CoverIsBetter

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

Thoughts on Last Night's Speech by the President

Here is your immigrant you love so much :

www.dallasnews.com/sha...

I could post thousands of other cases of this kind of thing here.

We don't need more imported production functions in this country. We need what Obama suggests, a higher rate of socio-economic success with the children we are already bearing. We are not some global marketplace for labor that is to be trampled over by those who only want a paycheck and make no contribution to their communities (other than buying expensive cars).

In Praise of Suze Orman

I would like to add that you are not giving Suze credit for her recommendations on 401K. In this market, most people would have done better to max out 401K contributions and allocate it all to cash. You get your company match(50-100%), and what more return do you need ?
Suze deserves credit for her message, while simple. Careful spending and borrowing is contagious. People are nothing but crabs in a barrel. You try to climb up and they want to pull you down. You try to save, and they direct you to spend, make you a carbon-copy wage slave. You try to diet, and you are urged to eat. Anybody with a voice for positive outcomes, like Suze, should be applauded. That said, practical people are SO boring! Vrrrooooom!

Gold Gets Hammered on Jobs Data

" dragons lust for gold after all, and China is the biggest dragon around" - love that

I do find it odd however, just how clear it is to everyone what China is or is not going to do. It would seem to me, they would want to diverge from the dollar to get even more control of their positive trade imbalance. But to champion Gold as a new standard seems like such a drastic measure.

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

Is Oil Going the Wrong Way, Or Do We Need to Adjust Our Perceptions?

I sat behind a Lexus GX470 at Starbucks drive-thru this AM.
That thing gets 14 mpg highway and she was content to sit in it on the phone with engine running waiting for a latte.

Long USO

Why I'm Buying E*Trade

What does "penning" mean? (guess I could Google that).

I am with you Jeremy, although that profile pic looks like dentist office art. Those E*Trade babies rock! The Mobile Pro application I just got on the Free Blackberry they gave me rocks. The commissions are half what the brick and mortar houses charge.
The banking side reimburses you for ATM usage charges.
It's a great product.

Long ETFC

Facebook's Dual Class Shares: Another Reason to Avoid This Company

I hate the seemingly arbitrary selection process that elevated Facebook to the top of the social networking scene. I reminds me of the success profile of a popular bar. The music, the furnishings, the rancid smell of beer on the floor, and yet all your friends are there and refuse to go anywhere else. A place that offers no more, and more than likely, much less service than the others, yet because of random coagulation of people, it's a hit.

That said, Facebook can be a joy if you monitor it closely. Unfortunately, the buy-in required is not high enough to ensure honest behavior, but as a backup to personal contact, it works. There has to be a feedback loop, however. That mysterious guy from high school who lives out of town and never comes to town? Don't friend him. That single mom who can't get rid of her ex? Don't friend her, either.

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

Will E*Trade Survive? Four Ways It Can

"Because it's wreckable!" I hate finding out this whole Citadel thing and how they could stand to benefit from more downside in the stock.
Having played through the WAMU rounds and seeing how easy it was to shaft the common stockholder there, this one seems like an easy fail.
No baby is going to call me a 'Shankapotomus' ;-)

Bill Gross: What?

Also, he is saying all these bubbles we have had have been obvious to a logical 2 + 2 onlooker. OK, I get that so far, so how does an investor, or consumer, who sees this stuff as obvious, react to win?

He is digging too deep to get evidence of government takeover of our markets. Subtle commentary by President Obama? Gimme a break, they have bought half of Citigroup.

Maybe his warning is just that your investments can now stand to lose big due to dilution and burden-sharing.

I did love it on CNBC, when he said "when you have my money.. you just think about playing soccer or something. .not about making another million".

Cramer Grilled on Jon Stewart

One more take on this, not yet said : Cramer thrives on a dry sense of dark humor. That whole thing about Selling Short and spreading rumors.. he is playing a role, acting. And Stewart just throws more logs on the fire, by his line of questioning.
He may as well have been asking "So you really really are the tooth fairy?" This whole thing looked like a pretend inquisition, not a real one. I switched over to the UCONN v. Syracuse game.

TD Ameritrade And E*Trade: Wedding Bells?

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

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?

Chart of the Day: Wells Fargo's Construction Loans

Wells has 1/4 of the total mortgage market now. So do they really have to fear how they perform compared to the "nation"? They are the Nation mathematically. Can't they invoke "too big to fail" or whatever to get TARP or like help if needed?
Stumpf has already hinted that Fannie and Freddie need to step up into the bigger loans to free up some capital for the banks.
This is a problem for the "nation" to help solve to rescue 25% of the mortgage market.