What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been (Part Deux) - 07/15/09

July 15, 2009

What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been (Part Deux)
By Doug Kass, The Edge

There is an investment storm coming in the years ahead.

"From a certain point onward, there is no longer turning back. That is the point that must be reached."
-- Franz Kafka
Thirty-nine years and 11 months ago, this morning, my pilgrimage officially began on a blanket in Bethel, N.Y.
After quitting my job teaching tennis at Camp Chipinaw in the Catskills, I spent several days "in preparation" for the Woodstock Festival in a bungalow near the El Monaco Motel in White Lake, N.Y., which was popularized in Elliot Tiber's book and soon to be released movie, Taking Woodstock.
Well, I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, Tell me, where are you going?
This he told me
Said, I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm
Gonna join in a rock and roll band.
Got to get back to the land and set my soul free.
We are stardust.
We are golden.
We are billion-year-old carbon.
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.
-- "Woodstock," written by Joni Mitchell and made famous by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
While there was a steady rain during the concert, Woodstock was a shelter from the storm. The setting was in direct contrast to the national climate, which consisted of a lot of violent anti-war protests. The marijuana and other drugs made available on Max Yasgur's farm the week of August 15, 2009, served as an antidote to an unpopular war and anesthetized us from the large loss of human life in a land (Vietnam) very far away.
Michael Lang: Hey Richie, how about going on in about an hour?
Richie Havens: No, man, not me! Get somebody else! I don't want to be the first act out there!
Michael Lang: Come on, your band's here. You can handle this! Think about how cool it will be to be the first artist onstage.
Richie Havens: No, man, my bass player's not here. And if the show's starting late and I go out there, the crowd's gonna go crazy and toss beer cans on me.
Michael Lang: Well, think about it....
On Day One, Richie Havens started it all, and he was followed by Tim Hardin, Sweetwater, Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez, and, as it is said, the rest was history as the production of Rosenman, Lang, Roberts and Kornfeld changed the face of the music world as well as many of our social bearings and values.
As we approach its 40th anniversary, expect to read a lot about the Woodstock Festival over the next month. The Barnes & Noble on 86th Street already has a large section devoted to the anniversary.
While I remain relatively optimistic about the market's second-half 2009 outlook, as I expressed in yesterday's opening missive, our investment world is going to be a helluva lot different in the years ahead in the aftermath of the great economic reset and debt unwind.
Similar to the inclement weather during those three days of peace and music and in the flat period of performance for the U.S. stock market in the 13-year period following Woodstock, there is an investment storm coming in the years ahead.