S. Dollar Index:

After being up +1.00 pct a week earlier, the Euro (priced in USD) was up +1.50 pct this week to 120.01. It's been a tough time for Europe this year. Now it's time for their party.

Weekly Euro Dollar Index, priced in USD:

Daily Euro Dollar Index, priced in USD:

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International Equities:

The Japanese market was strong. The UK had a modest improvement; and Canada was down barely.

Japanese equity market ETF: EWJ

Japan had a superb week, up +2.71 pct W/W to 13.28 on the EWJ. But Friday was up +1.37 pct, and no country deserves to be up +1.37 pct in a single day.

So with RSI and %K STO being up to 85 and 97 respectively, that happens to be respectful of a Dollar fleeing America and seeking a landing spot abroad.

And I hear the "Gold" man told the authorities in Japan that if they would double the margins in the metals futures markets, he'd bring his winnings to their casino. LOL.

But the game play might be a short one.

Here is the Japanese (EWJ) equity market ETF Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

EWJ Weekly data:

EWJ Daily data:

EWJ Hourly data:

U.K. equity market ETF: EWU

The U.K. ETF (EWU) was up +0.89 pct W/W to 19.34.

The EWU STO is now up to 95, which is nosebleed territory. The RSI is still at 68, so EWU might go up a week or so from here, but it is clearly over-bought.

There appears to be a double-top forming in 2H05. That's a negative btw.

Here is the United Kingdom (EWU) equity market ETF Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

EWU Weekly data:

EWU Daily data:

EWU Hourly data:

Canadian equity market ETF: EWC

The Canadian (EWC) equity-market ETF was down "0.18 pct W/W to 21.84. That's not surprising with the decline in oil and metals prices. But the story, other than the election campaign, is that on Friday the TSX rallied +0.41 pct due to the rolling into the TSX Composite index a half-weighting of 75 top quality trusts.

These are being favored for a few weeks, at least until the election is over and the new Prime Minister gets to tells us something more believable than we heard a couple weeks ago.

Here is the Canadian (EWC) equity market ETF Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

EWC Weekly data:

EWC Daily data:

EWC Hourly data:

(Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore)

(U.K., Germany, France, Italy)

(Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia).

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U.S. Equities:

A week ago, the Dow 30 was down "0.9 pct, the S&P 500 down "0.5 pct, the Naz down "0.7 pct, and the Russell Small Cap Index down -0.3 pct. This week all the losses in the Dow and S&P 500 were made up by similar gains. So those two indexes are flat over a couple weeks. The Naz was down this week "0.19 pct, and the Russell small cap index was down "0.82 pct W/W.

Some market technicians " the pattern watchers " are calling for an upside breakout in the S&P 500 based on current prices being at the top end of a rising pennant (flag). Such a sanguine group of turncoats.

My side " the momentum-crazy technicians " see a continued slowing of RSI, %K STO and MACD. We also are looking at the RYDEX cash levels that show that the bulls are apparently tapped out.

So it looks like a year-end rally coming to the year-end, and no place to go... but down.

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Here is the Monthly data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

Here is the Weekly data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

Here is the Daily data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

Here is the Hourly data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

The following table shows the weekly price performance of the Dow 30 stocks, which I sorted by 1-week price change.

Symbol	Close	Net	%Net	1W %Net	2W %Net	4W %Net	YTD %Net	3M %Net	6M %Net	Yr %Net
PFE	22.58	-0.21	-0.92%	9.51%	6.01%	5.76%	-14.63%	-12.82%	-21.05%	-22.08%
MO	77.32	0.70	0.91%	7.08%	5.46%	7.69%	27.53%	5.72%	16.06%	26.94%
HON	37.88	-0.08	-0.21%	6.08%	5.05%	3.98%	7.31%	-3.59%	-0.53%	6.37%
UTX	58.03	0.43	0.75%	4.71%	5.53%	7.96%	12.68%	12.94%	10.47%	13.78%
HD	42.50	-0.08	-0.19%	3.61%	1.99%	-0.02%	-1.39%	6.52%	5.72%	-0.21%
MRK	30.01	0.24	0.81%	3.02%	0.13%	1.35%	-4.00%	3.84%	-6.22%	-5.60%
CAT	59.64	0.93	1.58%	2.67%	1.41%	3.78%	25.48%	3.33%	21.34%	25.82%
WMT	49.27	0.01	0.02%	2.48%	2.71%	0.06%	-7.65%	12.31%	-0.16%	-6.60%
JPM	39.79	0.21	0.53%	1.71%	2.05%	4.90%	1.63%	13.72%	10.84%	2.21%
BA	70.75	-0.04	-0.06%	1.58%	1.89%	4.58%	38.81%	9.18%	11.08%	35.85%
AXP	51.93	0.50	0.97%	1.52%	0.62%	4.91%	-7.12%	-12.66%	-5.44%	-7.17%
GE	36.06	0.06	0.17%	1.49%	1.58%	4.04%	-1.45%	4.61%	-0.06%	-2.83%
PG	58.11	-0.88	-1.49%	1.36%	1.31%	1.68%	5.29%	3.86%	7.12%	3.58%
JNJ	60.86	0.70	1.16%	1.26%	-0.57%	-3.92%	-3.24%	-6.63%	-8.21%	-4.08%
INTC	26.38	-0.20	-0.75%	1.15%	-3.83%	5.06%	14.35%	6.33%	-2.73%	15.35%
C	49.37	0.27	0.55%	0.94%	1.23%	2.98%	2.28%	8.72%	3.85%	4.93%
SBC	24.91	-0.14	-0.56%	0.57%	4.27%	4.75%	-2.66%	4.62%	5.24%	-1.03%
AA	28.23	0.00	0.00%	0.28%	0.46%	6.73%	-8.91%	5.81%	1.07%	-9.11%
MCD	34.75	-0.23	-0.66%	-0.26%	-0.46%	4.70%	9.21%	1.49%	19.29%	6.40%
KO	41.21	0.05	0.12%	-0.72%	-3.76%	-1.58%	-0.79%	-5.05%	-5.87%	0.19%
XOM	58.06	-1.43	-2.40%	-0.75%	-1.71%	1.19%	15.91%	-8.85%	-3.43%	15.89%
DD	42.50	-0.41	-0.96%	-0.84%	-1.53%	0.57%	-13.48%	4.91%	-9.90%	-11.38%
MMM	77.09	-0.40	-0.52%	-0.99%	-2.91%	-0.22%	-6.44%	5.10%	0.55%	-3.52%
AIG	65.15	-0.15	-0.23%	-1.32%	-3.18%	-2.86%	-1.33%	6.28%	17.96%	1.05%
VZ	30.49	-0.12	-0.39%	-1.90%	-4.33%	-3.82%	-24.70%	-7.07%	-12.74%	-24.53%
DIS	24.70	-0.04	-0.16%	-1.95%	-0.72%	-4.96%	-11.31%	2.45%	-7.77%	-10.34%
MSFT	26.90	-0.02	-0.07%	-2.92%	-3.96%	-3.83%	0.60%	3.18%	7.43%	-0.96%
HPQ	28.92	-0.28	-0.96%	-3.34%	-1.06%	-0.28%	37.39%	2.05%	21.00%	37.39%
IBM	83.37	-0.16	-0.19%	-4.14%	-5.96%	-4.05%	-14.71%	3.78%	8.20%	-14.45%
GM	21.89	-0.24	-1.08%	-4.54%	-0.86%	-3.27%	-45.68%	-32.60%	-38.55%	-44.20%

This performance chart of the Dow 30 shows 18 stocks up and 12 down this week for the Dow 30.

Madison Avenue and Big Media spun the FOMC change in the word "accommodative" to the extent one word can be spun " the beneficiaries of course being their friends on the Street, and the White House

Lets take a look at what happened:

The six big winners out of 11 on the week:

PFE, up +9.51 pct: was second biggest loser a week ago (-3.2 pct); tired of spin?
MO, up +7.08 pct: friendly judge says deadly products are ok for America
HON, up +6.08 pct: Europe says HON that much closer to GE marriage
UTX, up +4.71 pct: week ago's Cara crystal ball: "elevators for China maybe?"
HD, up +3.61 pct: I wasn't watching; I still smart thinking of lousy service
MRK, up +3.02 pct: mistrial; 10,000 to go, at a pace of six a year. LOL

The five big losers out of 19 this week:

GM, down "4.54 pct: biggest winner last week (+3.9 pct) took the hit this week
IBM, down "4.14 pct: wasn't watching
HPQ, down "3.34 pct: wasn't watching
MSFT, down "2.92 pct: traders unhappy AOL suckered GOOG and not Gates
DIS, down "1.95 pct: 3rd big winner a week ago; can't remember why

Here are the links to interactive Dow charts from Investertech.com that I broke into groups of ten, which you can add technical indicators for as well. (list one) (list two) (list three)

(AA) (AA) (Here is the Oct. 21 Value Line report on AA: next one is due Jan. 20)

(AIG) (AIG) (Here is the Nov. 25 Value Line report on AIG: next one is due Feb. 25)

(AXP) (AXP) (Here is the Nov. 25 Value Line report on AXP: next one is due Feb. 25)

(BA) (BA) (Here is the Sep. 23 Value Line report on BA: next one is due Dec. 23)

(C) (C) (Here is the Nov. 26 Value Line report on C: next one is due Feb. 25)

(CAT) (CAT) (Here is the Oct. 28 Value Line report on CAT: next one is due Jan. 27)

(DD) (DD) (Here is the Oct. 21 Value Line report on DD: next one is due Jan. 20)

(DIS) (DIS) (Here is the Nov. 18 Value Line report on DIS: next one is due Feb. 18)

(GE) (GE) (Here is the Oct. 14 Value Line report on GE: next one is due Jan. 13)

(GM) (GM) Here is the Sep. 2 Value Line report on GM: next one is due Dec. 2)

(HD) (HD) (Here is the Oct. 7 Value Line report on HD: next one is due Jan. 6)

(HON) (HON) (Here is the Oct. 28 Value Line report on HON: next one is due Jan. 27)

(HPQ) (HPQ) (Here is the Oct. 14 Value Line report on HPQ: next one is due Jan. 13)

(IBM) (IBM) (Here is the Oct. 14 Value Line report on IBM: next one is due Jan. 13)

(INTC) (INTC) (Here is the Oct. 14 Value Line report on INTC: next one is due Jan. 13)

(JNJ) (JNJ) Here is the Sep. 3 Value Line report on JNJ: next one is due Dec. 2)

(JPM) (JPM) Here is the Nov. 25 Value Line report on JPM: next one is due Feb. 25)

(KO) (KO) (Here is the Nov. 4 Value Line report on KO: next one is due Feb. 3)

(MCD) (MCD) (Here is the Dec. 9 Value Line report on MCD: next one is due Mar. 10)

(MMM) (MMM) (Here is the Nov 18 Value Line report on MMM: next one is due Feb 18)

(MO) (MO) (Here is the Nov.4 Value Line report on MO: next one is due Feb. 3)

(MRK) (MRK) (Here is the Oct. 21 Value Line report on MRK: next one is due Jan. 20)

(MSFT) (MSFT) (Here is the Nov. 25 Value Line report on MSFT: next one is due Feb. 25)

(PFE) (PFE) (Here is the Oct. 21 Value Line report on PFE: next one is due Jan. 20)

(PG) (PG) (Here is the Oct. 7 Value Line report on PG: next one is due Jan. 6)

(SBC) (SBC) (Here is the Sep. 30 Value Line report on SBC: next one is due Dec. 30)

(UTX) (UTX) (Here is the Oct. 28 Value Line report on UTX: next one is due Jan. 27)

(VZ) (VZ) (Here is the Sep. 30 Value Line report on VZ: next one is due Dec. 30)

(WMT) (WMT) (Here is the Nov. 11 Value Line report on WMT: next one is due Feb. 11)

(XOM) (XOM) (Here is the Dec. 16 Value Line report on XOM: next one is due Mar. 17)

The Value Line Report for this week is XOM. VL lowered the Timeliness rating on XOM from a "good" 2 to an average 3.

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Wrap up

Almost at the end of the year (week #50), I am looking forward to taking a vacation from the market and blogging, which I plan to do between Christmas and New Years. Christmas, Easter and Cdn Thanksgiving (U.S. Columbus Day) are our three biggest family celebrations, with parts of the family arriving from far and wide.

Because my wife and I lost our three remaining parents in a three-week stretch in early summer (my Mother-In-Law passed on in the early 1980's), and my Sister-In-Law lost her remaining parent two months ago, this year's celebration will be different. We have a large family, but this will be the first where my generation is the oldest.

Life moves on. Ecclesiastes 3.

BCara@BillCara.com