You’re right Mike…
It’s about PAYING ATTENTION to REAL economic indicators.
UPS is a CLASSIC example…It’s not fed by the goverment, it ships items for BUSINESSES and for BUYERS and SELLERS. If it’s earnings are up that much, you MUST take note of that…If you don’t you’ve either got your head in the sand or your head up your @ss!!!
Yes I agree socialism is being run rampant / unchecked. Yes I agree Obama is not the best thing for America. Yes it pisses me off to no end every time I turn my head and see another group of individuals yelling for their "entitlements". If you think America is becoming socialist, wait until you go to Quebec, Canada where I live. We're centuries ahead of you Americans on the socialism advancement.I pay 54% incomes taxes.
Goods and services taxes are close to 15%.
Property taxes here are outrageous.
This all goes to pay the socialist agenda here in Quebec.But what good does it do to complain about it?
I think that you answered your own question! In Canada, they didn’t fight the socialists and look what you’ve got! We CAN’T afford to make that same mistake here and have our country destroyed! It’s great that you want to read something positive about the USA! Why not post something positive? Personally, I don’t think that there is much of ANYTHING good happening here. The socialists are running rampant (as you said) and they are bankrupting our country (started with George Bush, the traitor) right before our eyes. It’s time to FIGHT for our country and our freedom. Speaking up and doing everything possible to educate the people about the socialist menace is the best way to fight at this time. More than 100,000 Americans have died fighting the socialist and communists and now we have a socialist in the White House! You can give up and give in to the socialists if you want, but I WILL NOT!
The socialists and the socialist media don’t want to admit it, but there are TENS OF MILLIONS of Americans like me that are mad as hell! They’re showing up at tea parties all over the country and they WILL vote in November. We are speaking up and we will not stop until we get our country back!
propertymanager is a conservative guy in his investing philosophy as well as his political ideology. Much of what he is saying is true about the direction of the country. While there has been as recovering market in place for the last year it is not a sustainable recovery. The bad investments have just been shifted from the private institutions to the public institutions. Go back and look at the FED’s balance sheet over the past 14 months and it’s oblivious.
The commercial real estate market is garbage right now and will continue to be. Cap rates were pushed to lows on the basis of future appreciation and were even bought with negative cash flows in place. We have not seen the damage that the commercial market will cause until the out years.
Yes, UPS is up 33% but what does that mean coming off some of their worst lows ever. To me not much. I contribute that to people getting used to the current environment and realizing that it may not pan out to be as bad as they thought it may get and, feeling a little bit more comfortable. Then you look at GE’s current earnings down 32% what does that say for manufacturing?
At the end of the day the investment environment is shacky at best. I understand you have seen your portfolios get better over the last year and that’s great as mine has too. The biggest problem we face in this country is the lose of our AAA rating as a nation. Keynesian economics do not work and you all will feel the pinch if we don’t get back to our roots. I can’t predict the future except to say, what happened in that past with similar policies? How’s Greece doing these day’s?
P.S. I recommend you all go read Milton Friedman or even watch him on youtube.
I haven’t seen the movie yet; but Michael Moore is a big-time liberal and so I’m guessing it’s not a happy “love story” as the title implies.
I think it’s sad that so many people have misconceptions about capitalism. I wouldn’t say the most recent economic crises were the result of capitalism per se but a lack of regulated capitalism. Credit default swaps, for example, were not regulated. Anyone could issue and sell them. This, of course, was got AIG into trouble. Clearly, unregulated capitalism can lead to some very serious effects. But this is not an indictment of capitalism per se, but rather, the individuals who abuse the freedoms afforded in a capitalist system. Capitalism needs regulations in the same way a free society needs a police force.
The problem with Greece is not Greece it is the Euro. You can’t have a united currency without a unified fiscal system. What every other country does when they get into this situation is to devalue their currency until it finds its equilibrium. Greece can’t devalue the Euro because they don’t control their own currency.
Bluemoon,
Are you serious? You’re not showing the least bit of rationale with this reply. It’s obvious that you’ve never READ any of his books. His research is rock solid and very few intellectuals take him to task on facts. Most completely avoid debate or resort to name calling as you’ve done. You simply don’t like him because he’s conservative. What if I called Paul Krugman a hack based on the fact he’s a liberal media darling? Incidentally, I’ve actually read his books!
JP
No I have read his books. I have read at least 2 of them. That is why I taked to him. I think they are good books. I have talked to him also. Have you? He is an idiot. He is an intellectual. He has as much since as a shoestring.
I’ve never talked to him. I let his work do that. He may not have the social acumen that pleases you. However, he is hardly an idiot. And, if you think he’s an idiot, who is brilliant?
It’s not the Euro… I contend that it has more to do with Government spending which, is about 115% +/- of their GDP. Inflation of their debt costs is the contributing factor to their crisis due to their over spending (to much supply of Greek currency in the market and a higher risk of default). Their cost of issuing new debt has killed their ability to borrow. I don’t have the specifics in front of me but, they went from somewhere around 4% +/- to 6% +/- on a three year note.
Interest rates and the underlying value of the bond have an inverse relationship. Meaning that as interest rates rise the underlying asset depreciates and vise versa. So your contention that devaluing the currency would solve their problem is incorrect. In fact, I contend that devaluation of their currency is essentially what is already taking place due to the former.
The only way for Greece return to financial health is to cut spending drastically (as mandated by the Euro Zone in their bail out package). Fiscal responsibility and living within their means is the only solution to their problem.