Voice of Reason

Jim Cramer's 10 Predictions for 2008

How many successful hedge funds any of you losers run?

How many of you have your own tv show on CNBC?

That's what I thought.

The Worst Is Over ... Again ... And Again ...

I'm blaming Baji for causing me to spill my beverage all over my keyboard reading his "caculations" logic. As far as the article itself baseball analogies trying to judge what inning we're in is equally dim-witted. Maybe these guys never heard of a 9th inning ralley where the home team was six runs behind with two outs but won the game in spite of it at the last minute. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Market forecasters are about as useful as used toilet paper and no more accurate than rolling the dice repeatedly.

Oh look... companies keep reporting better than expected earnnings, according to the offical formula we haven't even had a single quarter of negative growth let alone the called for two in a row.

Now Baji, I don't know what you're smoking but it must be high quality something. You claim 2 million subprime loans outstanding at an average of 300,000 / loan yields a total of 600 billion dollars at risk. I don't know where you got your figures or if that's the total outstanding subprime or just was is expected to go sour. If the former you didn't say so. I would hope you're not that gloomy if you think everyone will stop paying their mortgage which obviously would be crazy to think.

Memo to Seeking Alpha, maybe you should consider requiring drug testing before letting anyboy spew their poison with the usual undocumented garbage. I mean I'm a season old crusty investor that pays no attention to yahoos like seen here but somebody new to investing may take the short sellers seriously.

Comparative Price Shopping: Selected Banking, Mortgage and Brokerage Stocks

I can't stand TD Ameritrade commericals. That over the hill actor from Law & Order is a BIG negative and makes me avoid anything he pitches. In contrast E-Trade commericals have just the right touch of humor. A merger would be interesting but doubt it is in the cards.

Comparative Price Shopping: Selected Banking, Mortgage and Brokerage Stocks

User 181148 doesn't even know how to pick a posting name. LOL!
Accordingly I don't take anything he says seriously. This guy/gal could give the Grim Reaper and run for is money on being constantly negative about everything in every thread he shows up.

www.fastfancydress.co....

Comparative Price Shopping: Selected Banking, Mortgage and Brokerage Stocks

So-called analysts like Prashat Bhatia apparently out to make a name for themselves by irresponsible comments should be fired and banded for life from ever working in the industry again for gross misconduct.

Someone tell me how an analyst can on one hand scream sell, sell, sell to the public while he's in the loop at City which bought, bought, bought during the same period. I thought the regulators frowned on this double speak. If on the other hand this guy wasn't in the loop on City's own security purchasing, what does that say about this guy's creditability? I smell a rat.

Was Last Week the Bottom?

I have a penchant for making money. Bottom? I don't care if we're at or close to a "bottom", risk brings reward. No pain, no gain. If you wait 1,000 points then say oh, we're at a bottom you already lost a big chunk of the move. If you're wrong, you're wrong. Ever here of stop loss orders, trailing stops or Puts?

Since I started posting here a few weeks ago I see mostly chicken little types screaming the sky is fallingm the sky is falling. Check history, that's the biggest sign of all we're at or close to the magical bottom. Started with 3,000 in 1983. Now approaching seven figures. You don't get there without assuming some risk. If you want no risk, I bet your local bank will give you a nice safe 1.2% CD.

UBS Plan Could Be the Road Map for Financials

As a past AUDITOR (I'm now retired) I have one word for all you wannabe accountants. Enron.

For years Kenny Boy and a few other guys with sharp pencils at Enron pulled the wool over the eyes of almost everybody... including regulators and the auditors from Aurthur Andersen that signed off on the financial statements and NEVER followed through where all the money was suppose to be coming from. It was just a shell game.

Either they knew what was going on and looking the other way or they bought the flim flam meaning they were just plain stupid, lazy or both (my choice).

Right now too many are writing down perfectly good paper just because a small portion is bad. Its the old throw the baby out with the wash water panic.

While I don't have figures handy I think I read the total subprime loan balance is multiple trillion. To suggest most of that is bad is a fairy tale and would make the 1929 stock market crash look like a picnic.

The feds did what they did with Bears exactly to avoid panic and start a run on all the banks. The big sharks on swimming around because they smell blood in the water. As usual Joe know nothing plays right into their hands and helps them drive down the stock prices so the big fish can grab it at fire sales prices. THAT is what the Feds should look into. Its just another varation on insider trading. I thought that was suppose to illegal. Don't even get me started on short selling or hedge funds.