JasonR

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Since when was the natural change in economic cycles anyone's fault? The problem is we're a bunch of pansies who think it should always be sunny outside.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I figure as long as we have money for stuff on sale and we still have restaurants giving away their leftovers to the soup kitchens, and the lines there are only twice as long as normal, then we aren't so bad off. The IMF should call it a recession, which it is. I don't understand droppin' the "d-word." Has nobody seen pictures of the bread lines during the Depression? Like I said... people are out shopping. We're not standing for hours in line for some bread.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Apparently this Dominique feller hasn't tried finding a parking spot at the mall... at least in the boring mid-sized markets, it doesn't seem all that bad.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

"believe it's too late to change course but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible."

Sounds like one of those furniture commercials screaming at me, like this is the last time they're going out of business.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I love it when people who don't know what they're talking about act like they do :)

That quote is from Warren Buffett's 2001 Letter to Shareholders, talking about the re-insurance business following 9/11: "After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. At Berkshire, we retain our risks and depend on no one. And whatever the world's problems, our checks will clear."

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

"Investors, meanwhile, are hoping 2009 brings a turnaround, but aren't counting on one."

Sure glad we have the Wall Street Journal to tell us investors what we want. Buffett seems to be the only voice of sanity in a sea full of weasels whining for a bailout. I, for one, don't care how the market performs in 2009. I am much more concerned about my government's intervention in the automobile, housing, banking, steel, healthcare, and whatever other industry I didn't think of. If all the cries for a bailout were dismissed at the beginning, by now we would be halfway out of the storm and looking forward to a full-fledged recovery. Americans apparently prefer stability, but stability comes at a price. Nothing is free.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Probably a few years into the Second Great Depression...


On Dec 16 09:25 AM axelrod608 wrote:

> When will it dawn on our "leaders" that reinflating the credit bubble
> with more easy, cheap money is not only not the solution, it will
> intensify the problem.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I agree. The more we can do to put them out their misery for good, the better off we'll all be. Let Honda, Toyota, and Kia pick up the scraps.


On Dec 09 08:14 AM lefty37 wrote:

> Another requrement for Auto Aid, should be.
>
> Bring their foreign country manufactoring and outsourcing back to
> the USA.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Of course, getting a handle on our consumption is in the long-term best interest of the countries that export to us. Reasonable consumption and debt levels build a healthier economy that serves as a better customer overseas suppliers and avoids situations like what we're dealing with now.

But it's all part of the economic cycle... if we are capitalist, anyway.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

outofchips,

Norma seems to have a knack for stating the obvious... of course we want lenders to bear the risk they assumed. However, the problem is deeper than that, and it's not so easy to fix. Other ideas present some issues with what America is supposed to stand for:

The purpose of limiting the presidential terms is to ensure there is always a change in executive leadership. Members of Congress are not executive leaders.

No citizenship at birth? Then what happened to that "Give me your poor" business engraved at the Statue of Liberty? Shall we also do away with freedom of religion and the press if they ever become inconvenient?

Secure the borders... um, okay. Sure. Long as Mexico is dirt poor and we are filthy rich, no amount of security will stop the flow of workers and drugs. If anything, we'll have just as many drugs and fewer honest workers, and construction costs will go up as contractors can't find affordable labor... all these proposals have consequences that have to be taken into consideration.

A computer program matching fingerprints with SSNs used at voter registration? That's a huuuuge fiasco waiting to happen. Besides, fingerprint technology is increasingly obsolete.

Of course we should stop bailing out these financial companies. We should also stop bailing out ourselves with our credit cards and unsustainable lifestyles. But as long as the Fed is around, we'll always have a Fed Chairman playing willy-nilly with short-term interest rates, and providing all the incentive lenders need to lend away.

No need to worry though: there's never a free lunch, and this will all come to a disasterous end eventually. It's gonna be very ugly. Might even be worse than the Great Depression... who knows. What happens when the U.S. Government needs a bailout? Along with the E.U., China, Japan, etc.?

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Borrow 80% @ 5.0% and 20% @ 18%, then walk into "your" home for $0 down @ 7.6% interest. Not bad, eh?

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

So Bernanke and Paulson are worried about recession. Since when was recession such a bad thing? Are these two guys not capitalists? The economy needs to fluctuate through cycles in order to grow. We can't have periods of growth without the recessions that precede them. A recession should be welcomed because the only way out of this joint is to pay our tab.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

InBev isn't so much a Belgian brewery as an international version of AB. In other words, they make a lot of cheap swill and distribute a lot of good beer. I can't imagine any foreign company taking over AB, though. Doesn't seem like the corporate cultures would mesh well.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

A lot of opining going around.

Can't help seeing a little humor in the little things.

Starbucks: Who's Buying $5 Lattes In This Economy?

Plenty of places make better coffee than Starbucks, just like plenty of places have better food than McDonald's. However, both are the most efficient (by a long shot) providers in their niche.

Re: Sinking Mermaid, I can say I've noticed the same thing, but Schultz definitely intends to improve the Starbucks experience all around.

Also, people can continue to patronize coffee shops and saved money by opting for brewed coffee an otherwise cheaper/smaller drink. Usually I spend exactly two dollars since my change goes in the tip jar.