You're Kidding

Gold Transforming into a Completely Demonetized Wealth Asset

80 years ago gold was worth $35/oz. Today its worth $1100. Sounds like incredible growth doesn't it? But actually that growth is only 4.4% compound annual growth rate.

BIG DEAL.

The value of gold is based on human psychology, and when the economies of the world stabilize, the value of gold will drop like a rock.

Its a very risky investment and many will find this out the hard way.

Pharmacia & Upjohn, a unit of Pfizer (PFE), is sentenced to the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the U.S.: just under $1.2B, along with a forfeiture of $105M, for felony misbranding. The company had pushed its painkiller Bextra as treatment for acute pain and surgical pain without approval, and had agreed in September to an additional $1B settlement of civil allegations.

Ya gotta love it.

A bunch of people form a corporation and are now protected from criminal activity. Commit felonies? Endanger peoples' lives? No problem. Just pay a fine - the innocent share holders will finance the whole thing, and the ringleaders...well, the ringleaders keep their jobs, of course, and nothing happens to them.

Its the American way folks; its the way free market, private enterprise, democratic capitalism really works.

Ya gotta love it.

WHITE HOUSE OUT TO GET GLENN BECK

On Aug 14 10:18 AM James Quinn wrote:

> Obama is a racist and he employs self described communists in his
> White House...

Obama is in the back pocket of the bankers and that's a major concern, but the above statement of yours issues directly from pure PARANOIA, James.

I thought you were intelligent and above this sort of absurdity, but I guess not. Now I wonder about all those economic articles of yours I've read, and trusted to be balanced. Did this petty paranoia flow into your judgments in them, too? They all did seem a little extreme, now that I think about it.

I keep reading fewer and fewer of your posts and now I know why. This is it for me and I am sure others also, but don't fret, just keep it up and the Glen Beck mob will always love you. Wonderful feeling there, huh James?

5 Dividend Stocks that Beat Money Market Accounts and CDs

I am surprised you do not mention MLPs (Master Limited Partnerships.)

MLPs are far superior for long term, income seeking investors than the stocks you mention. (See info below in a previous post of mine for more.)

The Wachovia MLP Primer (Third edition, July 14, 2008) may be the best detailed discussion of MLPs around. I would recommend anyone seriously interested in investing in what is probably the best investment the market has to offer, to read and study it.

After spending 9 months full time investigating the market and the related meltdown, I put 100% of a mid 6 figure inheritance into 7 MLPs: ETE, NRGP, EPE, NSH, BGH, LINE, and CPNO (that's right, 100%.) 60% of that went into the General Partners of investment grade, midstream pipeline and storage MLPs (including the one propane MLP,) which all increase their distributions much faster than their underlying MLPs.) I sleep easily at night knowing all my money is in extremely safe enterprises that are not going to go out of business in the foreseeable future, and will continue not only generating high distributions (10.4% on my initial portfolio purchase price) but will continue INCREASING those distributions over time as they have been doing for years, (especially once the recession is behind us.)

And please don't scream "Diversification!" to me. Diversification did how good of a job protecting equities in the last couple of years? That's right, ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD. In fact, it guaranteed disaster.

Wall Street is full of wonderful suggestions that are meant to make Wall Street lots of money, not protect investors. You pay attention to the likes of analyst's "recommendations" and "insights" at your own peril.

You must do your own due diligence and listen to nobody (including me) whose advice you cannot confirm for yourself. So, prove to yourself that the following investment advice is the best you will ever receive:

1) Think LONG TERM. How many more years will you be alive? I'm 63 and I could be alive another 25 or 30 years. Just about EVERYONE should think long term. Remember the race between the tortoise and the hare? Who won?

2) Think DIVIDENDS and DISTRIBUTIONS. Academic studies have shown div /dist stock investing has always beat non div/dist stock investing.

3) REINVEST (compound the interest) as much of the income stream as possible (ALL if you can) right back into your portfolio.

4) Think MLPs. The incredible tax advantages, the high dividends, the solid businesses, are irresistible and REAL.

5) Pay less attention to capital gains and more to divs/dist. This will set up a "cash flow engine" that will far outpace mere capital gains in the long run. Keep in mind that a portfolio which pays a 10% yearly div/dist, with div/dist and stock/units also rising 10% yearly, generates a cash flow engine that doubles the value of a portfolio about every 4 years! (not counting taxes or inflation - use this example for comparison purposes with other investments.)

These five points will make you rich if you do your DD and they will put a big smile on your face. Your future will be assured.

To get started learning about compound interest with a visceral feel, go here to see a color, graphical, real time (with sliders - no need to enter numbers) compound interest calculator, which will allow you to play with various scenarios like distribution rates, inflation, taxes etc.

personal.fidelity.com/...

AMERICAN IDIOTS

optionsgirl said:
"Anything run by government is a disaster. Why should the public school system be any different?"

and doubleguns said:
"The truth of that statement was never so pertinent as it is now with the healthcare fiasco underway."

I would like to point out that government run Medicare, although not perfect, is far superior to private care in terms of efficiency. The overhead of the private health sector is about 30%. This means that 30 cents out of every dollar that comes in, goes to just running the program (including profits) and only 70 cents to actual health care. Care to guess what the overhead of Medicare is?

Try between 1% and 2%.

I know its topical to detest the "government" for everything its involved in, but if everyone was covered under Medicare, the country would be far better off in terms of the money saved and the care given.

But you two above may never understand this because you have been brainwashed by greedy corporate interests that want to keep their disgusting gravy train of profits rolling on forever, as they deny care to those deserving, and people suffer and die unnecessarily in far too many cases. (Does someone you care about have to die unnecessarily before you understand this?)

Of course, you have to do some research and pay attention to what's really going on, below the superficial jingoisms and empty statements like, "Anything run by government is a disaster," and, "...the healthcare fiasco," in order to understand this.

But even you guys know the difference between 1-2% and 30%, right?

And what do you think the "government" is, anyway? Some alien invasion force from another planet?

Its "us." We ARE The government.

"We" are also private enterprise, too, of course. But it really doesn't take that many brain cells to realize that private enterprise is way too interested in making money, to the detriment of all else, and what we all lose when greed runs big institutions.

Or, are you two for privatizing more government institutions? How about the military? Would you like to privatize the military? Should we turn over the military to, say, Blackwater? Wouldn't that be a great idea...

There are things the government best handles, and there are things private enterprise does best. Its a good idea to understand the intrinsic difference and not make silly, blanket statements about either, don't ya think?

WHITE HOUSE TELLS YOU TO TURN IN TRUTH TELLERS - ORWELL'S 1984

James, are you starting to lose it?

They just want help in keeping tract of all the BS and lies out there, from people who are intentionally putting out BS and lies.

And you think this is Big Brother?

I generally like your posts, but I'm starting to wonder about you.

This chart, which maps world GDP growth from 1980 through 2015 (using IMF's predictions), leaves you wondering what happens if we don't get that big bounce. Which may be why the Cleveland Fed warns that risks to the outlook "still remain more heavily weighted toward the downside than the upside."

I would like to see other charts the IMF has put out in the past and compare them with what really happened. That would have been nice to see here. In the meantime we know in general that "predictions" are usually wildly optimistic and biased toward the predictor's agenda. And this one looks ridiculously so.

With things like this, who is there to trust anymore who are themselves objective?

Kinder Morgan's Dividend Payout Rate Is Unsustainable

The Wachovia MLP Primer (Third edition, July 14, 2008) may be the best detailed discussion of MLPs around. I would recommend anyone seriously interested in investing in what is probably the best investment the market has to offer, to read and study it. (You especially need to do this if you want to write about the subject.)

After spending 9 months full time investigating the market and the related meltdown, I put 100% of a mid 6 figure inheritance into 7 MLPs: ETE, NRGP, EPE, NSH, BGH, LINE, and CPNO (that's right, 100%.) 60% of that went into the General Partners of investment grade, midstream pipeline and storage MLPs (including the one propane MLP,) which all increase their distributions much faster than their underlying MLPs.) I sleep easily at night knowing all my money is in extremely safe enterprises that are not going to go out of business in the foreseeable future, and will continue not only generating high distributions (10.4% on my initial portfolio purchase price) but will continue INCREASING those distributions over time as they have been doing for years, (especially once the recession is behind us.)

"Diversification" did how good of a job protecting equities in the last year? That's right, ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD. In fact, it guaranteed disaster.

Wall Street is full of wonderful suggestions that are meant to make Wall Street lots of money, not protect investors. You pay attention to the likes of Goldman Sachs' "recommendations" and "insights" at your own peril.

You must do your own due diligence and listen to nobody (including me) whose advice you cannot confirm for yourself. So, prove to yourself that the following investment advice is the best you will ever receive:

1) Think LONG TERM. How many more years will you be alive? I'm 63 and I could be alive another 25 or 30 years. Just about EVERYONE should think long term. Remember the race between the tortoise and the hare? Who won?

2) Think DIVIDENDS and DISTRIBUTIONS. Academic studies have shown div /dist stock investing has always beat non div/dist stock investing.

3) REINVEST (compound the interest) as much of the income stream as possible (ALL if you can) right back into your portfolio.

4) Think MLPs. The incredible tax advantages, the high dividends, the solid businesses, are irresistible and REAL.

5) Pay less attention to capital gains and more to divs/dist. This will set up a "cash flow engine" that will far outpace mere capital gains in the long run. Keep in mind that a portfolio which pays a 10% yearly div/dist, with div/dist and stock/units also rising 10% yearly, generates a cash flow engine that doubles the value of a portfolio about every 4 years! (not counting taxes or inflation - use this example for comparison purposes with other investments.)

These five points will make you rich if you do your DD and they will put a big smile on your face. Your future will be assured.

To get started learning about compound interest with a visceral feel, go here to see a color, graphical, real time (with sliders - no need to enter numbers) compound interest calculator, which will allow you to play with various scenarios like distribution rates, inflation, taxes etc.

personal.fidelity.com/...

Oh, and when everybody else believes in the same thing (ie "diversification," "property values always go up," "the US economy is the best and safest in the whole world," etc., etc.,) don't blindly accept it!

Good luck!

GLOBAL WARMING FRAUD

This all presents us with an rather interesting dilemma. Who do we believe? The people who say there is a warming trend that is dependent on humans, and we must change this or else, or, those who say human caused warming is a fallacy, or even if it isn't, there's no way to prove it.

Now, lets consider what it would honestly take for the vast majority of us, who are not experts, to figure out which side is right: well, lots and lots of time reading scientific journals trying to get at the truth. This would mean looking at the data directly and analyzing it so we would know what we are talking about, by direct experience, rather than accepting the opinions of others. Unfortunately, this is impossible for those that don't understand higher math, and have the other scientific skills necessary. So just about all of us are out of luck knowing what the truth really is, by direct, intellectual experience. (And this even assumes that there is a truth to know, which is beyond doubt, which there may not even be!)

This leads us, if for some reason we actually need to have an opinion on the subject, to accept the opinions of whomever we consider "reliable experts." Now keep in mind that this judgment cannot be validated. It is ONLY A MATTER OF BELIEF that any particular person is a better expert than any other, when we, ourselves, can't judge them on the merits, because we don't have the scientific understanding to do so. So then, what is the criteria by which we pick our experts?

This is the real, relevant issue here, and quickly brings into focus how susceptible we are to manipulation, our own biases, and outright brainwashing. Think of all the people on both sides of this issue who actually think they know what they are talking about, when in actuality, they don't know much of anything, but think they do, merely because they believe what their acceptable "experts" are saying!

Well, this is every single person out there, INCLUDING YOU, unless you are a professional, scientific expert with the degrees and experience to prove it. Not you? Then take a look in the mirror and learn an invaluable lesson from life: as a human being you are severely limited in what you ACTUALLY KNOW. Get to understand these limits and become a happier, healthier, and more confident individual. Leave the screaming matches to the poor fools who don't understand their own limitations, but help them to see more clearly if you can, because there is enough suffering in the world as it is, and helping to cool down that kind of "warming" is something that is really worth your time.

Judge Posner's Dangerous Thinking on Links and the Future of News

Wisdom vs. Information wrote:

> Posner's concern is economic efficiency; if someone cannot profit
> from what they create they will have no incentive to do so, which
> lowers total economic utility for all of us.

NOT TRUE.

The new paradigm is OPEN SOURCE, which is going to reveloutionize the planet in ways beyond what anyone can think with today's consciousness.

For example, Capitalism is really just a mere transitory system which will fall to the wayside in the next few hundred years.

Imagine if libraries didn't exist and you had to buy a book before you could use it. How many books could you afford to buy? And what would society look like?

Libraries are a communial (Marxist - Socialist) institution and share large resources among many people for little comparative cost.

Pirate trading networks for music, TV, movies, s/w, books, etc., are making more people more intelligent and more creative, which helps us all.

People should do what they love to do because that will not only be what makes them happy, but what provides the rest of us with the best possible "stuff."

This is the way everything will be once we grow up and stop being so egocentric and childishly greedy. It will take some time and be met with fierce resistance from the elites, but is where we are headed, if we survive.

Could an Eliot Spitzer comeback really happen? (Vanity Fair)

Eliot Spitzer is utterly brilliant and not only should be back in politics, but should be the President of the United States. If I could, I would throw Obama out and put him in (and I voted wholeheartedly for Obama.)

Spitzer is smarter than Obama, isn't naive and in bed with the bankers like Obama, is fairer minded, and has titanium ballls rather than just brass ones.

Its too bad some people give a rats asss about his sexx life. That's his business, NOT YOURS.

If you don't understand where I'm coming from, then just LISTEN to Spitzer talk for 15 min. He is amazingly intelligent, focused, articulate and in command of the facts, and its a real pleasure to realize that this guy's mind can really exist in a human body.

Looking at the Concept of MLPs for Dividend Growth Within Your Portfolio

I agree with the other posters here that this article is misleading and written by someone who knows not what they are talking about. Anyone who is interested in dividend investing should ignore it and due their own due diligence.

Pipeline MLPs and their General Partners, that are also MLPs, may be the best risk/reward long term investment the stock market offers. I recently put a mid six figure inheritance in MLPs exclusively. My portfolio yields 10.6% on the original investment and that yield will probably increase 10%/yr at a minimum. So next year it will be 11.7% then 12.9% etc. This effect of increasing dividends and reinvesting all of them, leads to the portfolio DOUBLING about every four years (not counting inflation, taxes, meltdowns, of course.)

After 9 mo. of research into the market, economics, the meltdown, etc., I am confident that as the tortoise in the race, I will beat the hare in the end with a steady, disciplined approach, that will leave the day traders, short term and medium term investors, in the dust.

Here is the best advice you will ever get from anyone on investing:

1) Think LONG TERM. How many more years will you be alive? I'm 63 and I could be alive another 25 or 30 years. Just about EVERYONE should think long term.

2) Think DIVIDENDS. Academic studies have shown div stock investing has always beat non div stock investing.

3) REINVEST as much of the div stream as possible (ALL if you can) right back into your portfolio.

4) Think MLPs. The superb tax advantages, the high dividends, the solid businesses, are irresistible and REAL.

These four points will make you rich if you do your DD and they will put a big smile on your face. Your future will be assured.

To get started, go here to see a color, graphical, real time (with Sliders - no need to enter numbers!) compound interest calculator, which will allow you to play with various scenarios like distribution rates, inflation, taxes etc.

personal.fidelity.com/...

Good luck!

Credit Cards: Do the Banks Own the Senate?

Its not the banks that are the problem, nor government, nor special interests, nor lobbyists, nor any group or anything else.

The actions of the above people and institutions are a SYMPTOM and not the cause of our biggest problem.

Our real problem, which is wholly insurmountable for the time being, is DNAIG:

DNA INFESTED GREED which infects all of us at the molecular level.

NANO technology may, if we are lucky, lead to a procedure which will cure us; but, there is no guarantee.

Otherwise, we are finished as a species. This poison, without an antidote, will be our end.

Why dividends matter: Historically, dividends are responsible for about half of the stock market's total return. Yet by 2000, their slice of the pie plunged to just 10%. Meager dividends could significantly delay any full recovery.

Cetin lives for feedback. If he doesn't get any, he'll stop posting. You guys keep him alive by giving him attention.

Inergy L.P.: An Income Investor's Must-Have

NRGY's dividend has been rising at almost an 11% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) for the last 7 yrs, which is excellent, but I wouldn't touch NRGY as an investment with a ten foot pole!

Why, you ask, since it is such a good investment?

Because BETTER than NRGY, is its General Partner, NRGP which has been raising its dividend at about a 34% CAGR !!!

Of course, this ridiculous rate will come down some in this environment, but in general, the General Partners of similar MLPs raise distributions much faster than their underlying LPs (Limited Partners.)

Quickly rising divs is the key to the best dividend growth strategy. Well...its actually the best stock investment strategy there is, period.

If you don't know that or don't believe me, then go to the URL below for a color, graphical, real time (with Sliders - no need to enter numbers!) compound interest calculator, which will allow you to play with various scenarios like distrbution rates, inflation, taxes etc., which shines as bright a light on why its far better to think long term, than not, as anything I have yet seen. Play with it for 15 min. and your investment outlook may turn 180 deg. Mine did and I'm 63.

personal.fidelity.com/...

How much longer do you think you will be alive? How much of that time will you be an investor? Is this figure not in the decades? Did the tortoise beat the hare to the finish line?

One serious problem we have on this planet is that most everyone thinks short term: individuals, institutions, businesses, governments. Think how things would be different today, if everyone had been thinking long term instead....

Good food for thought, IMHO.



Good luck!