"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" is what made the U.S. what it is today. The indignation the U.S. feels towards Hispanic immigrants today isn't any different than how we treated Irish immigrants 100 years ago.
Education and money can be acquired. The initiative needed to leave your current life behind, and search for a better one can't be. Granted our entitlement programs are broken. However, they need fixing regardless of how many recipients hail from Dayton, Ohio, or Mexicali.
Keeping our government cheese to ourselves is a poor argument against cutting off what has always been America's lifeblood, waves of immigrants in search of a better life.
Global investors don't believe the U.S. can meaningfully cut its huge budget deficit without raising taxes and are not confident the issue will be resolved any time soon, a Bloomberg poll says. Investors around the world were evenly split on whether Democrats or Republicans would best solve the problem; in the U.S., respondents leaned heavily toward the Republican plan. [View news story]
Hmph. Translating this line from the aritcle: "Global investors are unimpressed with U.S. Congress members from either the Democratic or Republican parties." ...as "evenly split on whether Democrats or Republicans would best solve the problem" is a bit inaccurate.
I think global investors know the problem won't be addressed by either party.
Seeking Alpha as a Predictor of Stock Movements and Earnings Surprises [View article]
That's disturbing. I love the editor's picks, and definitely noticed when they were removed from the front page.
I would love to see more articles on technical and fundamental techniques that contributers actually use to screen stocks. There's a place for instant news alerts here, but if Seeking Alpha gets transformed into just an endless list of stock-touts, I'll lose interest in it quickly.
It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned For U.S. And U.K. Depositors [View article]
He's a Federalist, neither conservative, nor liberal so there was never any betrayal. In any case that allows him to expand the reach of the Federal government over the states, he will rule against the states. It doesn't matter whether the case is about euthanasia, mandatory healthcare, or a bimbo seeking her billionaire boyfriend's estate.
Marvell Lawsuit: Don't Worry, It Gets Worse [View article]
"Particularly damaging was Marvell code and simulations introduced into evidence that were named after the CMU professors who authored the patents."
That is hilarious! ...and likely a big part of the reason for CMU getting everything they asked for. Outrageous actions tend to result in outrageous damages.
Surviving And Prospering Over The Next 4 Years Of Economic Darkness [View article]
I don't know. Bloomberg puts the amount of liquidity the Fed provided during the financial crisis at $7.77 trillion, after winning a FOIA court battle that member banks tried fighting all the way to the Supreme Court. http://bloom.bg/tzxuS0
The GAO audit puts the number at $16 trillion.
Either way, it's pretty hard not to be able to pay off your TARP obligations when the FED is throwing that kind of money your way off the books.
When real estate prices declined 40%, and mortgage debt outstanding barely moved, that represented another $4 or $5 trillion of consumer wealth redistributed to lenders.
I don't disagree with your conclusions regarding Obama, nor that the fiscal cliff battle is going to be a rocky ride. However, I don't believe he's handling this mess any differently than Bush was, or Romney would have. I'm just annoyed Gary Johnson put in such a pathetic showing.
Why Oil Prices Are Killing The Economy [View article]
Don't forget businesses. When oil spikes as it did in 2008, a lot of profitable business models become no longer viable, and affected companies shut down. A reversion in prices doesn't cause all those failed businesses to suddenly spring back into existance.
Debunking Dividend Agnostic Assumptions: Here's What Really Makes Income Investors Tick [View article]
It's been 0% for the past 12 years only if you don't adjust for inflation. Likewise for VTSMX, so quibbling on the benchmark used doesn't seem very productive. $100k invested in either would today be worth less than $65k after adjusting based on the CPI, ouch!
That's the thing. Investors have been thoroughly disabused of the notion that buy and hold works. I don't think we'll see any real growth, rather than just random volatility until we get another internet, or internal combustion engine cutting the cost of doing business across all sectors.
When it comes to buying dividend growth stocks when the yield on cost is attractive, the biggest question should be did the stock price tank because the company has new real risks, or did it nose dive because investors are yanking all their money out of the casino, and all stocks good and bad are getting hammered?
The Dark Side of the OECD Oil Inventory Release [View article]
The msnbc is reporting this move was deliberately aimed at chasing speculators out of the oil market, and is quoting some analyst at Oppenheimer stating that this is just the warning shot over the bow.
As for the impact, well global consumption is at its lowest point in 2011. Betting prices will rise in the face of declining demand is a suckers bet anyway.
Weighing the Week Ahead: Any Bottom in Housing? [View article]
Well, home prices are down on a rising volume of existing home sales, led by distressed properties purchased as rentals. While that bodes ill for home prices in the near-term, on the plus side it indicates that we are now beginning to clear out existing inventory, rather than piling on more.
This could easily turn into a downward spiral. As more rentals come on the market, rents fall, putting even further downward pressure on prices, lowering the entry price for investing in distressed properties.
So I'd say if current price/sales trends continue, we could actually see a bottom soon, but with a final major leg down in prices still to come.
How Obamacare Could Harm Growth In 2014, Part II [View article]
I think the loss of doctors issue might be far worse than what the editorial is expecting, but in a stealthly way.
While Medicare costs per item are lower than what private insurers pay, Medicare costs per capita are far higher. The reason for the disparity is that while honest providers can't make a profit on Medicare, overbillers make a fortune. So while we may lose a lot of doctors, at least we'll keep all the dishonest ones.
Dead Company Walking: 5 Reasons BlackBerry 10 Marks The End [View article]
America's 'Trente Glorieuses'? [View article]
Education and money can be acquired. The initiative needed to leave your current life behind, and search for a better one can't be. Granted our entitlement programs are broken. However, they need fixing regardless of how many recipients hail from Dayton, Ohio, or Mexicali.
Keeping our government cheese to ourselves is a poor argument against cutting off what has always been America's lifeblood, waves of immigrants in search of a better life.
Is Deflation Exactly What Every U.S. Household Needs? [View article]
Global investors don't believe the U.S. can meaningfully cut its huge budget deficit without raising taxes and are not confident the issue will be resolved any time soon, a Bloomberg poll says. Investors around the world were evenly split on whether Democrats or Republicans would best solve the problem; in the U.S., respondents leaned heavily toward the Republican plan. [View news story]
Translating this line from the aritcle:
"Global investors are unimpressed with U.S. Congress members from either the Democratic or Republican parties."
...as "evenly split on whether Democrats or Republicans would best solve the problem" is a bit inaccurate.
I think global investors know the problem won't be addressed by either party.
Seeking Alpha as a Predictor of Stock Movements and Earnings Surprises [View article]
I would love to see more articles on technical and fundamental techniques that contributers actually use to screen stocks. There's a place for instant news alerts here, but if Seeking Alpha gets transformed into just an endless list of stock-touts, I'll lose interest in it quickly.
Gold's Crash, Europe's Woes Signal Global Decline: Companies To Watch [View article]
You realize you are essentially advocating giving the BRICS a euro right?
I'm not saying it's a bad idea, however Europe proves that when things get tough, the central banks get busy.
It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned For U.S. And U.K. Depositors [View article]
The Stagnation Behind The Excellent Jobs Report [View article]
Marvell Lawsuit: Don't Worry, It Gets Worse [View article]
That is hilarious!
...and likely a big part of the reason for CMU getting everything they asked for. Outrageous actions tend to result in outrageous damages.
Surviving And Prospering Over The Next 4 Years Of Economic Darkness [View article]
The GAO audit puts the number at $16 trillion.
Either way, it's pretty hard not to be able to pay off your TARP obligations when the FED is throwing that kind of money your way off the books.
When real estate prices declined 40%, and mortgage debt outstanding barely moved, that represented another $4 or $5 trillion of consumer wealth redistributed to lenders.
I don't disagree with your conclusions regarding Obama, nor that the fiscal cliff battle is going to be a rocky ride. However, I don't believe he's handling this mess any differently than Bush was, or Romney would have. I'm just annoyed Gary Johnson put in such a pathetic showing.
Why Oil Prices Are Killing The Economy [View article]
Debunking Dividend Agnostic Assumptions: Here's What Really Makes Income Investors Tick [View article]
That's the thing. Investors have been thoroughly disabused of the notion that buy and hold works. I don't think we'll see any real growth, rather than just random volatility until we get another internet, or internal combustion engine cutting the cost of doing business across all sectors.
When it comes to buying dividend growth stocks when the yield on cost is attractive, the biggest question should be did the stock price tank because the company has new real risks, or did it nose dive because investors are yanking all their money out of the casino, and all stocks good and bad are getting hammered?
The Dark Side of the OECD Oil Inventory Release [View article]
IEA nations have 1.6 billion barrels more where that came from.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4.../
As for the impact, well global consumption is at its lowest point in 2011. Betting prices will rise in the face of declining demand is a suckers bet anyway.
www.eia.gov/emeu/steo/...
Weighing the Week Ahead: Any Bottom in Housing? [View article]
www.calculatedriskblog...
This could easily turn into a downward spiral. As more rentals come on the market, rents fall, putting even further downward pressure on prices, lowering the entry price for investing in distressed properties.
So I'd say if current price/sales trends continue, we could actually see a bottom soon, but with a final major leg down in prices still to come.
How Obamacare Could Harm Growth In 2014, Part II [View article]
While Medicare costs per item are lower than what private insurers pay, Medicare costs per capita are far higher. The reason for the disparity is that while honest providers can't make a profit on Medicare, overbillers make a fortune. So while we may lose a lot of doctors, at least we'll keep all the dishonest ones.