End of the year:seems cleansing process for the markets

While the end of the year signals nothing truly more than a change in desk calendars or the need to keep in mind the New Year as you write out checks or date anything, many see it as a cleansing process for the markets.

Fact is, simply put, that nothing changes – economic policies that guides the world today will still be in effect tomorrow, the leaders are the same, the debts are the same, the unemployed are still looking for work.  But for one night and the few weeks leading up to it, people can believe that change is coming.

The past year in the markets has been an interesting one.  We see a Dollar that started the year in a booming rebound from late 2008 dips that set it back three years, succumb to the reality and need I say gravity of the situation in America – specifically a very large bill that has two numbers on the left and is followed by twelve zeroes to their right.

Talk of the fall of the Dollar dominated much of the year, with nations like China and Brazil, Russia and India vocalizing what every Forex trader was thinking but hoping it would never be.

The UK endured a scandal in which many parliamentarians were caught living lavish lives on the taxpayer’s dime, and it was all legal. They saw a Central Bank scoff at the leadership for spending too much only to end the year off as the body responsible for most of the spending.

You have a Prime Minister who has blundered so often, it is not even front page tabloid news anymore when he does, and whose economic policies are questionable, and whose popularity is abysmal.

In the land of unity, the European Union, you have seen the divide between classes begin.  We saw the richer countries have an easy time at getting help for their ailing banks and industry while the poorer countries have had to fight hard, many times to no avail – and now we see that sovereign debt issues with some of the less fortunate members is beginning to tear the union apart.

It is Liberalism and Socialism at its best, until the poor threaten to take down the rich with them, then you see the true nature of those that have against those that do not; it is no wonder why the Euro has done nothing this past year.

As we move into 2010 we hope and pray for a new beginning, even though the story continues, exactly where it left off – Happy New Year – and please don’t drink and drive.