Sunday, October 12, 2008

Sounds Like Something Palin and Her Husband Might Do

Someone should be fired. Read New York Times, Citizen Terrorists Deleted, which highlights the abuse of power in the so-called 'war on terror.'

If you think OBL wants to take away our freedom and liberties, he's getting us doing the job for him.

More on the Economic Mess

Another great article, New York Times, Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy, which examines the 'legacy' Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Five years ago, Warren E. Buffett warned that derivatives, complex financial instruments designed to hedge against risk, were "financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal." George Soros avoids using derivatives "because we don’t really understand how they work." And Felix G. Rohatyn described derivatives as potential "hydrogen bombs." It turns out that derivatives are the crux of the current economic mess, and and Greenspan supported and promoted their use.

The article includes a great graphic, Growth of a Complex Market,which shows the growth of the derivative market from $106 trillion in 2002 to $531.2 trillion in 2008 and credit default swaps from $2.2 trillion in 2002 to $54.6 trillion in 2008. Yikes!!

What a mess.

New Stock Market Terms

CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER -- What my broker has made me.

STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected.

MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW-- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.

YAHOO -- What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS -- What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse.

PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use.