Hello traders! Thank you for taking the time to read my first blog entry on the Market Technologies’ Official blog.

Everyone wants a piece of the government bailout action. With the auto makers’ request still in limbo, there are plenty of other businesses standing in line behind them ready to make their pitch to justify why they too should receive government funds. The State of California has already made a plea for federal aid, and other states are likely to come hat in hand as the ramifications of the more intense developments that have occurred to the financial system since September begin to be felt more broadly throughout the U.S. economy.

This is my first blog entry and I realize the government feels like it must do something to alleviate the financial crisis. But is propping up banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, auto makers, states and others in need with borrowed government money really a good idea?

This is the model that Japan used in the 1990s after its real estate and stock market bubbles burst – if there’s a problem, throw some government funds at it. Despite all of its efforts to save banks and maintain business as usual, Japan has been in a perpetual economic slump for nearly 20 years. Is that what we want for the U.S. economy? And what about how all of the debt service on this new debt coupled with continued and increased deficit spending? Won’t that usher in a period of increased inflation and a sinking dollar for years to come?

It seems that the politicians in Washington haven’t learned any lessons during my lifetime. Just like they did in 1974 after the Arab Oil Embargo, they’ve talked about energy independence every four years at election time, only to ignore that ticking time bomb for over 35 years – more than a third of a century – and now, again, instead of prescribing bitter medicine that will make the patient healthier, all they do is slap a bandaid on and send the patient home with some pills to make him feel better without really addressing the underlying systemic illness. You can only put off the day of reckoning for so long. Question? What’s going to be the next bubble? Should I be boning up on horticulture and my knowledge of tulips?

That’s all for now… Until my next post, best of luck trading.