Tuesday

The Cardinals had no answer to SF.  They couldn't hit a lick.  And they couldn't get anybody out.  I couldn't watch it after the 3rd inning.

And I'm not that big of a Bears fan.  (I see from the final score this AM that the second half wasn't much to watch anyway.)

But I had below-zero interest in the Presidential debate.  So I went to bed and did a crossword.

4 makes some good observations about early voting and the irrelevance of the on-going campaigns to these people.  Actually, there's not been a single person whom I have talked to or even had a brief exchange with while in line at the coffee shop who has said anything but that they will be happy when the election is over.  I suppose that the paid campaign staffs (of the losers, in particular) aren't anxious for it to end, but really, let's get on with life already!

I think most of the political operatives would say that the game is now reduced to getting out the vote.  With only two weeks to go, and all the carpet-bombing of ads run to date, there just can't be that many undecideds left.  Get your people to the polls.  Or, as in the case of Cook County, Vote Early, Vote Often...and that means the cats, dogs and the deceased as well.

I don't think that I said anything here last week when it was announced that Newsweek would cease it's print publication next year.  There was a time when I read that magazine with some regularity when it was available (not that I would actually buy a copy!).  Newsweek had merged with the online site The Daily Beast a few years ago, with mixed results, I guess.  These publications that try to walk the line between more serious topics and pop culture face an imposing task.  There are not only fewer people reading print issues, but there are also even fewer people as interested in news and other non-salacious reporting.  Sex sells.

I wonder how long Time will last?  We subscribe to a few weeklies here at the office; Barron's, Bloomberg/Businessweek, Investment News...and several monthly's with finance focuses.  But all of these print issues have on-line editions as well.  Its a matter of time.

I stopped reading USA Today this Summer and doubt if I'll ever return to the fold.  At lunch one day last week, I picked up a copy of that day's edition laying on the adjoining table and it was hardly worth the effort.  They've changed the format, there's less of it, and the content really offers little of distinction.  I'm guessing that it will eventually limit it's target market to the travel industry, being primarily available at hotels and airports.  I say that the Harvard Business School could make USA Today a case study on the birth, growth and decline of a business in the Age of Technology.

When I go through the check-out at Hy-Vee, the magazine racks are dominated by the pop culture publications with cover shots of the Kardashian's, DWTS, The Bachelorette or Kate/Pippa.  Reality TV has just never caught my eye, regardless of the brevity of clothing options on display.  I don't get it.  Sorry.

(Speaking of sex selling, I've been at least raised-eyebrows surprised to see small ad boxes on numerous websites with bikini-clad models not even remotely related to the subject of the ad.  No pretenses.  Here's a little skin.  Buy our super-duper counter tops!)

Tough day in the market.  Good news is at a premium.  Current earnings reports have been so-so, with forward earnings generally pulled back.  I think people and institutions are feeling a need to take some risk off the table for a while.  There may be some buying on the dips in the short term, but count me among da' Bears over the next six months, regardless of who wins the election.  Once there's some order established in the new Congress, and providing that the International geo-political climate remains below boiling, there could be some forward movement in the economy in the second quarter next year.

All for now.  Maybe more later.

BCOT