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Posts Tagged ‘economy’

I am miffed about this one.

We do basically NOTHING for the average American here, claiming "free interprize" and "survival of the fittest" or "free market" rules.

Yet now, we are bailing out executives who pulled in hundreds of millions a year in compensation only to tank the market. Now, we foot their bill….calling it "whatever".

Isn't this political versus real? The market didn't tank and honestly, bad companies should tank.

Why are we buying bad meat here? I think it's crazy and I hold it against Obama and his Fannie Mae connections for screwing us AGAIN.

Wall Street, no.

Your job, yes.

Obama had nothing to do with the failure of the economy. Sorry.

nope its not a good idea at all. its horrible to give Wall Street that money!

those financial CEO's gambled by investing in Mortgages…. no one made them to invest in mortgages… they chose to do that.

they should suffer like the rest of us! we shouldn't help the RICH!!!! and somebody should maybe go to JAIL!
regular people lost jobs and cant pay their mortgages, but the finance companies get money to stay open and CEO's still get their fat checks to retire???? F*CK THAT!!!

Apparently, you don't understand economics. Read up on the great Depression and Bank Runs on wikipedia. then come back to me.

You might think differently if you have a retirement or pension. Because of the mismanagement of sub-prime, the average American is devastated by the retirement loss.

YES! would you rather lose your job and your way of life for about $2,000 in taxes we'd have to pay for the bailout?
Personally, I'd rather pay the tax than lose anything.

McCain supports this too

Absolutely not! You should really be against this if your a liberal because Obama will have no money for his social/welfare programs. I'm a Republican and I dont even want to see this bailout go thru. The comon man is getting screwed again!

I have a small business this year has been slow-

Today I have to go in and cut the hours of a great employee who is the main income provider for himself, his wife and 2 kids-

Today it's him… tomorrow it could be you-

This needs to be fixed- and yes it sucks!

It is a bad deal they need to get the pork out of this. People should be pissed off about this. The house and president got us in this and i don't trust them to get us out.

It really doesn't matter the national debt will never get paid off its a virtually impossibility.

I agree we should not use OUR money. Let the people that bought houses they could not afford.

Let the people that made the loans go to jail.

If that is not bad enough, ole barney and his magic frank blames everyone but himself dodd obama and the rest of the dems.

Here is the video that explain how the Republicans wanted to add regulation but was beaten down by BLACK dems calling it just about racist that we do something.

They also should be thrown in club fed and lose their job and pension.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p1Wc2NFa…

The proposal does not directly pay Wall Street executives, and it doesn't just hand the companies they run a bunch of money. The money is loans that the debtors–the companies–will be legally bound to repay with interest. Current versions of the bill actually include checks on golden parachutes and other forms of executive overcompensation.

Because these are loans and not blank checks, what we really have to figure out is whether the borrowers will repay or if they will default. That should be our real worry.

As for Obama's Fannie Mae connections–I don't see how those have any relationship whatever to the bill being proposed. The bill has nothing to do with Fannie and Freddie.

um okay you can't point the figure at obama, that makes no sense.
however, although bailing out is not the best solution, if something is not done, my uncle could lose his job. he works for a company that is really suffering right now, my uncle went from having 1.6 million dollars to just $200,000 invested. people are losing jobs and homes, banks aren't giving out loans, people can't buy things on credit, so the bailout is not something i necessarily agree with, but something needs to be done.

Do you think it's not smart from not stoping us, from going into a Finanical Crisis, where many americans will lose there jobs. let's see wake up we are faceing a great Depression. so unless you will have no problem living like that before which happen. thenyou are going to be living in hard times

I do think Obama was one of the reasons that Fannie Mae was able to get away with as much as they did. he actually sued in the 90's so people of lower incomes could get larger loans. I have never been able to get a loan without showing proper documents and having good credit. I do not believe in the bail out. I am losing money everyday just like everyone else who is in the stock market, but Congress should not be messing with it. they should bring in financial experts, who know what they are doing to write a bill. those in congress are looking out for their own interests. Why should we as Americans have to purchase bad paper. The Market will correct itself, and those companies that made bad investments will disappear. New companies or stronger companies can buyout the weak, failing companies. If we bail out these companies, we will be in the same situation when they fail again. At that point, we will have no choice but to bail them out again because of the amount of money that will be invested.

Bush has done a horrible job of explaining this to people. We need to get this done for the sake of the credit markets. Forget about bailing out a bunch of irresponsible billionaires — nobody wants that. The issue here is financial solvency for the average Joe.

No, I really don't want to add $700 billion to our national debt, either, but the alternative could very well be one in which your employer can't make payroll because the credit markets are frozen. Or if you do get your paycheck, the corner bank may not cash it, if it's drawn on another financial institution that the corner bank doesn't trust to back its assets. Or you could lose your job because the economy grinds to a standstill, as banks continue to fail and consumer confidence crumbles. Or your retirement fund could vanish into thin air.

This is about access to credit — for you, and for small businesses. It's about keeping the economy from crashing while we figure out what to do about the meltdown in the housing market. even if the government does buy bad loans, it plans to eventually resell them. and there will be provisions against things like golden parachutes and excessive executive compensation. It is NOT simply a Wall Street bailout, and shame on Bush for characterizing it that way.

There's a HUGE hole in your argument the size of the known universe. explain specifically how is Obama personally and solely responsible for this fiasco.
Also, read the first answerer's (Spock) response. he just took you to school and you are too dumb to know it.

I agree with you in part. If we turn over 700B to bail out lending institutions who have been gambling away their funds, then they will keep doing what they have been doing and the market will crash anyway.

But you can't put the blame on Obama or Fannie Mae, for that matter. This has been going on for a long time, and the real culprits are the speculators who pushed for deregulation and created inflated real estate prices.

And then there are all of the mortgage brokers who closed deals on big loans for unqualified buyers. they got a commission on every deal they closed, and they didn't care of the buyer could actually make the payments or not. same thing with stock brokers – they just took the commission money and ran.

A totally free market will only work if all participants act with honesty and adhere to a code of ethics which protects the consumers. Sadly, they don't. So we end up getting screwed over.

I think we should go ahead and let them fix their own mess. otherwise we'll just be negotiating another bailout six months from now.

Thank God, I am an American living and working overseas. I would be so stressed right now otherwise. My investments and retirement are taking a beating, but that's minor compared to the fear of losing my income, home, and other assets.

I loathe the idea of using taxpayer money to bail out these irresponsible a$$h0les, but unfortunately I don't think there's much choice. I do think that if this bailout goes through, a lot of CEOs and CFOs need to go to jail and pay some giant penalties.

You can't blame Obama or McCain on this. It's nice to point fingers during an election campaign but the truth is their fingerprints aren't on this one.

Do you really think it's smart to bail out Wall Street with a check from our future?

One of the most common emails I get from new readers is “what books should I look at to learn about markets, economy, and investing?”

Some years ago, I put together that exact list for the Street.com in a two part series. Here is the part II:

In part 1, we looked at books that are helpful to the “Apprenticed Investor,” from the history of markets to investor psychology. Today, we get into the details: economics, technical analysis, short selling, the fundamental approach, life on Wall Street and everything else.

Wall Street

If you can understand how the crazier things happen on Wall Street, you may avoid some investing pitfalls. these two books offer insight into that arena — and they could just as easily be filed under how to raise problem children.

Fred Schwed’s Where are the Customers’ Yachts? or a Good Hard Look at Wall Street. Schwed worked on Wall Street for a few years, and his book — written 60 years ago — is a delightful read, full of insight into both the Street and investors’ psyches.

For those of you thinking about working in the industry, then Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis is for you. It provides a snapshot into a major firm circa the 1980s. As much as things have changed since then, they are still very much the same.

Economics

Understanding where we are in the business cycle — expansion, plateau, contracting, bottoming — is crucial to understanding where the markets will be in 6-18 months.

My favorite introductory econ book is Todd G. Buchholz’ New ideas from Dead Economists. Buchholz’s survey of the history of economic thought is lively and informative. he avoids politics and academic squabbling, resulting in an extremely enjoyable, informative book. That’s saying a lot for a subject that in the hands of a lesser writer would be dry and boring. were I to recommend but one economics book for the layperson, this would be it.

Freakonomics: a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. this is less a book about economics, and more a book about how to approach challenging problems from a logical perspective. Outside-the-box thinking combined with intelligence, creativity and mathematics makes for a potent combination. But don’t let the math intimidate you — it’s a delight to read, and is very accessible to the nonmathematician/noneconomist.

The most serious of the econ books is Beating the Business Cycle by Lakshman Achuthan and Anirvan Banerji. Anticipating when the business cycle is about to turn is a trick most economists are exceedingly poor at; Achuthan and Banerji show you how to do it. if you find that the previous two econ books whet your appetite, then consider this your graduate-level reading.

Technicals

You learn technical analysis not by reading about it, but by looking at thousands of charts over the course of many years. that makes recommending any books on TA challenging. I picked the following because they either illuminated a particular segment of TA or were extremely accessible to the nontechnician.

Getting Started in Technical Analysis by Market Wizards author Jack Schwager covers all the basics: moving averages, trend lines, patterns, support and resistance. Another good book to get started with TA is The Visual Investor by John J. Murphy. Either of these will give you a broad overview of technical analysis.

My favorite of the new [2005] TA books is Trend Following by Michael Covel. Straightforward, easy to read, this book is rich in details about why trend following is such a successful strategy amongst some of the world’s best-performing hedge funds.

How to make Money in Stocks by William J. O’Neil. O’Neil, founder of Investor’s Business Daily, created a quantitative and technical-based trading system called CANSLIM. although I am not a follower of this methodology, it has much to offer to the novice. if you are an IBD reader or are curious about his philosophy, this book is a good place to start.

I’ve read several books that RealMoney’s Gary B. Smith has recommended, including How Charts can Help You in the Stock Market by William L. Jiler, and How I made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market by Nicolas Darvas. I would suggest both of them to readers who want more details and background to how several successful technicians have made their fortunes in the past.

I occasionally find myself looking at a chart and wondering what the heck it means. That’s why I have a small reference library on my desk. It includes:

• Technical Analysis from a to Z by Steven B. Achelis;• Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns by Thomas N. Bulkowski;• Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Steve Nison;• Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John J. Murphy.

Don’t think you need a full reference library; all you need is one reference book to help you occasionally.

Short Selling

Surprisingly, there haven’t been too many books on shorting — or even on the art of selling. One I like is Sy Harding’s Riding the Bear: how to Prosper in the Coming Bear Market. It came out in late 1999 — how’s that for auspicious timing! if the “buy & hold” investors had read this back then, they would have saved a lot of money. It’s just as sensible today.

Another well-timed book is When to Sell by Justin Mamis. this was published in 1970s. It’s a bit slow going, but is filled with good observations about developing a sell strategy.

A basic approach to shorting is William J. O’Neil’s How to make Money Selling Stocks Short. Pure fundamentalists should be forewarned: it is very technically driven, and may be hard going for those with an aversion to charts. That’s just as well; fundamentals can tell you what to buy, sell or short — but not when. And timing is especially crucial when it comes to shorting.

Fundamentals

Given my inclination towards quantitative, trend, sentiment and macro economics, I am admittedly an outsider on pure fundamentals. But I have found these books to be valuable additions to my knowledge base.

Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel is a terrific overview of all things equity. It’s a great place to start, although many fundamentalists would advise you to begin with The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham, which is considered the bible of value investing. [UPDATE: There are data problems with Siegel's book that challenge its basic premises. Irrational Exuberance by Robert Shiller argued Jeremy Siegel was wrong: markets are risky, stocks are over-priced. I'm in Shiller's camp. See also Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who writes that Markets are very random; watch out for black swan events.]

I find Warren Buffett intriguing. his annual reports are legendary; reading them is an education in itself. start with Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Investor by Janet Lowe. if you want the unvarnished words from the man himself, then choose The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren E. Buffett.

I would be remiss if I left out Peter Lynch. You can read any of his books, but I like One up on Wall Street: how to Use what You already know to make Money in the Market. Lynch shows how people can use their own experience to gain an edge on Wall Street. (We discussed this last year.)

One of the reasons I am not a fundie is that I don’t do forensic accounting (bor-ing!). however, a readable approach to getting at those footnotes is Financial Fine Print by Michelle Leder. those of you who are technically oriented may find this is a tough slog.

Supplemental

There were lots of worthwhile books that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another. some of them — like Bull’s Eye Investing by John Mauldin were a bit too advanced for the apprentice. Others cover a single topic. if the entire book can be adequately summed up in one line, then I can save you eight hours.

The Tipping Point: how Little Things can make a big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but if you want to save time, the punch line is that complex systems are nonlinear.

The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. the book is thought-provoking and interesting but, unfortunately, I found too many logical flaws in it; further, it seems to be too tied to the efficient market hypothesis. (Bottom line: the crowd is right until they become an unthinking mob.)

Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor by John C. Bogle. (Wall Street charges too much, you are a lousy investor anyway, buy index funds.)

Chaos by James Gleick. Want to understand the mathematical science — physics, actually — of what really drives the market’s behavior? Then this book is for you. (Bottom line: Markets are not truly random, but have qualities which include persistence, sensitivity to initial conditions and nonlinear dynamics.)

The (Mis)Behavior of Markets by Benoit Mandelbrot. Chaos theory as applied to markets by fractal geometry’s creator. Warning: this book may make your head explode.

Originally published:

Apprenticed Investor: more Reading IdeasBarry Ritholtz12/07/05 – 11:14 AM EST

http://www.thestreet.com/print/story/10256101.html

Apprenticed Investor: More Reading Ideas

To me: this indicates that VERY LITTLE substantive change has taken place since the wall street crises. the VERY SAME PEOPLE are still running the same institutions that were blindsided by the whole crises.

What do you think??

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/10…

Buffett led the talk by asking Paulson about the book but didn't make many comments himself.

Buffett said Paulson's book gave him an appreciation of how well former President George W. Bush understood the economy and events during the crisis.

"through the book, I gained more appreciation for what he did in this situation," Buffett said.

But Buffett, the longtime Democrat, also pointed out Paulson's positive statements about President Barack Obama.

Buffett praised the actions of Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Paulson's successor, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Paulson also thanked Buffett, an icon to thousands of investors, who advised the former Treasury chief during the worst days of the economic downturn.

"He was a real source of strength during the financial crisis," Paulson said.

Buffett, is chairman and CEO of Omaha's Berkshire Hathaway inc., a holding company with a roughly $173 billion market capitalization.

He plowed $5 billion one in Paulson's former firm, Goldman Sachs, as the company struggled.

huffington post, lol.

Birds of a feather. only add Obammy to that list.

The actions Bush took in this matter were not his own, they were the recommendations of those that knew the economy. the same people that were running it then are running it now because they are the ones that know how it operates, if we had access to better people we would tap into them, we don't. what we need to do is not change the people, but the regulations that rule what these people can or can not do.

I'm unhappy with most of Obama's advisors and Geithner is at the top of my list of bad choices.

But look at the bright side. Unlike Bush, Obama didn't try to appoint a veterinarian to oversee Women's Health. so there's that.

And Bush GAVE money away to Wall Street, whereas Obama LOANED it WITH INTEREST. most of what Obama loaned has already been returned, and we made money on it.

The major bad thing is that so far the banks and institutions that caused this recession are still operating under the same rules that caused it. that needs to be fixed pronto.

##

Last I heard Buffet said "that Obama was the worst mistake he ever made,." in his life,..
How can a man who was easily fooled by Obama have made Billions in his life time is something I will never understand!.

Even though I disagree with him sometimes, Warren Buffet is a true economic genius.

If he's talking about the economy or finance, we best pay good attention.

I think Buffett is generally a decent guy.
A lot of people criticize him as being a robber-baron billionaire but I disagree. I think that unlike a lot of other wealthy capitalists, Buffett is in it for the long haul and believes that whatever is good for the people, is good for him and his businesses in the long run. a lot of other Wall Street types don't seem to think this way and those firms have cultivated people from the bottom up who are out to make a killing any way they can.

As far as his comments go, he's just one guy, albeit a guy with and entry into rarefied circles and a view from the top.

I think Bush wasn't as bad as people make him out to be but he never seemed to care about defending himself. Obama seems very thin-skinned in comparison. I think Obama's either chosen some bad advisers or made bad decisions. Actually iIn either case he's really made bad decisions. Let's hope he wises up soon. We need someone making better decisions at the top.

What do you think of Warren Buffet defending George W. Bush, Geithner, Bernanke, Paulson?

One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch – Audio Book Download

STOCKS ARE THE NUMBER ONE MONEY-MAKING INVESTMENT TODAY. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN MAKE MONEY IN THE MARKET!

Peter Lynch has been called “an investment superstar” (Fortune). Manager of the $9 billion Fidelity Magellan Fund, he has earned investors a 190,000 return on a 10,000 investment over the last twelve years. now Peter Lynch shows how you can make a profit on Wall Street with the knowledge you already have. Discover:

• Why smart money is not so smart — and why you may be a better stock picker than the pros
• How to follow your hunches — and back them up with facts
• Why you should forget everything you hear about the economy and how to pick your own time to buy and sell
• How to determine which kinds of stocks are best for you

From price-earnings ratios to cash assets, from low growth stocks to “The twelve Silliest things People Say about Stock Prices,” here is a powerful guide to investing — from “one of the greatest investors to ever buy stock” (Barron’s Financial Weekly).

Click to see more from this Presenter

One Up on Wall Street

Hello! I’m French and I need some help to correct this translation of an article. I’m looking for somebody who would accept to correct my translations by mail, thanks.

The pound suffers the aftershock of the British financial worsening

A warning notice of storm on the pound was launched by Jim Rogers, former partner of the American financier George Soros, with whom he had fund the famous hedge fund Quantum in the 1970’s. “ I encourage you to sell as fast as possible all the pounds you have. I feel sorry to say that, but I would no longer invest a penny in the United-Kingdom”, declared the businessman at the Bloomberg agency, on Tuesday, January the 20th “I do not think that one healthy British bank left” added Mr Rogers, on Wednesday, the City is over.”
These statements have increased a generalized movement for some weeks. On Wednesday, January the 21st , the pound dropped to $1.3693, its lowest rate since June 2001, to ¥119.42, a historical lower end, and to €1.0601. “A weak currency reflects a weak economy which reflects a weak government.”, had asserted Gordon Brown in 1992, today British Prime Minister. That year, the currency suffers the aftershock of the crisis and George Soros himself came along its exit from the European Monetary system, snapping up in passing $2 billion.

Could you help me and correct this English text?

Warren Buffet, one of the country’s most successful investors (he owns Berkshire Hathaway), just this morning announced he is buying Northern Burlington Railroad for just north of 44 Billion Dollars !

He said that “It’s a bet on the country basically.” he said he believes in the U.S. Economy, and this is his way of showing it.

Should the republicans take the same tact, instead of constantly being negative, so negative they are now known collectively as the party of NO! no new ideas, no answers, no hope.

Should Republicans Take a Page From Warren Buffet’s Playbook?

Leading economic expert Jim Rogers traveled to 150 countries over 150,000 miles in three years – follow his adventures here on FentonReport.

In this video Jim and Paige take a ship to Myeick in Myanmar.

Copyright Jim Rogers – provided as a special contribution to The Fenton Report.

Categories: Jim Rogers, Travel, Video
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Myanmar – Myeick – Travel – Jim Rogers World Adventure | Fenton …