Jolly_Rancher

Pension Underfunding: The Next Earnings Shock?

Actually, state guard can quit. And none were forced to join. I'd say that service men who did active duty get full pension, but the rest are considered in the same category as government bureaucrats. How many active troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan, compared to the total forces? And so how is our military stretched thin? That's a joke. Most of the military today are paper pushers. First thing Obama should do is cut the Pentagon budget by half and tell the brass to stuff it. The guys on the front line get no support from them. This from a retired marine.


On Mar 07 06:13 PM bigmoney wrote:

> >> Of course, in tried fashion, nobody is willing to acknowledge
> the problem, and all involved parties are pushing hard to postpone
> judgment day.
>
> The first rule of Pension Club is that nobody talks about Pension
> Club ~ Tyler Durden. Haha
>
> I'd like to see some charts of the S&P500 that has frozen their
> pension. My company, one of the above listed, froze theirs a few
> years ago.
>
> Another thing I would like to see is Pension total value over time
> / vesting. I believe the typical curve is exponential
>
> A frozen pension means that many baby-boomers working at these S&P500
> corps will have their pension frozen just as they enter the power
> curve of vesting. Talk about a rude awakening.
>
> Anyway, I think its about time the public sector start taking pension
> haircuts like everyone else. The only government sector that should
> get special protection is military, because once those guys sign
> a contract, they cannot quit. Politicians, administrators, social
> workers, IRS tax collectors can easily do with less. If they don't
> like pension haircut, they are free to quit, and get a job in the
> private sector. I don't think we'd be the less for it.

36 Opportunities for the Beginning of the Bull

I just set up a pseudonym because I tired of being User X. In this discussion I posted above as User 210417.

Ames, I actually think you and Bill Cara are both correct partially!! I think this is a bottoming cycle but the bottom ain't gonna be pretty -- maybe six months of wicked downs and ups that will pretty much keep the ETF investors thoroughly whipped out. 1975 this is NOT. The best one can do is buy companies whose earnings are not entirely driven by the economy, like selective drugs/healthcare. Again, very company specific. Indiscriminate buying or shorting will result in whiplash. Perhaps dividend plays make sense here -- stable companies only with little economic downside.

36 Opportunities for the Beginning of the Bull

I agree with you, but...

I think GE is probably not the most imaginative pick. Why pick a stock for it's industrial nature whose earnings in the past have come mostly from the finance arm? Also it is composed of heavily healthcare and entertainment. Doesn't make sense. Maybe TEL makes more sense as an industrial conglomerate.