mr.verymuch's Comments

Why a Market Crash Doesn’t Matter

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:28:52 -0500

wondering what you own deep thoughts are, as opposed to all the recycled Napoleon Hill, Bill Gates, Buffett, Horatio Alger, Tony Robbins, einstein, et al sound bites?

On Nov 23 12:22 PM Chuck Carnevale wrote:

> First of all, I want to thank everyone for commenting on my article.
> My purpose was to stimulate thought; it appears it has done its job.
> For the record, I am not insensitive to the losses and the sufferings
> the past market debacle caused. Also, I recognize that the problems
> we face are real and in some cases severe. However, I also strongly
> believe that our economic system works and that our problems, as
> bad as they may seem, are solvable. It will take time, and I believe
> a can-do attitude. However, I also know that running from our problems
> will not work. We must face them with courage and apply our indomitable
> spirit.
>
> As Napoleon Hill so eloquently put it in his great book Think &
> Grow Rich: “In every adversity lies the seed of an equivalent or
> greater benefit.” As we face our challenges and stay strong, I believe
> we will look back some day and discover many benefits that were borne
> of this crisis. A more rationally priced stock market for one.

>
> Also, for the record, a main point I was attempting to make with
> this article is that forecasting the so-called stock market is impossible
> to do. Therefore, it is folly to try. Investors’ time is better
> spent analyzing businesses which can be done with a reasonable degree
> of accuracy. But most importantly, how you react to market volatility
> is of paramount importance. Implicit in this remark is my conviction
> based on massive amounts of evidence that the market often misprices
> stocks. Fundamental analysis will reveal these discrepancies and
> then appropriate buy sell decisions can be made.
>
> In closing, as Albert Einstein so aptly said: “No problem can be
> solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” I
> for one believe it better to focus on solutions rather than problems.
> What we think about expands. It’s time to be thinking about our
> economy expanding. Fear weakens us, faith empowers us.
>
> Thanks again for all of your responses. I intend to spend the week
> counting blessings and giving thanks.
>
> Happy Thanksgiving,
> Chuck Carnevale
> P.S. For additional clarification of this article and its intent,
> check out my blog www.TheMarketsUpChuck.com

Why a Market Crash Doesn’t Matter

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:12:16 -0500

spot on

On Nov 22 04:47 PM Tiberius79 wrote:

> What an empty article. You start out by misrepresenting Charles Smith
> and anyone and everyone who feels like discussing the outlook for
> the US market. You then proceed to discuss a fictional world where
> certain companies operate separate to the rest of the economy. Then
> conclude by stating, 'what the stock market may or may not do really
> shouldn’t matter to the serious long-term fundamental investor.'
> There are first year Business students who have more valuable things
> to say than you.

The Intrinsic Value of Nothing, Part 1

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:34:43 -0400

great point, John. And i would add that only based on your description of value-in-use can object have value in exchange. The author dismisses his "bad theory" rather cavalierly. his "philosophical" premise is superficial

On Oct 27 10:58 AM John Lounsbury wrote:

> Paco - - -
>
> Good article, but I have a philosophical bone to pick.
>
> You wrote:
>
> "Nothing in this universe has intrinsic value; every single thing
> you possess, want to possess, use, can use, have used, can offer,
> have offered, or will offer is valuable only if someone else finds
> it valuable."
>
> You have defined value in terms of exchange. I would argue that is
> too narrow a definition. There are things with intrinsic value independent
> of any medium of exchange. Exchange is merely one way, but not the
> only way, to define value.
>
> I maintain that anything necessary for my existence has intrinsic
> value. Air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat have intrinsic
> value. The value has a binary measurement: either I have these things
> and exist or one is missing and I don't exist.
>
> Most economists make their definitions based on commerce. The basics
> of existence don't come into the equation, except for a few fringe
> operatives who play with things like "happiness indexes".
>
> Ultimately, all of the "commercial" definitions of value are secondary
> to the "existence" definition of value. We lose sight of that and
> many externalities result, which repetitively blow apart the best
> of economic theories. Throughout history societies and civilizations
> have failed because of resource exhaustion. They thrived on commerce
> and decayed on the basis of not sufficiently supporting existence.
>
>
> There absolutely are things with a real intrinsic value.
>
> I know this is outside the scope you intended to address, but I just
> had to have my rant.

E*Trade Shows Bullish Signals

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:27:53 -0400

ETFC has been trying to make a meaningful move up for a long, long time. Can't say i have a ton of faith at this point

Microsoft: Whistling in the Dark

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:32:29 -0400

On a different note, the mere mention of MSFT and Apple in blog post generates more - more interesting, more acerbic, more provocative - commentary than just about any other subject I know. sort of wish the healthcare debate had more of this kind of exchange

The Mac vs. PC Debate Was Never Clearer

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:14:21 -0400

completely silly. i use a high-end wireless logitech laser mouse with my imac every day. your caricature of a current mac as a glitzy toy is foolish

On Jul 25 01:44 AM Albert Ling wrote:

> Apple charges for:
> 1) brand
> 2) image
> 3) design
> 4) simplicity of use
> 5) aesthetics
> 6) trendyness
>
> Apple was never about hardcore gaming, compatibility, opensourceness,
> raw power, tweakability, price/performance, etc.
>
> So I'd recomend Apple for my rich grandmother who never used a computer
> before, or for my trendy clothing store to use at the cashier.. and
> a non-apple computers for everyone else
>
> My mouse has 11 buttons and I use all of them. My mother's iMac has
> a one-button mouse. If I wanna play any of my games at her PC i'd
> have to download a patch or stuff like that.
>
> Easy choice

The Mac vs. PC Debate Was Never Clearer

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:36:13 -0400

After many years using PCs I switched back to Macintosh, and have never looked back. The Mac OS doesn't crash, is more inviting and pleasing to use, the machine doesn't require bloated anti-virus software, and there's virtually nothing I want to do from either business or personal standpoints that I can't do just as well (better) on the Mac. Yes, I paid a price premium. I'm more than happy with the value for my dollar.

A Sad Day for Newspapers

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:22:11 -0500

the "media bias" charge has been marketed to death by the political Right. Puhleeeze. No one is pure. This is a stick conservatives beat liberals with, nothing more

A Sad Day for Newspapers

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:19:54 -0500

adaptation to a shifting paradigm is the problem. As far as I can see the NY Times has done it. I go to their website daily, and am delighted by the content. I hope they can make online biz model work, cuz I want them to stay around. It is definitely a game now of big brands. NYT can get the readers online; Rocky Mtn Times, no.

MacWorld to Follow Floppy Disk Into Extinction

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:44:21 -0500

we hope

Auto Industry Rescue Delays the Inevitable

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:22:11 -0500

GM, et al, the black sheep of american capitalism. simply unable to produce decent products, and just as incapable of real change. waste of time, waste of money

Chip Stocks Deteriorating Fast - FBR

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:47:35 -0500

Nvidia??

The Great Consumer Crash of 2009

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:51:14 -0500

please forward to Barack Obama, post haste

Things Aren't as Bad as They Seem - Barron's

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:50:29 -0400

who has any fr**kin money left to spend?? everyone's taken a major hosing

Will We Know When We've Made a Low?

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:14:34 -0400

"We really only know when we've made a low when we're able to assess subsequent buying interest after price and momentum lows have been made. That often means missing exact price lows, but it also avoids the discomfort of catching those proverbial falling knives..."

doesn't that simply mean "someone will find the low. Just not you."?

History Says That We'll Be Fine

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:18:00 -0400

you promise? how comforting

Relief Rally in Pictures

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:40:34 -0400

can someone pls advise on when i should buy back SDS, DXD, FXP or SMN?

lol

G-7: Nothing New

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:57:25 -0400

remember the movie The Road Warrior?:

"Their leaders talked and talked and talked
but nothing could stem the avalanche.
Their world crumbled, the cities exploded.
A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear."

nice last line, eh?

Fannie and Freddie Did Not Cause This Crisis

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:22:51 -0400

what's pathetic is the is the premise that each political party is a mortal enemy of the other and must try destroy the other to somehow return the country to health. i see merit on both sides of the argument, but am especially disturbed at the relentless conservative assault on an opponent regarded as an anti-American enemy threatening the security of the country. Absurd. Grow up. There can be legitimate disagreement without class war

Capitalism: RIP

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:58:40 -0400

kertch, let's keep the ball rolling. I like your thinking. I pose this to you:

Capitalism is an ethical system as well as an economic system. It essentially says, 'we don't need kings or interventionist governments to oversee us or meddle in our affairs. If we create value and ensure fair markets, the role of government is relegated to rule maker and umpire ensuring that market participants play fair.'

Capitalism not only ensures private ownership, wealth creation, innovation and the rest; it ensures autonomy from interventionist government. If I behave in ways that necessitate government intervention, I am essentially destroying that system. If I want government out of my life, I behave ethically.

Sounds pollyanna, but it is really very simple. you may strongly disagree, but I am convinced the government steps in not because it is power hungry, but because it sees no viable alternative in a given case. The government didn't step in in the case of civil rights because it was looking for a convenient way to meddle. It stepped in because certain states refused to enforce Constitutional guarantees. It didn't step in during the Depression because it was feeling frisky; it stepped in because a demoralized nation standing in breadlines amid a frozen economy was unacceptable. And it didn't step in this time because of a good old boys network. It stepped in because it wasn't prepared to deal with a full blown social crisis as a result of a new Depression. It is impossible in this case - as it was during the Depression - to ignore the issue of scale.

Naive, but simple: don't want government intervention? Keep your house in order. Wanna do the whole bad mortgage/mortgage backed securities shell game? fine, but don't cry when the gov't needs to pull your ass out of the fire.

and BTW, whenever you play these stupid games of grossly irresponsible and greedy risk, you unavoidably increase the power of the government - the last fracking thing you want.

Failure of capitalism, dude. It is on US, not them

Capitalism: RIP

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:21:45 -0400

this series is helpful: www.moneymorning.com/2.../

Capitalism: RIP

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:49:23 -0400

kertch, I am willing to be educated, but I don't understand your post. The creative manipulation of the system to allow persons without means to purchase unaffordable goods while others packaged up and sold the resulting debts to others on the premise of potential high returns has nothing to do with facism or socialism. It's a failure of our own system. Even the government's lax oversight is part of that failure. Certainly when the foolishness of free agents in the marketplace combined with lack of transparency reaches such a scale that it threatens to plunge the country into depression, that is a failure of capitalism.

IMO, we need a 30-day moratorium on the use of "totalitarianism", "socialism", "facism" and the like so people can bone up a little on history. When we get to the point of a police state that outlaws political opposition, sanctions gulags and concentration camps, confiscates private property, demands public loyalty to a dictator, and systematically murders anyone who doesn't toe the line, then we can talk about "totalitarianism". But not before

Capitalism: RIP

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:51:04 -0400

amen to eyeswideopen. this entire episode reveals the fatuousness of the Right's relentless bellyaching about the evils of liberalism. I'm not a "liberal" but i'm also not a gutless conservative, unable to accept blame for the failures of my own ideals. the financial meltdown is capitalism-generated. get your own sh*t together

How Bernanke Stunned Congress with the Truth

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:25:59 -0400

"The decision of George W. Bush to save our Nation is as brave, courageous and intelligent of leadership we want in a President. His resolution to move quickly roughly equals George Washington in combat."

god, i love a good laugh i the morning. tks.

How Is GM Still Alive?

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:12:22 -0400

what mcadoo said

Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:42:10 -0400

what's an ordinary small fry investor to do?

Financials: How - And When - We Reached the Bottom

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:58:48 -0400

LOL! debtacid: 1929-30 sure was quotable.

But DSB has touched the central nerve: how much betrayal of essential trust can a market endure and still hope to prosper. I am often struck by the conservative obsession with getting the government off the backs of businesses so they can create value, jobs, and provide more opportunities for wealth etc,. But seems to me that lays a responsibility on businesses - in this case the financial sector - not to operate so recklessly that government intervention is the only way to prevent collapse. How can anyone observing this situation from the outside rush back in to invest in companies that have behaved so irresponsibly?

Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:50:56 -0400

Thanks, Dave.

Bush always sounds like he is reading a speech that someone else was supposed to deliver. I have never heard anyone I believed less. Does the guy really have any convictions of his own? Why does he bother?

We have had some foolish governments over the years, but this one is populated with a rare breed of incompetents. God help us

Shipping is Shaping Up - Cramer's Lightning Round (5/27/08)

Wed, 28 May 2008 11:25:04 -0400

Cramer: hyper-kinetic entertainment for an ADD world. not serious investment advice. contrarian indicator, if anything

When Will American Realize the World Has Changed?

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:11:28 -0400

The US is not a "superpower"; it only insists it still is. The days when we could unilaterally exert our military and economic power to work our will are gone. Two catastrophically stupid wars over the past 50 years accomplished nothing but proving we now face enemies we have no idea how to fight. & Americans' seemingly helpless dependence on foreign oil gravely weakens our position. we have some major vulnerabilities right now - and we have our heads in the sand about how to fix them.