My portfolio consists of 3 main sectors: Silver, uranium and oil stocks. Why? The civilization, i mean modern civilization would collapse without all three commodities. Sure, iron, copper, zinc are also important, but these 3 are the cheapest of them all vs their inner VALUE.
Now, without tesla or apple or amazon? F..... em, they are not needed and can be easily replaced
Now, without tesla or apple or amazon? F..... em, they are not needed and can be easily replaced
I lost 20k from Lehman, not catastrophical but still hurt.
I remember my adviser at the time when I invested it, when I asked about the risks.
Said he: "Mr Didden, if Lehman goes, we can all go home. Will not happen".
Sure a year later it did.
Jan
And right now my building contractor is trying to push me toward a ‘cheaper’ construction on the Barndominium - to go with wood framing on the outer walls to save on framing and insulation. I thought the whole point of doing the double framing was to be able to get more insulation in there. I’m tired of the $300+ electric bills in the summer. Was never ready to drop $30k more into this old money pit to get it energy efficient - but with new construction that’s a good use of $30k. My shop has the double framing with spray foam on the steel and R19 in the walls and one little 1-ton window unit keeps it freezing in there when the house comes up to 77 on those 105 degree days. I suppose the other alternative would be to double up on the size of the solar array that will go in eventually, but solar cells and inverters don’t last forever either. And the harder you run an AC unit the less mileage you get out of it.
True enough, but the whole scene suggests Debt must be also considered.
Savings:
https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/savings-account-average-balance/
"Many bank accounts hold far less cash than U.S. consumers would need to cover even a few months without income, according to an analysis of federal data.
The median transaction account balance is $5,300, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), conducted most recently in 2019. Transaction accounts include savings, checking, money market and call accounts, as well as prepaid debit cards..............
The majority of U.S. households — 98 percent — have a transaction account, such as a savings account, according to the latest SCF data. Those who have both a savings and a checking account may choose to transfer money automatically from one to the other in order to beef up savings.
A well-funded savings account can be useful in an emergency, providing needed funds to cover unforeseen expenses that might otherwise require borrowing. Currently, however, less than half of U.S. households — about 4 in 10 — are able to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense like a car repair or medical bill, a recent Bankrate survey found."
Debt:
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/debt/average-american-debt
"How Many Americans Are in Debt?
Even though household net worth is on the rise in America (at $141 trillion in the summer of 2021)—so is debt.1 The total personal debt in the U.S. is at an all-time high of $14.96 trillion.2 The average American debt (per U.S. adult) is $58,604 and 77% of American households have at least some type of debt."
So although many have "thousands" in savings (around $5k), they also have 10 times as much in debt.
A sobering thought.
True.
I own many more quarters and cigarette butts than any of my friends.
They ENVY me, I guess they can´t stand SUCCESS!!!!
Agree, to a point...Oil for sure... Gold instead of Silver, and Marijuana instead of Uranium.
The next "Big Thing" will involve Marijuana.
And no, I am not currently High.
As a Colorado resident, I get a decent tax break from all of the revenue collected om Marijuana sales.
Schools are funded and we just got a refund from the state from too much tax collected.
I figure there are assorted local state government people who will be totally upset if other states legalize Marijuana.
Schools are funded and we just got a refund from the state from too much tax collected.
I figure there are assorted local state government people who will be totally upset if other states legalize Marijuana.
Here in Illinoise, Tax Revenue from Marijuana sales exceeded Alcohol.... once these other states get wind of its financial potential, they will be all over it...just need fed legalization first -
Hard to believe its a strict CASH ONLY business, and they are somehow Taxing it....
Hard to believe its a strict CASH ONLY business, and they are somehow Taxing it....
Sad thing about marijuana -- from wife who is a molecular biologist and studied those white mice with marijuana and other drugs -- the third generation of offspring experience DNA abnormalities.
Depends on the dose, like the saccharine scare...very high doses for many years caused issues.
Marijuana cases more lung damage compared to tobacco, it seems.
Your lungs, your choice.
More economic down sides from different countries, batten down the hatches, so to speak.
Many cities in China are going into near lock downs to curb the spread of the Corona virus.
And the minor rate increase by the Fed seems to have knocked the property market on its head.
Take care, seek sober advice from experienced and honest people.
Marijuana cases more lung damage compared to tobacco, it seems.
Your lungs, your choice.
More economic down sides from different countries, batten down the hatches, so to speak.
Many cities in China are going into near lock downs to curb the spread of the Corona virus.
And the minor rate increase by the Fed seems to have knocked the property market on its head.
Take care, seek sober advice from experienced and honest people.
I got some back a couple years ago in a class action lawsuit. It amounted to about 0.2% of what I lost. There wasn't much money left over for the regulators to distribute in the lawsuit. Lehman did a good job of destroying money.
I trusted my company to set it up properly. I did work for a brokerage house (Carr Futures), after all. But mere months after most of us lost everything they turned almost all of us out into the street. I was one of the lucky ones because many of my co-workers lost their houses. They closed their doors for good in 2011 I believe. What a crappy company!
"Trusted my company" Never again. Hardly matters since I've been unemployable since then. Since 2009 my college education has expired and I've become 100% obsolete. This is according to prospective employers. I haven't even bothered to look for a job for a couple years because my eyesight is just too far gone.
I trusted my company to set it up properly. I did work for a brokerage house (Carr Futures), after all. But mere months after most of us lost everything they turned almost all of us out into the street. I was one of the lucky ones because many of my co-workers lost their houses. They closed their doors for good in 2011 I believe. What a crappy company!
"Trusted my company" Never again. Hardly matters since I've been unemployable since then. Since 2009 my college education has expired and I've become 100% obsolete. This is according to prospective employers. I haven't even bothered to look for a job for a couple years because my eyesight is just too far gone.
One of my son's friends worked on the bankruptcy accounting for years!
My first job during college (after fork lift driver) was in the P&S department of a brokerage firm at 26 Broadway. Several firms failed that summer and we worked feverishly to clear up trades with some of the dodgier places.
Starting in 2007 Goldman built a huge position in US Treasuries, sensing that the mortgage market was going to collapse. Even with their liquidity they were forced to take the government "pill" like all the other firms. Morgan Stanley got rescued by MUFG, Merrill fell into the arms of Bank America, etc, etc.
Yes there were a lot of loose ends to tie up after the crash, and a lot of confusion over clearing trades with recently defunct companies. Post- Sept. 11 was worse. We were still trying to match up customer queries with clearing sheets a year later.
"Bank America, etc, etc." Lot of etc after this event.
"Bank America, etc, etc." Lot of etc after this event.
It was an unthinkable event. And we all went home afterwards; that is, those of us that still had a home. There was so much pain in the aftermath. My boss ended up getting a maintenance job at the Ford plant in Hegewisch. Good thimng because he had a young family with college bound kids. I never had anything that I would consider gainful employment after that. It was truly life changing and I am a very, very different person than I was 15 years ago. Employers are correct when they consider me unemployable - my trust in the system is now at zero and those double talking jackals can kiss the fattest part of My Irish ***.
I've been working away from home this week in a different part of the country, yesterday I went hiking (818 vertikal meters in about 3600 meters distance over ground + 3-4 kilometres on flat-ish ground, my knees are worn out today...). On the top of the mountain I met a banker and after some discussion I decided to take his advice and start building a buffer, I will wait and evaluate the market around sometime in January to see if that's a good time to invest.
Wise advise.
In the US markets, periods between Congresssional election cycles (every two years) are always volatile for equity markets, usually hitting a low in October ("the cruelest month"). In addition, our Federal Reserve is disgorging US Treasury securities at an accelerating rate which will continue to put pressure on the bond market.
With all this said, there is a cost to being out of the market. If you miss the first ten days of a market turn to the upside you give up tremendous return.
In the US, the top 25 stocks make up over 50% of the capitalization of the market, the top 5 make up 30% (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Tesla).
Many years ago AARP published an annual list of the top 10 most underfunded private pension funds in the USA. For years IBM was number 1 or number 2. Sometime around 2000 the feds forced IBM to take more than $1B from their bottom line and put it in the pension fund. I remember this because I owned some IBM stock at the time and it dropped almost overnight. AARP's list vanished abound the same time. Motorola had been in that 10 most underfunded list more often than they were not.
Fast forward to 2012 and the MAP-21 (Moving Ahed for Progress in the 21'st century) legislation which was mostly about transportation infrastructure. Buried inside was a clause that changed the definition of "interest rates" and magically most of those pension funds were no longer underfunded.
I have been "retired" for over 8 years now, with very few prospects for employment. After two years of actively looking, I received one offer as a maintenance man in a prison where someone might want to kill me for my ring of keys. The pay would have been $12 / hr. Over half of my retirement income comes from that pension fund, which cannot possibly pay all the participants with what it has in assets. Time will tell, but there is a seriously bumpy road ahead for a lot of people.
'the top 5 make up 30% (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Tesla).'
These are companies who have less physical assets and more perceived value.
I would stay in those short term, not decades. Like 5-6 months, and no more than 5% of my risk appetite.
Also, dividend records have to be looked at, for a better judgement.
These are companies who have less physical assets and more perceived value.
I would stay in those short term, not decades. Like 5-6 months, and no more than 5% of my risk appetite.
Also, dividend records have to be looked at, for a better judgement.
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