driftwood2

Values Have Dropped Less than 25% of the Fall Required to Reach Trend Status

House prices have fallen by WAY more than 6%. This data is BS.

One Outlier to Another: The Market's Now at an Extreme

This line of reasoning makes no sense. If the market goes through an extreme event, it's more likely to go through another extreme event to revert to the mean. So and extreme is to be expected following the first extreme.

Dollar Bear Trade Looks Dangerously Crowded

Good catch on the divergence.

Is India's Stock Market Building Another Bubble?

Commas. Learn them. Love them.

Citadel's E*Trade Stake: The Selling Continues

What is with you guys? The author's point is obvious. ETFC sucks and Citadel is selling. Are you paid spammers or something?

Next Up: Dow 10,000? Does Anyone Care?

For precisely the reasons you state, the dow isn't a very a useful index. It's ridiculous that it gets higher billing that the s&p500 or the Wilshire 5000.

Will Regulation Hobble Capitalism?

Having been in various industries I can tell you that regulations have a very significant cost. However, regulation in the financial industry is entirely warranted in my opinion because history has shown the tremendous cost of not doing so. Also, it really seems to me that 80% of the "innovation" in the financial industry is actually new ways to swindle people or print money rather than anything that actually produces anything of real value. Preventing most of the "innovation" in the financial industry will only increase GDP.

S&P Lists RMBS Facing Downgrades Based on Revised Criteria

Isn't this the sort of thing that set off the subprime meltdown to begin with back in 2007? I supposed the only thing making this markdown get as little attention as it is is the fact that so few rmbs securities were created in 2008.

Productivity Increases During Recessions Are Bad News

Productivity increases because the least immediately useful parts of the workforce are the first to be laid off. However, some of this workforce was working on various forms of business expansion which doesn't yield immediate gains but does yield gains eventually. There's a price to pay down the road. Right now, we're at the tail end of this recession. Technically, I believe the recession is over although there are still problems of course.

What's Really Going on With Foreclosures?

Although there is certainly a backlog of foreclosures that is holding up property from appearing on the market, I do not think that is the only thing going on. There is definitely some sort of hoarding or delaying going on. In the summer of 2008, a HUGE number of subprime foreclosures suddenly appeared in my market. I was looking for a house at the time and still am. Now, most of those houses have sold and there are much fewer foreclosures available. There has not been a huge number of new foreclosures to replace those earlier foreclosures.

Chevy Volt: How It Stacks Up

Personally, I don't think the first versions of these products are going to be big sellers. They're trailblazer products that will be the future of automaking. Electric vehicles will need a better battery to be viable. Lithium phosphate will deliver that I believe and it is waiting in the wings. A little more development and it will be ready for prime time. It's already used in some fancy power tools.

How PHEVs and EVs Will Sabotage America's Drive for Energy Independence

Not making 1 volt will not allow 10 priuses to be built. Lithium ion batteries are NOT a scarce resource. OIL is a scarce resource. Lithium mines are few as of now but lithium is the third most abundant element in the universe. It's also much more abundant in the crust of the earth than oil is and can be recycled unlike oil. (~20ppm vs 100ppt)

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

This is bunk since reports are that the program has already met it's target in a few days rather than a few months.

Why Apple's iTouch Tablet Will Become Its Flagship Product

I think you are correct.

Is Investing Legend David Winters Betting on Another Crash?

I think there are real dangers that will be forthcoming from eastern europe and from the domestic real estate situation. Option arms and alt-a will be a continuing drag on banks. Credit expansion has been a critical driving force behind most economic recoveries but it is very weak this cycle because our problems originated in the credit sector to begin with. Another crash or a long grind down is very possible.