xsuddensam

How Wall Street Has Failed the Individual Investor

I share the cynicism of the many readers here who are just plain sick and tired of the obfuscation and manipulation of the Wall Street elite and their corrupt mignons in Washington.

Until the criminals are rooted out, prosecuted and punished, no one should return to the stock market. Until investors are protected through meaningful and reasonable regulation under a watchful SEC armed with criminal sanctions against violaters, we should stay the hell out.

The Perfect Storm: Semi-Annual Economic Review

A well written, no nonsense and informative article.


Regarding investing in emerging markets, the author says:

"....That said, not all emerging markets are created equal. Many emerging markets are cheap because they are genuinely at risk. Here the things to look for are poor current account balances, trade deficits, government budget deficits and a track record of over spending, and worst of all high levels of external debt with a low level of fx reserve protection. Sounds familiar? Yes, that was Asia a decade ago. "

Sounds familar? Yes, that is the United States today. So why would anyone want to invest here?

How Wall Street Has Failed the Individual Investor

The financial services industry has not failed us. These criminal pigs, through fraud and manipulation have robbed us of our security and welfare. Unfortunately, Congress, the Fed and Treasury have allowed them, through bailouts and guarantees, to come back to the trough for another meal and again at our expense.

How Much Does the Bailout Really Cost?

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Venezuela Looms Large in Gold Reserve's Slide

Isn't free market globalization wonderful. An American can invest in a Canadian company like Crystallex and have a Venezuelan tinhorn dictator like Chavez unilaterally cancel leases and legal agreements thereby bankrupting the company and killing shareholder value.

How Is Your Economic Outlook - Half Empty or Half Full?

I read somewhere that it doesn't matter if the glass is half full or half empty if there's crap in it. In these times, that's quite appropriate.

Last Thursday Was the Bottom - It's Time to Get Back in

Like a wise man said about profits,"You can have the first and last 20%. I'll take the middle 60%.

Gold In Backwardation? Not So Fast ..

Last week, Peter Schiff predicted "the dollar will fall like a stone" and there will be $1,200 gold in 2009. He was correct in 2006 predicting the housing meltdown and $1,000 gold in 2008. The guy's got a pretty good track record.

Reasons to Give Thanks for Capitalism

Yup, we should all be thankful for Capitalism and the so called "free" market for climbing unemployment; decimated pensions, massive losses in our capital markets, declining home values, ever mounting private and public debt, lack of healthcare for millions of our people, a crumbling education system, an imperiled Social Security system and two wars that are killing our young soldiers and sapping our financial health.

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless America.

Stocks: Is the Tide Turning?

As a consumer, I haven't bought anything in the past two months except groceries, gasoline, and of course, wine and beer to ameliorate the distress.

I was fortunate to sell stocks early. I'm certainly not going back in now. As someone said regarding profits, "You can have the first and last 20%, I'll settle for the middle 60%"

What Obama Needs to Know about Tim Geithner, the AIG Fiasco and Citigroup

DollarTalk,

I beg to differ with you regarding your implication that perception, influenced by the media and the election, is responsible for market volitility and the deep pessimism that abounds.

My God, CNBC and Bloomberg (to a lesser degree) have been painting a rosy picture of the market since the highs of last year. The likes of the flag waving Larry Kudlow who has incessantly promoted the "Goldilocks theory of economics" have greatly contributed to the damage. It has only been recently that the talkingheads have finally acknowledged the seriousiousness of our financial problems.

I'm sorry, but no amount of optimism will overcome the dire straits we are in. Optimism in the face of adversity is noble; optimism in the face of calamity his foolhardy.



On Nov 27 02:00 AM DollarTalk wrote:

> I am very thankful for the blessings that I have in my life. Now,
> regarding the market, the power of optimism never ceases to amaze
> me. In fact, we are missing a very large component of our view on
> the market and the economy in larger view when we discount the role
> of perception. Most of this market volatility was brought on by increased
> uncertainty and the perception that our credit crisis and financial
> difficulties were beyond our ability to solve as a free market. This,
> of course, was exacerbated by the media and capitalized on by the
> media in order to accomplish the election of now President-elect
> Obama. Now, the media has their man and would do well to continue
> to promote positive, uplifting views on the future direction of the
> economy and the solutions and people proposed by President-elect
> Obama. Otherwise, they will find themselves in the company of the
> Republican party when the public develops a pessimistic or negative
> perception of the new President and his leadership team. That's all
> for now. More on my blog.

Three Reasons Why the Dollar's Not Yet Done

The author doesn't even mention the fact that the printing presses are running 24/7 to accomodate the out of hand deficit spending and the unconscionable bailouts.

With trillions of dollars of debt with accruing annual interest in the hundreds of billions, what monetary or economic theory supports your claim? Sounds like hoping and wishing.

What Obama Needs to Know about Tim Geithner, the AIG Fiasco and Citigroup

Those who support bailing out AIG and the rest of the pigs just don't get it. The problem is so big and the resources so inadequate that it's like pissing on a forest fire. The financial system is going to implode from the sheer weight of the Ponzi pyramid. The relevent question is not how we're going to save the system; it's why would we squander our children's and grandchildren's future with this wasteful exercise in futility.

What Obama Needs to Know about Tim Geithner, the AIG Fiasco and Citigroup

The absurdity of the bailouts is that the very people who are directly or indirectly responsible for the CDS Ponzi scheme, as well as those politicians entrusted to be our watchdogs, are the ones trying to solve the crisis.

Common sense tells us that we are paying for a very expensive "Hail Mary" pass to save the reputations of the incompetent political hacks as well as the pocketbooks of the Wall Street crooks that robbed us in the first place.

It's obvious this will not work and they are just buying time at our expense. Unfortunately, where there is so much money involved, there will be more fraud and there will be those who will handsomely profit from our misfortune

Henry Paulson Could Have Done Better

What are you talkin' about; Paulson could have done better?

He's doing just fine for his banking buddies.