Posted on 12/20/2008 10:31:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I sense you already know this, but most doom and gloomers have little or no capital and hope for a crash to bring others down to their own economic level. It seems easier to them than doing the hard long work of investing for the future. Jealousy of the success of others is the root of most economic pessimism.
The reason for that bailout was because there was no “commercial paper,” that is, money that could be lent to business so that business could conduct business. The threat was, they claimed, if we didn't give the banks the money, business would shut down. Well, they crammed the agreement through in two weeks, the banks got the money, the banks are sitting on the money, so what happened to the “commercial paper” crisis?
I'm starting to think G. Edward Griffin was more and more correct in what he posited in “The Creature from Jekyll Island.” It sounds like the bailouts over the past months were to protect the banking cartel fro losses incurred from the bursting of the dot com and housing bubbles and of bad home loans that the government (that is, Jimmy Carter and Slick Willy Clinton) forced them to make to people they knew couldn't pay them back. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all arranged under Jimmy Carter's watch, knowing this would happened but figuring it was just another method of redistributing money from the have’s to the have-not’s (by essentially buying houses for them), with the banks serving as middle men and recouping their losses in bad debt through bailout.
So call me paranoid or conspiratorial. All that's been happening for the past 10 years is not coincidental or accidental
Oh, and also...Economic growth, economic contraction, no matter, our job is always the same. We look to conserve and grow our wealth under the current conditions. There are opportunities in all economic times, but the opportunitites change and we must adjust according to our tolerance for risk and our stage of life. It’s fascinating, fun and never gets boring. For me it has been that way since I saved my first $5k (out of an annual income of $12k) and started taking chances 30 years ago.
I think your investor is correct. I don’t think we are heading into a depression. And, he’s right about the stocks. I would hedge stock purchases with mutual funds, however.
Not me. This thought occurred to me very early on. I'm an engineer and don't know a lot about economics, but to have half of that TARP money left at this point means that by definition, the "emergency" really wasn't.
Why were the people told that it was? That points to cryptic motives. This wasn't an accident and it wasn't an emergency.
We just did a survey of executives in the Houston-area, and the majority of them are saying it will be a tight 2009, but expect to see the slump start to turn around locally in 4q09/1q10, and nationaly in 4q10. These were IT executives, since that's all my company deals with, but it was more promising than doom and gloom.
We also recently participated in a NACCB (National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses) conference call, that roughly said the same thing, but a little less optimistic than local managers.
The one thing they all said was that areas that had diversified economies (not just auto, not just oil and gas) were going to fare better than say ..oh... Detroit.
We're definitely tightening down, but certainly not doom and gloom. Now granted, that could change, but this is what we've heard in Houston in the last two weeks.
I prefer to think, cautiously optimistic, but will definitely limit descretionary spending.
[The Fed has been right about every single turn, and the idiots like yourself pretending they are fools have instead been wrong about every step of it. The Fed is smarter than you are. Stop fighting it. You will just bankrupt yourself and confirm your own idiocy.]
I hope you are drooling sarcasm, for if you are not you are indeed a danger to yourself and others.
And if you are not being sarcastic, then idiots, buffoons, simpletons, knuckle draggers like yourself (just to mimic your high debating skills) have to explain how the uber intelligent Fed and uber economic genius Bush did not see this coming and micro adjust the economy to avoid this debacle. Of course, their redolent idiocy and Keynsian philosophy is what led to this mess in the first place.
Indeed, what you are saying is that the Fed is more intelligent than the market (at all times by the way), which is laughable.
The “Trust Fund” holds about $2 trillion. So $2 trillion has been borrowed and spent, not $12.8 trillion. It has always been pay as you go.
Congress was never involved in publishing money supply stats. The Treasury doesn't print money.
In short, we have no idea how much new money has been and is being printed
False.
But having a socialist thug in the white house does not bode well for any economy, and bodes especially ominous for one that has suffered credit asphyxiation and debilitating loss of confidence.
But, if you're not, how much “new money” have we printed and circulated over the past year?
The shoe that hasn’t dropped yet is a big one. Public employee legacy liabilities are off the charts. When that bubble bursts I’ll consider the market again. Until then it’s the bed, some fixed assets, seeds and ammo.
Currency in circulation (12)
Week ended
Wednesday Dec 17, 2008
875,301
Change from week ended Dec 10, 2008
+ 3,344
Change from week ended Dec 19, 2007
+ 55,800
All figures in millions.
Good job! So how long were you fully invested before Dec 2006? The investment advisor I am referring to did not see this crash coming. He had a good track record previously though. He had been fully invested through the 1980s and 1990s and then bailed Mar 2000 and reinvested well into 2003. This recent crash blindsided him.
How can they indicate a few hundred million change when we know they've created at least 700 billion, probably well over a trillion at this point?
Bogus data.
No.
How can they indicate a few hundred million change
Printed currency in circulation increased $3.3 billion in the last week, $55.8 billion in the last year.
we know they've created at least 700 billion, probably well over a trillion at this point?
You were talking about newly printed money.
Bogus data.
You're confused. If you'd like to see how much money the Fed has created (that's more than just printed money), it's also at the link I provided.
If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.
You’re being sarcastic, right?
We’re talking about the same Federal Reserve, the Chair of which said:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20070328a.htm
“At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained. In particular, mortgages to prime borrowers and fixed-rate mortgages to all classes of borrowers continue to perform well, with low rates of delinquency.”
That Fed Chair “has been right about every single turn”?
OK. Hope you’re playing Bernanke’s hand with your own money.
[The shoe that hasn’t dropped yet is a big one. Public employee legacy liabilities are off the charts. ]
I hadn’t even thought of that one. Added to the other economic maladies we will be suffering, I am hunkering down.
We’re overly optimistic, say the devout FReepers (God Bless them, Halleluya, send your donations to P.O. Box 666, Any City, USA.) It’s Armageddon, Rapture, dude! At least, if it happens now, God will speak our language, understanding such terms as “dude”!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.