New president: My plans for more election related posts didn’t pan out. Anyway Obama won and at least there is some hope that something will be done about this crisis that makes sense.
Stock Market Direction:We are at more than a 10 year low for the Dow now. We are so far off from valuation that things have really stopped making sense. I was too scared to even do my monthly net worth tally for October. But one thing is certain my 403 contributions will be bringing in more than their money’s worth in the long run.
Almost every stock I currently own looks like I should add some more. The good thing about buying now is I can voilate my personal rule of buying stock in more than $1000 transactions to make the 7$ trading fee worth it. These days I can spend a lot less and get the same number of shares. But I’m probably not buying unless there are signs of recovery or certain stocks hit some ridiculous thresholds.
Automaker Bailout: I’m completely opposed to lending any money to American automakers. Supporting the banking industry did no good and propping up automakers will do even less. They are in trouble of their own doing. I’ve already complained before about GM and Ford rebadging the same cars under multiple brands and trying to fool us into thinking they are different. They should follow the lead of the Japanese and keep just two or three core brands (like Ford and Lincoln for Ford) and (Chevy and Cadillac for GM) and sell off, shut down, spin off or merge other brands. At the least they require some kind of radical fix, not throwing money down the toilet like what they are asking for now. If they get any money it should be at loan shark rates so they’d rather not ask for it. If the automakers are bailed out, who is next in line?
How to bail out homeowners with the 700b? Reduce all non-jumbo loan mortgage interest rates by 1% for a while and pay mortgage companies that money. There are a lot of people whose homes are now worth less than they owe and there is really no reason for people not to abandon payments on their house and buy their neighbors house and pay less. Also if we only help struggling homeowners, everybody will become a struggler. Might as well just help everybody a little bit. There’s the plan from the back of my head. 🙂 Comments welcome!
Stocks I Own: Amongst the stocks/funds I own, if I add anything, it will probably be positions in TGT (I totally disliked Ackermans stupid IMHO plan, thankfully so did everyone else), ADM, AAPL, IFN (or INP/EPI), TTM (If this stock hits $3 I might just buy a few hundred worth).