How now down Dow?

Yesterday the Dow fell to 6723.29 its lowest close since April 1997 when it sank to 6583.48 It had begun the year at 6448.27. Over the rest of the year the market steadily rose and closed out at 7908.25 racking up 1459.98 points up 18%. So far this year the Dow has shed 1577.57 points and the mood out there is dismal with the market having tumbled 15% since January 2nd, and it is now down 50% from the 14000 high in October 2007.

Because the market bounced 1997 ended on an optimistic note that was reflected in Giving USA's 1998 data. In 1997 giving rose from $133.46 to $143.46 billion. To put this in perspective giving in 1997 was 1.8% of GDP and last year with the absolute dollars more than doubled reported giving was 2.2% of GDP.

The last quarter of 2008 was when the lemmings went over the cliff. In my view the full effect on philanthropy will not be felt until 2010.

Now that we have that out of the way let's eat cat food, up our meds, move to windowless offices and get back to client work.

At 1220pm the market was up 5 points! I'm back to meat loaf.