Tom Wright

Commodity Price Inflation Is Inflation and Is Happening Now

Too many posters here are taking a snapshot of one segment of the economy and assuming that inflation is getting out of control whether that snapshot be gold/silver or oil etc. People are not spending, wages are not rising, home prices are continuing stagnant to declining while mortgage rates are rising and we have a long way to go before I am going to worry too much about inflation getting out of hand. It is a bit like watching a funny trailer from a movie and assuming the movie is the comedy of the year.

The Stock Market's Dilemma with Inflation

I would be wary of devoting too much to international investments until I had some idea of how much of American consumption has now (gasp!) turned into a desire to save. Can large economies (India and China) create enough internal demand for products to overcome their losses from America's reduction in purchases of their exports?

Six Ways to Cut Our Debt and Advance Obama's Agenda

Ponzi scheme my patoot! Social Security has always been clear on what it provides and the reason for its existence. I know my SSA went to support my parents (among others) who helped make this country what it is. I know my return is not the Madoff type of scam promises. A bigger scam would be to free marketize contributions and hope against hope, that when withdrawals are needed, the market has devastated the funds into which the contribution was put--yes devastated by the same snake oil salesmen who caused this current debacle.

Stewart vs. Cramer: A Cheap Shot

Cramer did not have to go on the Daily show. That he chose to do so without making sure some of his warnings were shown by Stewart is Cramer's problem not Jon's who claims to be nothing more than an entertainer. Both of these guys are bombastic but only one affects my pocketbook.

Will China Continue to Buy U.S. Debt?

The author claims no position and then takes the position that the Clintons are somehow personally profiting from peddling US debt to China. This type of article is not worth publishing as it is just a chance for the author to slam a political philosophy without giving us any real facts upon which to base economic decisions. Oh, and that was a wonderfully nasty jab at who shops at Wal Mart.

Starting the Geithner Resignation Pool

In regards Bernie Madoff, at least two people have committed suicide as a result of his illegal activites. Doesn't that at least qualify for some kind of homicide charge in that any reasonable person could foresee the results of his actions?

Starting the Geithner Resignation Pool

You cannot impeach a Senator or Congressman. And if you want to impeach a president, you should have started one administration ago when this was all coming to a head. And having the guys who oversaw this fiasco being put in charge of cleaning it up is the height of absurdity.
They should have been jailed for financial terrorism.

The Devil Is in the Bad Bank's Details

So if incompetent (corrupt?) management, which has already put the screws to the shareholders gets removed and shareholders lose a bit more, that is bad but as long as shareholders get their dividends on their preferred or common shares (regardless of the reduced price of those shares) it is perfectly fine to keep incompetence in place at the top. No wonder our system has become so messed up.

Adding Up the White House Pay Freeze

Well, that was about the most irrelevant article I have ever seen posted here. But remember, Rush said Obama probably raised their salaries substantially before he froze them although Rush admitted he could not prove that but of course when has he had to prove anything he spews over the airwaves.

Orwellian Finance: Is 1984 Happening in 2009?

Amen to much of what you have said. When we are more concerned about who will win in our fantasy leagues or video games than in why our leaders are pursuing certain agendas, we have indeed chosen ignorance as in "bliss." Unfortunately, that does not make us much different from the mass of people anywhere else in the world who truly believe they have little or no control over what their leaders do or plot or agree to and they are right in this belief.


On Jan 19 09:28 AM patio wrote:

> The real problem is very simple, it is us. We actually have, theoretically,
> a perfect democracy. Everyone gets to vote, we are free to rise as
> high as we can, live how and where we want, etc. we are all dealt
> different cards at birth, but truly have life. liberty, and the pursuit
> of happiness. Pursuit, not guarantee.
> We not only get to vote for the government we wish, but our dollars
> vote every day for the type of stores we want,programs we want, media
> we want, etc. Our malls, our towns, our movies, our everything is
> a reflection of the aggregate us. Decry fast food, the biased media,
> our obesity, our poor education, corrupt politiicans if you will-
> we could fix all of it overnight.
> But we in the aggragate have chosen ignorance( not stupidity, " ya
> can't fix stupid ). No, we can quote sports trivia, who Britney is
> screwing this week, who the Idol judge is, but don't have clue one
> about who our congressmen are, what they do, how it affects us.

>
> We spend more time grilling each candidate for a janitor job, than
> trying to understand where our trillions go. Sure, the game is set
> up to make us make us not want to know, but the information is readily
> available.
> The technolgy that Orwell feared could actually be the saviour, if
> we used it, We have instant access to every opinion imaginable on
> any topic. We can send e-mails to our congressmen. We can e-mail
> any media, and tell them clean up the bias, or we trun you off, and
> tell your sponsors sayonara.
> WE THE PEOPLE HAVE ALL THE POWER, IF WE ONLY CHOSE TO UNDERSTAND
> THE ISSUES AND USE THE POWER.
> But we in the aggregate chose ignorance, and all the various new
> opiates of the masses ( TV; sports; video games- anything but paying
> attention to how our trillions are mis-applied and stolen ).
> I have seen the enemy, and it is us.

Orwellian Finance: Is 1984 Happening in 2009?

While I have little doubt that excessive government programs do impede on the rights of much of the populace, I also have no doubt that left unchecked, a portion of that populace displays venality so destructive that it makes little difference whether it is government or individuals doing the harm. The Madoff, Abramoff, Enron and Worldcom cases are evidence of that. Further, how we can assume that unemployment would have somehow been much lower than it was if the New Deal programs had not existed is speculation given the situation that actually existed and using a 104 billion GDP 1929 figure instead show GDP was stagnant during the New Deal years is intellectually dishonest. A better figure would have been the 1933 figure at the start of the New Deal.

Government's Ponzi Scheme: 1000 Times Worse than Madoff's

At least I know where my SS money is going and why and in what totals and that it may not be enough in the future. This current Ponzi scheme had no such warnings or intentions except to make one man filthy rich and his buddies nearly as much so off others who admit they invested because they were GREEDY (and no, that is not good).

Canadian Royalty Trusts Will Never Return to Their Former Glory

The Canroys have already been hammered but some are spreading out internationally like Precision Drilling Trust which I understand is not technically a royalty trust but has a distribution stream that pays handsomely and has been making acquisitions (purchased Grey Wolf Drilling) to move out of almost exclusively Canadian drilling. I have ridden this down from the 20's and will continue to hold but it is frustrating as I had too much of my portfolio in various energy entities.


On Nov 24 06:57 AM apppro wrote:

> WOW! What a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG article that no one will read just
> to try and prove out his short posItion.

Global P&E Ratios and Dividend Yields

Aberdeen Australia fund (IAF), even with the potential of a distribution drop will still be yielding about 8-9% IMO and is an excellent vehicle for participation in Asian growth.