Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Let me be one of the first to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. At the end is a brief summary of Thanksgiving. The first paragraph is the weekly recap from Vanguard. In the middle is a quetion and answer section where a number of topics are covered.

Vanguard

The week's news suggests that the economy continues to recover at a steady but slow pace. Retail sales were up more than 1% for the month of October, while businesses expanded their inventories to keep pace with shoppers and to prep for the upcoming holiday rush. Meanwhile, last month's slight increase in consumer prices barely registered, sending inflation to its lowest level in more than 50 years. For the week ended November 19, the S&P 500 Index remained unchanged at 1,199 (for a year-to-date total return—including price change plus dividends—of about 9.5%). The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 12 basis points to 2.88% (for a year-to-date decrease of 97 basis points).

Questions and Answers:

Why did I buy General Motors stock this week? Since it has been restructured and the US Government needs the stock price to increase I believe the government wins and I want to be on the winning side.

What did mortgage rates do last week? 30 year mortgage rates rose 0.22% from 4.17 to 4.39%.

Which type of mutual funds are investors buying? The 4 week weekly averages are: bought $3.9 Billion more of stock funds, bought $5.4 Billion more of taxable bonds, sold $489 Million of municipal bond funds, and bought $2.4 Billion of money market funds.

Which type of mutual funds should be avoided? Municipal Bond Funds - lack of tax revenue and the end of stimulus money and Long Term Treasury Bond Funds - rising interest rates during 2011.

Is the Federal Reserve Quantitative Easing 2 a good thing? Based upon the stagnant consumer price index information and high unemployment rate this seems to be good monetary policy. If I was on the Federal Reseve I would do it, we need the economy to grow for numerous reasons. It would be good if the politicians would do something with fiscal policy, you know the taxing and spending part of the government. It will be good when we get good fiscal and monetary policy.

Thanksgiving Information

According to Noell Wolfgram Evans, the first Thanksgiving celebration held in America occurred in 1619. On Decem-ber fourth of that year, thirty-eight English settlers arrived at the Berkeley Plantation in Virginia. Part of their original charter stated that they would set aside that day every year as a day of Thanksgiving. Due to the hardships of those early times, the celebration turned out to be short lived.

The next recorded celebration in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 is also the most famous. The first winter for the Pilgrims in the New World was a brutal one - nearly half of those who came over on the Mayflower died. Times even-tually grew easier. The following Harvest season was so bountiful that the Pilgrims decided to hold a feast to cele-brate. This three-day festival included the participation of nearly one hundred Native Americans. Governor William Bradford had invited them to show his appreciation for helping the colony survive the harsh weather conditions.

The next Thanksgiving celebration did not occur until 1623. This year the Pilgrims were again hit with a great hardship - a draught. In the hope of bringing much needed rain, they gathered in a prayer service. The next morning it started to rain, long and hard for several days. When it became apparent that the crops and the colonists would survive, Governor Bradford declared that they would hold another day of Thanksgiving - the Indians were again invited.

The first national celebration of Thanksgiving occurred in 1777. This one-time only event also served as a way to cele-brate the American defeat of the British at Saratoga. In 1789, George Washington made the first Presidential proc-lamation declaring Thanksgiving a national event. The first Thanksgiving held under this proclamation occurred on November 26 of that year. The pattern was set.

Thomas Jefferson decided against the idea of Thanksgiving and it was not celebrated for nearly sixty years, until Sarah Josepha Hale became involved. A magazine editor, Hale wrote strong editorials in many of the popular magazines of the time. She also wrote letters to anyone who might help her cause. She was concerned with her belief that the coun-try needed to set aside a day to give thanks “unto Him from who all blessings flow.”

Finally, she struck the right chord with Abraham Lincoln and in 1863, Hale saw her dream realized as Lincoln de-clared the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

For the most part, it is a day that has stayed. In the 1930’s President Roosevelt tried to move the date to extend the Christmas shopping season. Facing immense outrage, he moved the day back with little fanfare. Later in his administration, – 1941 - Congress declared the fourth Thursday in November to be the legal Holiday known as Thanksgiving.