We were all sucker punched!!! Did any of us see the haymaker coming out of the financial left field back on Sept. 24 and 25 when Lehman and Washington Mutual filed for bankruptcy? Did any of us then or now really understand the depth and breadth of the liquidity and credit issue? Well, it is only 6 weeks later and my, my, my a lot has changed--and not just financially. Let's add the political change into the mix while we are at it.

My read is that "No one knows the impact, direction, interrelationship and reactions, or consequences of the confluence of positive and negative events." No one, not the Fed, the G7, or Wall Street! We have never been through an economic downturn with 24\7 news coverage, Internet, and BlackBerrys where everyone is reacting to information minute by minute. It would be like trying to predict the outcome of a football game based on making a decision after each play. Don't forget, as a game proceeds each team makes adjustments based on what has actually happened and what they anticipate will happen.

So my advice, give greater weight to your own first- hand information and less to global second-hand information. Stay close to your internal and external team so you know how to make adjustments. Stay alert for opportunities and react quicker. Business goes on in recessions. Stocks still get traded, auto equipment and real estate leases come due, and purchases are made. What is negative to one business is positive for another. If you see the field, apply your strengths to each opportunity, make adjustments as the game goes on, I guarantee you will get more than your fair share of the business available to you.

Sorry for the rant but I don't indulge doomsayers.

~ Norman Liedtke
President, Meyer Design, Inc.