Commentary; Posted: 7/20/05
Prayers and thoughts for the British
David Purdy
Guest Columnist
The bombings in London, apparently organized and carried out by al Qaeda, seem to follow the attacks carried out on March 11, 2004 in Madrid, Spain.
If you believe the claims being made, they are targeting U.S. allies in the struggle in Afghanistan and Iraq. Put more accurately, targeting innocent men, women and children. And they killed 52 and injured 700 at last count.
Whenever I cite risks that we face, I always include the threat of terrorist attacks, because they are determined and likely to strike again.
Just how serious is this threat?
The honest answer is that nobody knows, but so far, post 9/11, attacks have been relatively small, infrequent and without much economic or financial impact.
In Madrid, for example, there was a small one-month dip in consumer spending and the Spanish stock market, but that was about it. After the attack in London, the UK stock market fell about 4 percent at the open, but ended the day down only 1.4 percent and has recovered completely in trading this morning.
Most other European stock markets have followed similar paths.
Here in the U.S., the Dow dropped 95 points the day after the London bombings, but finished the day up 31.6 points, and was up strongly the following day.
All of us regret the injury and loss of life. However, I think it is vital to note that these terrorist attacks are not making a dent in our financial markets or the economy.
Here in the U.S. security has tightened and we are all a little more concerned about this threat, but we are going on with our business.
The June employment report was released last week and it showed slow but steady gains - payroll employment rose 146,000 and the unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent.
That is the lowest unemployment rate since September 2001 - so we have put the post 9/11 rise in unemployment behind us.
I expect we will continue to make solid gains, despite these dark deeds.
Our prayers and thoughts go out to our British allies.
ó Writer David Purdy is president of Wealth Management Midwest, Forest Lake, and offers securities through Linsco/Private Ledger, Member NASD/SIPC And an investment advisor.
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