LJR

Banking Sector: Worst Is Yet to Come

It all makes me wonder what the economy will be like five years down the line.

Thanks for the fine article, Reggie!!!

Welcome to the New Normal

Interesting comment above about North Dakota, home of my mother's side of the family. What they must still have there is the old fashioned farm based economy. Where I live (South Pacific) we are 95% farm based, and it doesn't matter much what happens to the world economy, people just go about enjoying life.

I really liked this article, John - nicely and simply done for a simpleton like me!!!

I am in the process of opening a brokerage account to start to get back into a small amount of investing - don't need to, but I think it will add a bit of spice (hope not too much) - maybe I'm nuts!!!

Busting Yet Another Market Indicator Myth

Difficult to be a contrarian these days because there is a lot of bearish sentiment and a lot of bullish sentiment, so take your pick.

The Recovery Was Too Expensive

I'm not sure I can express this well, but it has seemed to me from the start of the latest crisis that the emphasis has been to return to the consumer based economy in place over the past decades, and this is a basic flaw in the system. In the original post to this thread, Chris says, in effect, that money could have been spent to improve our energy situation, our infrastructure needs, etc. Instead we are again wanting to bolster up the public's ability to spend, making easy credit again available, encouraging people to buy homes and cars through tax breaks, this sort of thing. And this bothers me since this is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place - too much reliance on the consumer aspects of the market. It is the idea of returning to a consumer based economy that seems to be a problem.

Well, of course there will always be a consumer segment, but the U.S. seems to waste a lot of energy and money in non-productive things such as consumerism and warfare. The lack of productivity is seen in the movement towards a purely service oriented economy. I would have liked to have seen this crisis start to put us on another track.

As always, many of the comments go together with the original article to make reading all this very worthwhile - thank you all.

Report from Europe for Friday, Sept. 4

As a followup to Bruce Krasting's comment above, there was an article in 'Science" years ago that said much the same thing, but in regard to world crises. It is the idea of a cumulative effect, where events build up and a small event can push things over the top. I personally don't feel any fear over this, just a sort of numbed waiting for the final shoe to fall. A lot of good people are working to prevent the shoe from falling, but then similarly good people probably had at least something to do with putting us into this situation in the first place.

If a finale comes, it will probably be when people try to make a mass exit following some final event, and at time when there is little to stem the flow. All sellers and few buyers. Maybe just pessimism though, lacking a little faith. We all hope for better days ahead.

Dollar Update: Inflation Forces Are Brewing

Large investors have all the tools at their disposal for quick exits; small investors like most of us simply don't. So the question becomes on of "is it worth it to try to keep up with the big guys?"

Yes there is a lot of caution shown in the above comments - seems reasonable to me.

Stay Away from AIG - Barron's

The idea of an 'exit strategy' interests me. Isn't AIG a case where the stock has been boosted up with the possibility of very low liquidity when everyone (big players especially) runs for the exit? I wouldn't want to be caught in the rush.

What Can Stop This Market Rally?

The comments in this thread are as good as the original article and very helpful to me. Thanks all! In summary, it is all pretty shaky, isn't it, and certainly no place for a small investor with little capital. But you see the large increase in AIG and it does tempt, doesn't it? I'll stick to minding my own (small) business with hopes that all of you who so kindly offer your thoughts here will come through relatively unscathed Good luck!

U.S. Economy: Everything Is Good, And the Bad Isn't Applicable

Very nice! I enjoy the wit!

High Frequency Trading: Goldman's $4 Billion Wildcard

"Time to put my money to work in my own business. Purchasing stock is a farce " - Warm_Paw

This is the course I decided years ago (15 or more years ago) because I realized I simply wasn't equipped to compete. .But in other forms, hasn't this same sort of thing been going on for years? Not a rhetorical question, as I don't know enough about it, but it seems to me that commodity traders use the same high frequency techniques, just maybe not so fast (minutes and hours instead of milliseconds). If I were to buy stocks, I would simply look for long termed quality - if one can find it, and I do think there is value out there. Let them play their games, in other words, but look to fundamentals on a long-termed basis, companies that produce needed and quality goods.

Just some thoughts in a rather interesting situation.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

You detract from your viewpoint by bowing out like this, Spectrulator. People who are into making money at the production end of things generally are not particularly concerned about the negative effects. Unfortunately that is left to those who regulate to handle, then there is a backlash against those who regulate. Both sides get up in arms over the issues and little gets done about them. You are correct, however, that there is a marked bias against those who want to try to do something about these real issues. SA does seem to be a bedrock of conservatism in a negative sense. But, again, that is to be expected, isn't it?

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Like your new photo, Rachael - but let us in on what you have to smile about! We need something to smile about too.

Nah, keep that sunny side up!

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Love the SA website no matter what is decided about the format. It is one link where the readers comments are often as significant as the original post. Unusual in that respect. But I'm not an investor, except in my own small business. I just enjoy "following the money" sometimes.

The Swiss government's approach is interesting, isn't it? I'm getting a little concerned over the 'Big Brother" aspect of governments. They seem to get involved in every aspect of our lives and it gets to be stifling, to say the least.

Bankruptcies of Large U.S. Corporations Soar

To my understanding, the word 'big' stands out. Big seems to be the culprit in that, for one thing, big can become inefficient, even though supposedly more efficient due to scale. Maybe it is the huge amount of waste that accompanies size. Maybe it is the arrogance. Underlying small businesses and small banks with efficient and careful management may be the answer - just hoping it isn't too late.

Book Review: The Guru Investor, by John P. Reese

Nicely done review. As a non-investor with only one real investment, my own business, and exploring this new world of the marketplace, a book like this would be useful. What has impressed me so far is just how complex and complicated the investment world is, so that, if I ever do get more involved in it, I would think that whatever can be done to simplify things, perhaps to the extent of specializing in just a small portion of the marketplace, would be the way to go. Books like this might help. The other option, I suppose, would be to invest in a basket or portfolio of stocks and just hope for the best.