2018 Predictions

Happy New Year! Yes, I have reached the point in my life when in all likelihood if I am awake at midnight on New Year’s Eve it is because I woke up. Time marches on and not that long ago 2018 sounded like a long time off in the future. As much as it feels like I was transported into 2018 and dropped off, skipping several years, I know for a fact time has just passed by that quickly.

Along with writing the wrong date on my checks (which will happen into April), putting up a new sale barn calendar and cleaning out my files the coming of the new year means one thing. It is time for my prognostications for the year. I will put my Swami hat on, channel my inner Johnny Carson and predict what 2018 will bring us. If you will remember my predictions from the past year you will recall that I had about the same accuracy as weatherman or commodity market expert. So here goes nothing (which is about my success level).

2018 is a big political year so we will start there. There will be much scandal, finger pointing, fighting and downright dirty politics this year. That will be the primaries with even more and worse scandals, finger pointing, fighting and dirty politics to follow in the general election. I am not sure what the elections will bring but I do know it will be ugly. As far as what will get done? Probably not much outside of making good material for political pundits and late-night talk show hosts.

Now on to an area that is a lot less murky and devise, the commodity markets. At times the markets will rise to the level of just being depressing and other times they will fall to the level “hide the sharp objects”. Fluctuations in the market will be caused by foreign countries, our own government (both sides), leap year, high tide, predictions made by Nostradamus or a poll of second graders. The one thing you can bank on is that none of it will make sense.

 We can’t go without making predictions about the weather in this upcoming year either. We will have record highs and usher in talk of global warming, they will be followed by record lows and discussions of the next ice age. We will have periods of extended dryness or drought followed almost immediately by monsoons and too much moisture. Neither of these periods will come at the right time and every farmer and rancher will complain about the current state of the weather. You can believe that the weather in Kansas will continue to be wild and unpredictable, that is a prediction I will take to the bank.

Now for my favorite area to predict, sports. Kansas State football will be in the playoffs next year and everyone will wonder if Coach Snyder is coming back. He will deflect all questions and decide at the end of the season. Kansas State basketball will beat Kansas for the Big 12 title or at least finish in the top 12 in the league (how is that for being a homer and stirring things up). The Kansas City Chiefs will finally win a Super Bowl. Chief’s head coach Andy Reid will continue to dress like Santa Claus because the chances of both Santa being real and this prediction coming true are about equal. The Kansas City Royals have just as much chance of winning the World Series as the KC professional basketball team has of winning the NBA title. No matter how any of our teams do, we will put far too of our own happiness into the outcome of something meant as simple entertainment.

Politics, markets, weather and sports, I think I have touched on every popular area to predict. I have spent a whopping thirty minutes or so thinking about these predictions and I will put them up against any “expert” out there. Keep track of them and let me know how I do next year, I will bet that my success rate is somewhere between zero and five percent. Or better than the average prognosticator.

In any case I want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I hope this will be a year of happiness filled with family and friends. Success and prosperity are all fleeting completely subjective, while I hope those things for you also, happiness, friendship and love are far more important in the grand scheme. The truth is that I have no idea what the coming year will bring but it will be exciting. May 2018 be filled with health and happiness.