CM in MA

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    • Thu Sep 25th 10:03 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Bush's Speech: Surprisingly Coherent
      The Republicrats and Democans will have their way. Thomas Jefferson warned us.......

      "Warring against [the principles] of the people,... there is no length to which [the delusion of the people] may not be pushed by a party in possession of the revenues and the legal authorities of the United States, for a short time indeed, but yet long enough to admit much particular mischief. There is no event, therefore, however atrocious which may not be expected." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1798.
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    • Thu Sep 25th 09:56 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Presidential Speech, in Context
      The Republicrats and Democans will have their way. Thomas Jefferson warned us.......

      "Warring against [the principles] of the people,... there is no length to which [the delusion of the people] may not be pushed by a party in possession of the revenues and the legal authorities of the United States, for a short time indeed, but yet long enough to admit much particular mischief. There is no event, therefore, however atrocious which may not be expected." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1798.
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    • Wed Sep 24th 13:18 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Call the Treasury's Bluff
      "Warring against [the principles] of the people,... there is no length to which [the delusion of the people] may not be pushed by a party in possession of the revenues and the legal authorities of the United States, for a short time indeed, but yet long enough to admit much particular mischief. There is no event, therefore, however atrocious which may not be expected." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1798.
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    • Wed Sep 24th 12:00 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      ROI, Paulson's Plan, and the Rise of Neo-Mercantilism
      H.J., I enjoyed your article. Here are my answers to your three questions:

      1. No, except for providing for the common defense.
      2a. See #1, 2b. Rarely, if ever.
      3. ROI or your "societal ROI"? The word "societal" expands both the equation and the solution to it. For example, the government might provide a decent "societal return on investment" by compelling companies to take environmental issues into consideration while at the same time being unable to provide the product or service of that company efficiently.

      Your comments on neo-mercantilism are interesting, and accurately capture the current situation. And yes, the Democrats will likely go along with the Paulson proposal in some form. Which brings me to my point. That is, anyone expecting either the Republicans or Democrats to rise above short-term political expediency is kidding themselves. They are a power-sharing oligarchy which has no fear of being voted out of office, from a party perspective, for an extended period of time. Americans must give up their allegience to the two major political parties, which in many cases comes down to "my daddy was a Republican/Democrat and so am I", and vote for a third-party or true independent candidate. To keep putting representatives of these two parties into office, while expecting different results, is foolish.

      I'll end with two quotes:

      - "Warring against [the principles] of the people,... there is no length to which [the delusion of the people] may not be pushed by a party in possession of the revenues and the legal authorities of the United States, for a short time indeed, but yet long enough to admit much particular mischief. There is no event, therefore, however atrocious which may not be expected." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1798

      - The meek shall inherit the Earth, but not its mineral rights. --J.P. Getty
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    • Mon Sep 22nd 16:09 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Undisclosed Costs of the U.S. Government Bailouts
      Sheep get shorn. The answer is for the voters of this great country to take matters into our own hands and vote for anybody, repeat anybody, running on a third-party ticket or as an independent. Vote via write-in if necessary. Both major parties have become corrupt beyond comprehension. Yet, they succeed in convincing millions to vote for them under the delusion that the other guys will somehow be worse.
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    • Mon Sep 22nd 11:18 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      An Open Letter to Congress on the $700B Paulson Bailout Plan
      "the *root* cause was Clinton's insanely aggressive "minority home ownership" quotas of the early 90's..."

      Well, Clinton may have been aggressive in this area, but Bush was no slouch in following his footsteps. Bush pushed for increased home ownership via both government assistance and increased private sector involvement. Here it is, in his own words....

      www.whitehouse.gov/new...

      www.whitehouse.gov/new...

      www.whitehouse.gov/new...
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    • Fri Aug 22nd 18:35 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Fear Not Yet a Factor
      kimasabe--I agree with you and wpdragon. Shorts help to make a market. My point is that a market can't be considered free, open, transparent, etc. when one side is allowed to keep its cards from view. The fact that a sell order is a short sale is known by the person placing the order and the firm executing the order. This fact isn't disclosed to the buyers until well after the transaction--using the car analogy above (and it's not a perfect analogy), it would be like buying a car or house from someone and then finding out that the title isn't clear. My solution is to let the market know that the seller is short the shares. The only reason that I can think of not to do so is to provide the short seller with protection from longs. Since longs don't get such protection, why should shorts? I have nothing against shorts, I just believe the playing field should be level. If someone wants to sell shares short, go ahead. The short sellers should have the confidence of their conviction, just as longs do.
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    • Fri Aug 22nd 15:09 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Fear Not Yet a Factor
      Make that twice a month. Sorry.
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    • Fri Aug 22nd 15:00 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Fear Not Yet a Factor
      Sure, shorts are valuable to the price discovery mechanism. IMHO, the problem with shorts is that they hide in the weeds. Longs cross the tape in full view and in real time. Shorts disclose their position once a month, and the information is already dated when it comes out. Mark the tape as a short sale and make it a truly transparent market. As it stands, short-selling is too easy a deck to stack.
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    • Thu Jul 31st 09:04 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Is the Steel Industry Preparing for the Future - or Just Raking in Dough?
      Mike, another part of the picture is expansion by domestics into overseas markets (i.e. Nucor). Perhaps this will smooth results during bumps in the U.S. economy. Good article. CM
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    • Thu Jul 31st 08:58 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Is the VIX a Fear Index?
      Bill, an absolutley outstanding article! I've spent countless hours modeling the VIX and observed exactly what you've written. You, however, said it better than I ever could have. Thanks for the great read! Chuck
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    • Fri Jul 18th 10:58 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      No Atheists in Foxholes - No Libertarians in Financial Crises
      bearfund has it right. The folks leading the executive branch are Republicans. The folks leading the legislative branch are Democrats. The folks leading the judicial branch are Democans or Republicrats--take your pick. Please don't confuse any of the aforementioned groups with Libertarians. When (or if) the Libertarian Party has a turn at the helm of any of the branches of government then, by all means, fire away!
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    • Wed Jun 25th 13:39 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Current Market Atmosphere: Easy Money Hard to Come by
      Interesting article, but forming any opinion, thesis or course of action on "facts" such as "the median wage-earner is unable to afford the median priced home" is fraught with danger. I glanced at the study and am fairly certain it is using national medians. Well, we don't live in a median world. Wealth and earning power tends to cluster. Those earning at or below the national median wage in a high-wage area will likely find themselves consistently priced out of the local real estate market where most homes will tend to run above the median house price. Conversely, a person earning at or above the median wage in a low-wage area will be able to afford a home at the upper end of what is likely to be a below median priced housing market.

      Facts and data only have meaning when put in context. And also remember that all studies have biases (yes, even at Harvard) and perhaps even hidden agendas.
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    • Mon Jun 16th 17:37 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Portfolio Planning and the Lost Decade
      Geoff--thanks for the link to the DALBAR study. I gave it a quick look, but will read it in detail.

      I was in the TSP while in the military. I think it is a great program. Keeps things simple. Many 401k/403b plans could (and do) do worse than use the TSP as a model.
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    • Mon Jun 16th 13:50 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Portfolio Planning and the Lost Decade
      ok, I give up: I typed "reallocating&quo... correctly twice and both times it changed to reallocati...
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