Heathen shocker as London life goes on

By Thom Calandra                                                     10-27-08

Many in metropolis seem little disturbed by decaying currency market

LONDON – Tumultuous currencies, freefalling stocks and a shrinking economy have yet to grip Britain by the … well, you know.

Instead, the ARCTIC FREEZE I figured had to be about the ongoing and severe statistics lesson for investors across our planet was instead headlines for climate change coming to the U.K.

In fact, the freeze arrived Monday morning as temperatures in London fell sharply. The sun was the silver lining, blazing bright with not a cloud in sight across much of the nation.

In le Square Mile, no such linings of comfort. Extended summer was and is gone for good. Stocks were down 4% Monday on the LSE. Tokyo stocks had crashed hours earlier. The British pound fell an astounding amount against most currencies, the largest decline in fact since September 1992, when George Soros made his billions.

Across the heath

Yet life goes on. Even the metropolis seems unfazed by what is occurring in currency and other paper markets. 

On the weekend, theatre-goers, including us, were, as always it seems, leaving standing room only in the West End. Wicked for sure, and quite a hoot.

Junior league football games consumed families Sunday, as they do across pitches in North America, Latin America and Europe.

Britain’s DTV headlines, on this weekend after Europe’s mauling in financial markets, were first and foremost about Chelsea F.C. losing at home to Liverpool 1-0. A rare home loss for the King’s Road lads, who had strung 86 wins onto their streak string.

Even the Internet was looking lonely in terms of financial news. Most of the headlines were about sex addiction for women and men, about (sadly) missing marathoners in the Lake District and about the American elections coming in one week.

And so on. The Indian food in the British capital is still excellent value and as curry-blasting hot as ever I recall.

Like most folks, alas, I have a portfolio making an extended visit to les toilettes. And it is not the spicy curry doing the innards in. One of our best holdings these past five years, Tencent Holdings (ticker is 700 in HK), a Hong Kong company that operates China’s QQQ network via Internet, fell 13% overnight.

Solace is quantum

Gold was still in the wings, along with other commodities – waiting for the day when ALL currencies decline markedly, making the currency exchange system meaningless. (Until that day, which still might take weeks or months, our only solace on this London visit with the family was the 15% more purchase power we are getting from exchanging our USA dollars for pounds.)

Still, on Monday, the decaying financial headlines were sure to capture the nation’s attention. Gordon Brown, the prime minister, was sighted with his thinking cap firmly atop his head. The PM had just one quantum of solace, I figured, as I began a morning run from Highgate across the Heath, and that was the new James Bond film arriving here Friday.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back Monday, Nov. 3, with a map of The New World, known here at Stockhouse.com as ThomWatch Deluxe, The Calandra Initiative, Thin Crust Thom or Turbo ThomWatch, all names for the subscription service that begins with a splash (hopefully not in the mud) in mid-November.

As stated here in ThomWatch, I believe we will experience a return to sensible asset values soon … and indeed, some small companies in life sciences already are showing some life. I hope this view, coupled with my longstanding belief in the power of gold as money, does not make me a heathen in your worthy esteem.

Note: Thom’s cosmos of holdings is listed for free Stockhouse members on www.Stockhouse.com under the “portfolio setting” for user TCALANDRA. We do not own Ivanhoe Mines (IVN in Canada and USA) but are considering adding it to our holdings if it continues to freefall along with other mining shares. We own some gold coins minted after 2000. We no longer own the ETF for silver (SLV is the USA ticker) in the wake of the dollar and yen-surge this week. We have inflation-indexed bonds in a retirement fund at T. Rowe Price. For more ThomWatch, please see Stockhouse and ThomCalandra.blogspot.com.

TURBO THOMWATCH: For investors who profited from a meteoric rise of commodities, mining and life sciences companies, Thom Calandra acted as a beacon. Thom helped his audience find value in a quagmire of investment choices. He is not a titled investment adviser. Thom co-founded and was the driving editorial force and spirit of CBS MarketWatch, MarketWatch.com and FT MarketWatch in Europe. As the voice of Thom Calandra's StockWatch and The Calandra Report, Thom fancied $300-ounce gold before that metal became an investment rage. Thom visited bioscience companies, metals mines and scores of thin-crust pie joints across the planet in a search for profit, fashion and pizze de trippa gorgonzola. Thom's latest project, the novel PABLO BY NUMBERS, was completed in summer 2008. He and Stockhouse this autumn will offer a DELUXE VERSION of ThomWatch as a subscription report for a select audience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

     Thom Calandra

Watch for a new subscription service on Stockhouse featuring Thom Calandra, coming this autumn. It is tentatively titled Thom Calandra Report.

For a wide-ranging interview with Thom, please see Stockhouse's series of articles: Taking Stock of Thom. He and his family live in Tiburon, California. Visit his web homes at www.thomcalandra.com and thomcalandra.blogspot.com.