Quarter 1 2012 & Palm Sunday

The first quarter of 2012 is upon us and it has been rather unusual on a couple of fronts. First the weather has been warmer than normal. Secondly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had the best Quarter 1 return since 1998. At the end is some information from Wikipedia about how Palm Sunday is celebrated around the world, I found it interesting.


Vanguard

In a television interview earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the economy has made strides over the past few months, but that housing and unemployment remain a threat to a full recovery. Economic indicators this week were a mixed bag. The U.S. economy expanded in the fourth quarter. Consumer confidence fell slightly. Consumers are spending more, and businesses are investing—but at a slower pace. For the week ended March 30, the S&P 500 Index rose 0.8% to 1,408 (for a year-to-date total return—including price change plus dividends—of about 12.6%). The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 2 basis points to 2.23% (for a year-to-date increase of 34 basis points).


Quarter 1 Review

The biggest concern during the quarter was the price of oil and the Iranian oil issue. So far this has not had a significant impact on our economy and it appears that many world leaders are trying to keep it that way. It is important to listen for the clues from leaders around the world on this issue.

Two concerns existed when the quarter began which seem to have faded. These were the economic recovery and Europe. Our economy remains on a slow recovery and it will for quite awhile. The European crisis seems to have blown over once people realized that it was time to bring it to closure.

So what happens in quarter 2? I sure wish I knew the answer. My plan is to take some profits and get more conservative in some accounts during April since we have gotten a gain during the quarter which normally would occur during the entire year. I like the saying of a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.


Palm Sunday Celebrations Around the World - Wikipedia

It is customary in many churches for the worshippers to receive fresh palm leaves on Palm Sunday. In parts of the world where this has historically been impractical, substitute traditions have arisen.

In Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, Palm Sunday – known as Shaa’nini in Arabic- is perhaps the best-attended service in the Christian Calendar, among the Orthodox, Catholic (Latin rite and Eastern rite), Maronite and Anglican Churches, perhaps because it is notably a family occasion. On this day, children attend church with branches from olive and palm trees. Also, there will be carefully woven crosses and other symbols made from palm fronds and roses. There will normally be a procession at the beginning of the service and at some point, the priest will take an olive branch and splash holy water on the faithful.

In Latvia, Palm Sunday is called "Pussy Willow Sunday", and pussy willows – symbolizing new life – are blessed and distributed to the faithful.[9] Children are often woken that morning with ritualistic swats of a willow branch. People also catch and spank each other with the branches, a ritual often consummating in sexual intercourse.

India
Flowers (in this instance marigolds) strewn about the sanctuary in an Oriental Orthodox church in Mumbai, India on Palm SundayIn the South Indian state of Kerala, (and in Indian Orthodox,Church of South India(CSI), Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, and Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobite) congregations elsewhere in India and throughout the West), flowers are strewn about into the sanctuary on Palm Sunday during the reading of the Gospel at the words uttered by the crowd welcoming Jesus, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who is come and is to come in the name of the Lord God." These words are read to the congregation thrice. The congregation then repeats, "Hosanna!" and the flowers are scattered. This echoes pre-Christian Hindu celebrations in which flowers are strewn on festive occasions; however, this also echoes the honour shown to Jesus upon his entry into Jerusalem. Indian Orthodoxy traces its roots to the arrival in India of St. Thomas the Apostle in AD 52 (according to tradition) and his evangelism among both the Brahmans of the Malabar Coast and the ancient Jewish community there. Its rites and ceremonies are both Hindu and Jewish, as well as Levantine Christian, in origin.

In Elche, Spain, the location of the biggest palm grove in Europe, there is a tradition of tying and covering palm leaves to whiten them away from sunlight and then drying and braiding them in elaborate shapes.

A Spanish rhyming proverb states: Domingo de Ramos, quien no estrena algo, se le caen las manos ("On Palm Sunday, the hands drop off of those who fail to wear something new").

All the parishes of Malta and Gozo on Palm Sunday (in Maltese Ħadd il-Palm) bless the palm leaves and the olive leaves. Those parishes that have the statues of Good Friday bless the olive tree they put on the statues of "Jesus prays in the Olive Garden" (Ġesù fl-Ort) and the "Betrayal of Judas" (il-Bewsa ta' Ġuda). Also, many people take a small branch of olive to their homes because they say the blessed olive branch keeps away disease and the evil eye (l-għajn ħażina or is-seħta).

In the Saxon regions of the Netherlands, crosses are decorated with candy and bread, made in the form of a rooster. In the diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden, a great procession with oil lamps is held the night before Palm Sunday in honour of the Sorrowful Mother of Warfhuizen.

Many Polish towns and villages (the best known are Lipnica Murowana in Małopolska and Łyse in Podlasie) organize artificial palm competitions. The biggest of those reach above 30 meters in length; for example, the highest palm in 2008 was 33.39 meters high.

In Romania, Palm Sunday is known as Duminica Floriilor.

In Bulgaria, Palm Sunday is known as Tsvetnitsa or Vrabnitsa. People with flower-related names, (for example Tzviatko, Margarita,Ralitza, Lilia, Violeta, Yavor, Zdravko, Zjumbjul, Nevena, Temenuzhka,Rosa etc.) celebrate this day as their "name day".

In the Philippines, some places re-enact of Jesus' triumphal entry. The Catholic priest rides a horse and is surrounded by the congregation, bearing palms. Sometimes women spread large cloths or aprons along the procession route.

Palm branches, called palaspas, are taken home after being blessed in the Mass and are hung beside, on or above doorways and windows in front of their houses. Although the real objective of placing the leaves in front of houses is to welcome Jesus Christ, some Filipinos say the palm leaves turn away evil spirits.

In Finland, it is popular for children to dress up as Easter witches and go door to door in neighborhoods for coins and candy. It is an old Karelian custom called Virpominen.