[sourcery]

Winter comes. Denial is futile. You will be deflated.

[Grut]

Gold, for example, gained strongly during the Great Depression, as it has since 2001.

I knew that was where this article was going!

[templar]

Wow!!! This sounds worse than Y2K was gonna be. And about as likely.

[BlackJack]

Auto sales are going down, Ford has trouble with $44 billion debt
plus unfunded pensions. If auto manuf lays off thousands, that
could further hurt real estate. We could see a depression if
real estate prices fall and defaults continue to increase.

[narses]

HAHAHAHAHAHA.....


Jesse Livermore died BROKE.

His (in)famous quote? "It's easy to time the market"

HAHAHAHAHAHA..........

[Libloather]

We’re seeing deflation for the first time since the 1930s. That’s right: downright deflation. Look at the list compiled by Comstock partners: women’s underwear...

Judging by recent Oprah and Springer watchers, we're in pretty good shape. (And growing!)

[clamper1797]

It has already started

[octobersky]

bttt

[Dave S]

The only person I know that was laid off was a 50 year old woman doing research for a firm that specialized in consulting services for telecommunications companies. After three months of networking she received in a little over one week, four offers, three of which were for more than $100,000. She had two more opportunities where people wanted her to interview including her former employer. So things are that bad, huh? Depression? I think not.

My business has been so busy the last two months that I've been working sixty-seventy hours per week. The entrepreneurs that I work for have also been busy working with their Fortune 500 clients. Depression, I dont see it. But then I dont work for state government, the airlines, a telecommunications company, or as a programmer.

[MHT]

His unemployment numbers are flawed because the most recent numbers are heavily weighted by the worst winter weather the East has seen in years, dramatically effecting construction employment--which is seeing 20-year high's in some areas! Take out the numbers directly effected by the storm and the unemployment situation is not as dreadful as painted.

The markets have been seriously effected by Arabs dumping their own holdings and selling short (gee--helping undermine our economy is a form of terrorism all unto itself), as well as the impact of hedge funds owned by the likes of Julia Roberts, Michael Eisner, etc.--in other words, liberals who get richer everytime they can create more bad news about Bush and his war economy.

There is always room for negative creeps--and Buffett's predictions of a dire future are directly related to his lovefest of all things Liberal and Democrat.

WE are the economy--and WE make things happen. This guy is no Larry Kudlow!

[Toskrin]

The author wants to have it both ways. What he is ignoring is that inflation rates and interest rates are closely tied together. In fact, inflation rate is probably the single biggest determinant of interest rate. Historically, the interest rate of long term debt runs about 4% greater than inflation. So inflation determines interest rates.

Next, the author talks about high P/E ratios and the "housing bubble". Well, probably the biggest determinant of average P/E ratios is the interest rate. The stock and bond market compete. If the bond market has low yields, money will shift to the stock market. In fact, based upon the current interest rate, all measures of stock market value show the market is significantly undervalued. And of course housing prices are primarily dependent upon the interest rate.

The author proposes a future economy where there is deflation but P/E ratios are low and the housing bubble has burst. Doubt it.

[evilC]

Jesse Livermore, earned $100 million on Black Tuesday, October 29

Of course poor old Jesse died broke, by his own hand.

That said some great bits of wisdom are attributed to him including the ones about cutting your losses and keeping your winners, not blaming the market, and never adding to a losing position.

[fifteendogs]

When you couple this with the global cooling that comes with the global warming, things really don't look too good. Then there is Armageddon just over the horizon, not to mention planet X. What are we all to do?

[The Wizard]

bullshit

[Radioactive]

I've heard this same tome over & over since 1974. The sky is falling and we are all going to die.

Chicken little's of the world beware. You have been wrong for so many years and anyone who can predict the economy would be worth trillions today.

So watch what the central bankers are doing for it is they who are responsible for the economic fortune of the world.They are the only ones worth trillions and they control the money.

[Robert Drobot]

Usury bump

[Beck_isright]

I can only take issue with one item. That is the issue of "frivolous" lawsuits. The "doctors" and insurers are screaming bloody murder. Why? Because like lawyers they are pretty much a self-regulating industry. A doctor can commit malpractice 6 times or more (at least in Florida) before he is suspended. If you or I disfigured an individual due to professional or personal incompetence, we would be sued out of business instantly. Doctors are held in higher esteem though, so they get a pass for several mistakes and just an increase in "their" premiums (which we pay, don't kid yourself). But in less than a month, he can open up shop in another state. This is a clear cut case of the fox ruling the hen house. We, as citizens, allowed the insurance and medical industry (the AMA more specifically) to take over the formerly efficient free-enterprise medical industry. In the "old days" the best doctors made the most money and had the largest client base. Now it is the lowest risk doctor, despite qualifications, who churns the most through with the lowest incident level. I should know.

[John Lenin]

Many things have fallen only to rise higher

[Tauzero]

Judging by the shrill denials, this bear is far from over. :)

[Brad C.]

Bump for a later read

[timydnuc]

The left wants the economy to crash and they will preach that till the cows come home. They have no other alternative.

The bubble burst on the Clinton economy (if there ever was one) and the Pubbies must be the bad guys. That's the most wrong headed thinking since FDR. Government can't make a free market better, it can lower the tax imposed on people and businesses, but that's all it can do. It can release business from rules and regulations which cost business money, but that's about it. In a free market economy it's up to business to produce and make a profit.

Clinton made it easy for business to be dishonest, much like the example he set for the rest of the country. A stock market that climbed to 11K on speculative earnings? Sure, I got into that market, and I made a huge amount of doe, but I knew it was bogus, and I knew it couldn't last. So, out I got with a bundle of cash. I'm back into the market now, on a bargin basement buying spree. It's good that "blue chips" are down, now I can afford to buy them. We bought a cabin on the lake with our "windfall" from the stocks we invested in. Converted from one investment to another, stock to property. If you know how to do this, and it doesn't take a Wall Street Broker to do it, you can make dreams come true.

Gordon Gecko said it best, "Greed is a good thing". But, you must know when to get out or you will get burned. I have a profit sharing plan, I also have a 401K plan. Of the two, the profit sharing has added 20K this year to my retirement fund. The 401 is sucking hind tit at 8K. The profit sharing makes you work harder and be more involved in the company's business, it also makes you more frugal with the company's funds. Your profit sharing is also the shining light of your work. It's a bonus that keeps on giving. Pure capitalism at it's best. A bonus here, a bonus there and before you know it you are making more money than you ever did in a hospital environment.

Private practice is really a boon to the good professional. A big private practice is even better. Money is not the goal, security is the goal. When I was 34 I thought that I was indestructable, now I'm 55 and I just want to retire to my cabin on my lake. I'm tired and discouraged. My patients treat me like I'm their enemy, when all I want to do is help them. Malpractice insurance is through the roof, but if you don't have it, you are SCREWED. Group policies are much lower if you establish guidelines and stick to them.

As much as I dearly love what I do, I'm tired, and I'm disenchanted. I educated myself, I disiplined myself for a life in medicine, a life that was selfless to help others. Now, I can get sued for touching a patient. I have to touch the patient to help them. A part of the physical exam is touching the patient, for Chist sakes.

I don't want to do this anymore, I want to retire to our cabin on the lake and just fish, maybe play some golf on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.