By Rick Glaze

Did you ever have the feeling that all this financial stuff was just too complicated and there are so many moving parts that it was too hard to piece it all together?

After all, you were a political science major and besides back then the GDP (gross domestic product), a measure of all goods and services in the United States, wasn’t even called that. It was the GNP (gross national product). And worse, manufacturing was the dominant measure of GNP.

Now the service sector is dominant in our country. You know, lawyers, accountants, investment managers, restaurants, tourism, tech support, software and all that other stuff.

What’s more, who can know if some kook will make some outrageous remark that may move world markets - like the distinguished new supreme leader in Iran talking nuclear (nucler, for all you Republicans) weapons, or a barrel of oil spikes 10 percent.

And then you read that the stock market moves sharply higher when a poor housing report hits the headlines. A weak employment report takes the market even higher. Then you think, “what is it about a poor report that is good?” because even before you got your Ph.D., you knew that “poor” meant not so good. After you got the Ph.D., you weren’t so sure about anything anymore, which puts you squarely in the camp of those who don’t watch The FOX News Channel or CNN, but lust for Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.” Or worse, you lament that you could have been the 1960’s version of FOX’s “American Idol.” You do sound good in the shower with a personalized version of “I Did It My Way.”

Then your world goes into slow motion as you read the words of a distinguished pillar of the financial world, a U.S. Federal Reserve Governor. Federal governors are a rare breed in that few are selected for their knowledge and accomplishments in the economic and government fields. Yet, they are responsible for setting policy for the country.

Federal Governor Randall Kroszner said policymakers look at a “mosaic” of economic reports in making their increasingly difficult decisions. “We are not quite sure where the economy is going,” he said, “or even where we are.”

These words echo through your ears, bouncing around the neurons of your nervous system, and finally confusion is gone and you know in your heart the ultimate truth - you could be the next “American Idol.”

Rick Glaze is the president of Glaze Capital Management of Los Altos and a registered representative of and offers securities through First Allied Securities Inc. For more information, call 934-0920.