Bobz

U.S. Pension Nightmare Has Begun

If the media has been hiding this information they aren't doing a very good job. Every day, we are getting the warnings about underfunding of pensions in some areas. In some cases we are ok though because at the state level they did something called "smoothing" which means they make sure they don't get carried away if the market has a good year, so they have funds available when the market doesn't do so great. A bigger problem is the underfunding of private pensions and companies being allowed to walk away from their pension obligations, something the public sector can't do. And the move from defined benefit to defined contribution has been a disaster for the average person who is not a financial expert and has limited ability to properly manage 401k's and IRA's in their portfolio. 401k's were never intended to replace regular pension plans. We now have a group of people approaching retirment whose savings have been cut in half and another group following them who have not saved enough in the first place. We need a major overhaul in this country of the entire financial planning apparatus for ensuring that retirees have an adequate income in retirement, something our European cousins don't have to worry about.

Apple's Leap from Mediocre to Marvelous

Calling Apple mediocre is like calling a BMW mediocre. Apple computers have always been the creme de la creme of computers.

Consumers Will Continue to Buy Apple's Fashionable Gadgets

It is now apparent that Apple really gave low guidance for this quarter and will set new first quarter revenue and profit results which should let the stock finally break out from the 120-135 range it has been in. The technical resistance should fade as investors realize they don't need to sell just because they are not now underwater on the stock the purchased during the first quarter of this year.

Visa: Already Priced to Perfection

I agree, not a great buy at the moment versus other more attractive options. Long term it is worth holding but not for new buyers. It will dip back to mid fifties as soon as next financial scare hits, probably next week. The market is way to volatile right now for stocks that are already fairly priced.