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eesmith4

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  1. Ask the folks who invested in a fund based on this index. Nikkei 18 years and a 75% loss. would you consider that a good long term investment? Take a look at a long term chart of the S&P; SP500 That's a classic TA reversal pattern called a Double Top Double Top caused by an excessive, unhealthy credit expansion. We'll be well under 500 on the S&P before this is all said and done. The fact is that we're entering a secular bear market that can easily last for a couple decades. If you bought an index fund in the last 10 years you're almost certainly down double digits already, and you probably won't break even in nominal terms for another 20 years at least. Index funds are good in a bull market, but this ain't a bull market and there probably won't be another one for a while. In a bear market you want to be concerned with capital preservation not appreciation, here's a good tool that will help keep you out of the market during bears and in during bulls. 20w/50w timing signal The simple fact that can't be denied, is that following Schiff's advice over the last year lost you money you didn't have to lose.
  2. The problem isn't really lack of regulations; it's that they weren't enforced. If you don't enforce laws, only the honest men follow them, while the crooks run wild.
  3. Hmm. Smoot-Hartley anyone? History may not repeat, but it sure does rhyme.
  4. Mish's criticisms of Schiff are dead-on accurate, IMO. Heck, Schiff may be right in the long run, but if you followed his investing advice over the last year you got crushed. The thing about trading is that you not only have to be right, but right RIGHT NOW. If you think XYZ stock is going to drop to 50 from 100 and you short it on margin with no stops, if it pops to 150 before falling off the cliff you get boned. Yeah you may have been right over the long term, but there's still a smoking hole where your account used to be. That said Schiff is still a refreshing change from the retard pump monkeys CNBS trots out, and would still be a vast improvement over our current members of government. Can't get much worse than the likes of Dodd and Bwarney Fwank.
  5. IMDB says "Unknown" and the last update was in June '08 when the director was released from the project, so I'd say it doesn't look good. Generally in the entertainment industry, "No news is bad news".
  6. Great Blog post by Karl explaining why periodic resets of the economy/monetary system happen and are necessary. The price of Capitalism Here's the forums, I've been lurking there for a while (just recently actually signed up) and have learned a ton! http://www.tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www
  7. Obama's going to be even worse for the economy than McCain. At least McCain KNOWS that he doesn't know jack about economics, Obama thinks he knows when he really doesn't know anything, judging from what he's planning.
  8. I agree Steve, Starship Troopers was a travesty. I'll admit I was amused by the writer and director's commentary track on the DVD, they spent a lot of time talking about how much they hated the ideas in the book and wanted to attack them with the film. I remember watching the film and thinking "OK, here's technologically advanced world with no racism, no sexism, very little crime, almost everyone appears very healthy and happy with a high standard of living and no poverty, and you're trying to tell us this is a BAD thing?" Starship Troopers had so much promise. It could had been an incredible film, handled properly. I like the idea of Morgan Freeman in the film, however I see him more in the role of Hugh Akston. He has that "Guardian/Teacher" type presence that comes across very well on film, and he takes those sorts of roles in most of his work. I agree Daniel Day Lewis would be an excellent choice for Hank Rearden, He has an incredible intensity to him that would fit he character of Rearden well.
  9. [pope] "Wealth is Evil, you should give it away before it damns your soul. Oh wait, BTW, since I'm standing here and am such a nice guy, I'll take it off your hands for you. Oh, don't forget, I'm willing to make the sacrifice of taking your money because I LOVE you, and don't forget to tell your friends if they want their souls saved they need to give their money to me as well. What? no, no checks, cash/gold only, K thanx bai." [/pope]
  10. I wish somebody would get off their ass and get this thing done. Done properly, it could have a great impact, especially considering current events. I can't count the times I've heard people say things like "I feel like I'm trapped in Atlas Shrugged" or variations there of. Personally, I've always thought Christian Bale would be a superb Francisco, he's an incredible actor (watch The Machinist if you have any doubt) and he's got the worthless playboy/undercover hero thing down pat from playing Batman.
  11. 29 y.o male from Mississippi, Merchant Marine Officer, been a fan of Rand since my early 20's. First read AS, then immediately went back to the bookstore and picked up TF, Anthem, WTL, For The New Intellectual, The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: the unknown Ideal, The Romantic Manifesto, and ITOE. Look forward to hanging out here and furthering my knowledge.
  12. To put it in simple terms, the source of our current economic problems is the fact that there is excessive debt at all levels of society, from individual all the way up to government. A debt problem can't be fixed with taking on more debt, it's mathematically impossible. Bernanke is trying to inflate right now, but his problem is that the debt is unwinding(inherently deflationary) faster than he can print. Obama is going to try to push through his spending bill, but there's also the distinct possibility that the Bond Market puts the Chrysler building up his ass if he tries. The ugly little secret for TPTB is that they don't nearly have the power they wish or most people think they have; for example, contrary to popular opinion, the Fed doesn't set interest rates, the market does. Sure, he can influence them, but if the market want to go in an entirely different direction it will. Recently when Bernanke lowered the Fed target rate to "between zero and .25 percent" from 1 percent, it meant nothing, as the market rate was already at around 15 basis points, or .15 percent. .Govs can propose all the spending they want, but if the bond market says "I don't think so" then it ain't happening. Here's a very good explanation for what's happening and why it won't work, and quite possibly will end up in a Bond market dislocation. http://market-ticker.org/archives/709-Why-...-Cant-Work.html
  13. Watson, The SEC is a perfect example of "Regulatory Capture"( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture ) and is actually worse than not having anything at all, because it provides the appearance that there is an impartial regulatory body when in fact there is nothing of the sort. People have been reporting Madoff to the SEC since 1999 and nothing happened, because the quickest way to get fired there is to investigate major players. http://www.truthout.org/122208J If you cause trouble for the big guys, you hurt your chances to get hired by a big firm later down the road and move from a high 5/low 6 figure income to a solid 7 figure one. Hence the harassment of Martha Stewart and The folks at National Lampoon instead.
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