Todays Stock Market Thread (DJIA 7784.58 (-234.68; -2.93%) NASDAQ 1282.55 (-36.60; -2.77%)

[newsperson999]

Dow 7,784.93 -234.33 (-2.92%)
Nasdaq 1,288.09 -31.06 (-2.35%)
S&P 500 819.51 -28.25 (-3.33%)

[xzins]

If you go back to the seventies and plot a vector for the future and then bump that vector just a smidgen due to real new technology created in the late 80's, then you should get some idea where the stock market would have been today without the clinton era speculative bubble.

Most I've read say that that vector would have placed us at about 6500-7500 in 2002.

We truly are nearing the top of the bottom. Call 7000 the average trend line. Once you go below that 7000, then you should be dealing with what is TRULY a good deal.

Some companies OWN so much property, equipment, etc., that they truly do have a stable capital base. P&G, GM, GE....those kinds of companies.

I'm not sure about owning intangibles. I want the companies owning something real. (I'm not referring here to mutuals, stocks, bonds, etc.)

I'm talking about an actual company and its assets.

[ken5050]

FYI the head of Sun is asking the company's lawyers to review the impact of his failure to certify the financials....sounds like something's rotten in the state of California..

[Dialup Llama]

It put up a good show early on. People spoke of the market stabilizing. Ha! Then kablooey.

[Quicksilver]

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2002-96.htm

Washington, D.C., June 28, 2002-The Securities and Exchange Commission today published a list of 945 companies whose chief executive and chief financial officers are now required to personally certify- in writing, under oath, and for publication-that their most recent reports filed with Commission are both complete and accurate. Officers who make false certifications will face personal liability.

"This is an unprecedented step to help restore investor confidence,' said SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt. "We are demanding that CEOs and CFOs swear that the numbers they've reported in their financial reports are correct and that they've left nothing important out."

[discostu]

I'd wait until November. October is historically the worst month for the market. If things are calm coming out of October then things should be calm for a long time (at least 11 months anyway;} ).

[Cold Heat]

It put up a good show early on. People spoke of the market stabilizing. Ha! Then kablooey.

The day is far from over! It is going to be a interesting close.................................

[NeoCaveman]

Is it just me or does it appear to everyone else that your average FReeper pays little attention to these market threads. It's like many FReepers have an economic/political disconnect.

Hopefully they are long term and perserving their sanity by not watching this bear market meltdown. It seems too late to sell. No sense crying over the gallons and gallons of spilled milk.

[freebilly]

Watch Dems in upcoming elections use this bear market to push a big increase in Social Security contributions. Bigger Brother is coming.

[JimSEA]

Bump

[mwl1]

The biggest worry, in my estimation, is that the RATS and the media are deliberately talking down the economy, so as to provoke a consumer retrenchment and double-dip recession. I did what I could this weekend as a consumer.

[Alberta's Child]

I'm not sure about owning intangibles. I want the companies owning something real. (I'm not referring here to mutuals, stocks, bonds, etc.) I'm talking about an actual company and its assets.

That's a very interesting perspective. I may be wrong about this, but my understanding is that companies with substantial "real" assets may pay good dividends but generally do not offer the best prospects for growth. It may be that these assets (offices, factories, railroads, mines, etc.) can be a burden on the bottom line in the future because they are usually worth far more to the company in their present configuration than they would be to a prospective buyer.

Railroad infrastructure is a good example -- who else but a railroad would have any use for a piece of real estate that is 500 miles long and 100 feet wide?

[per loin]

A bit of a buying run brought it up to 7880, but that run seems to have already ended. The drop back could be swift. False hopes breed despair.

[Alberta's Child]

That is a very good point. I'm not terribly concerned about the upcoming weeks, months, or even years. I'm really interested in what the stock market will look like in 2035.

[Cold Heat]

is that the RATS and the media are deliberately talking down the economy

So true!

[wardaddy]

Agree. Bush is merely at the helm of a market that was correcting before he took office. The hit on Sept. 11th and the uncertainty that caused is purely fate from his perspective. I'm not sure what he can do to bolster the markets and wage war at the same time. This kind of war that is. When we atack Iraq, the markets will reel all over again.

This August 14th certification edict was not in my estimation prudent for the market. Something more subtle would have been better. What happens if out of fear , mnay CFOs and their CPA firms err on the side of caution and reduce earnings expectations just to be totally free of future scrutiny? More emotion to grind an already overly emotive market.

[Soren]

The time to invest is coming.. but it isn't today, or tomorrow.

Agreed. I don't understand why people feel like they have to catch the bottom dead on. Why not wait until a new bull has been firmly established and enter then? This is more consistent with the advice of some of the best traders in history, Jesse Livermore for example.

[Mo1]

Shall we take bets on how low it will go??

[marshmallow]

Somewhere in a mountain rabbit hole, Bin Laden is laughing.

The lemmings that dash over a cliff at the slightest sign of difficulty are doing to the market what he never could on 9/11.

Way to go guys.

[Lower55]

I vote for the first guy mentioning "dead cat bounce" in this thread getting banned for the rest of the day. I HATE that cliche!

I agree. Bye!

[Dog Gone]

You should read this book.