Posted on 12/07/2014 8:02:25 AM PST by expat_panama
Soap box time.
Even as we speak the hired help in Washington are working out how to deal with the fact that the current budget continuing resolution expires this Thursday. We got rumors galore on what they're coming up with but let's face it-- this is just not their strong point. We're in a situation where the hired help is going to need our intensive supervision. I know it's a lot of work to keep 'em in line but it's what we do.
We can google here to find your congress contact info and I found this site good for senators and this one for my house member. Congress has been hearing how the loony press wants everyone to agree w/ the loopy left on more tax'n'spending. It's our job to tell 'em we need:
- spending cuts on 'human recourses' (which gets most spending),
- personal and corporate tax cuts on both incomes and capital gains,
- borrowing limited by congress --no more 'blank checks'.
Let's remind congress:
The constitution says congress decides how much to tax and how much to spend and president is required to either comply or get nothing. If the president chooses a government shutdown then so be it. We can wait for January 6, 2015 and let the 114th congress override his veto. You must neither vote for business as usual nor even vote to restrict debate and allow others to conduct business as usual.
There simply is no more money to be spent. The BLS, the BEA, the Census Br, and the Federal Reserve have the facts and the facts speak for themselves:
- that 12 million people lost their jobs w/ the 110th congress--
- 4 million more went w/ the 111th bringing the total to 16 million job losses that have not yet been replaced,
- of those that did keep their jobs, over 3 million were demoted from full to part time work,
- the median family income has been slashed 9%,
- real per capita wealth has fallen.
The money is simply no longer there.
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btw, the current state of investments is fine; stocks at all time highs and precious metals continues to stabilize its 3-week base. For now.
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This is the thread where folks swap ideas on savings and investment --here's a list of popular investing links that freepers have posted here and tomorrow morning we'll go on with our--
Open invitation continues always for idea-input for the thread, this being a joint effort works well. Keywords: financial, WallStreet, stockmarket, economy. |
That's not only absolutely true but it's something not very widely understood.
If a guy has a home worth $100K then his net worth (wealth) is $100k. If he mortgages the place and takes out a $100K loan then he has $100K in the bank plus zero home equity. The bank created $100K in money and no wealth is created (outside the value of the services rendered). Of course once the guy uses the money to say, expand the business then we got real wealth creation, which was all made possible by the creation of that 'wealth-less' money.
Sometimes oil goes down (more) before it goes back up --so our debate here is whether there's something else already going up now before oil finally makes its come-back.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/yellen-index-says-fed-could-192449270.html
“It's pretty clear today that we hit virtually every metric,” said Rick Rieder, BlackRock CIO of Fundamental Fixed Income. “We're at a place today where the Fed would move. Quite literally, we believe they could move today based on what the data shows.”
Rieder said the momentum of the index is also flashing a green light on the employment outlook.
Read More Fed debate shifts from liftoff to long march toward normal
“This is a Fed that's been pretty clear about as long as inflation stays moderate, and as long as inflation stays below their goal, that they'll be patient in terms of when they can move or when they have to move,” Rieder said. He said there is a chance the Fed could move up its first rate hike to the March-April period if the data continue to improve.
“The odds are, given inflation being low and especially with what's happening with energy, that they wait until June,” he said.
Sometimes oil goes down (more) before it goes back up —so our debate here is whether there's something else already going up now before oil finally makes its come-back.
It will always go up sooner or later because we have to boil eggs. I love that darn Exxon ad!
https://www.youtube.com/user/ExxonMobil
“I still maintain “wealth” is created only by organized, productive human activity, or “work.”
Absolutely. Even so called natural wealth (oil, gold, timber, whatever) ain’t worth a plug nickel until somebody puts the work into bringing it in a usable form.
--the hope being it will all be old news well before the Nov. '16 elections. Or maybe I'm getting a bit cynical in my old age...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3236572/posts
Two years after his defeat, The New York Times has discovered that Mitt Romney had a point.
“Working, in America, is in decline,” The Times reported on Friday. “The share of prime-age men — those 25 to 54 years old — who are not working has more than tripled since the late 1960s, to 16 percent.”
“The United States, which had one of the highest employment rates among developed nations as recently as 2000, has fallen toward the bottom of the list,” the report continued.
Many men, in particular, have decided that low-wage work will not improve their lives, in part because deep changes in American society have made it easier for them to live without working. These changes include the availability of federal disability benefits; the decline of marriage, which means fewer men provide for children; and the rise of the Internet, which has reduced the isolation of unemployment.
…
The resulting absence of millions of potential workers has serious consequences not just for the men and their families but for the nation as a whole. A smaller work force is likely to lead to a slower-growing economy, and will leave a smaller share of the population to cover the cost of government, even as a larger share seeks help.[Emphasis added]
The report goes on to note that many men in their prime earning years “feel less pressure” to find work because they are less likely than past generations to be providing for a family. The New York Times/CBS News polling data which serves as the basis for this report seems, however, to run somewhat counter to this conclusion.
Despite the fact that 64 out of every 100 men aged 25 to 54 who do not work said that they want a job, only 45 say they have looked for work in the last year. 44 say they “Think there are local jobs they could obtain, but they are not willing to take.” 43 claim they are not working because that condition has “been bad for their mental health.” 48 also assert that a physical disability or a major health problem has prevented them from working.
Romney was not alone in being mocked and castigated for expressing concerns over this dangerous condition in America.
“I think this idea that’s been born over last … couple of years that, ‘You know, I really don’t have to work, I don’t really want to do this, I think I’d just rather sit around,’” House Speaker John Boehner said in September. “This is a very sick idea for our country.”
Okay so when do we dive in and pick up some oil sector stocks that are now cheap?
--or how about some Russian IPO's? Wait, just saw some deep discount bags of Halloween candy...
As a matter of fact, I’ve been buying BP all week. Easy come, easy go.
You know the rule: “Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone is buying.” J. Paul Getty.
Actually, that is in fact the number one rule in the market place --to meet the customer's demand. I'll confess that my problem is that I really don't have enough info on commodities like oil, other than to compare short term trends to long term averages. That and the fact that oil isn't the only thing happening these days:
This Story Is Even Bigger Than Oil Crash - Myles Udland, Business Insider
Spoiler: the concern is a huge rally in T-bills. It means not only we got a big-time exodus out of all kinds of other investments, but that also there's an unvoiced acceptance of the idea we're in a deflation and broad-based econ collapse. [shudder]
If that be the case, we should have gone to all cash a month ago, but I don’t see the “collapse.”
I can see inflation pressures easing significantly. And I can also see increased economic activity from the lower energy prices.
When gasoline is lower in price, people drive more. Every time.
Well, I seem to have the worst timing! I put money in the market yesterday when things were up a bit. I should have waited another day! (big sigh!!!!)
Equities have historically been the best opportunity for making money overall. However, that does depend upon your investment horizon.
Any guess as to how much of a drag oil prices will have on GDP?
How Crude Oil’s Global Collapse Unfolded
By Russell Gold
Since the 1970s, Nigeria has sent a steady stream of high-quality crude oil to North American refineries. As recently as 2010, tankers delivered a million barrels a day.
Then came the U.S. energy boom. By July of this year, oil imports from Nigeria had fallen to zero.
Displaced by surging U.S. oil production, millions of barrels of Nigerian crude now head to India, Indonesia and China. But Middle Eastern nations are trying to entice the same buyers. This has set up a battle for market share that could reshape the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and fundamentally change the global market for oil.
snip
The roots of the price collapse go back to 2008 near Cotulla, Texas, a tiny town between San Antonio and the Mexican border. This was where the first well was drilled into the Eagle Ford Shale. At the time, the U.S. pumped about 4.7 million barrels a day of crude oil.
Today, two hundred drilling rigs blanket South Texas, steering metal bits deep underground into the rock. Once drilled and hydraulically fractured, these wells yield large volumes of high-quality oil; at the moment, the U.S. is producing 8.9 million barrels a day, thanks to the Eagle Ford and other new oil fields.
snip
Look to urban regulatory policies. That’s where much of the poverty is generated. These are anti-work initiatives such as “living” wage ordinances, licensing, permitting and educational requirements that lock out certain people. A black male felon, quite normal today, is precluded from working in a host of legal jobs. Why?
I did some work for a federal contractor and they wouldn’t pay me for over a year. I called up my Congresswoman’s office and explained the problem to them and within two weeks the company paid me in full.
Interesting thread over here
Oil price collapse claims WA’s Red Fork Energy, shale gas company in receivership (1st Major Victim)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3236760/posts?page=37#37
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