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  • The Greatest Depression Is Coming [View article]
    Spot on. So clear, yet grasped by so few. William Pfaff, journalist, wrote a prescient article during the G.H. Bush administration titled
    "The Pauperization of the American Workforce." (Still available in his archives.) Here we are.


    On Oct 17 07:32 AM LilBob wrote:

    > To me this is fear mongering, brought on by a lack of willingness
    > to understand what's really going on in the economy. During the Bush
    > administration we had an increase in the concentration of capital
    > in the hands of the wealthiest Americans, just like we saw in this
    > country during the "Robber Baron" age from roughly 1895 to the early
    > 1930s. In a capitalist economy, there are two kinds of capital: investor
    > capital and consumer capital-we can also refer to these two types
    > of capital as supply capital and demand capital. When capital becomes
    > too highly concentrated in the hands of investors while working class
    > wages stagnate, we end up with a situation where sales decline generally
    > while new more aggressive investment schemes are fabricated to create
    > the illusion of increasing wealth for the investment class. The only
    > solution to this problem is for social phenomenon that increase consumer
    > capital-restore the consumer base-thereby making it possible for
    > businesses to keep their doors open. The reason we are in a recession
    > is because of several years of misperception on the part of the American
    > public-people believed that their wealth was increasing and loaded
    > up on debt when their actual wealth-as measured in wages and ability
    > (from say, job benefits) to access critical services (such as health
    > care) was in steep decline.
    >
    > As long as there is a willingness to accept the reality of our situation,
    > and to address the underlying root causes of the predicament, then
    > any disaster may be averted.
    Oct 23 08:06 am |Rating: +1 -2 |Link to Comment
  • More Bad News Bears / Banks [View article]
    So now subprime borrowers are buying banks. Subprimomania
    continues. U.S. workers have been pauperized over the past 28 years. Our society can no longer sustain what it did in the past.
    Aug 28 05:31 am |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment
  • 7 Cash Rich Stocks Offering Stingy Dividends [View article]
    Franklin resources returned $1,000,000 for every $1,000 invested
    during an 18 year period for the great '80's - '90's bull market. It was the most successful stock of those years. It is far better to let them handle the money than to pass out a few paltry dollars here and there. Put ten or twenty shares in your Roth IRA, reinvest those small dividends, let Franklin do what it does best and you should have a wonderful return in twenty five years.
    Aug 27 09:23 am |Rating: +2 -1 |Link to Comment
  • John Hussman: Fundamental Difficulties Have Deep Roots  [View article]
    Let's not forget Felix Zulauf, Barron's Roundtable, who expected in his yearly prediction, for the Dow to go to about 9,000 and then down to 4,000. His thoughts have been haunting me since January.
    Aug 04 10:29 am |Rating: +2 0 |Link to Comment
  • How About Sears Holdings as a REIT? [View article]
    When Citi raised credit card rates on their former Sears Card to outrageous numbers, many of us closed our accounts.
    American business is so corrupt. We have to act like decent citizens, even though we are not treated as such. Preserve cash. Force
    deflation. Refuse hype.
    Jul 02 10:18 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment
  • Global Markets in Review: Think Rationally Ahead [View article]
    The largest socialized institution in America is the Military.
    A little socialism leavens the whole bread.
    Apr 29 11:08 am |Rating: 0 -1 |Link to Comment
  • Canadian Energy Trusts: The Best Long Term Income and Dollar Hedge? [View article]
    ETF DHG holds some of these trusts. Good dividend, good discount,
    sad history. It may revive handsomely someday. If you close your eyes and like getting paid (something) to wait, take a look at DHG.
    Mar 27 11:57 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment
  • Cramer's Stop Trading! Bull Run (3/23/09) [View article]
    Franklin Resources - symbol BEN - turned a $1,000 investment into $1,000,000 over an 18 year period during the great bull market of the '80's - '90's. And that was before they had gone into China and India. It was the most successful stock at that time period. Putting 5-10 shares in a Roth Ira, reinvesting dividends, not looking at it for the next 20 to 30 years, not worrying, might provide a very interesting lump sum at retirement. "Many a mickle can make a muckle." (Old North Yorkshire saying coined by Joseph Addison during a financially bleak period.)
    Mar 24 10:23 am |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment
  • Markets Soar as President's Aura Fades [View article]
    Obama will always be a breath of fresh air when we think
    of the destructive, anti-intellectual, anti-good government, pro-nonsense Republican years. All we ever heard from the "aren't we wonderful crowd" was..."aren't we wonderful." Sadly, the economy and the markets
    worldwide - could not disagree more.
    Mar 13 18:24 pm |Rating: +11 -16 |Link to Comment
  • The Bubble of Uncertainty Is About to Burst [View article]
    It only took Republican politicians and non-governance 28 years to
    destroy our economy and society. So bad, in fact, that even Lincoln Club members (stalwart conservatives in Orange County, CA) voted for Obama. Downward spiraling wages for working citizens, unaffordable housing for workers, userous credit rates, "lazy fairy" economics, McMansions being built instead of comfortable, safe housing for the masses, relaxation of health protection policies, lax gun control, lax border control, the rise of "Ineptomania" personified by Rush Limbaugh - the pied piper of the uninformed.

    Patience is the third dimension we must learn to live in.
    Mar 06 09:40 am |Rating: +18 -29 |Link to Comment
  • Doug Casey: What to Do in 'The Greater Depression' [View article]
    And by the way - the upward spiral in oil began TWO WEEKS after
    Bush's first inauguration and ended four months before the end of his
    second term.
    Feb 27 01:49 am |Rating: +1 -2 |Link to Comment
  • Doug Casey: What to Do in 'The Greater Depression' [View article]
    This is rediculous. The Republicans dusted off the "Lazy Fairy" when
    Reagan came in 28 years ago. Unions were busted, wages spiraled downward for the next 28 years, healthcare was never reigned in and every wronghead decision for the American economy and society was made under the Republican umbrella. Businessmen forgot who bought their widgets as the American workforce was pauperized.

    In one of the great books on The Depression (Wm. Shier (?) - wealthy folks in that era were surprised to find that even they could not make money. No one had any money to buy stuff. So the great lesson for everyone is that poverty benefits no one. FDR's policies kept us going
    for the past 65 years, but finally they could no longer balance the follies of our Republican handlers.
    Feb 27 01:44 am |Rating: 0 -3 |Link to Comment
  • Doug Casey: What to Do in 'The Greater Depression' [View article]
    This is rediculous. The Republicans dusted off the "Lazy Fairy" when
    Reagan came in 28 years ago. Unions were busted, wages spiraled downward for the next 28 years, healthcare was never reigned in and every wronghead decision for the American economy and society was made under the Republican umbrella. Businessmen forgot who bought their widgets as the American workforce was pauperized.

    In one of the great books on The Depression (Wm. Shier (?) - wealthy folks in that era were surprised to find that even they could not make money. No one had any money to buy stuff. So the great lesson for everyone is that poverty benefits no one. FDR's policies kept us going
    for the past 65 years, but finally they could no longer balance the follies of our Republican handlers.
    Feb 27 01:44 am |Rating: +3 -1 |Link to Comment
  • Ford a Likely Survivor of the Auto Industry Crisis [View article]
    Ford has those wonderful trucks - from 150's to the huge tow trucks - plus police cars and terrific small trucks for businesses and cars for the rental industry. Their styles are picking up. I am seeing more and more of their small trucks in our neighborhood. They are on the right page with alternative energy vehicles.

    Years ago, Grandfather ran into Henry Ford while walking in Manhattan. Ford asked him if he would like to put $1,000 into a car manufacturing company he was starting. Coulda, shoulda. Ford is cheap today.
    Feb 17 11:09 am |Rating: +1 -3 |Link to Comment
  • Does Obama's Stimulus Plan Pass the 'Prudent Person' Test? [View article]
    Dear Poor Dude:

    We have been borrowing to live since the 80's. That is why David Stockman got in hot water for questioning Reagonomics.

    Sincerely, Poor Dudess


    On Feb 07 07:05 PM Poor Dude wrote:

    > America has become a subprime borrower. In light of what has happened
    > to everybody with real estate, who is going to lend to us? Not being
    > a student of world finance, I'm not sure what happens when a country
    > that must borrow to live can no longer borrow. But I suspect it's
    > not pretty for its citizens. How do we protect ourselves? Buy gold?
    Feb 07 20:29 pm |Rating: +1 -2 |Link to Comment
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