by Calculated Risk on 1/27/2007 12:24:00 PM

This is my first post with the new blogger. I'd like to take this moment to offer some thoughts on my blogging experience:

I started blogging just to share a few thoughts with my friends. To my surprise, more and more people have been reading this blog - and happily I've made several new internet friends. That was unexpected and has been very rewarding for me.

The downside to more readers is I'm not able to answer all the questions in the comments or sent to me in emails. I appreciate all the emails and information I receive, and please accept my apology if I miss your question or I'm slow to respond to your email. I also receive many other inquiries or requests: interviews, link exchanges, offers for sponsorship, etc.

Given all these requests, I'd like to make this clear: this is a personal blog, I've made no effort to market this blog, I haven't accepted advertising or sponsorships, and I'm not looking for any publicity for myself or for this blog. I have no current plans to change my approach.

Perhaps readers have a sense of my personalty from this blog. One of the highlights for me was Don Luskin complaining I was "too polite"! I'm also happy to correct any mistakes I make, and point out when I've been wrong. These traits have served me well in real life.

I believe the one major misperception is that I'm all doom and gloom. Readers have frequently expressed surprise, in the comments, and occasionally via email, at my positive long term outlook. This reaction is probably understandable since most of my posts have a bearish economic tone.

At the time I started writing this blog, I was becoming increasingly concerned about the apparent excessive speculation in the housing market. I was also concerned that the inevitable housing correction might have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. Add in my very negative views of the current U.S. administration, and naturally my posts have had a cautious tone.

I've discovered there is quite an industry of publications catering to people's fears. My negative posts have led to several offers to write for these doom and gloom websites and magazines. That isn't me, and I've declined all these offers. I'm looking forward to being positive in my posts - maybe I'll get offers from Wall Street then!

That is all for now. My best to everyone, and hopefully the new blogger will work well.