DavidV
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Posts posted by DavidV
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The S&P 500 took quite a tumble in 2008. If you went long, does anything make you think it has reached a bottom? If you shorted it, what do you think the minimum will be in 1-2 years?
I edited my post because I meant that the expected effects will happen anytime from now till two years from now. Two years is just the range beyond which I'm not sure which direction the domestic markets will head.
I knew that the post dot com housing bubble would collapse, but didn't really prepare for it, other than by hoarding cash. Based on the sheer size of government spending, I expect the current inflationary policy to be far more disastrous, so I expect the markets to react far worse.
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Disappointed with my investment advisor's choices and the limited selection of my company-sponsored retirement funds, I have decided to consolidate all my investments into an online brokerage and stake out on my own. I would like to share my strategy and solicit advice to profit in the current turbulent economy.
My strategy is:
- 1/3 precious metals – Physical bullion, GLD, and mining ETFs
- 1/3 S&P 500
- 1/3 foreign stocks & currencies
- Get a discount warehouse club membership and hoard supplies
My assumptions:
- The dollar will fall dramatically, along with most domestic stocks. (0-2 years)
- Gold will rise (0-3 years)
- Foreign markets will crash when U.S. debt is discovered to be worthless (0-7 months)
- Unburdened of worthless U.S. debt, foreign markets will outpace USA (1-10 years)
Some questions:
- What are strong and broad foreign investments?
- What is a good growth small-cap domestic ETF?
- What should I do with my tax-free accounts?
- What specific funds would accomplish my strategy?
- 1/3 precious metals – Physical bullion, GLD, and mining ETFs
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
For the last month or so, I’ve been posting a “thought of the day” to my facebook profile as a “quickie” form of activism. Some of the “thoughts” refer to current events, while others are more philosophical. I’ve decided to collect the more quotable ones on my wiki. I’m going to try to continue posting my thoughts on a daily basis.
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
According to the FeedBurner counter on the left, I have 105 regular readers, so for those who haven’t heard elsewhere, I proposed to Sarah, my lovely girlfriend of two and a half years shortly after midnight, December 31st. Sarah and I met at my Examined Life philosophy meetup group. We plan to wed sometime this summer.
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
For the last month or so, I’ve been posting a “thought of the day” to my facebook profile as a “quickie” form of activism. Some of the “thoughts” refer to current events, while others are more philosophical. I’ve decided to collect the more quotable ones on my wiki. I’m going to try to continue posting my thoughts on a daily basis.
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
According to the FeedBurner counter on the left, I have 105 regular readers, so for those who haven’t heard elsewhere, I proposed to Sarah, my lovely girlfriend of two and a half years shortly after midnight, December 31st. Sarah and I met at my Examined Life philosophy meetup group. We plan to wed sometime this summer.
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
… In economic matters, most people, including most politicians, mainstream economists, and investors unconsciously follow Dewey’s philosophical principles: reality is ultimately driven by social consensus, and the success or failure of markets depends only on the optimism or pessimism of consumers and investors. This is more than the belief that wishes and prayers affect reality - this is a belief that one’s wishes are reality – if only enough people share the delusion.(From What you need to know about the economic “crisis”)
Two more examples:
“As long as no one knows about it, the counterfeit money we print doesn’t really exist:”
“The Bank of England will be able to print extra money without having legally to declare it under new plans which will heighten fears that the Government will secretly pump extra cash into the economy.”
“As long as we ignore the problems in your economy, they won’t really affect us:”
“South Korea set a rare and controversial example over the weekend by arresting a popular blogger who was accused of undermining the financial markets [by correctly predicting economic downturns] but worshipped by many Koreans as an online guru.”
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bluey,
Have you considered participating in your own "spiritual" activity during church time? Aren't there some philosophy or self-improvement books you could catch up on?
If you do choose to debate with your family, keep in mind that Objectivism gives you some very powerful tools for understanding and responding to other's ideas. Being able to think in principles and question one's premises gives you a tremendous advantage in any abstract discussion. You may not be able to convince them, but you will challenge premises that they aren't willing to question. That will force them to question their premises or shut up. In my experience, that will permanently end any serious attempts at evangelism.
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Try Onyx - it will check a bunch of things and do all kinds of maintenance: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/syst...ities/onyx.html
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Last month, Obama suggested that a combination of economic incentives and tighter sanctions might work. Tehran rejected the proposal. Obama also has said he would pursue tough-minded diplomacy.
Yes, that worked great for Iraq & Cuba
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The idea for this document comes from the science fiction book The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.
The implementation of this particular document sucks, but I like the idea of an international "common economic protocol." Are there any other efforts at such a document? Any interest in writing one?
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Thanks everyone. Here's some pics:
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Telling Christians where they went wrong may be easy and perhaps even fun, but if you are really interested in intellectual activism, you should consider a more productive use of your time than trying to sneak ideas into a hostile environment. People who frequently engage in online debates are just as likely to be debating for the sake of argument as trying to get to the truth of the matter.
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More free stuff:
512MB x2 DDR2 desktop memory
Pretty much any non-current generation computer/AV cable imaginable
Will accept any reasonable offer:
HP Photosmart C3100 Printer/Scanner
Workstation PC: Alienware X2 (Dual processor + hyper threaded) Xeon 3.2Ghz 3GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB SATA, DVDRW + Pioneer slot-loading DVD (no media)
Laptop: Compaq Presario V2000 w/Turion x64 CPU + 1.25GB DDR - no hard drive, but with XP Pro original media
Laptop: Powerbook G4 1.67Ghz/2GB w/Leopard (minor display issues - ask me, fully loaded and tweaked) (no media)
Sony MDR V150 headphones
Altec Lansing 251 5.1 surround speakers
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I've created a new wiki installation at http://wiki.rationalmind.net/
This wiki is a placeholder for everything that doesn't belong at http://wiki.objectivismonline.net, which will be focused strictly on its stated purpose.
I have some personal projects in mind, but everyone else is welcome to use it too.
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
Despite an “impartial” and “transparent” process, it turns out that there is a high correlation between Congressional power and science grants. Must be a “a case of correlation but not causation” one commentator writes. There’s no way that politics could corrupt the scientific process (as long as Democrats are in power, at least.)
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
Despite an “impartial” and “transparent” process, it turns out that there is a high correlation between Congressional power and science grants. Must be a “a case of correlation but not causation” one commentator writes. There’s no way that politics could corrupt the scientific process (as long as Democrats are in power, at least.)
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In March 2006, I started the DFW Examined Life Philosophy Group, which is a general philosophy discussion group.
We've had 40 meetups since then, and now have 202 members with about 10 coming to each meeting. It currently meets every third Thursday at the main Half-Price books store in Dallas.
My primary motivation was to make some friends in Dallas, and having accomplished that, I've lost some of my motivation for continuing it. I've not had much success in finding anyone to help out or take over the group, so I am advertising it here. For the last few years, the meetings have been pretty much 100% philosophical debate, though initially we did a cultural activities in the DFW area as well.
Speaking from experience and observation, it's also a great opportunity to meet girls, if you like the kind that doesn't take any BS and talks back to you.
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(David - I called your mom and she said you better finish your next plate of sushi or no dessert for you! )
My mom thinks eating raw fish is disgusting, so I doubt that :-)
Yesterday, Sarah and I went to Sushi Yama which has a $12 bento box special every Wednesday. They also have sushi specials Tuesday and Thursday. They have the best Japanese food for the price.
It’s at
8989 Forest Ln # 112
Dallas, TX 75243
(972) 234-3474
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
Full report. From: The New Clarion.
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Here is the traffic for the One Minute Case blog for the last few weeks:
Not bad for a blog that was active for a month and hasn't active in over a year, eh?
From the search keywords and comments that visitors are leaving, it looks like many of the visitors are kids doing research on papers. I would say that this is a good opportunity for ground-floor intellectual activism and a lesson for other sites - research resources can be more influential than news commentary & opinion.
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By David from Truth, Justice, and the American Way,cross-posted by MetaBlog
I just sent my family the following email:
Hi folks,If you’ve been following the news, you may have heard that:-
The Federal Reserve just cut the overnight loan rate to .25 percent. Gold prices immediately jumped to $847/oz. (Last week, I bought gold at $775). We haven’t seen rates this low for over 50 years.
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The government has given away over8,000,000,000,000dollars of “free” money in the last three months.
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In the last 5 years, the dollar has lostmore than half its value relative to gold.
All evidence points towards the fact that the U.S. government is rapidly devaluing your savings, and a currency collapse followed by hyperinflation like we recently saw in Iceland is all but inevitable. If you don’t want to lose your savings and investments in the coming economic collapse, you need to take action NOW.Here is what you should be doing:-
Buy some gold and keep it in a safe place. I suggesthttp://www.kitco.com/or eBay - you can get a good deal on 1oz gold bars. (Buy plain gold bullion, not the “collectible” stuff.)
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Don’t pay anything above the minimum payment on any loans or mortgages you have.
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It’s a good time to get a new loan. I would not suggest taking on new mortgages, as I expect housing prices to collapse further.
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The stock market may lose up to 50% of its value in the next year. Still, investing in the S&P 500 is a good hedge against inflation. You can also invest in metal & mining index funds.
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Stock up on supplies, especially durable goods.
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Minimize your holdings of inflation-prone assets, like cash, bonds, and government securities.
When you’re done, you should have a minimum of cash and cash-like investments, and plenty of material assets you can sell or barter in an emergency. Also, consider getting a firearm for self-defense – expect crime to rise dramatically when the economy collapses.You’ve been warned. -
Help me with my investment strategy
in Work, Careers and Money
Posted
I'm 28, and I don't plan to start withdrawing on my funds until after 55. I have about $80K to invest right now. I have a good, stable income, but I don't have time to follow the markets, so I want to invest aggressively, but long term.