Xyrus

Global Stock Markets: In the Grip of Fear?

There is fear driven selling and there is logic driven selling. In this case, thy happen to coincide.

One of the reasons why all these announcements of bailout and such don't sem to have any impact is because there is no truth hat these measures will do anything. That is backed up by the fact that they haven't one anything. Almost as soon as one plan is approved it either needs to be immediately increased or another plan has to be created.

That ends up painting a picture that even our "leaders" really don't have a clue to how large and deep the credit crisis really is. Until they're more certain, people in general are going to sit it out on the sidelines and cash out.

This is as much a crisis in confidence and trust as it is a financial crisis. Face it, the general populace has been lied to many time over the past in regards to the crisis. Firms have reassured their investors only to have to back track weeks later. Banks have reassured their depositors only to have the FDIC come in and take them over.

If people don't trust banks, companies, or their leaders then they aren't going to put their money anywhere near them.

And did I mention that the bailout package was extremely unpopular but was rammed through congress anyway?

Here's the truth. No one knows how bad this is going to get. The Lehman settlement showed us one thing, that things are worse than they seem. Institutions still are not being 100% forthcoming. They will be forced to over the next couple of years, but until that happens the market is going to be a roller coaster at best.

~X~

Breaking Up with ETFs is Hard To Do

It's called a long term horizon. You know, one that is slightly more than a week or a month. Find the Bogleheads forum and you'll see what I mean.

My ETFs can drop as much as they want. If you're holding for a 30 year time horizon a small blip now is nothing to get that excited about. I just keep buying according to schedule.

~X~

EEM vs. VWO: The Advantage of Being a 'First Mover'

Buying gold for a 20 or 30 year horizon is pretty silly. This article isn't about trading, it's about investing. Items such as expense ratios and tracking error aren't of much interest to someone who trades every other day.

~X~

Tuesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

Frankfurt, SA took you out because of your bigoted anti-semetic comments, not because you think the DOW is going to plunge.

There are plenty of people on here who think the DOW is going to crash. The difference is they don't post racist blather on what is supposed to be a financial site.

If you want to spew your narrow-minded views on race and religion, there are plenty of KKK, white-power, or whatever boards for you to post on.

This isn't Seeking Hitler, it's Seeking Alpha. Keep the comments to financial matters and the mods will leave you alone.

~X~