CoverIsBetter

Why a Market Crash Doesn’t Matter

I completely disagree. Few people succeed at making money with specific company stocks. We must be diverse to avoid that one stock that brings down your equity so low, that you need a second job to pay the rent.

However, this deserves more attention and debate than Charles H Smith's doomsday mongering. To see the flaws in our version of capitalism as clearly as Charles sees them, is almost by definition to be a complete anti-social non-participant. He probably turns the Girl Scouts away from his door, because they don't have a 20% deposit down on the club house ;-)

Keep posting gang!

TD Ameritrade: Raising Funds for Possible E*Trade Deal

Don't they have to give a reason for borrowing the additional money? Sure would be nice to see the loan application, see if it says "for the acquisition of ETFC".

What "fire under E*Trade’s stock" are you referring to? I am still waiting for that :-)

Thanks

TD Ameritrade And E*Trade: Wedding Bells?

"shares pushed into positive territory"
LOL.. you have a vivid imagination.

Which City Will Turn Positive First?

Talk about "fattening frogs for snakes".. you and today's "existing home sales" are just making this all the more fun for Shiller to shoot down tomorrow.

Bill Gross: Anything But 0.01%

Thanks for a great post from the King.

David Van ....
>But low interest rates don't force you to do anything.

Yes they do! In case you have forgotten, this is Seeking @. We are here to find returns. If you don't think crappy returns force us to do something, then maybe you just give all YOUR money to the church. As for the rest of us, yes it does. You seek returns, or go home.

10 Reasons to Believe That We're in a Depression

Sorry to stray off topic, but :
I would be interested to hear an analysis of the effect of monetary expansion on the economy at this point. At first, it seems the first country to expand its money wins. The debt drops relative to the bills printed. The trade imbalances shift in favor of the money-printer country.
Ultimately, the other countries join suite and correct the imbalance. So at a macro-scale you have this big debt dismissal in every direction that is mostly on paper anyway.
Then I wonder at a micro-scale what this means. For a capitalist who produces and borrows, it is a quick win. For an investor, it is a quick win in the stock markets. For a laborer, the picture is good long term, but last in line to benefit from a devalued currency. And the cost of food and fuels probably rises quicker than wages.
I just have to wonder, if there are two economies. The one where you earn money and use it to buy things. The other in which you are simply jockeying for debt forgiveness.

Thanks

Why the Stock Market Should Crash

This article has gotten way too much attention.

But for the record, Charles is a "Perma-Bear". He wrote a book called "Survival Plus". This guy is burying money and canned goods in his backyard waiting for the apocalypse.

It won't ever come, but that's fine for Charles. He'll keep finding scary numbers on the internet and showing them to us all. He'll keep mixing fact with pulp financial fiction to keep the pot stirring.

This guy is a fiction writer of sorts on the side. Mostly, cheesy pulpy stuff fronting for his blog on which he collects "donations". I wouldn't listen to him. He is the worst kind of very lonely man who preys on your fears to draw you closer.

Taking financial advice from a guy who wrote a book about 2 teenage boys crossing the country together? Please. Anybody who re-uses that plot to get a high page count, and your money, ought to be easy to avoid on your reading list.

7 Million More Job Losses Are in the Pipeline

"Put together the anecdotal evidence" Is it that hard to collect some facts to discuss here. The numbers add up fine. You are only posting sets of dis-contiguous time periods that could never add up.

What is "tres-chic" anyway? Are you afraid you can't properly identify "chic" with any accuracy. Have you been out on the island smoking pot and writing fiction so long, you don't know "chic"?

"how many jobs are hanging by a thread." How many?
Maybe we should just worry all the time about things that might never happen? Jobs that may never be lost?

"The red mustang sat in the parking lot".. ? Do some travel. Learn your own country. Over here on the East Coast, the red mustang sits because we take the Cadillac.

Why the Economy Isn't Improving Much

You are kidding, right? Using numbers from 1977?
I am really hoping this article was a joke.

"Only Congress can permanently fix this problem by using the tax system and possibly a negative income tax to correct the maldistribution"

Yes, maybe we burn down all the office parks, execute all the educated beyond a Bachelor's degree, and return to a nice agrarian society out in the rice patty. I hear Pol Pot is looking for work. Maybe he can rebalance our wealth for us, make things a bit more fair?

Why the Stock Market Should Crash

"bricki" is right.. These death forecasts are useless if you cannot say when.

When has the housing market ever not been skewed by government involvement? Ever hear of the Community Reinvestment Act? People need to grow up and realize we have never had a perfectly competitive, government free economy.

"Patterns repeat themselves, until they don't". - somebody

Cramer Does It Again with CIT Call

They know nothing!
They know nothing! They know nothing! They know nothing!..

If he has to be a dork 9 days out of 10, to get to say what needs saying when we need it, fine.

Homebuyer Tax Credit: The Moneypit Is Alive and Well

I agree with 'LivingForDividends';
A small tax credit, which you get as a deduction for buying a home, is a pittance compared to all the other bailouts.

Correct me if I am wrong, but writing $8000 off of one's income is not going to be a tax refund of $8000.

Stephen Roach on Charlie Rose

The hollowing out story is compelling. It is hard to ignore the social stigma associated with entry level white collar work that has emerged since the collapse of the tech bubble.
I can remember when you had to be a high tech worker to get into a night club. You couldn't buy a drink without a Cisco or Novell Netware certification.
Today, you have to have, or a be a personal trainer. You have to have a refined taste for MMA, ultimate fighting, and all things violent beyond the imagination of my 'Hip to be square' generation. This is being reinforced in our American born youth, with every desk job we ship overseas. Nobody with a social conscience will enter white collar America without a 15 pound sledge hammer, compliments of Donald Trump apprenticeship or 7 years of college.
So there is a hollowing out, at the middle and bottom. This is a drastic departure from where we were 15 years ago, that is not good. Opportunities have moved off the radar of those who most need them, and destructive alternatives have moved within arms reach.

E*Trade: Very Undervalued

Shank-a-potomus!

Municipal Bond Fund ‘Swan Dive’

If you averaged down on the funds about six months ago (estimated) this "Swan Dive" is not going to hurt so bad. Like, Goochy said, this is a long term investment.
That said, I dumped all of my EVN shares this AM, because I just can't put up with erratic "swan dives" while licking my wounds in the real estate market at the same time. I will be back to Eaton Vance however. 8% dividend tax-free + share price appreciation = winner to me.