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It's going to get really ugly. Wait until January when people are forced to open their end of the year statements because they have to do taxes. A lot of people have been avoiding their monthly statements.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,164,711 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lulu101
Because I don't think they want to panic people. Remember when Paulson spoke before congress (behind closed doors) right around when Lehman, AIG stuff was happening? Supposedly whatever he said to the congress stunned them in the tracks. The text of his speech has never been released. I wonder why?
That's true, and I'd like to repeat what I've said several times now: I have NEVER in my 48 years seen so many conferences and so much panicked running around by world leaders. Not CNBC talking heads, but world political and financial leaders, and past financial leaders have all been crapping their pants and then trying to sound somewhat optimistic about our chances of recovering in a couple of years.
There are plenty of well-thought out analyses of the situation showing why it really is such a dire situation, but I'm not an expert in those matters so I can't evaluate them. I can only observe the worldwide panic in high places that I've never seen before with economic recessions.
OK, let's stick with this. Your are 48. I'm older than you. Do you remember a little thing called the Cuban Missle Crisis? I could not watch CNN back then 24x7. I could not post messages about Kruschev's Czech freighters to some forum read around the globe.
If I really made an effort I could MAYBE pick up three newspapers to read up on the stories, but I don't recall any professors from Ivy League schools being interviewed by Catie Couric about the potential for total thermonuclear devastation, we'll be right back after this message from Cialis...
See what I mean? You (and even I, when you get right down to it) are being PLAYED so that when we go see our doctor we'll ask them about nitrate-inhibators, and three hour erections, suckered into MEMORIZING their sales pitch while we fret about the safety of our investments.
I am pretty sure that the Paris Peace Accords were a pretty darned scary bit of work back when Kissinger was trying to figure a way to get US soldiers out of SE Asia without having the Soviets and ChiCom overrun the whole region, but you were 13 then and some how I don't think you were spending every free minute reading the analysis in the Journal of Foreign Policy when you got home from Jr. High... You weren't expert then, you and I did not have ACCESS to the "experts" that we sorta do now. Gdforbide if that was the case!
Sorry if I sound snarky, but I an getting tired of all the "this is the most important thing ever" nonsense. It is certainly the most wall-to-wall covered financial event SO FAR, but more than a little of that has to to do with all the death-battles that old media is fight with/against new media...
Dear Chet Everett, how is life in that insane asylum on planet Pluto?? I get the feeling you should probably change your brand of glue for your daily sniffings....
Amen. I'm so sick of being called a tin-hat wacko because I have an open enough mind to read web sites that publish material that the great unwashed think is off-the-wall.
I have been WAY ahead of most folks financially all the way through this mess. Why? I was warned in advance. They could have been, also...but would never consider the possibility.
Very sad.
I have to agree with you, Nor. There was a heads-up on this by leading Economists for several months. After one of the very serious warnings to start pulling investments/stocks, I did just that - and have pulled things, sold stocks, moved things around and invested in gold. Whitehall Jewelers, example, has gone down and is now doing their clearance, I have been there weekly to buy some great gold, some diamonds, to throw in my safety deposit box. A wealthy friend of mine in Chicago has lost 900K in the market since last year, he finally just now, after I told him since the summer that he was making a huge mistake by not pulling out and that it was not going to get better (he is Mr Optimistic) - just last week, finally, he sold 60% of his stocks. However, he has the sort of money that he is not crying poor, but nonetheless is not immune to the sting or in taking notice.
There are people who will not listen - some people who need to be hit in the head. I am not being affected due to my pre-planning due to the multiple serious forewarnings. Lead Economists have instructed for months now to invest in gold, silver - to buy up all gold and silver at huge jewelry sales and pawn shops - even to start stock-piling - to stop placing money in depreciating investments such as electronics without having the knowing that you are ready and set. EVERYONE was warned - so I do grow confused when I see others saying they had little or no warning. That's what happens when you listen to and live by the media. My two cents.
I have an awesome link with all of this info by a leading Economist (released in the late spring/early summer) on my upstairs computer, includes all of the why's and how's, etc. I will post it for people to watch tomorrow. It's an eye opener. Those who have pre-planned have most likely seen it already.
The insanity is on Planet Earth, with the Ground Zero of Craziness about midway between CNBC, CNN, and Fox!
Unless the Costco nearest me is peopled with other life forms and the Macy's stocked with the same creatures you would not know that they are all as f**ked as some of the posters believe. I walked around mall, bought my niece a birthday present and did not see one tincup shaker, no pencil sellers, and no carts of 5 cent apples...
In fact, I did hear more than a few hard working Poles and Russians talking among themselves that the sales seem pretty good. And they will save the receipts for price adjustments. But there were no tumbleweeds in the parking deck and not a single story selling burlap sacks or burned cork to make like a grade-school hobo...
I think the Consumer Product Safety Commission has taken all the good glue off the market and now the stuff smells like orange blossoms. Really quite nice, makes me want to move to Florida...
not so. but when you drag stuff out from under the rug its ugly. we will have a rough recession but eventually come out ok. the big hole in the bag is the war. when we stop that its about filling the sack with money. when we pull out of bagdad DOD will lose billions, kevlar is a real good idea for anybody about to pull the plug on blackwater.
... sold stocks, moved things around and .. Whitehall Jewelers, ...have been there weekly to buy some great gold, some diamonds, to throw in my safety deposit box. ...to buy up all gold and silver at huge jewelry sales and pawn shops ... Those who have pre-planned have most likely seen it already.
No better place to invest in gold than a Jewelry Store Clearance sale, that's the ticket to financial freedom. Yeah!
Why can't we save a dollar today and it be worth around a dollar in a few years? Rather than having us all trust these so called investments and having to speculate to keep up with inflation.
You can!! If you want to completely avoid all stock exposure and still save money in a 401K (hopefully with a lucrative company match), IRA, and non-retirement account, and have it keep up with or outrun inflation by a bit, you have that ability. Most 401K plans I reckon allow investing in money markets and government or corporate bond funds of various types. In an IRA you can save in a much greater range of money markets, CDs, bond funds, ETFs, etc., all of which have zero stock exposure. In a non-retirement registration you can utilize tax-free money markets and muni bond funds of various types.
But if somebody is 25 and plans to retire in 40 years, history shows that some stock exposure in a retirement account will be highly beneficial over time over more conservative investments.
Now, having a long time horizon doesn't mean turning on an aggressive growth fund 100% and never touching it again. Buy and hold forever isn't necessarily a good idea even in a 401K, even for a fund, even for a long time horizon. A prudent 401K contributor could have limited a great deal of the loss.
You can!! If you want to completely avoid all stock exposure and still save money in a 401K (hopefully with a lucrative company match), IRA, and non-retirement account, and have it keep up with or outrun inflation by a bit, you have that ability. Most 401K plans I reckon allow investing in money markets and government or corporate bond funds of various types. In an IRA you can save in a much greater range of money markets, CDs, bond funds, ETFs, etc., all of which have zero stock exposure. In a non-retirement registration you can utilize tax-free money markets and muni bond funds of various types.
But if somebody is 25 and plans to retire in 40 years, history shows that some stock exposure in a retirement account will be highly beneficial over time over more conservative investments.
Now, having a long time horizon doesn't mean turning on an aggressive growth fund 100% and never touching it again. Buy and hold forever isn't necessarily a good idea even in a 401K, even for a fund, even for a long time horizon. A prudent 401K contributor could have limited a great deal of the loss.
If there were more folks like Nepenthe maybe there would be fewer crazy shouting types on TV...
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Boy howdy that is a swell idea!
Prudent advice, too few accept these facts!
