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Cramer's Mad Money - Fatal Assumptions (11/11/08)

Learn to use hyphens, as well as ordinary adverb clauses or phrases, properly placed. I gave up on trying to read this article as I tried to make sense of its opening sentence. Glancing at the rest, I saw, for example, "Cramer thinks all other tanker companies . . . would invest only in Nordic American." Learn to place verb phrases in the same clauses as their subjects; learn parallel structure: Cramer thinks THAT all other tanker companies are risky, SO he would invest only in Nordic American. He added THAT Nordic is levered to tanker prices and not to crude oil prices." Cramer has literacy skills--he writes clear standard English--and literacy skills inspire readers' trust in writers. You should try to acquire that set of skills before publishing your thoughts.

There Is a Better Way Than the Bailout

". . . about 100 feet to your left"--yeah, but some of us are further left from there and still moving. I'd like to understand how those short puts work because I do not see anything replacing the stock market as a source of capital development in the foreseeable future. What could replace it--real estate?--Huh. So those of us who have just plodded through with worrisome long positions need to get smarter fast.

When Will America's Financial Leaders Stop Deceiving Us?

Thank you, Mr. Cara, for having the moral courage to "say it straight out." Perhaps, as a result of people speaking out in words like yours, fewer Americans will go to the polls in November to vote their trust in those who try to sustain illusions and ideology. Perhaps a few die-hards will finally see the need for regulation--serious oversight--of Wall Street and the capital markets. Perhaps eventually we will find a way to build rational restraints into a free-market system so that it can work for all of us. The audience you most need to reach is the baby-boomers who are trying to plan for retirement. The massive financial failures of these months will wipe out many a well-laid plan and, I hope, send some angry people to the polls:

"What is wrong with America – the greed and gluttony of Wall Street and Washington insiders – will look like smack-mouth football in the next month, and the central characters behind it won’t give a damn. This is wrong – they know it; you know it."

"The fact there is nothing you can do about it – to the detriment of your children and their children – is a tragedy. The decisions made in September and October by your elected representatives – societal leeches of the highest order -- will steal the wealth created by a whole generation of Americans."

Euroseas: A High Dividend Dry Shipper

I too own Euroseas. I have been impressed by its fundamentals in comparison to its peers. ESEA is outstanding in everything except price strength relative to others. But in this kind of market, maybe we should also pay attention to market caps and debt ratios. Frontline's debt is high in relation to its peers, but is it high in relation to other companies with $4 billion or higher market cap? Its dividend payout varies unpredictably from quarter to quarter. Although Euroseas' dividend seems reliable and the company raises the dividend regularly, some people say that your dividend portfolio should have only $10 billion-market-cap-or-... stocks. All things considered, I'm not ready to sell ESEA and buy more FRO right now. I'll wait to see what happens if ESEA brings in another good quarter.

Allied Irish Banks: With 9% Dividend, This Bank Could Thrive

Many thanks to the article's author for the clear explanation of AIB's dividend structure. Now I understand why the dividend amount listed on financial web sites for this stock does not match AIB's announcements--the discrepancies are not just a matter of varying currency conversion rates. (And you can't find the same yield for AIB listed on any two financial sites!) AIB is my only long-term investment because the numbers tell me that the share price will eventually rise and because, as the author demonstrates, the generous dividends are safe for the foreseeable future. I too like AIB management's candor about current problems and conservative outlook for the rest of the year. The only troubling comment in the article, and it's right I think, is that much of AIB revenues come from construction loans, and construction is plummeting in Ireland right now. So I'll watch the stock while I continue to add to the position. Great article! I wish that info with this depth and clarity were available on my other positions!