Living Off Dividends

Money Supply: The Myth of Hyperinflation

i agree - we'll see a long period of high inflation - but what's wrong with stocking the things you mentioned?

Cash-for-Clunkers: Another Inane Economic Policy

I just posted a good satire on this last night:
livingoffdividends.com.../

The Dollar's Tipping Point

great advice. I've been stocking up on physical gold as well.

Book Review: Mobs, Messiahs and Markets

the book came out last year before the market crashed. I was supposed to review it 6 months ago, but I've been slacking!

How to Explain Fiat Currency to Silverbugs

ask them if they know how many zeros are in a trillion!

Gold and the Dollar: Value is in the Eye of the Beholder

brilliant presentation!

I've been discussing similar topics on my blog, but unfortunately I don't have the clarity of vision that you do!

are you hiring ;-)

Miami Condo Vultures: A Fool's Game

great points. I too found it interesting that they didn't mention the historic valuations or the role of rental values in ascertaining fair value. Just because something has fallen 30% doesn't make it a great value.

Historically, Miami has always gotten overbuilt with greedy speculators(who mistakenly believe that they're investors) left holding the bag. Florida has seen this cyclical trend since the 1920's.

What was that about history repeating itself?

How to Solve the Housing Crisis

that's actually quite clever!

I believe we have something similar in the investment visa. Based on that, I'd suggest a modification of your proposal. We give them a new class visa and if they successfully maintain their house for 5 years, THEN we give them a green card.

Otherwise, people will just borrow the money from a rich relative keep the house until they get their green card, and then sell the house (or at least try too!)

A Look at the Phillips Curve

Eric, i think the figure quoted was 12%.

Shorting the Homebuilders as Their Stocks Surge

Bill Miller said"What took us into this malaise will be what takes us out".

Thats the stupidest thing I ever heard in a long time. It sounds suspiciously similar to Ben Bernanke's motto. If low interest rates caused the severe asset inflation and the bubble, then low interest rates will fix it!!!!!!

Regarding the reader who thought that US homes prices are cheaper than many parts of europe and therefore are not likely to decline further; that's wrong too.
Europe has much higher population density than the US. Easy liquidity is causing UK investors to speculate in the UK and in Spain. This has started to dry up and prices will fall there eventually as well.

Someone mentioned reversion to the mean. That's correct, home prices in the US will revert to the mean. This mean is about 3-4 times the average annual salary for an area. Right now its about 5 times in many places. It'll probably decline to the lower end end of the value spectrum before rebounding to fair value.

No offense to Islandcreek, but many of the financial planners are clueless. they're nothing but glorified insurance agents pushing annuities because of the high commission and tail. That being said, one of my close friends is a planner is very good and incredibly successful. I don't know you so I can't say which camp you fall into, but being an FP doesn't automatically assign you extra credibility, in my opinion.

House-Price Momentum: The Good News

That's a faulty thesis.

Just because prices are sticky at the higher end doesn't make them immune from falling. when the financial institutions start laying off people, you should see a drop in prices.

Even Jim Rogers sold his manhattan pad. He doesn't need the money, its just overpriced and as a value investor, he doesn't see the value.

I heard similar arguments about San Diego Prices 2 years ago. Its a lifestyle city, people will always move there, best climate in the US, job diversity, etc. But prices have still fallen 25-30%.

Real estate trends are long and difficult to change.

A Housing Bubble Within a Bubble

at some point housing will drop below replacement value, and mortgage payments will be cheaper than renting.

till then, just rent the house of your dreams for less than it would cost to buy.

Fixed Income Pair Trade: Long MLN, Short TLT

seems counter intuitive to short TLT.
if bernanke lowers the interest rates, US treasuries rates are likely to go down too and TLT should go up as a result.
munis, regardless of never having defaulted are NOT the US treasury and thus SHOULD always have a higher interest. I think your basic premise is wrong.

Will U.S. Recession Lead to Solar Depression?

FSLR sports an 18 billion dollar market cap on revenues of $350m and net profit of $30 m.

it should probably be worth a third. it also seems heavily dependent on subsidies from the German government.

Why Lenders Love the Mortgage-Freeze Plan

the only problem is that no one qualifies for this stupid program.

here are some of the parameters:
1. you must be a subprime borrower
2. you must be facing some hardship that makes is impossible for you to make your mortgage payments
3. you must not be delinquent on your mortgage.

the only reason there are no losers here is because no ones playing the game.

lets face it. Bush and his scoundrels have pulled another fast one.