American Express and The Recovery...Does the Connection Matter Anymore?

The answer is YES.

I am not sure where the new bull market takes us…it is a bull market, but whatever new wealth I do acquire will be spent on Visa and now maybe Mastercard ( Long $V). The bank will be named shortly because I won’t give Capital One the time of day, let alone a nickle. Hopefully one of the local variety in a start-up mode with friends. Otherwise I want a Goldman Sachs card…whose slogan – ‘ Now You TOO can tell everyone Fuck off I’m with Goldman’ – is catchy!

I am also considering cash and debit the next few years.

Yesterday I got a few emails from AMEX cutting my card exposures to $7,900 and $2,500. For the last 25 years, I have spent millions of dollars using AMEX. I have gotten crooked looks from vendors who hate them, but whatever, I was part of the club. I never bit on Platinum, Black, Plutonium, Plum or the other fancy offers. I just have been loyal and gold, sometimes green.

To be fair, the last year of travel and new businesses and multiple accounts has caused the TARP eaters upstairs some grief. I am never on time and always a week or two late coordinating cash and calling in payments from the road. The people on the phone have always been helpful. BUT, the good people upstiars of TARPexpress/ AmericanFED felt that I am no longer worthy of their trust.

To the new credit lines I first would like to say thank-you American Express. Though I have never been happier to be alive, wealthier, willing to take risk and continue spending, you are looking out for me. You believe I must spend less. I agree. I will spend in fact ZERO with you. I will take my miles before I leave.

But lets get back to the title of the post…Does my American Express story matter to the recovery?

YES.

As Bernake squawks on TV that the recession is over and the market zooms to 10,000 and likely above, there is no real wealth or recovery wealth being created. Their is a shitpile of hope factored in and a recent history book of good data surrounding the pumping of global liquidity, but the underlying behavior of every aspect of the economy save mobile and the inevitable comeback in the surviving banks is pathetic.

We should be spending less, we should be conserving more, we had a 20 year gift of credit and leverage.

Don’t be a sucker…take the credit squeezes put on you and shrink to fit the new realities. We are a long way from clear sailing for the great majority.

If I am wrong, you can still get wealthy without the financial leverage of credit cards.