Afthought's Comments

Gmailers More Engaged than Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail Users

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:21:15 -0400

Odd comments, especially "not a . . ., " gmail and yahoo! both do a good job of controlling spam as long as you are not מופקר with your email address.

4 Dividend Stocks to Hedge Against Social Security Failure

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:56:33 -0400

“The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
- Margaret Thatcher

"The problem with capitalism is that eventually the plutocracy and their oligarch managers run out of other people's money and have to bankrupt the commonwealth."

Pushing Back Against Oligopoly Rule: This Time It's Telecom

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:21:22 -0400

Oops! I don't even know anyone who has an iPhone but I gather they signed a deal with ATT that has iPhoners very displeased with their telecom experience. I know two people with macBooks (sp?) and both have made mutiple trips to the Genius Bar only to ultimately have their macBooks swapped. Both are very happy and tell me the Apple Store is a slice of paradise on this good earth.

Percentage of Stocks Above 50-Day Moving Average

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:43:38 -0500

Three steps to healthy market returns despite headline financial reporting and finger pointing: Trade, trade, trade.

The Great Awakening: Boomers, Your Crisis Has Arrived (Part 3 of 3)

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:20:57 -0500

Santayana the poet!? Is this why he is remembered as an aphoristic philosopher, and not as a poet?:

from the poem, Premonition by G. Santayana

"Till haply, lightning through the storm of ages,
Our sullen secret flash from sky to sky,
Glowing in some diviner poet's pages
And swelling into rapture from this sigh."

The Madoff Magnum Opus

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:44:03 -0500

The Madoff global tour resembles Pauson's global trot as Treasury Secretary. Can someone explain the differences between the Paulson Ponzi and the Madoff Ponzi in terms other than politics and scale?

What's Exactly Is Happening Inside Those Retirement Plans?

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:09:03 -0500

re RCA
"Are we destined to continue to self-destruct into a corrupt third-world state inspired by socialism for the wealthy? I think we can do better than that! Much, much better."

When have we not been a nation based on "socialism for the wealthy." We have always been an oligarchic/plutocratic governed society; just more semantic window dressing because "socialism" is so plebian.

My What-If-Obama-Wins Portfolio

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:39:25 -0500

They will vote for Obama given the alternative. If the electorate had any sense, they would vote for Ralph Nader, put the Paulsonistas in the slammer along with Bush/Cheney, and throw the keys away.

On Nov 03 10:12 AM prairiedog555 wrote:

> Raise tax's during a recession/depression, erect trade barriers and
> allow millions of unskilled workers to burden welfare system.
Ideology
> aside, how could anyone who studied great depression even consider
> a vote for Mr. Obama?

Not Running Out to Buy Shares in Pfizer

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:26:11 -0500

re captainccs:

Am I left to wonder if you put your entire stake on Pfizer eight years ago? Did you not catch the bottom of >$15? Do you regard >7% dividend apparitional? Maybe you caught Goldman Sachs above $200, or $175, or $125? Are you a buy and hold kind of mark or a trader?

On Nov 03 05:52 PM captainccs wrote:

> >>> Pfizer bashing continues unabashed!
>
> With the price dropping for eight year, did you expect cheering?

Not Running Out to Buy Shares in Pfizer

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:49:03 -0500

Pfizer bashing continues unabashed!

Clueless - Cramer's Mad Money (10/8/08)

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:08:01 -0400

It is amazing the way people blame Cramer for his mistakes. He always tells his viewers to do their homework. I watch because I find his analyses of individual stocks informative, NOT definitive. While his shtick is laid on too thick for my taste, his literary, historic, and philosophic allusions amuse as well as inform.

Who’s Really Getting Bailed Out Here

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:02:01 -0400

Dusty, too early for smoking the pipe - both carrier and bailout valuations are impossible gauge accurately. Additionally it is a cracked analogy; cracked big enough for the investment banker in chief, Paulson, to drive a brinks through.

Proposed Solution to Decline in American Wealth: Free Trade

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:07:33 -0400

Wow! I want some of iThinkBig's koolaid. And Duuude!, Obama is a sensible alternative to four years of McGrahamonomics, unless you'll enjoy paying taxes on your health benefits and letting the Eronistas set energy policy, while Wall Street grifters take over Social Security.

Political Party Power and Its Affect on U.S. Market Return

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:41:27 -0400

All that hot air must be bad for global warming; if it were harnassed as energy, the US would become a net energy exporter.

How We Got Into This Pension Mess

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:50:38 -0400

crowdofcheerlead makes a good point. The irony is that by the time society gets around to euthanizing its elders, CofCheerlead will be getting close to the front of the line.

Does the Mini-Bounce in Retail Sales Mean Anything?

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:31:47 -0400

Adjust for spending on gasoline and price inflation, and you don't just have a dead cat bounce - you have a dead cat bouncing down the basement stairs.

Russian Roulette Pays Off for Antigenics

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:14:01 -0400

I guess Big Pharma has not managed to bribe the right people in the Russian drug approval process. Their problem is that US methods of persuasion do not transfer to the Russian economy. Maybe DNDN, etc. will wise up and take their research someplace other than the US so that their products can be delivered to people who so desparately need them in order to survive.

The John McCain Market Selloff

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:49:06 -0400

Puzzle me this: If the argument is that Dems are bad for the economy and Repubs are good for same, why are we having this current economic meltdown? If Dems are a bunch of Frenchies, are Repubs closet French-o-philes a la dumping Boeing for a that euro-trash hussy Airbus? Let's ponder: 1929, 1987, 2008 . . . .
If the Dems are smart, they'll make this election close enough for the Repubs to steal again. Then they can watch the wheels come off both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while the economy crashes, thus, creating another FDR scenario.

Rick Santelli Takes Down Jim Cramer

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:27:40 -0500

Hmm? Is Cramer behind this confit de canard? It smacks of his masochistic self-promotion. Having said that, I watch his show in the same way I watch Kudlow: Both present challenging exercises in logical analysis and remind me of why Fox and the *NBCs are bigger threats to the future of democracy that anything coming out of the caves of Pakistan/Afghanistan.

The Dow Hates Bush?

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:27:49 -0500

Kudlow's law? Never use "financial market stats to backup a political argument.": From my viewing of the CNBC resident class apologist, that's all he ever does is use "financial market stats" to backup his conservative political position.
re Market return since 2001 (7 years, in process): I recall a time when banks advertised the power of compound interest, at a modest 5%, would double your money every 7+ years or so. Since the average Joe/Josephine, isn't coupon cutting like the capital gains layabouts and their agent Wall Street touts, he/she is really suffering financial delusions of well being.

Good News for Dendreon, Bad News for Prostate Cancer

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:56:17 -0500

It's a cancer of the analyst, commonly called the "gem" thus going by the copyrighted "Pro-Strat-e-Gem" and available on cd. (registration required for free trial.)

U.S. Supreme Court Screws Investors, Again

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:07:04 -0500

rcuddy, et al, seem to think that limiting the right to sue is in the investors best interest. I agree. Anything that impedes business violates the first principles of free market capitalism: laissez faire, noblese oblige.

Quiz: 7 Amazing Facts From 2007

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:45:23 -0500

ETFC only declined more on a % basis. In $'s, CFC was way out in front, thus, the big $'s for its strangely hued CEO.

Countrywide Financial: Time To Look At The Board

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:26:10 -0400

Why are you surprised?
Enron's board of director's audit committee was chaired by a former dean of the Stanford graduate school of business.
And least we forget, George Bush was a member of Harkin's audit committee in the months prior to its announcement that it was in serious financial trouble.
Bush managed unload his stock before public disclosure tanked the shares of Harkin. He was cleared of wrong doing in a subsequent SEC investigation.
Of course, it helped that his daddy was then the president of the good old boy USA.

Something's Fishy About the Jobs Number

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:42:57 -0400

The great thing about all the illusionary data which moves markets, is that the game still has to be played with the same players who generate the economic fictions, thus, even though it's all shadow puppets, and smoke and mirrors, stocks go up and they go down; the insiders make the big bucks while rest of us are modern day gleaners.

Bernanke Meets Bush: The Perfect Storm

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:47:29 -0400

The charts tell it all. A nation can't have war without debasing the currency or raising taxes to pay for it. If this current mess is resolved, I'll miss those the "Alice In Wonderland" commentary provided by the talking heads at CNBC and FOX.
Maybe we need a ten foot tall Alice for president!