We are smack in the middle of that time of the year known as St. Patrick's Day. The only "day" that I know that somehow extends itself into a "fortnight".
In addition to the duties of Lumen Capital Management, I will be chasing my daughters around the Chicago area as they do the Irish Step Dance thing. Posting may be brief in the next two weeks because of this. You can look for us in the Chicago Official St. Patrick's Day Parade tomorrow. We will be with the Sheila Tully Irish Dancers, #31 in the parade.
To honor the date I thought I'd throw in 10 facts about the Irish, the parade or about Ireland which are not well known. Just trying to have some fun with the season and we will get back to more serious matters soon. Irregardless if you are 100% Irish, part Irish (like my family) or just Irish For The Day- Cead Mille Failte!
1) Ireland is slightly larger than West Virginia. If it were part of the U.S. it would rank approximately 19th in terms of population between Wisconsin and Maryland according to 2000 census figures.
2) The Gross Domestic Product of the U.S. is in excess of $11 Trillion dollars & is ranked 1st in the world. Ireland is ranked 30th at $183 billion dollars. Chicago's GDP has been estimated at around 380 Billion.
3) According to the Chicago Tribune, "Corned Beef and Cabbage" is an Irish-American staple and more Budweiser is consumed in Ireland than Guinness.
4) Musicians with Irish ancestral ties include Paul, McCartney, John Lennon & George Harrison of the Beatles; Bruce Springsteen & Keith Richards.
5) 16 American Presidents have Irish Ancestry. This list not only includes obvious Presidents such as
Kennedy and Reagan but also includes Andrew Jackson, Both Bush's & President Clinton. Every elected President since 1960 claims Irish ancestry.
6) New York City has the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world. Last year more than 150,000 marchers participated and it attracted roughly 2 million viewers. That is roughly 500,ooo more souls attended the parade than the combined populations of Dublin, Belfast, Limerick & Cork.
7) Michael Flately of Riverdance fame is credited with popularizing Irish Step Dancing around the world. It is widely assumed that Flately is a native of Ireland but in fact he was born and raised right here in the Chicago area. Perhaps because of this it is claimed that over 100,000 young women in Chicago and its surrounding environs actively participate in some form of Irish Dance.
8) George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Gregory Peck, Barbara Stanwyck, John Travolta, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland & John Wayne all had Irish ancestors.
9) Guinness & St. Patrick's Day seem to go hand in hand. (At least they do in my neck of the woods). They also have a side business of that World Record Book. Almost 2 billion pints of Guinness are served each year. More Guinness is served on St. Patrick's Day than on any other day of the year.
10) Finally the best for the last. It is claimed that Ireland has never had a population greater than about 8 million people. The Irish have emigrated all over the world. The majority of their descendents are found in Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. 45 million Americans claim Irish Ancestry. Their descendants can also be found in more unexpected places like Chile, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and even China. Mexican President Vincente Fox is of Irish ancestry. Altogether it is estimated that perhaps as many as 80 million people can trace some part of their family tree back to Ireland. This is over fourteen times the population of the island of Ireland itself!
Dia dhuit.
This next chart shows how the same index has done since 2000. Not so good! The S&P 500 is still down about 15% from the highs it made in March of 2000. 
This next chart shows how the same index has done since 2000. Not so good! The S&P 500 is still down about 15% from the highs it made in March of 2000. 
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