Fed up

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

How can anyone save the Detroit 3 from themselves? The UAW has killed the golden goose over the last 35 years despite it being obvious they were bleeding them to death, but they didn't care. Like petulent children they demanded more and more and would pitch a fit if anyone dared point out their businesses were dying and costs were out of control. Now, all of a sudden some "program" or "restructuring" is going to save them? Good luck with that. As long as the UAW gets its pound of flesh from someone (taxpayers now?), they could care less.

Could It Be a Happy New Year for Chrysler?

No drug addict was every in more denial than the Detroit 3 and it's fans. Can anyone watch the performance of the UAW day in and day out and really believe they will ever produce a good product at a good price for their customers??? Better yet, do you think they even know that they too have customers?? Their only concern is how can they make more money for themselves and to hell with everyone else, including the companies, employees coming after them, customers, and taxpayers. They have a difficult job in those plants but sorry folks, their compensation as the highest paid industrial workers in the world is not warranted and is not competitive. Coupled with their arrogance and entitlement attitude; game over. No business with competition can survive with a labor force like the UAW. When will we admit that?? Enabling this addict may cause some temporary improvement but will not result in lasting success as the last 35 years of downsizing and "restructuring" have shown. If you believe otherwise, by all means, go buy their stock and their prodcuts. Not interested? Thought so. Me either. I already bought my share of pity cars from them. They looked nice, fell apart, and their employees still treated me with disinterest; like always. Now I shop around and buy what is best for me. You know, kinda like a competitive marketplace.

Focusing on Commodity ETFs: Hyperinflation Seems Inevitable

Just curious. Why didn't you include iSHARES S&P GSCI Commodity Index-ETF (GSG) ?

Torpedo Dry Ships - Cramer's Lightning Round (10/8/08)

To Smartstops,

I see you are in the Risk Management business. What studies are you referring to that show "Buy and Hold is one of the most riskiest strategies to use"?

O Bailout Package, Where Art Thou?

Don't point fingers? Are you serious??? We as a nation (and world for that matter) have just been ripped off by a fraud and gamble of massive propostions (i.e., the real estate/credit bubble) and your response is don't point fingers??? How many bubbles do we have to endure by the stupid, greedy, corrupt riverboat gamblers that play fast and loose with "other people's money", aided and abetted by govt officials lobbied to look the other way? Thanks, but I say hire a few thousand auditors and DA's and put the crooks in jail and take all their money. Yeah, it will be a mess, but at least we can enjoy seeing them hang as we stand in soup lines thanks to their ridiculous schemes.

A Rustbelt Revival: From Doom to Boom

This conclusion is dead wrong. Sure, the rust belt is beaten down and one might therefore think the economics would be right for new industries, but have you ever heard of the UAW??? Despite the near collapse of the once mighty Big 3, the UAW still rattles it's sword and goes out on strike even to this day. The entitlement class warfare mentality of the unions is still supreme in many parts of the rust belt and that won't be changing soon my friend. You got this call wrong just like you did housing in Sept '06. If you think the rust belt is going to bounce back anytime soon then I have a nice house to sell you in Florida just as soon as the next hurricane leaves.

Support For Harmonizing Global Regulations

I think you are right on target about the importance of coordinated and properly regulated markets world wide. The biggest threat to world economies in the last 30 years seems to me not the natural business cycle or famine, pestulence and drought, but the immoral and corrupt behavior of bad actors in our increasingly free markets. It is inconceivable to me that world authorities sat back while financial miscreants sold tons of bogus mortages and then peddled them around the world as AAA, often through vehicles that weren't even carried on their books. What kind of group stupidity is that?? Yes, it would be nice to have a coordinated worldwide regulatory approach, but what hope to we have of that if we can't even prevent an obvious scam like the mortgage hoax right here in our own country?

Once Again, the American Taxpayer Picks Up the Bill

I couldn't agree more with those that also recognize that our brand of capitalism has become dysfunctionally corrupt. Or maybe it always has been and I've been completely fooled. Whatever the case, I have reached my limit with the Enron crowd and want their heads before they destroy this country. I certainly am not looking for a socialized economy, but I am over allowing petty crooks and scam artists to fleece the sheep in the name of "free markets".

Commodities Bubble Needs to Burst

If you can't see the commodities (including oil) bubble here, you didn't see the tech and housing bubbles either. Good luck getting out guys when the music stops. A good hard recession like in the good ole' days will make people shake their heads in wonder at these ridiculous prices. You know, like they do now about tech and housing prices at their peaks.

A Note to the Bubble-Phobes

I couldn't agree more with the previous posters that many bubbles are not that hard to spot well before they burst. The S&L fueled real estate crisis, the stock market bubble of the 90's, and the recent housing bubble were all quite obvious. When a market by all reasonable measures is way overpriced, every Tom, Dick and Harry is jumping on board, and the market is as corrupt as your local drug dealer, you might have a bubble. Duh. The only surprising thing is that our esteemed leaders don't take action to even address the corruption until the damn bubble pops. Don't any of them have the gumption to take away the punch bowl when the party is laying facing down in the gutter? Really now, the corrupton we tolerate in our economic system is appalling and has much to do with the excessive swings from boom to bust.

1970s Style Stagflation? I Don't Buy It

I agree with the comments. The good Doctor's post needs much further explanation and to also address the issue of M3. With inflation rising and the economy slowing, I don't think the post begins to refute the stagflation argument.

How to Help Both Homeowners and Lenders, at No Public Cost

Just asking. How do you determine the worth of the house to begin with, especially in this kind of market? If you use a price that the house would actually sell at, I don't know if anyone would agree to it.

Recipe for a Downtrend: Reduce Equities, Keep Some Cash and Hedge

Good point. That's one of those "duh" moments.

U.S. Ingenuity Got Us Into This Mess... It'll Get Us Out of It

Ken's got nothing to do with it. As something of a libertarian, free marketer, and cheerleader for the good ole' USA, until recently I would have agreed with your entire article. I must say though I have become increasingly disgusted with the corruption we've seen in the S&L, stock market bubble, and housing/credit bubble debacles. In all cases the regulatory agencies and auditors got caught either with their pants down or their hands in the cookie jars. How did it turn out you ask? As always, the public paid either through govt bailouts or stock market crashes worsened by financial jiggering and cooking of the books. Yeah, a couple people went to jail, but before long we returned to business as usual and the financial crooks turned to new suckers to fleece. This latest one, the CDO/SIV absurdity, is a real doozy. Wave a magic wand and write a check and your buddies in the ratings agencies will call your toxic crap AAA bonds so you can peddle them to the entire world and get rich on the fees. Now the answer to the mess they created is to debase the currency and find ways to offload the crap to the taxpayers. Come on now, enough is enough. If we don't want to see a regulatory backlash that could truly hamstring the economy, we'd better stop apologizing for the crooks and build a better system to protect the integrity of the markets. Either that, or truly return to "free markets" and let the financial markets and classes drown the next time they they hatch their rip off. No more govt bail outs for our "free marketers". How many times do we have to be played for fools??

U.S. Ingenuity Got Us Into This Mess... It'll Get Us Out of It

Did you really refer to our business ethics as if this was a good thing??? You can't be serious. After repeated cycles of corruption by the financial classes and gullable stupidity by the masses, we all should be carrying six shooters folks cuz their ain't no ethic out there except survival of the fittest.