huskerbob

31 Comments

    • ON: Fri Oct 10th 09:06 AM
      Commented on:
      Who We Should Blame for This Crisis
      I agree with both syndicat and jan. Except perhaps that one political party makes a difference over another. Hard to see a difference in end results.
      Where is the mainstream media on your list? I would say they should be close to the top. Their uncritical reporting helped convince the nation to support the tech bubble, then our Iraq misadventure, and the housing frenzy.
      I grew tired of hearing how a house is an investment, houses always appreciate in value, etc. The sheeple were bombarded with these ideas from the media.
      Should people be absolved of blame because they were too stupid to be critical of the housing bubble after falling for the tech bubble and Iraq? Or should they be blamed for just that reason? Fool me once, shame on you. But this is fooled three times in a row!
      More blame should be placed on the media because their job used to be reporting on matters through a critical lense. Not anymore! Now they are just cheerleaders. No wonder people consider the Daily Show as a reputable news source.
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    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 06:03 AM
      Commented on:
      The Time To Buy Is When Blood's In the Streets
      Unreal! I can't believe everyone is passing on these incredible fire sale prices! Bravo for being the only person on earth who realizes that there is no risk in paying full price for what most consider toxic waste. The homes underlying these products will soon begin soaring in value again, mortgage payers will all get a nice new job and a raise to cover rising energy and food costs, they'll start cranking out those higher mortgage payments after their ARM adjusts, and people will materialize out of thin air to start covering payments on all the fraudulent loans. You and Phil Gramm are right. The only problem is all these damn whiners! It's all in our heads!
      Seriously, some of these assets are probably currently undervalued, but even under Paulson's plan, there is no reason to think that homeowners ability to service their debt will improve. It is very likely that the assets which you seem to think are undervalued now could be worth even less years down the road!
      The only reason for Paulson to take on $700 billion of garbage with NO OVERSIGHT and NO ACCOUNTABILITY to anyone is that he is fully aware he will be overpaying. A lot.

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    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 03:58 AM
      Commented on:
      A Gigantic Buy - Cramer's Stop Trading! (9/23/08)
      What the @#$% does Paulson's plan have to do with consumer spending? Is Cramer assuming that consumer lending will increase, boosting spending? Wow, that would really put the economy on solid footing.
      People are tapped out and fed up. Energy and food cost too much, their supposed home "investment" is tanking and this plan won't do a d@#n thing for consumers. Nobody is going to run up their credit card on frivolous purchases because AIG got bailed out!
      Also, I agree about Gamestop. People who play video games will be more likely to shop there as opposed to the big box stores as the economy worsens. Better prices!
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    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 03:46 AM
      Commented on:
      The Greatest Short Sale in History
      I have discovered a potential source of liquidity for our poor beleaguered financials. Why not let all of the idiots who are praising this bailout join in any auction for these craptastic chunks of debt? Apparently there is a ready and willing market made up of individual morons who think the purchase of these non-performing assets is a wonderful idea. There are many comments pointing out how the government will make the money back, and perhaps even profit! So why not join in the purchasing of these extremely underrated debt vehicles! After all, it's absolutely necessary that we take them off the poor corporations' hands.
      And it must be the only viable solution out there, as it is the only option being considered right now.
      I would prefer my tax dollars and any new pretend monies go towards roads, education, maybe a new WPA. We may be needing it soon.
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    • ON: Wed Sep 17th 20:18 PM
      Commented on:
      Panic Investors: Gold or Silver?
      D Johnson - I would like to do the same, but where were you able to buy silver? Not available in any significant amount here in Phoenix.
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    • ON: Mon Sep 15th 19:15 PM
      Commented on:
      Law of Supply & Demand Is Dead for Gold & Silver
      ChrisB: "No one asks what happens to the supply and demand of GE or XOM shares"
      Maybe you would if the price for the actual printed paper shares was higher than the quoted market price. Or if sales of the paper shares were repeatedly suspended "due to unprecedented demand" when the quoted price was high and later when the price dropped.
      If "Coin-hoarding by gold bugs" is only a drop in the market, where is all the physical gold and silver?
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    • ON: Wed Sep 10th 05:02 AM
      Commented on:
      Can the US Government Afford Future Bailouts?
      Thank you for sharing your understanding of "the nature of money". Unfortunately, you are correct in stating that "the government has infinite access to money, since the government can literally print its own money". What is amazing is your lack of alarm and concern at the idea of printing unlimited amounts of money to cover our debts and bail out any company considered too big to fail.
      Running the presses may work fine for the government and its assorted cronies and sycophants, but what about the poor schlub who ends up paying $10 for a gallon of gas or a quart of milk?
      You have to be a tool of the first magnitude to think that we can print unlimited amounts of dollars without serious consequence. For an example, look at the end of any fiat currency in history. Heck, look at the value of the dollar since the creation of the Federal Reserve! They managed to destroy 95% of the dollar's value so far. Why do you think the last 5% will fare any better?
      If we are printing money to cover a shortfall when foreigners stop buying our debt, we are the Weimar Republic. Don't kid yourself that other nations will keep us afloat forever.

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    • ON: Mon Sep 8th 19:00 PM
      Commented on:
      Don't Believe the Gold Bears' Hype
      Chris B: Yes, gold bugs are fun! But please, use your brain before posting next time.
      As Paulsharketc. pointed out, gold bugs buy when gold goes up. But what happens when prices go down? Please read this release from the US Mint, 8/21/08:
      "'Due to the unprecedented demand for American Eagle gold one-ounce bullion coins, our inventories have been depleted. We are therefore temporarily suspending all sales of these coins,' the U.S. Mint told authorized coin dealers in a memorandum dated on Friday."

      Hmmm... prices go up, people buy physical gold. Prices go down, and the mint can't keep up with demand. Maybe people buy gold and silver because paper money and investments are looking scary? Maybe they don't sleep better knowing that the gub'mint is busy throwing billions of dollars at every financial failure in sight. That includes fannie, freddie, georgia, iraq, etc. What a great investment in the future of America!
      Of course it is ridiculous for gold bugs to fret about manipulation. Just because there is a huge demand for something doesn't mean the price will rise.
      "Gold bugs defy the laws of supply and demand" - it is the price of gold that is defying the law of supply and demand. Obviously the price of gold(and silver), for whatever reason, is not being allowed to reach the point of demand destruction.
      BTW, Indian gold imports up 45% last month over august 07. Because of low prices.
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    • ON: Mon Jul 21st 19:17 PM
      Commented on:
      How the U.S. Financial Crisis Resembles Japan’s 'Lost Decade' - And How to Play It, Part II
      Puddle Jumping- Gold is not money? Maybe you should read the constitution. The U.S. of A. still mints gold and silver coins. If you haven't noticed, these are much more effective as a store of value (one of the traditional definitions of money) than our federal reserve notes. You can fill your gas tank with the same number of silver coins as you could 10 years ago. Try doing that with federal reserve notes!
      The author's recommendations seem to make sense: gold as an inflation hedge and investment, and try to find investments which will grow along with the economies in other parts of the world, as the U.S. economy could be stagnant for some time.
      Is that fear mongering or prudent advice? As we have finished with the biggest economic boom and longest bull run in our history, is it fear mongering to believe that we may have a lengthy cooling-off period?
      Hasn't consumer spending been the engine of our economy? What are consumers going to spend now that credit is contracting, and with our savings rate less than zero?
      As for gold, about 1.5% of investment dollars are in gold right now. At the height of the ugliness in the late 70's, gold had captured closer to 25% of investment dollars. This could happen again because people recognize gold as a store of value, the definition of money.
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    • ON: Mon Jun 30th 04:22 AM
      Commented on:
      Petrobras: Set to Become a Global Oil Major - Barron's
      zenalgorithm - peak oil simply shows that when the easy oil is gone (roughly half of a field's capacity), production will decrease gradually because of the increased difficulty of extraction. Peak oil means the oil is half gone, and will vary from field to field.
      Even the most pollyannish sunshine pumper will admit that the difficulty and cost of extracting oil is increasing rapidly worldwide. This article actually fits perfectly into the facts of peak oil: oil will be increasingly difficult (and expensive) to extract.
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    • ON: Fri Jun 13th 04:42 AM
      Commented on:
      ECB Calls Bernanke's Bluff
      I wish we could go back to the original definition of "inflation": an increase in the money supply. Then it would be obvious to all consumers that prices are affected by debasing the currency.
      "There are significant upside risks for inflation through commodities,” would become "there is significant upside potential for commodity prices", which is none of Bernanke's business. He would be reduced to discussing the "significant upside risks for inflation through" our inflationary monetary policy! It is annoying to constantly read about inflation in commodities, when the weakened dollar is a huge culprit. Many people ascribe their loss of purchasing power to inflation in commodities, not the other way around. They have trouble connecting $4 gas to an "expansionary monetary policy". Whatever works for the fed.
      As far as Bernanke is concerned, he has already detailed his distaste for savings and preference for inflation. According to him, the only question is what rate to inflate at. Don't expect much more than a pause in the dollar's slide anytime soon!
      View article »
    • ON: Thu May 15th 00:47 AM
      Commented on:
      1990 All Over Again?
      The last commentor makes a lot of sense. If this is 1990 again, where will all the borrowed money that fueled the bubble come from, and who will borrow it? Even if the mountain of debt is piled higher, pushing the market up with it, what will happen when that bubble pops? We need a serious correction to weed out the chaff, and that hasn't happened yet. There hasn't yet been a huge downturn in investor sentiment, and P/E ratios are still well above historic levels. That's not gloom and doom, that's simple observation.
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    • ON: Wed Apr 30th 23:54 PM
      Commented on:
      U.S. Economy Reaches a Fork in the Road
      It would be interesting to see a list of all of the nations that have successfully strengthened their economy by degrading their currency. I am already familiar with many examples of nations that seem to have caused the opposite effect through the same method.
      View article »
    • ON: Tue Apr 29th 06:00 AM
      Commented on:
      OPEC Signals U.S. Rally
      OPEC can't control the price because they can't increase production. If they can't increase production, we will have to wait for demand to drop before we see lower prices - which will be accomplished by reaching a price high enough to lower demand. Pretty simple!
      As far as stock price multiples increasing, isn't the market still historically overvalued? To increase substantially from here would be another bubble! What is the technical term for bubble stacking?Aside from the financial sector, have we even had a significant correction yet? The total market cap is still over 120% of GNP. Warren Buffet has stated that you can find good value investing in the market at 70% to 80% of GNP; historically, the market averages closer to 50%. Pretty general, but a good indicator of where the market can go from here.
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    • ON: Mon Apr 28th 11:58 AM
      Commented on:
      Food and Energy Prices: Lessons From the '70s
      If the core cpi reflected life on earth as we know it, you would notice that energy price pressures appear to have bled through into the price of food.
      That's great that consumers don't use cash anymore, but they are building debt and that just creates a much bigger problem a few months down the road.
      And there is evidence that consumers have already adjusted their spending to account for rising energy and food prices. Notice any declines in stocks of companies offering non essential goods and services like Starbucks or Ruth's Chris? Anecdotal evidence suggests that many taxpayers will be spending their rebates and stimulus checks on food and energy, not the stuff included in the core cpi.
      And how does the Fed "avoid accommodating higher energy and food prices"? They already took them out of the core cpi, so we won't have to worry about seniors adding to inflation with a bloated SS check. Maybe we could have a new symbol for the Social Security administration: a frozen octogenarian holding a can of dog food.
      Not sure what the point of the article is - watch out for inflation? Inflation is created by the fed, and they are not going to stop anytime soon. Remember the lessons of the 70's? The fed will repeat the boom and bust cycle until it is abolished.
      View article »
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