Sailorman

Jim Rogers on the Next 10 Years

All of you have totally missed the boat!

The real issue is which language it easiest to communicate with and understand. English is by far superior to any other language in the world.

The Chinese have to assume they understand each other and that is why we end up with so many inferior products and mistakes. My Chinese broker taught himself English by watching movies and the Chinese subtitles. Could you do that with any other language?

Job Losses Are Not the Problem

What passions and talents do you have that you can be self employed? We need to learn to make it on our own and not blame or relly on some one else to solve our problems.


On Aug 30 01:35 PM Karen Consumer wrote:

> My current job is looking for a job. Today I start week 10, and
> I'm looking for a job that will pay $12 an hour, because no one is
> going to pay me $20.27 (which is what I was making), nor will they
> pay me $18, $16, or $14. $12 is what they are offering, and damn
> few of them are offering it.
>
> So far 98 applications/resumes, 1 (one) interview, and NO job offers.
> So inflation (job creators going nuts trying to hire me) is the least
> of my worries.
>
> And what other worthwhile things do you think I should be doing?
>
>
> Volunteering is out of the question, as that takes me away from my
> full time job hunt, and most of those positions have either been
> taken by people unemployed longer than me, or have gone away because
> donations are down and places have had to close their doors (Brighter
> Tomorrows, a women's abuse victim shelter is a specific example here
> in Texas, had 3 buildings, are now down to 2, even though help requests
> have doubled).
>
> Going to school is also limited. All I can afford is community college,
> which is already over capacity from all the unemployed who have been
> on the rolls longer than me, it counts against me if I do it during
> 8-5 business hours (because then I'm not able to look for work according
> to workforce rules), and books aren't covered by any loan program.
> So while I could afford $90 for a 3 credit hour, normally books run
> $200-$500 per that same credit hour (and those are the used prices,
> which there are very few used books out there). And getting the
> state to pay for training is a no go, my friend E has been trying
> to get state paid training (she's having to leave computers all together
> and is going for nursing) but the state and the feds are still working
> on the release of funds (4 months and counting).
>
> So I pray and hit the job boards. And hope that the government slows
> down the 'screw the american people, save the too-big-to-fail banks/financial
> institutions and make a legacy Obama can be proud to have changed'
> mentality.

Cramer's Stop Trading! Citigroup Is Red Hot (8/11/09)

All you have to do is open your eyes and see all the empty buildings and you can tell how commercial real estate is! Down the tubes!

BP Scientist: Ethanol Easier than Biodiesel

What is your definition of biodiesel and ethanol?

From my knowledge of biodiesel one can grow much more, faster, using waste water, in less space than one could ever grow corn or soybeans. So this does not make any sense to me. Google Algae fuels and find out.

Why did Exon just make an investment in biodiesel?

As Earnings Are Upon Us, Some Goldman Thoughts

You don't call this Outrageous

But first, I want to direct the attention of those in the US finance industry to a white paper written by Themis Trading, called "Toxic Equity Trading Order Flow on Wall Street." Basically, they outline why volume and volatility have jumped so much since 2007; and it's not due to the credit crisis. They estimate that 70% of the volume in today's markets is from high-frequency program trading. They outline how large brokers and funds can buy and sell a stock for the same price and still make 0.5 cents. Do that a million times a day and the money adds up. Or maybe do it 8 billion times. It requires powerful computers, complicity of the exchanges (because the exchanges get paid a lot), and highly proximate computer connections. Literally, the need for speed is so important that to play this game you have to have your servers physically at the exchange. Across the river in New Jersey is too slow. Forget Texas or California. This is a game played out in microseconds.

The retail world doesn't get to play. This is a game only for big boys who can afford to pay for the "arms" needed to fight this war. But the rest of us pay for the game, as that half cent is like a tax on transactions, not to mention the increased daily volatility, which skews pricing. Think it doesn't affect you? That "tax" is paid by mutual funds, your pension fund, and every large institution.

Frankly, this is outrageous. The more I read the madder I got. And it is going to get worse as computers get faster and software more intelligent. We need rules to level the playing field. Themis suggests one simple one: just make it a rule that all bids have to be good for at least one second. That would cure a lot of problems. One lousy second! In a world of microseconds, that is an eternity.

Goldman Sachs went after an employee who stole some of their latest and greatest software this last week. The US assistant attorney general said in the courtroom that the software had the potential to manipulate the market. Imagine that. I am shocked. There is gambling going on in the back room? Gee, commissioner, I had no idea.

All this "algo" (algorithmic) trading also gives a very false impression of volume. If you are a fund and see 10 million shares a day traded, you might feel comfortable that you could hold one million shares and exit your trade easily. But if 80% of the volume is false "algo" trading, that volume isn't really there. You may have a position that will be a problem if you want to exit, and not know it.

"High-frequency trading strategies have become a stealth tax on retail and institutional investors. While stock prices will probably go where they would have gone anyway, toxic trading takes money from real investors and gives it to the high frequency trader who has the best computer. The exchanges, ECNs and high frequency traders are slowly bleeding investors, causing their transaction costs to rise, and the investors don't even know it." (Themis Trading)

We are literally talking billions of dollars here. The SEC needs to step in and stop this, and soon. This is a lot more important than the salaries of investment professionals, for which the Obama administration today suggested new rules, which would allow the SEC to oversee salaries at member firms. Seriously? They don't have enough to do already?

The link to the white paper is www.themistrading.com/.... Themis Trading is at www.themistrading.com/.

Read the paper. Then, if you like, drop the very nice folks at the SEC your thoughts at tradingandmarkets@sec....

Forget Green Shoots: These Are the Brown Shoots Turning Black

Bush/Cheney were not smoke and no mirrors while they caused the mess!


On Jul 11 09:14 AM dcb wrote:

> Barak, the smoke and mirrors president, was taken to task for pointing
> out economic realities by the media and wall street, and for making
> us unhappy. With a bit of pressure he changed his tune, like he always
> does, and "green shoots". Well after a certain amount of time you
> can only talk about things getting better when they aren't, and you
> can only coddle wall street without doing anything for the economy
> before the public starts to realize.
>
> Now they have wasted trillions bailing out banks that should not
> have, and we are talking about a second stimulus and that things
> aren't getting better. When you do not address the cause of the problem,
> things don't get better, and they end up costing more in the long
> run. Now we are faced with a worse fiscal situation and have wasted
> trillions.

Cramer's Mad Money - It's the Economy, Obama! (7/8/09)

I didn't write this, but I could not have done it better. Cramer you are all wet and need to consider the investor not the system!

We the consumer are being ripped off by the banks, insurance companies, wall street, the health care and oil industries.

Dear Goldman Sachs,

I finally figured out how to prevent you from skimming more of my hard- earned money with your automated trading programs, armies of MIT math PhDs, and connections at the highest levels of world governments.

I took all my money out of the market.

I did a Sarah Palin - I just f'ing quit, is all.

I'm not going to try to beat you. I'm not going to try to co-exist with you, because I know it can't be done. It is impossible for any retail/small/individual investor to get a fair shake in a system where your software programs chug along all day figuring out how to take a penny here, a dollar there, half an account over in the other place. You win. You cannot be beaten. You are the perfect confluence of technology, accumluation of capital, financial innovation, corporate- government partnership, and a complete void of public or community interest. You are a vampire that cannot be killed or stopped.

So, just take it all from the remaining handful of people who are still trying to so-called "invest", and then go pay it all out in bonuses. I am in CDs, with a handful of options for fun. You drove me out of the market. I will never be back. Far as I'm concerned, you can corner every last cent of every last still-extant investor and then buy an island or a whole continent or something with the profits.

Just don't expect me to be back to play again in 2010 or 2015 or 2020. I'm out for good. Your business model is cannibalizing itself. You will be gone in 20 years because there will be no one left to skim. The last person will hand over the last share to you. Your computer program will identify one last peso sitting in some corner of some bar in Manila, and then you will execute a tricky trade to scoop it up at 1/10th of true value, and then there will be nothing left for you to do.

Ridiculous Attack on Oil Speculators

After seeing where oil has been and what happened to electricity a few years back there is a definite need to control the speculating. It is so pleasant to live in Mexico where all gas stations charge the same price. I do not get upset from day to day or gas station to gas station feeling I am being ripped off or that I missed a bargain.

Why 'Cash for Clunkers' Is a Bad Idea

You can't because the clunker has to be 25 years old. Than means it has to be a 1985 or older car. Sorry! I do not see where this will be of very much use, but it will be good to get those off the road. Also anyone driving a car that old probably cannot afford a new car.


On Jun 28 09:25 AM yellowhoard wrote:

> I looked into the cash for clunker bill yesterday.
>
> The car must be in operable condition and have been insured for a
> year and titled to one person.
>
> I'm going to trade my son's 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee in for a new
> Malibu.
>
> $4500 for the Jeep
> $2000 GM card savings
> $1000 GM loyalty because I bought my daughter a GM 2 years ago<br/>$2500
> rebate on all Malibus
>
> That's $10,000 off on the $21,000 Malibu before I even start my negotiations.
>
>
> I'm thinking of offering around $17,000.
>
> It's possible that I can get my son a new car for about $7000.

Oil ETFs: Texas Tea or Empty Well?

I say the SEC neeeds to look into all these fancy EFT's and the manipulation of the facts and the markets. They are not what they are propsed to be.

The buyer needs to be more beware!

I own OIL and USO and SRS and am not happy with their performance!

What's Really Wrong with Wall Street

Jon Stewart hit the nail on the head the other night talking about long term investors and 401k's and the short mentality of the current market investors. Puts and Calls need to be eliminated and stocks need to be held for longer periods. I one want to gamble go to Vegas or one of the many casinos around the dountry. Why should they get to play off our 401k's and long term retirement investments?


On Mar 22 09:40 AM jvdplate wrote:

> What's very wrong in this market is that it no longer offers anything
> of worth to investors. Traders, with megabucks in programs that
> move the market in drastic short-lived spasms, make any position
> lasting more than a few weeks "long-term." This is, of course, ridiculous.
>
>
> For the markets to function as they ought in a capitalist world,
> investors should out-number short-term traders by a considerable
> margin. Otherwise, what you end up with is a house of cards which,
> like the housing market, will be driven to radical extremes based
> on the effects of those moves rather than the causes of those moves.
>
>
> I'd like to hear at least a couple of our politicians get serious
> about regulating our capital markets in a whole new way - a way which
> would make the markets an inviting place for investors. This will
> take "out-of-the-box" thinking, which does not get the job done if
> re-election is goal. I guess it won't happen.
>
> Back to day trading.

E*Trade: A Bet Worth Making

I am a customer and love their trading plafform and the real time trading program. Also enjoy the the banking services!

How dare Citi say anything about anybody else! It's like the pot calling the kettle black. They have absolutely no romm to comment on anybody and anything.

Friday's Relief Rally

Now you are all wet " Obama a bear market president" and "a good coach never tells the palyers their not going to win the game"! He is not telling us we will not win the game! He is giving us a dose of reality that we need to make some drastic changes and thst it is going to be long and painful after the binge we have been on.

Besides who ever said the economy was a game? Get real!

7 Signs of an Economic Bottom

We will not reach bottom until the revise the whole of investing and elimnate the speculation and gambling. Why should anyone risk their hard earned cash in these foolish markets that are being manipulated by the big funds?

This is not investing in our future!

Fixing the Economic Crisis in Six Easy Steps

Bush, Paulson, Bernake all stepped in to save their buddies from bankruptcy court. That is the only real way to end this mess and solve the issue of valuing the assets for what they are worth. Then the world can start over.

The new rules of the game need to be established first, because the old rules have not worked.

We need to get the whole world into long term investing and stop this day trading casino. Only long term investments give the secure platform for the world's econmies to thrive on!