by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | July 14, 2012 12:21 am
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Just my thoughts. I am no economist. The fatalist analogies portrayed by a dire visionaries as to the downfall of this great country leaves me with doubts as to the accuracy of their statements. Fatalists for years claimed calamity is right around the corner. Prepare now! Then the market 7 years later hiccups and they state ” See I told you so”. I will find it hard to believe that the regular smuck, like me, are going to go to the market and shave gold bars onto a scale or that they will only take silver collectable coins for my grocery order. Or that I will have to gun my way through the parking lot because of rioting state workers. On the other hand, Inflation and higher interest rates to me are inevitable. Just like the 70s and 80s. Well almost. I just don’t understand why they have not put out, that the majority of our tax paying citizens are now retiring ( yes the Baby Boomers). They drove up the prices on everything from gas to food to housing. No surprise to me that as they leave the workforce and fly off to their foreign estate, that demand for goods will diminish. With lower demand should come lower prices and of course lower revenues for our government and businesses. While they were working our government found it easy to pay the bills. Now that their cash cow is not there, they will have to cut spending and benefits. Not fair to those that have to bear the brunt of the aging populace. Not to mention, that children per household has decreased by half if not more.
I suspect that prices will more likely deflate over longer term. Our government will continue to reduce benefits to Americans in lieu of their special interests. They will need to raise taxes. They can do this, because they are not accountable for their actions. That’s why our government is dysfunctional. The best advice would be to the investor is to be educated and watch the markets closely. Someone once said, There are two things that are inevitable one taxes and two is death. I would add a third. Change
Just my two cents. Maybe I am just venting some, because I have been paying the increases cost for my gas, housing, and food. Just figured that some quick fixes would be the elimination of party alliances, no more lobbyist, and an internet based voting system for the general public on laws and programs. I bet I wont see that in my lifetime, although it makes common sense to this irregular smuck.
One of the means to hedge against our probable inflation that I use is investing in stocks from economies one expects will do relatively well in comparison to the US Dollar. For that reason I have 43% of my portfolio in Canadian stocks, in Canadian $; 11.25% recently placed into European Stocks, 6.2% in South American stocks, and around 38.29% in US stocks.
Do I think public employees are the biggest problem facing this country? No. Do I think their benefits (health care and pensions) and salaries are far beyond what a lot of states and cities can afford and hope to provide any services? Yes. Special interests hijacked this country and one of those interests was and is Public employee unions. In my state I can not a see a way to pay for the promises made by bought of politicians and still hope to grow ans economy and provide any kind of services. We were in and still are working out of a massive debt bubble and that means a lot states and cities are going to go belly up with out the Federal government printing money to bail them out, I have no clue how one can ignore the math. I also think physical metal is a little loony to own. If it reaches that point you are much better off with guns, booze and cigarettes. 🙂
I was a member of the “laziest minority” for 38 years with the Department of
Defense, both in and out of uniform. I, like many of my co-workers, routinely
worked 10 hours a day and got paid for 8. When I traveled, which I frequently
did, I usually traveled on a Sunday and returned on a Saturday (my time).
I apologize to no one!
As usual with misdirection, which is a most effective and valuable tool to mislead individual’s thoughts away from what you don’t want them to see. Magicians are not the only ones that use it to their advantage. Our leaders, past and present, have learned to work this stage all too well.
Government workers are some of the best people I have met. Down to earth and truly sacrificing for the common good. Unfortunately, they are in no position, and their job descriptions in most cases will not include long term forecasting of monetary needs based on population demographics, pensions funding and protection of middle class life styles. The focus should not be on government employees, but the lack of protection that our leaders are failing to provide. To you, to me and to our children.
Like I have said, the cash cows are leaving the building. We must reduce spending, increase revenue and maintain the American Dream. Fortunately, I believe we have the fortitude of Patriotism and belief that we can restore, resolve and repair our leadership’s missteps. Therefore the need to increase our investment in Gold and Silver is a misdirection. Of course this is only my opinion, but I am very happy playing short term Long and Short plays in the stock market for gains that have greatly surpassed any gains that would have been made if I just invest and hold a commodity. You can email me, if you plan on dumping a bunch of shares to buy gold and silver. I will be happy to short it with you. $$$ Cha Ching
-Abraham Lincoln started income tax. It was optional except for government employees.
-Only 3% of the American population paid taxes in 1930.
-Women became part of the workforce during the WW2. It was cheaper for businesses to hire women then men. Supply and demand caused the men’s incomes to be reduced. Family values have suffered.
-Our government leaders are convinced that it is only the middle class that has to pay a greater portion of our countries debt. Just ask Warren Buffet, who paid less of a percentage of his salary then his secretary. I love his honesty.
-1990s Leaders started to tell the population to start saving for retirement. Don’t count on Social Security it may not be there. Meanwhile they misused SS retirement Funds for their pet programs. Instead of saving the extra monies for baby boomers….. they spent it. Oh but it’s their fault, they elected them. Yeah Right.
– Only about 30% voted in the last election. Our government has failed to make it easier for everyone to vote.
-Democrats and Republicans are the only two parties that get support. We rarely get to hear much from Television, Radio or any other form of media from the other parties. Our government needs to have all political campaign contributions distributed equally among all parties to be fair. Hence elimination of lobbyist takes Greed and Bribery out of the picture. Where do you think the lobbyist get the money. You… when you buy any of their products.
Sure, invest in Silver and Gold that will fix everything. Do you see the misdirection?
I have no positions in Silver and Gold and have no immediate plans to initiate Longs or Shorts in either. The only way to increase the value of the dollar is for our leaders to be working together to be fiscally responsible. I think they can and will. It means their pensions and lifestyles.
Other havens? CostaRica – stable and a 5% CD – Nice
I have some foreign currency accounts at Everbank. OK, it is a US bank but at least one can hedge the dollar in a simple and direct way. They offer several innovative CD’s as well.