2014 slipping by, another year to be
retired,
Let’s review what we have seen, what
really has transpired.
The year started out so cold, we
learned a phrase called polar vortex,
That chilled us to our bones, and brain
froze our frontal cortex.
Another chilling event, was the ebola
epidemic,
Concerns about its spread, were more
than merely academic.
Democrats took a beating, in this
year’s mid-term elections,
As the right wing took the Senate,
handing incumbents their ejections.
Give me Crimea for an appetizer, said the grabby Vladimir Putin,
For dessert some eastern Ukraine, as
I continue with my lootin’.
Shooting down a Malaysian plane, was clearly
this year’s biggest error,
While Islamic State emerged, as this
year’s biggest terror.
Boko Haram was close behind, with their
heinous kidnap attack,
Many have now forgotten, that the
girls have still not been brought back.
A Pakistani school, another of this
year’s horror scenes,
Resulting in the death, of a hundred
innocent teens.
Farewell we said to others, their absence gives us shivers,
The world is laughing less, without
our friend Joan Rivers.
We miss you Robin Williams,
hysterical and looney,
Goodbye to Shirley Temple, goodbye to
Mickey Rooney.
Godspeed to Maya Angelou, her poetry
so sublime,
Casey Kasem left us too, up the
charts he made us climb.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, each role
played with finesse,
Oscar de la Renta, who showed us how
to dress.
The big story in the markets, was the mighty US dollar,
If you were long against the Ruble, you’re
a wealthy FX scholar.
The BOJ continued easing, causing the
Yen to take a tumble,
Though in the end the Abenomics, may
yet fall apart and crumble.
The Fed wrapped up the taper, though
the ten year rate went lower,
As the expansion and inflation, proceeded
to grow slower.
Two nasty falls from grace, that took
most by surprise,
Crude oil and the bond king, both well
off of their highs.
Meanwhile in the stocks, M&A was all the rage,
With healthcare deal inversions,
taking center stage.
Actavis snatched up Allergan, Medtronic bought
Covidien,
All boosting banker bonuses, by a
couple of hundred million.
Google built a Nest, Suntory
swallowed Beam,
Apple boogied to the Beats, Ballmer
bought the LA team.
Facebook said What’sApp?, Comcast
hooked up with Time Warner,
Halliburton took Baker Hughes,
DirecTV’s in Ma Bell’s corner.
If you missed the market rally, if you took a hit on Shire,
Stay calm and please don’t panic,
things are not so very dire.
If your returns are flat or down, though
this makes you quite frustrated,
Take solace in the fact, your returns
are not correlated.
Look at the bigger picture, even if your
performance makes you vomit,
The European NASA, put a spacecraft
on a comet.
The holidays are here, may the New Year
bring you luck,
Things are looking up already,
Obama’s a lame duck.
