Bad News, Bad News

What had been shaping up as a pretty good
week collapsed under the weight of an
accumulation of bad news.

An ever higher oil price, a disappointing jobs
report, and other signs of economic malaise
finally wore the market down. And with an
election coming up, all of the bad news had
a multiplier effect, because it increased the
chances of a Kerry victory, something the
market also worries about. For that matter,
fear of tonight's debate has been a burden
on the market.

All we can do is wait patiently and hope the
news gets better. Perspective helps too. As
Debbie recently reminded me, we have a
happy and fulfilling life, and no market dip
or election can change that.

I do have one piece of good news to report.
Our community has been crawling with
Verizon trucks for the last few weeks. We'll
soon have the option of fiber to the premises
(FTTP), with download speeds of up to 30
million bits per second. Fiber has become a
practical medium for the last mile.

We already have cable access that averages
something like 7 Mb, so we don't stand to
gain a huge amount. But if Verizon has
reached even our small, remote village, it
means they are carrying out their FTTP
program in earnest.

Surely that's encouraging both for the
economy and for the Telecosm.

Returns for Week Ended October 8

Gilder Technology Index (GTI): - 2.0%
Nasdaq Composite Index (NSD): - 1.1%
S&P 500 Index (S&P): - 0.8%