ezrasfund

18 Comments

    • Can We Please Have Some Sanity When It Comes to Taxes? [view article]
      Maybe if all the guys at the top at Lehman, Bear Sterns, etc had to pay a bit more in income taxes on their over-sized bonuses they would have left a bit more in the company, or been a bit more cautious about betting the ranch? At least the government would have had a few more dimes to help pay for cleaning up the mess. Higher taxes at very high income levels are not only fair but have a dampening effect on some of the excesses.

      Signs of the problem? Warren Buffett challenging any CEO to show that they pay taxes at a higher rate than their secretaries...no one spoke up.

      Surgeons in NYC feeling like paupers next to their ne'er-do-well college chums who make 10 times more than they do (or is it 100 times?)       Sep 14 05:23 PM
    • Rent vs. Buy Datapoint of the Day [view article]
      Careful that they were not cherry picking the data points...interest rates on home mortgages have fluctuated from 10%+ to 4.5% over that time... Sep 05 11:08 AM
    • Lehman: The Bottom Is In [view article]
      No facts about the LEH balance sheet here! Maybe they should go private so that transparancy would be less of an issue...except with that messy "counterparty risk" issue.

      The corporate boardroom fatcats who stood behind LEH as a good value at $60 should be happy buy up the company at 80% off.

      Jul 15 10:05 AM
    • Who's to Blame for IndyMac's Failure? [view article]
      What if there really is a fire in the theatre? Jul 13 08:15 PM
    • 5 Steps For Saving Fannie [view article]
      Do any of these "steps" really suggest a way out of this mess? Or is the writer saying that although he saw it coming, he can't even suggest a solution to the problem beyond talking about it?


      "move on a housing bill" which does what?

      "weekend of phone calls to get on the same page"

      "start to talk about a long term solution"

      "ask the opinion of myriad figures"

      "presidential candidates need to offer long term plans"

      stick a fork in it?

      "private profit, socialized risk" says it all...and they're not giving back that profit any time soon...just ask Mr. Raines et al.

      Jul 11 12:00 PM
    • Getting Out of Today's Bear Market [view article]
      Very little in this world, including the t-shirt stiched together in China, is made in just one country. Components are manufactured around the world and brought together to be assembled.

      I think we agree on most of this...bearish...less manufacturing jobs in the US...middle class in deep trouble...

      But we still manufacture more than anyone one the planet (measured in $ not lbs.)       Jul 11 11:41 AM
    • Getting Out of Today's Bear Market [view article]
      "a country that doesn't manufacture anything anymore"

      I'm a bear on the US ecomomy today, but why do people keep repeating this falsehood?

      We are 5% of the world's people making 20% of the world's manufactured goods in dollar terms. We don't make the stuff you buy at Walmart, we make airplanes and computers and cancer fighting drugs and lots of other stuff (including Toyotas and BMW's).
      We make them with much less labor per dollar of goods produced than you can make a towel or a plastic toy. So many less people are employed in manufacturing, but they have the world's highest productivity. One person in a high tech automated factory can produce a lot more (in $ terms) than 100 people sitting at sewing machines.       Jul 11 11:04 AM
    • Getting Out of Today's Bear Market [view article]
      Which sectors would a blue collar guy be buying today? Autos seem like a better fit than financials when shopping for real bargains. Jul 11 10:23 AM
    • Fear of Higher Taxes a Cause of Sell-off [view article]
      What about the phantom Bush tax increase which will some day be paid? Or not.

      If I charge $1000 on may credit card instead of paying cash is that not money that will have to be paid? In the aggregate goverment spending and taxes will have come into balance. Will the "great deleveraging" ever extend past Fannie and Freddie all the way to the US Treasury? And will the US pay up or default? Finally the banks can't grow their way out of their leveraged positions. Will the US government be able to grow its' way out of high debt ratios forever? Including some auto company style legacy costs?

      Good luck. "In the long run we'll all be dead," but does that include our government?       Jul 11 10:15 AM
    • Getting Out of Today's Bear Market [view article]
      A dying man will often sit up and have a moment of unusual strength and lucidity before he expires. And a plunging market often has some very strong days. Yes, oil prices will fall, but the "great deleveraging" will continue. Jul 11 10:00 AM
    • Thursday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets [view article]
      Better check your figures on SRS again! That was plus $12.36 yesterday or 13%. Jul 10 08:50 AM
    • Financial Forecasters All Pointing Down [view article]
      Everyone seems to forget to mention that gasoline and other energy products are a part of consumer spending. We're spending plenty, but it's not going to help most sectors of the economy. Jun 23 10:21 AM
    • Is Oil a Bubble? Part One [view article]
      Supply and Demand 101....Just because you get a PhD, it doesn't mean you can forget the first day of school.

      Prices will increase until demand shows some elasticity. When a rise in price causes a drop in demand large enough to create a net drop in revenue prices will stop going up.

      Of course the reaction is delayed, and we are still waiting for the demand side of the equation to react, but it is inevitable. Then comes the price correction.

      Timing the inevitable can be a bit tricky.       May 23 08:23 AM
    • The Credit Crunch: Taking Personal Responsibility [view article]
      I just read a Bloomberg piece which included a guy whose house value went from $210,000 in 2001 to $540,000 in 2006 to $450,000 today. Is this a problem? AAPL went from $16 ( to $80 to $54 to $200 ) to $140. Too bad if you own AAPL? If your view is short term the traders will use the noise in the markets to clean you out. Add trading fees ( or closing costs ) and it's even harder to beat the market. But if you are in it for the long term ( Buffett ) prices are likely to rise. With all this talk of the Great Depression, I'm glad I'm not stuck with any property that Grandpa bought in 1929. Mar 27 10:44 PM
    • Main Street Sacrificed to the Gods of Wall Street [view article]
      Will the editors please block Tony S from posting the same lengthy "stuff" over and over again? Mar 20 10:20 PM
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