joes

Winter's Coming for the Boomers: Part 1

I don't know what part of the country you live in but the people that I know, boomers, gen X'ers and the teens all seem to be smarter than ever, less likely to believe the type of ideological BS that the greatest generation were prone to fall for, the only people close to that naive now days can be found in the 20% that still call themselves Republicans.


On Jul 13 10:57 AM lynnybee wrote:

> ........ This was an excellent article, just wonderful. Thank
> you so much for writing this. My parents' generation was called
> THE GREATEST GENERATION. I fear the legacy of the boomer generation
> is that we will be labeled, THE GREEDIEST & MOST NARCISSISTIC
> GENERATION. My Mom always taught me that we were supposed to
> care for and watch out for the younger generation coming after us,
> we were supposed to do right by them and help them grow up ..........
> Looks like this message was LOST on WALL ST. & WASHINGTON D.C.
> ............. I'm a boomer & just ashamed of the whole sorry
> mess. So, we're just going to dump this entire mess in the
> laps of our children & grandchildren ?! The shame on WALL
> ST. & WASINGTON D.C. should be great.

Winter's Coming for the Boomers: Part 1

The view on Baby Boomers that is portrayed in this and other works is wrong, during the lifetime of the boomers quality of life has improved and peace has expanded. We have less suffering (still a long way to go but much better than the "good old days") and more intermingling of cultures that ever before.

We are not is the terrible fix that the evangelicals or the Hobbesian's would have you believe.

Why the Dow Is Headed to 6000

Not much to back up your 6000 claim, of course there is no way that data could be used to do that, so we have your "hunch" as a guide for buying short positions on a market which is down nearly 40% from a year ago.

If we are in a replay of the Great Depression of the 30's then you will be right, but for those of us who don't see the problems being the same your analysis is of no use.

IBM's Gerstner Favors Taxing Short Term Capital Gains

This sounds like a good idea to me, being a buy and hold guy anyway because paying only 15% on gains can make up for a lot of mistakes.

The casino element of the market isn't healthy, and the smart guys will figure out a way to bundle securities into an instrument that provides annual pay outs that will qualify for the lower rate while allowing the managers to trade more freely.

Companies Say Cuts Are Here to Stay

The question asked here is one that seems to be more important than ever as we work through this change,

"What are we afraid of" The conservatives spend all of their time afraid, and I think them for their wailing and gnashing of teeth, someone has to play Cassandra and they are doing well.

But the truth is that we spend more on Military budgets than Russian's GDP, the entire annual budget of Al-Queda couldn't buy a single Jet, and no one else has a Navy anymore, nor the money or desire to make one.

So our threats are now small, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan have nukes but the countries know they are bargaining chips and nothing more. Could someone kill some more Americans, Sure but not too many compared to historical threats and it would be a lot harder if we started actually fighting that war instead of nation building.

If the Bush, or the Clinton administration had pulled the thread through on the threat of hijacked planes that had been mentioned for years with a couple $100 cockpit locks 3000 in NYC and 100,000 people in Iraq would still be alive today.


On Jun 24 09:55 AM Yurasis_Dragon wrote:

> Rather than only educating the young, ALL who want a higher education
> should have that available at low/no cost.
>
> And where to get the $$ for this?
> Deduct from the Military budget.
> An educated populace is a FAR superior defense than the bloated DoD
> we presently have.
> Do we REALLY need to operate and maintain 761 military bases world-wide?
>
> Exactly WHAT are we afraid of??

The Market Decline Was Expected but Will It Continue?

I went to financialaspirations.com, reads like a lot of the analysis that you read from one group that always elevates countries like Brazil, China and India as economic threats.

This shows a poor understanding of Globalization and the opportunities that are available to the most innovative democracy on Earth, the US. But our "American" model of the future has to be a global strategy that keeps our friends close and our enemies closer.

The idea that a gold standard would help is beyond funny, and indicative of an ancient approach to economics. It won't help create wealth, there isn't enough gold to pay our bills so we need to innovate and regulate at a feverish pace.

Lucky for us we live in the best place on earth to pursue those goals.

Corruption in the Executive Branch?

Gee thanks Karl, people with the opportunity to siphon money and power will often do it, regardless of their previously stated moral position.

This idea is ancient of course, the first stock market opened in 1607 and by 1617 people were complaining about corruption. Every bubble has been caused by cheaters, misrepresenting everything from Tulips, Tech Stocks, even the value of an education or a visit to the doctor. We all pay more through these misrepresentations and we always will.

Those that complain the most regret not being on the cheating side, and would jump over in a second given the chance. For now people will just continue to be taken, it has nothing to do with who is in the white house or capital hill, nor the latest celeb CEO.

All of all problems are caused by our greed and fear cycles that go back to the risks needed to win a meal and the power to share only with those that help your cause.

Back to Even on the Year

This entire decade looks like a lazy W, with the last part of the script having a ways to go yet. That doesn't mean that it will of course, but if the argument is over the shape of market performance then you go back far enough and most V turn into W's.

The world economy presents as many opportunities as threats, we are rightly focused on the dangers but as they become understood there could be a nice period of expansion as big problems get solved in Africa and Southern Asia.

The continued activities in South America, China and India will create opportunities for innovation in housing, transportation, agriculture and engineering. At the same time the US and EU have to become very productive as their populations are not expanding as quickly as most regions. They are both is a good position to provide high value to the emerging markets and create a robust national economies.

Cramer's Call: Another Rally Top Indicator?

Wow, you can smell a top, using the sense of smell for investment strategies is an interesting tactic.

You have to be careful though, once I thought I smelt a windfall, but it turned out that my dog just had gas, not unlike the vast number of financial experts.

Bear Market Rally or Bull Market Beginning?

Dollar cost averaging? Suckers rally? Sometimes the analysis gets so deep that you need wellies just to get through.

What has changed? Global attitudes and an increasing sense of cooperation based on the G20, that is the first step. Job losses are huge, but the change we are going through is huge, as it is in all times of great opportunity.

4 Possible Market Scenarios

the various choices are confusing, we are in a recession and have been for a year and half, the government is trying to adapt new rules on the fly to combat the deregulation thuggery of the Reagan regime, a popular but obvious (now) unsustainable economic model.

There will be a new world order, but the US will be the default leader again as there is no one else close to able. China is more tethered to the dollar than we are, the EU is still in a formative stage, Japan is mired down with issues that aren't entirely economic and Russia is providing more stimulus into their economy as a percentage of GDP that the US.

The fawning over celebrity CEO and billionaires may lessen, cars may become on average 6 years old instead of 3, and we may use less oil. These aren't bad things, and there will be some changes that none of us can see because we never do.

I like the chances over the next 5 years of seeing a more sustainable system emerge from the Reagan mistakes, along with a more tightly connected and responsible world.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

The naive government bashing is useless, we elected these people, each of us voted for the last guy or this guy, and the reality is that government policies make small differences in the long run. History shows as long as they are trying "something", it helps to relieve some tension and markets to operate.

In the long run it is earnings that matter, and it is clear that business needs to provide those. But when you have a group of CEO's that come begging to DC, then the first order of the day is to can them and move on to the next set of blue suits.

White collar crime needs to be policed, maybe by retraining the guys chasing potheads, they have never caused the pain and suffering that the Paulsons' and Greenspans have wrought.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Another step down the ladder by the newspaper business, as an individual that spent the 80's in the newspaper biz and the 90's as an owner in an Internet development company it is with a mixed bag of emotions to watch the printed newspaper business collapse.

In with the new however, journalism is what matters to democracy, not publishing.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

The ratio of highest to lowest paid in an organization is a logical way to evaluate company culture and appears to be a leading indicator of manipulation.

I think they should be able to pay what the BOD approves, with each member's vote being known and the pay ratio compared with peer for investor evaluation.

Stock Market at a Critical Juncture

Nice to see the pessimism, this could be the worst year on record as predicted or it could be up significantly, there is no indication that anyone has a better idea than the next guy.

As Schiller and others have pointed out, we are in the area of psychology and influencers driving the market and there is nothing than can turn around more quickly than investor sentiment.