The cars of the migrant people crawled out of the side roads onto the great cross-country highway, and then took the migrant way to the West. In the daylight they scuttled like bugs to the westward, and as the dark caught them, they clustered like bugs near to shelter and to water. And because they were lonely and perplexed, because they had all come from a place of sadness and worry and defeat, and because they were all going to a new mysterious place, they huddled together; they talked together; they shared their lives, their food, and the things they hoped for in the new country.

The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck

The big socialist push in this country came during the Great Depression when people were so down and out they had to work together out of necessity. It was survival mode. That is a different circumstance where the economy still has what it takes to be supercharged. It's not time to huddle together like bugs waiting for shelter and water to come from a magical place like our government. This country can still embrace the sunlight with enthusiasm rather than scatter in fear. As I pondered the State of the Union address over the weekend, it continued needling me that we are essentially being told to go to a mindset that saw millions of Americans trapped in a physical and mental dust bowl.

Soldiers huddle in foxholes, but that's not where wars are won. It's through charging ahead with individual valor that makes the difference. I keep waiting for the president to tout the abilities of individual Americans to be great. I keep waiting to hear about a kid who barely knew his father, lived in desperate parts of the country and world, and would rise up to become President of the United States. I'm not hearing how the economy can return to full bloom. Instead, the idea is the enemy is the successful people, and if we are all going to wallow in misery, let's brings them along for the ride, too. I sincerely do not believe that most Obama fans felt down after that speech.

I will admit that somehow Americans are becoming lonelier, with more perplexed lives. But there are other choices beyond sadness, worry, and defeat, which is the not-so-mysterious place we are being led. America doesn't have to be remade into the "American values" President Obama talks about, which is more akin to old European values and dreams of Utopia that dismiss individual talents and desires for the greater good of the collective. There are places in this country where relatives and neighbors huddle together in the nearest brick house to wait out a tornado, but when the coast is clear, those that live in trailers and tin-roofed homes return. They return to those homes with pride and the realization things can get better for them and their children.

"To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth."

Opening Line
The Grapes of Wrath

This is what's really at stake for this nation. Those folks that made the migration from hardest hit areas during the Great Depression to greener pastures didn't go there to take from the rich but for a better life for themselves. Yet The Great Depression inflicted a narcissistic wound that sucked the life out of Americans. The internal shame and humiliation coalesced into resentment for those that escaped financially unscathed.

The Roaring 20's was the ultimate celebration of life and a continuation of all the great things American. The world was our oyster, we won a World War and prosperity wafted through the air. America was omnipotent and so, too, its citizens. Our world was grandiose, our architecture was grandiose and the sky was the limit.
Albrecht Durer's Melencolia I

And with the laws, the punishments- and there were only two- a quick and murderous fight or ostracism; and ostracism was the worst. For if one broke the laws, his name and face went with him, and he had no place in any world, no matter where created.- Wrath

The country is in trouble, that's not a news flash, but we aren't completely down and out. There is time to turn it around. This is already an economy built to last. I think the economy and American psyche has entered into a melancholy phase. One that's become a canvas for whatever picture the powers that be would like to portray. It really doesn't have to be dark and bleak, even if the nation feels much like Albrecht Durer's "Melencolia I." The nation is scarred, but can heal with a focus on greatness. The other direction means certain doom, where we cluster like bugs near shelter and water.

I can only hope now that our narcissistic wound is being channeled into narcissistic rage, and we can fight the urge or envy and get back to real American values.

Of course this battle is being played out throughout the west as the CEO of RBS just decided to give up his £1.0 million bonus from "enormous political pressure" but faces a world of fury over the firm's £500.0 million in bounces. RBS is still 82% owned by the UK government. In the meantime, France will implement a financial transaction tax said to bring in £1.3 billion.

I guess there is something more akin to shared sacrifice, however, as there will also be a 1.6% increase in the sales tax and the 35-hour workweek is being scrapped. Europe is a mess in part to hunkering down in a Grapes of Wrath mentality that's only made them less competitive and ironically- poorer.

Today's Session

It's beginning to feel like 2011 again as we begin a week with US stocks under pressure because Europe continues to struggle with a cure for a three decade party. The party is over, the hangover severe, and the tab is mindboggling. Who's going to pay for this??? By the way, the American public may be voicing more confidence, but it's scared. The pent up urge to buy exploded in the latter half of last year, but at the expense of savings. Some experts think that's good, even great, because it speaks to a sense of confidence that the worst is over. I don't buy that as much as Americans like to shop and finally do so after retailers acquiesced to lower prices.

Personal Income
David Urani

Personal incomes were up 0.5% for December, which was just above the 0.4% expectation, although spending was unchanged. It's interesting that for the three months starting in October, when the Dow had rallied approximately 2,000 points, personal spending has increased 0.1%, 0.1%, and 0.0%, respectively. It makes one start to wonder a little bit about how much of a disconnect there is between the market and Main Street. On the positive side, the increase in incomes was the largest since March. The higher incomes led to a rise in the savings rate to 4% from 3.5%.

The market has to be tested, and this week, which culminates with the jobs report, is the perfect battleground. We aren't forcing the issue this morning.