curious cat

Grantham on the Financial 'Titanic'

here's how "we'd" be better off. rather than bail them out, the government should have taken them over, revealed them to be bankrupt, had the bond holders and stock holders zeroed out and any assets sold to new investors. that's what happens when a bank goes under, if the bank is small. instead, they made all debt holders whole, using tax payer dollars. so, if you mean taxpayers, when you ask how would "we" be better off, that's how. furthermore, all banks would then be on notice that if they take risk and fail, they pay. "we" don't.

instead, our esteemed legislators failed to enforce the first law of capitalism: eat or be eaten. just as teachers in our miserable school system do, they refuse to fail the worse students. what does that teach them? it teaches them that they do not have to study. of course, you might fail to see how failing some students, even the big ones, would benefit us. so, here it is. dead wood would be removed. everyone would try harder. schools would produce better educated taxpayers. our government would have smarter employees regulating a better banking system.

George Soros: The Guru Outlook

i guess if we were really smart, we'd be looking for common ground and building on that. some issues just wound up under a conservative or liberal banner, but could easily have found their way into the opposite camp. rather than reject a solution to a problem because a liberal or conservative thought of it, let's consider the merits of the arguments for and against. that's what william f. buckley did and i think we can all agree that he was pretty smart. (for instance, he believed that legalizing marijuana was a good idea. that's not exactly something you'd expect from a conservative.)

it's time to solve our biggest social problems. we can't just say, "no." we have to recognize that many people have sex or gamble or take drugs, regardless of our personal beliefs. we've imprisoned millions of people in this country because they do not agree with us. that's what they do in communist countries. that shouldn't be the american way.

we've wasted time, human resources and countless tax dollars trying to enforce laws that make no sense. how can we claim intellectual superiority when we continue to repeat the mistakes of the past. did prohibition teach us nothing?

We're Living Through the Best of Times

thank you, teresa. however, my point was not that our children are in the majority. it is that there are as many of them as there were in any previous generation. better still, the productivity of these hard workers will be magnified far beyond their number, as technology continues to improve. in fact, our species does not need a nation of einsteins.

it took only one person to invent the wheel, the assembly line, a better yielding crop, etc. when no one believed there would be a demand for more than a few computers world-wide, one motivated individual in a garage went another way. beyond our own fears and expectations, those of us who struggle from day to day must keep it together, supporting an environment where those special few can lead us into a better tomorrow.

i believe in the individual, in bringing out the best in everyone. i'm encouraged that so many people have strong opinions about government policies and programs, but i'm not too concerned about those policies or programs. government can smooth the road or put up road blocks, but individuals decide which roads to take. individuals will not be stopped.

imagine a world where one person invents room temperature superconductors, inexpensive and safe fusion power, cheap water reclamation, super seeds, methusalah drugs, virtual travel, nano-targeted machines, human brain to computer thought, etc. that future is not far away and dwarfs the discoveries we've made so far, but each previous discovery gave suceeding generations more free time to pursue their interests. some seeds fell on hard rock and some precious few fell on rich soil. we all need to make our little corner of the world a better place, with richer soil.


On Oct 26 09:21 AM TeresaE wrote:

> Your son sounds awesome, you should be proud.
>
> Thinking that he is in the majority is a mistake.
>
> Go to your local (non-uber upscale) mall, or WalMart, and see reality
> of the masses.
>
> It isn't so hard-working and pretty. In fact, for the majority, of
> which your son (and mine) will have to support, are 180 degrees away
> from your child.
>
> Your hard-working, stick to it son, will be supporting dozens that
> do nothing, contribute nothing and wait for their government dole.
>
>
> Someone will have to pay for all these programs, promises, debt and
> laziness.
>
> It will be those that do.
>
> Those most like your son.

We're Living Through the Best of Times

dear ebworthen, your pessimism stems largely from the fact that we only hear negativity in our media. the stories of our brightest heirs are shared intrafamily, rather than across the nation. every generation has had doubts about the next, always thinking that their children could not handle the dangers ahead. so, let me share with you the reason i believe in the future.

my son is very humble, but talented. he speaks both german and french fluently. he played the french horn and the piano when he was younger. he's recently taught himself to play the guitar. he has a black belt in karate, can ride a unicycle and juggle. he was a high school and college cheerleader. he ran track and field, was a decathlete in high school and winner of the iron man competition in college. he made perfect scores on his sat exam. he was a presidential scholar, excelling in both math and science and he earned a fulbright. at age 24, he is currently in boston college's m.b.a. program, a renaissance man. naturallly, his mother and i are proud of his values, his talents and accomplishments.

how has he performed in the face of adversity? over the years, he's had some injuries, broken fingers and nose. he endured braces. in high school, he rowed crew for a year, with a broken collar bone. later, while doing stunts, he shattered his atlas bone, (the one at the top of your spinal column which holds your head up). his doctor said he'd never seen anyone walking with this type of injury. (until that time, he was diving under cheerleaders to make sure they didn't hit the ground.) subsequently, he wore a neck brace for a year, following doctor's orders to stay within himself and quit cheering.

all the while, we stayed positive, searching for ways to help him, with therapies and supplements, etc. we prayed every day that he would not be paralyzed. miraculously, the completely fractured and separate pieces came together again. if you watch a boston college game, today, you can see him stunting with the other cheerleaders. he loves cheerleading and went back to it, as soon as he could.

our son never gives up, never quits until he reaches his goal. he sees adversity as a challenge. he trains and prepares for an undetermined future, keeping all his options open. he's taken wilderness training and cpr courses. he finishes everything he starts. he always has a plan and always has a backup plan. we didn't teach him what to think. we taught him how to think. sometimes, when i hear him playing rap music i question his taste, but i know that he also loves the songs i grew up with and music from other cultures and generations. my point is this. our son is one of many.

we do not always hear about the children of tomorrow,... until their time comes. have faith and do your part to make your little corner of the world a better place. when all those corners come together, our world will be healed.

Welcome to the New Normal

predicting a war is like predicting an earthquake or a hurricane. there is no end to them, but a world war? well, that's different. we started numbering them, so we already have a name for it. will we start one over a collapsed financial system? will we start one over iran or north korea? we didn't start one when russia collapsed. we didn't start one when the chinese turned into capitalists. we didn't start one when oil prices ran up.

personally, i have more confidence in our leaders. they have better lines of communications. i have more confidence in our productivity. food is not scarce, thanks to improved farming techniques. our corporations are global. they have ears and assets on the ground, in every country. i have more confidence in education. people are better educated, receiving instantaneous information. our news is up to the second. better news makes for better decisions. i have more confidence in the future.

we are days away from curing the incurable. advances in genetics and pharmacology are happening daily. our computers are getting faster and faster. our programmers better and better. in no time, we'll be able to put raw materials into one end of factories and have finished products coming out the other end. our scientists are inches away from room temperature super conductors, fusion reactors, nanosized machines. i have faith that we are on an accelerated path to a much brighter future, where science fiction becomes science fact. do not fear the future. embrace it. look forward to it.

Sentiment Overview: Retail Investors Still Not Biting

it's all a confidence game.

Cramer Plugs Insana: Seems There's Also a Bull Market in Bull

alan, were you kind enough to ask cramer, insana and the street for comments on your article before you published or have they made comment since?

Allegiant Travel: Swine Flu Is Not a Threat?

you can protect yourself and your loved ones, etc. please do not shake hands, just bump your fists. do not sneeze into your hands. sneeze into your elbow or down your shirt. wash your hands often, but, more importantly, do not touch your face. that means, you do not touch your eyes or pick your nose or try to get that spinach piece or nut out of your mouth. if you must touch your face, wash your hands beforehand. then, wash them afterwards. always wash your hands upon walking into any building.

there is such a thing as herd immunity. we do not need to vaccinate everyone or have everyone practice good hygiene, in order to make a huge dent in the spread of this or any communicable disease. however, the more people that partake in these preventive measures, the greater protection we all have. these people act like breakers in forest fires. so, do your part, especially now, when the greatest potential threat and loss is to our young.

Japan Offers a Small Demographic Window of Opportunity

the rapture?

A Stock Picker's Market? Really?

good article. good comments, too. it's pretty clear that gov't money has goosed the markets, whether directly or indirectly. they can keep spending taxpayer dollars,... until they stop. china is trying to quit while it's ahead, but i'm not too sure our government understands that concept.

the talking heads on t.v. keep pointing to all the money on the sidelines, as if that money is obligated to throw itself on the knife. it's not. bob and maria, you can stop trying to get everyone excited, not going to work. we want dylan! we want dylan! we want dylan!

Doug Kass Turns Bearish: Zigging When Others Zag

when crazy is driving, i don't get in and wear a seatbelt. i just don't ride with him. when sane takes the wheel, again, let me know.

July Markets: The Running of the Sheep

to all those smart investors who are staying away from overvalued stocks and purchasing only the fairly or undervalued ones, let me add this cautionary tale. during the great tech bubble, i did exactly the same thing, because i knew that tech stocks were in a bubble, even when the bubble was small. so, i didn't participate on the way up.

however, when techs collapsed, they took my good, non-tech stocks with them. i was burned, even though i had not played with fire. be real careful out there. when the tide goes out, even good boats sink.

Friday Roundup: Commodities, Emerging Markets

wherever there's money to be made, someone will game the system. you can't go to the racetrack, the casinos, lotteries, wall street or washington, expecting to get an even break. i know you won't believe this, but even professional wrestling is fixed.

god, master of the universe, please do not smite us all. some of your rabbis seem to have taken berney madeoff as a role model. every politician in new jersey has been arrested. everyone and their mother is on the take. where will it end?

ok, the house has an advantage going in. once we know those odds, the best we can hope for may be... beating other suckers. just remember that luck still favors the prepared mind.

Time to Short Coffee

our aging population is cutting back on coffee for lots of reasons. they have a cup in the morning and switch to green tea for the remainder of the day, for health reasons. you also have large numbers of older people, suffering from reflux or refusing to drink coffee that might keep them up too late. those of us who do still drink coffee are looking to get it at a discount and, if the economy gets worse, we may even start cutting it with chickory.

so, even if supply remains steady, those are pretty good reasons why coffee prices may continue to drift lower from the demand side. of course, if mcdonald's can sell burgers in china, they may also be able to convince a few billion people to switch from tea to coffee in the morning. what an eye opener that would be, huh?

now, if i were juan valdez, i might start subsidizing expresso machines or bring back the beatnik generation's open mike poetry. down with rap, down with karaoke. down with that, man.... cool. of course, since president obama is repopularizing smoking, it may only be a matter of time before we start seeing skinny people, again, with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of joe in the other. what goes around, they say, comes around.

Supporting the Financial System by Bleeding the 'Real' Economy

too big to fail, too small to survive, from wall mart to wall street, when it comes to crushing the rights of others, size matters. that's why we generally don't condone monopolies in a free market. they are anti-competitive and even near monopolies have the ability to counter free market forces.

why do japanese companies join together? they know that size has advantages. is it possible, then, that goldman is our entry in the ultimate power struggle, the battle to see who controls the money? does america benefit from GS' ability to compete as a larger player in the field of dreams? when it comes to the world stage of money, can we really afford to downsize our best?