Eagle-Chief

The Long Road: Bears Go Home (for Now)

Muray-
Surely you must have written this article BEFORE the Dow tanked 395 points today and the Russell 2000 tanked 22.9 points (-3.00%). The bulls went home today. Or more appropriately, the bulls were barbecued for dinner! Bull market? Only for BBQ's bull meat!

Preparing for the Fall

To blah-blah: better to be a bear arisen from hibernation than a bull who is killed for his meat (or a bull run over by the freight train called Recession or Depression).

And if there is anytime during our lifetimes that "a coming doom" may actually come to pass, it's now.

Bank of America: The Most Popular Dividend in America?

Nyka - you should get a job proofreading....not critiquing articles. Yeah, I go for the question mark, but CEO Lewis, or even Lewis? Give me a break. These guys (CEO's) are humans just like the rest of us - remove their clothes and they're no different than the rest of us. These are (rather) informal articles and the author did write "CEO Ken Lewis" shortly before he wrote "Ken." These guys (CEO's) are not gods. Tom, Dick, Harry or Ken is just fine with me.

By the way, The (or is it Mr. Moneygardener? - hehe), I see you're Canadian. I used to believe (like you) that stocks are a way to get rich (or at least, get richer). But now I strongly feel that the stock market is a game to benefit large corporations and their multi-million dollar earning CEO's. Sure, there are sometimes dividends. But I see that you are still "underwater." Some people do well, but stocks are risky. Very risky, as we are now seeing. Many people lose money. Buying stocks is gambling, clear & simple.

This comment forwarded to Nyka for proofreading. :O)

More Million Dollar Foreclosures Now [Housing Tracker]

Time to reduce the price, Ed McMahon. Your (Ed) McMansion is not "worth" what it was 3 years ago. Time to reduce the price to a more realistic level - that price that will bring in some offers. It's like fishing with no worm on the hook. Put on some bait (an appealing price) and maybe the fish will come. No worm, no fish. And if you reduce the price and still get no buyers, reduce it some more. Fish wont eat a rock either. You have to give them something they like.

Is Lehman in the Midst of a Bear Stearns-like Meltdown?

It's a buyer's market! Strike that. It's a sucker's market. Is (financial) Armageddon coming? I was in front of the New York Stock Exchange when the news of the Bear Stearn bailout broke. It was scary. A lady reporter was doing a story about it. I could tell by what she was saying and the tone of her voice that it was a very serious, dire situation. Later, certain economists said that financial disaster (Armageddon) was averted by the bailout of BSC. Now Nouriel Roubini and others say that the party celebrating the end of the credit crisis was premature. It is possible that the Great Depression of the 21st century lies ahead. Americans are being assailed from many sides...rising prices (inflation), home prices falling like a rock, rising unemployment, the falling dollar, home forclosures, and more. My thinking about stocks has changed over the last couple years. I used to think that stocks were a way to "save" for retirement and make money. Sure, sometimes people DO make money, but many times they LOSE money. Lose bigtimme. NOW I THINK THAT INVESTING IN STOCKS IS JUST LIKE GOING TO LAS VEGAS - IT'S GAMBLING. You may gain, but you may lose as well. In fact, maybe like Las Vegas, you are more likely to lose than to win.

Bill Gross: Prepare for Coming Inflation

I'm with you, NoBull - what a joke this is. Any clown could tell you that inflation is a problem, and will be a problem in the near future. Oh boy, what a genius.

Inflation is a man-made beast. It robs people of their wealth. People saving for retirement find their saving worth-less or sometimes entirely worthless due to inflation.

The Return of King Dollar?

Mr. Perry, I loved your article titled "It's Now Official, Ethanol is a Scam." It was a great article, w/ a lot of info packed in on one page. However, short articles like this one have very little substance to them. I think it would be better to put in some effort & write some more substantive articles.

Pension Debts: The Next Financial Crisis

It's too bad we keep hearing about a coming "pension crisis." It's ironic - I just did an internet search on it last night. I don't know much about the pension "crisis" but I will say this - it's too bad that companies that contribute money to their employees retirements trust the crooks on Wall Street to make money for them. I have started to think over the last 2 years that investing in stocks & mutual funds for retirement may be a charade designed to benefit the crooks on Wall Street & the multi-million dollar salaried CEO's of the companies. So we invest our hard earned money for 20+ years and then we hear that there is a "crisis" with OUR retirement money. B.S.! The companies investing the money did criminal, or at least, reckless things with that money & should be held accountable. But also it's a warning for all of us - we should not trust the "investment companies" with our money. If we do, we may end up with NOTHING!

Compared with Canada, U.S. Economy Looks OK

I agree with Sophisse. I'm not worried about Canada. With their literal "gold mine" of minerals, oil, diamonds, lumber and other natural resources, I'm sure Candada will do just fine. It's the good ol' USA that I'm more worried about. Wasn't there just news of Ford cutting more US jobs? Also Ford in going to manufacture their Ford Fiesta in Mexico (the land of elitist criminals & drug cartels). And the environmental wackos are forcing the US to produce ethanol (see Mark Perry's excellent 1 page article on ethanol seekingalpha.com/artic... - ) instead of drilling for the vast oil rescources that we are sitting right on top of. America will die if we do not bring back our manufacturing base. We cannot continue to be a nation of services only. Imagine if China one day decided to cut off everything they now supply to the U.S. Imagine!

Housing Affordability Index: Surprise, It's a Buyer's Market

Mark - when I hear someone say it's a buyer's market, I say "It's not a buyer's market, IT'S A SUCKER'S MARKET!" It's a sucker's market because a house bought today could well be worth substantially less in a year or two.

Many housing markets are still priced excessively. Many owners still wish to believe that their houses are worth 3 to 4 times their pre-bubble prices. Affordablity is still a major factor is many markets, especailly with family budgets strained by rising food and energy prices. However, prices are coming down and caution is the order of the day.

There are areas that may be safer to buy. I have read that parts of of your state, Michigan (Detroit), have seen their housing markets decimated. But if a midwesterner like yourself comes out to sunny California, you probably will not write an article with the title listed above. Prices are lowering, but it's still a SUCKER'S MARKET.

Oil Companies Paid More Than Bottom 75% of Taxpayers

Mark - it is hard to read anything intelligent into your news article here. It appears that your are as dumb as a rock to insinuate that oil companies pay more taxes to the U.S. government than do the bottom 75% of all U.S. taxpayers. What is your PhD in, you fool? My father taught me long ago that companies do not pay taxes - it is a complete myth to think they do! Let's say that the govenment "taxes" Exxon Mobil or Chevron 100 million dollars a year. Sure, the company pays the taxes, but where do they get the money from, Mark? They surely don't pull it out of their savings accounts. They raise the prices of the goods or services that they are selling - in other words, they pass the costs on to the consumers. So everytime WE, the "bottom 75% of life forms on the planet" go to fill up our gas tanks, WE ARE PAYING THE TAXES ! Governments try to make it sound good for corporations to pay taxes (in lieu of the consumer) but there is no such thing. The consumer pays the costs ultimately. I'm amazed to see that your "bio" says that you are an economics professor. WOW. Get a clue, Mark!

Vulture Funds Buying Billions Worth of Foreclosed Properties - Housing Tracker

LOL, LOL, HaHa. Judy -when I say the title of your article, I thought that it would be great to have a mutual fund/investment company called Vulture Funds. They could offer the "Vulture Funds Foreclosed Property Fund," or the "Vulture Funds Poor-Suckers Fund," or the "Vulture Funds One Man's Loss is Another Man's Gain Fund." What a marketing strategy that would be! And we all know that there are A LOT OF VULTURES out there! Especially on Wall Street. Hell, the vultures of Wall Steet Got us into this credit crisis.

What a concept! LOL! Judy, if you're interested in becoming a founding partner in Vulture Funds Inc., let me know. We can have our office right on Wall Street! At least honesty would be in our name!

Mike Morgan: Decession or Depression?

Mikee - great article. I too, believe this is a very possible scenario. I am very glad that you are reporting on this. It is a reality check & presents a possible scenario of what lies ahead. Most news articles say that the credit crisis is over (or that the worst is over).

We must not forget who got us into this dire/mortal situation - the banks & the Federal Reserve. Super Low interest rates combined with an extremely loose lending practices (banks llending money to people who they knew could not afford the loans, and making loans which were virtual TIME BOMBS - no money down, 100+% financing & variable rate loans amomg others.)

Now, EVERYBODY IS IN DANGER. EVERYBODY. I cannot help but think all of this might be planned. It's quite ironic that NOW during the housing crisis/deflation, we Americans are also being bombarded with rising food & energy prices.

I hope you are wrong. I hope a depression doesn't come to pass. That being said, one of my favorite sayings is "Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst."

Dollar Falls on Lowest Consumer Sentiment in 28 Years

Gracie - the housing market data can sure be confusing & maniputlated. It looks like they are trying to put a positive spin on negative data. Also, I thought your headline in reverse could also be very applicable today - "Consumer Sentiment Falls on Lowest Dollar in 28 Years." My sentiment is not very high currently due to high food, gasoline & energy prices. I doubt that the recent rise in the value of the dollar will last. Our monetary system has to be based on sound economic policies & not on rampant debt & financial irresponsiblilty. The people in charge of this nation's monetary policy have destroyed America & destroyed the value of our dollar.

How to Default on Your Mortgage and Stay in Your House

I agree with you Allan. Well said. Also, banks made BILLIONS off of slimy, high-risk loans which are now causing people to lose their homes, so I do not feel sorry for the banks, or the companies that bought these risky, near-worthless investments.