American Consumption Machine

Today was the first time that I have passed the Port of Oakland and it was completely empty. 2 years ago every berth would have been taken; there would be 10 gigantic container ships and the Oakland docks would be humming with activity. Today - zero, zilch, nada.

To be fair as I got on the suspension side of the Bay Bridge I saw a Hyundai container ship just clearing the Golden Gate Bridge. But still the American consumption machine has ground to a halt.

So when I logged in today I saw this referenced on Mish which is absolutely stunning:

Back to back, Union Pacific's idled railcars would reach from Seattle to Albuquerque, N.M.

Explain to me again how China is such a brilliant investment opportunity? They are a communist, totalitarian government whose [Edit] massive industrial complex just lost its[Edit] far and away biggest consumer; where if they don't maintain a 7% growth in GDP people starve. But the CNBC and Bloomberg talking heads say go long China. I'm obviously not as smart as they are.