Some Thoughts for September 2010

This has been a summer that could only be described adequately in a full chapter of the book that undoubtedly I will never write. The Roadshow started out in San Diego where we were moderately rocked by an offshore earthquake. This is, of course, run-of-the-mill stuff if you are from California. If, however, you are accustomed to the earth staying in one place, we did think about it. The next stop was Billings, Montana where just days before our arrival a fairly uncommon tornado tore half the building apart where we had planned to stage some of our long lines. The convention people in Billings were literally the best we have an encountered and helped our terrific crew and staff pull off another great stop. Unfortunately one of our guests passed away in the hall - another first for the Roadshow. The next stop was Miami Beach, where life even in this economy was not inexpensive. But we had a great show. Stop number three was Biloxi where a tropical storm threatened to derail us but then never materialized. In Iowa we understand many roads were shut down to severe flooding just after we left and had completed show number 5. Our final stop was the nation's capitol where we all were dreading August humidity. The only threat, however, was a massive Tea Party demonstration led by Glen Beck and Sara Palin days after our departure. All things considered we must be grateful for a very uneventful but successful summer.

As we move into the fall market, I think much in the U.S. depends on the election in October. I drove four out of six stops this summer covering about 10,000 miles and one thing I kept hearing over and over again was real anger - regardless of the party affiliation. How that translates in the fall remains to be seen, but if we see the change that all the pundits seem to be predicting, the markets will depend on what the current administration does in the two months before the new Congress is seated. Some are predicting events that certainly the market won't like. In my opinion a bad stock market means an unstable art market. On the bright side that could be more opportunities for you if you are buying. As usual great material will hold its value and we shall see more high prices in both Paris and New York, but the market will be unstable.. how unstable remains to be seen.