Posted on 06/21/2008 7:43:48 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Prepare for change as world tilts to the east
American Account
Irwin Stelzer
“THIS too shall pass,” King Solomon’s advisers told him to engrave on a ring, and refer to it whenever he felt depressed. Or so the legend goes. Not a bad idea for bankers beset by still more dodgy paper to write off, for shareholders at loss-making Lehman Brothers and ailing Morgan Stanley (first-quarter earnings down 58% year-on-year), and for homeowners as they watch the equity in their homes evaporate. Some of our current crises will indeed pass.
However, it would be a mistake to believe that when these crises are over, the world will be as it once was. It won’t. For one thing, the entire system of regulation to which investment banks are subjected will be different.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
Ping!
Yep, even Irwin Steltzer has a pessimistic view. The good news is I'm still feeling certain everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to.
Four or five decade-old companies that used to buy from domestic producers, then switched to imports, are shutting down. We are on the cusp of an economic tsunami. And a lot of the world will go down with us. The cause is tens of trillions of dollars wiped out from the bursting of a global real estate bubble. The bursting of internet bubble is gonna look like a nothing compared to this. Probably the entire global banking system is insolvent (market value of assets < liabilities) at this point.
Stelzer is right that if our government schools aren’t fixed we will continue to sink. We should have fixed our schools before we signed up for globalization.
Heading to the OBX Monday morning.
Pray for NO Hurricanes!
We are witnessing a massive transfer of wealth from American consumers to oil producers.
So become an oil producer. Drill here, drill now. It's as good a reason as any.
This is a good thing to remember when we are 3rd and long.
I read somewhere that the US car market is on track to total 12.5m vehicles in 2008. That’s down from 16.4m vehicles in 2007. And down from 16.55m vehicles in 2006. These are really, really crappy trends. At 12.5m vehicles, my feeling is that all three Detroit automakers will file for bankruptcy protection. Even the Japanese automakers will be affected significantly, given that their high-margin SUV, minivan and pickup sales are in the toilet, and their small cars aren’t very profitable. Detroit is, of course, worse off, since their small cars actually lose money.
I don’t buy that “supposed to happen” crap. Nothing is predestined.
If it is then what’s the point of anything?
The thing to remember is some will do well even in hard times. There were people who got rich during the Great Depression. The trick is to find the right niche and exploit it—much easier said than done, but it CAN be done, nevertheless.
Let’s see...east is left, right?
God protects drunkards, orphans and the United States of America.
(Quote)
"And so far in June, he said, J.D. Power and Associates and Citigroup are seeing a sales pace that is almost 20% lower -- only 12.5 million vehicles per year.
"This is the lowest sales level in 16 years and indicates a significant and continued softening of the U.S. automotive market," Nardelli wrote."
(Unquote)
I’m really going to have a hard time ginning up some sympathy for the union auto workers ..... nope, fresh out.
My point is that whatever I choose, or is chosen for me, is the thing I make work out. In my ripe old age I have discovered the benefit in seeing the good part of every situation.
Let's raise taxes on the corporations that make cars and produce fuel in order for them to fund ......er...... redevelopment projects in Detroit....hahahahahahaha.. sorry, you say they've done that???
Nevermind...
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