bush_cheney2004 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Here's an anecdote, my wife had been using the same clothes pins for years. Over a very long time, many of them wore out and she needed to buy more. She bought some in a bag and they were made in China. They don't work. Although they're brand-new clothes pins, the spring is cheaply made and they keep "pinging" off the clothesline.... Well, continuing this thought, there are two main types of clothed pins...squeezers as you describe and static pegs that have no spring hinge. As a child, I favored the one piece pegs because they were less prone to problems and made better tent anchors when used with blankets. "Rich people" had the more expensive squeezers. However, it was considered bad form to steal clothes pins from the line on someone elses bag. When strapped for enough pins, one would double up on the ends, hanging clothes in tandem with shared pins. The spring style pins were excellent for making rubber band assault weapons. Now, the entire point of this Oleg-like story is to point out that times were not harder when line drying clothes, not even when they were frozen stiff in winter. Accordingly, we will survive jobs going to "Mexicans". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 (edited) When I was down in Texas I noticed that all the yard work in the gated area my son lived in was done by Mexicans. Most of those call centre jobs and auto manufacturing jobs have moved elsewhere. You need to keep up with the times. That's OK...some of our janitorial and fast food workers come from Canada. It is my custom to point out that jobs lost to Canada years ago is no different than Mexico today. For some reason, a few Canadians think they are better than Mexico in this NAFTA regard. Edited August 7, 2011 by bush_cheney2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 What's surprising is how much Canadians cared about who we elected in the first place - "another country's leader." As I said, Obama had higher approval ratings outside the U.S. than within - and the world cheered when Obama won. Gone were the days of Bush - Americans were redeemed. Americans per se weren't hated - it was Bush and company that was hated, and Americans by extension for voting for him. So THAT'S what I was obviously referring to in my post - and it has nothing to do with Obama's "approval rating" in the U.S. And it's a lesson learned. The anti-Americanism that existed wasn't because Americans elected Bush - and the attitude prevailing today proves it. Americans elected the loved-by-the-world Obama, yet now we take flack for that, too. And anti-Americanism still exists. It wasn't anti-Bush/blame the Americans for electing him. It was anti-Americanism. And as I said, it's a lesson learned on my part. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinko Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 That's OK...some of our janitorial and fast food workers come from Canada. It is my custom to point out that jobs lost to Canada years ago is no different than Mexico today. For some reason, a few Canadians think they are better than Mexico in this NAFTA regard. I am not a supporter of NAFTA nor was I a supporter of the original FTA between Canada and the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonlight Graham Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Can't find the other thread for monday markets, but i predict on Monday stocks will go down at first (who would buy right at the bell? Either they sell or just watch it), then go up and down like a yo-yo for the rest of the day. No clue on the final day tally but likely down overall. Asian markets are down, US futures down. I predicted stocks would go down at the start of Monday, wow i'm a genius. A true genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punked Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 And the Republicans got 98% of what they wanted remember? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinko Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 And the Republicans got 98% of what they wanted remember? No hurry. They will get the remainder next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Nope... Just making a statement about Roger Waters lyrics on the song Money off the album Dark Side of the Moon.... I would say that album has some of the most brilliant guitar solos ever played - so classic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Good luck and God speed _ I have faith in the world....there is no choice but to believe we will be okay - and belief is the all powerful force! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Oh yea....that's what i'm talkin' 'bout. Jumped on that sucker hard when the Dow slumped below 6500 and rode it all the way up to 11,500, then bailed. There is a ceiling below 13,000 for now, so not much upside recently. Monday is an opportunity to repeat the roller coaster ride. Looks like it's shaping up as you'd hoped. DOW is down over 500 points so far. Good thing I liquidated most of my volatile positions last week. Can probably re-buy some of em later after they've dropped 10-20% or more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Looks like it's shaping up as you'd hoped. DOW is down over 500 points so far. Good thing I liquidated most of my volatile positions last week. Can probably re-buy some of em later after they've dropped 10-20% or more... Can't believe people are selling NOW. The market is down over 1000 points over the last three days and people are trying to get out NOW!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) Can't believe people are selling NOW. The market is down over 1000 points over the last three days and people are trying to get out NOW!? It always happens that way. People see things falling off a cliff and want to get out before things fall further. You can never know how far it will fall. Given the panic today and continued ratings downgrades of major corporations and organizations as well as brewing problems in Europe, I can see a continued decline of a few days being quite possible. Edited August 8, 2011 by Bonam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Can't believe people are selling NOW. The market is down over 1000 points over the last three days and people are trying to get out NOW!? Guess they can not believe their eyes and exist in a state of denial - what do you mean my money is not worth as much - I will just wait till it is...In the mean time there is a downward slide that is visually obvious - but why believe your own eyes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinko Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Among Clinton fans, particularly older women, the language was frequently far more caustic. “Obama has no spine and no balls,” said a 67-year-old New Yorker. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/07/hillary-clinton-2012-calls-grow-with-anger-at-obama-debt-capitulation.html?om_rid=NsfrMk&om_mid=_BOQDgOB8coIc1J Looks like buyer's remorse. Obama is seen as weak and ineffective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Among Clinton fans, particularly older women, the language was frequently far more caustic. “Obama has no spine and no balls,” said a 67-year-old New Yorker. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/07/hillary-clinton-2012-calls-grow-with-anger-at-obama-debt-capitulation.html?om_rid=NsfrMk&om_mid=_BOQDgOB8coIc1J Looks like buyer's remorse. Obama is seen as weak and ineffective. "Buyers remorse" that is priceless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIP Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Somehow I don't see that happening, but in the event that it does, how about we trade for all the Canadians who would prefer to be Americans? We'll call it a wash. You're missing the point! Climate change is real, and the current projections for the rest of this century show Earth heading into a situation that looks remarkably similar to a brief, sudden warming period 55 million years ago called the PETM. Atmospheric CO2 levels rose above 450 ppm in less than a thousand years; the Arctic Ocean melted and was even filled with crocodiles, while the Equatorial regions were so hot and dry, paleontologists believe the Tropics were completely devoid of plant and animal life for over a hundred thousand years. So, since we are increasing CO2 levels at least ten times as fast as the PETM, what can we expect future generations to do...besides go extinct as some pessimists like James Lovelock...who predicts the world population will already be less than 10% of present levels by 2100? Well, seems obvious that whenever average daytime temperatures rise above 140 F and can no longer grow any vegetation, whoever's living then will have already moved north. So, where does that leave Canada? Pretty damn crowded with climate refugees at some given point! The migrations could occur long before the tropics are incinerated - the changes that are causing droughts and floods now are decreasing grain yields and driving up world commodity prices. Ten, twenty, fifty years...at some point, all those people who moved into the Southwest after WWII, are going to have to move out because it's impossible to grow much of anything, and there is not enough available fresh water....I'll get started on my border fence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIP Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Can't believe people are selling NOW. The market is down over 1000 points over the last three days and people are trying to get out NOW!? I am not expecting the return of a bull market ever! The days of big returns on the stock market are gone for good. I think when these assholes started creating derivatives to bet on existing investments, it was a sign that the leeches living off of commissions realized they couldn't get the returns they had come to expect any longer. What really bothers me after spending the last hour surfing around CNN and other news channels talking about the market panic, is that it just doesn't sink in that present system of capitalist economics - dependent on continual, year over year growth, is incompatible with our real world situation -- we live on a finite planet that cannot grow larger or provide more resources to accommodate the wishes and wants of a growing population. Personally, I think we are already at the breaking point, where the reality of overshooting available water sources, available farm land, the inevitable depletion of fossil fuels, has crashed the party where liberal and libertarian economists argue about how to resume economic growth...hate to be a downer, but that's just the way it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 More growth might have been needed at one time to ensure a good standard of living. With all growth there is the point where something is fully grown. To continue to force growth for what would be an un-natural and unsustainable reason will cause uncontrolled mutations in the so-called economy..there are limits - and we have reached ours - more growth - more cheap labour through immigration in the hopes of a contined growning in prosperity only leads to a greater disparity of wealth - then eventually to violent and desperate revoltion - that can be avoided if people use their vision and trust it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonlight Graham Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) Among Clinton fans, particularly older women, the language was frequently far more caustic. “Obama has no spine and no balls,” said a 67-year-old New Yorker. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/07/hillary-clinton-2012-calls-grow-with-anger-at-obama-debt-capitulation.html?om_rid=NsfrMk&om_mid=_BOQDgOB8coIc1J Looks like buyer's remorse. Obama is seen as weak and ineffective. He is seen that way because he somewhat is. But this isn't just an Obama problem. It's also a Bush/Clinton/Bush/Reagan etc. problem, a Congress problem, and a problem of the American people. To be fair, has Canada done much different? In terms of housing and banking yes, but debt-wise not really. Canada was downgraded to AA+ status in the early 90's too. I'll say it again, in some ways this is a good thing because maybe this will make voters realize that balancing the budget and reigning in debt is something that needs to be done and has REAL consequences that will affect them, not just their grandchildren. Edited August 8, 2011 by Moonlight Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 It's hard for millioinares sitting in congress to grasp the idea that all can suddenly come crashing down and THEY might themselves be in the soup line - It is possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) He is seen that way because he somewhat is. But this isn't just an Obama problem. It's also a Bush/Clinton/Bush/Reagan etc. problem, a Congress problem, and a problem of the American people. To be fair, has Canada done much different? In terms of housing and banking yes, but debt-wise not really. Canada was downgraded to AA+ status in the early 90's too And upgraded back to AAA since then. Canada is in a much better debt position than the US presently. Our debt/capita, our debt/gdp, and our debt/gov revenue are all about 3 times lower. The rate at which our deficit is growing is also vastly lower than the US, we might even be back to surplus soon. Edited August 8, 2011 by Bonam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 I am not expecting the return of a bull market ever! The days of big returns on the stock market are gone for good. You said that after the recession in 2008/2009 too. We had a bull market since then for about 2 years. It was pretty easy to have doubled or even tripled your portfolio in that time, with many stocks of major corporations showing those gains. The current market retreat will present another excellent buying opportunity once it bottoms out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maple_leafs182 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 You said that after the recession in 2008/2009 too. We had a bull market since then for about 2 years. It was pretty easy to have doubled or even tripled your portfolio in that time, with many stocks of major corporations showing those gains. The current market retreat will present another excellent buying opportunity once it bottoms out. The fundamentals of the economy have just gotten worse since 08. The Fed throwing trillions of dollars into the economy only temporarily brought it back up, it didn't fix any of the problems. If the Fed does that again which I believe it will, then yes it might be a good idea to buy stocks but I think you would be safer buying gold and silver. There will be a point where pumping trillions of dollars into the economy won't be effective. I still believe that the greatest depression started in '08 and we are still in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Looks like it's shaping up as you'd hoped. DOW is down over 500 points so far. Good thing I liquidated most of my volatile positions last week. Can probably re-buy some of em later after they've dropped 10-20% or more... Like shooting fish in a barrel. Such a wonderfully "hideous day"....perhaps with more carnage to follow. I went in on some beaten up blue chips that have low P/E multiples, but I'm keeping most of my powder dry for more of a bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Like shooting fish in a barrel. Such a wonderfully "hideous day"....perhaps with more carnage to follow. Here's hoping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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