So Long Economy

Non-Phish General
#1

The economy is starting to “readjust” itself from a lot of factors. Bush and his oil buddies here and in the Middle East are looking to catapult prices before he leaves office. Gore and his dopey environmentalism have turned the ethenol “gold rush” into a fever that is driving the cost of food up like crazy. Moronic legislatures like the one in NJ that are driving businesses out of the country by passing things like paid family leave. The greedy mortgage lenders whose underhanded dealings not only made thousands of people lose their homes, but placed that burden back upon the rest of the lenders and borrowers.

So besides meaning that your money will be worth so much less, we will see many businesses and brands go by the wayside in the coming year. According to an article from the AOL news site, here are some of the companies that are close to becoming extinct:

Old Navy - most stores will become Gaps, the parent company to ON
Countrywide Mortgages
XM Radio - will probably be merged with Sirius
E*Trade electronic brokerage
Kmart - Sears is ailing in its own right
Dodge - just too many bad Crysler products
Circuit City
Gateway Computers - bought by Acer which will eliminate the Gateway brand entirely.
Vonage
Yahoo - will probably get sucked up by Microsoft afterall
Motorola

These brands are also looking at some trouble in the longer term:
Citigroup
Ford
AMD processors
Sprint
Qwest

I don’t think these changes are anything to worry about unless you have to cash out on your investments. The economy is a fluctuating thing that adjusts itself as lifestyles and world events change over time. The smart money people will move with the flow, see how markets change, and accommodate business to those changes. In this sense it’s very much an organic thing, and as such, changes as life itself does.

#2

Will this affect my IRA? Should I contact my Edward Jones rep?

#3

i recently emptied out my bank account and am keeping all my money in a safe in my bedroom.

not entirely because of this but i don’t think it hurts.

#4

Is the safe fireproof? Also, your money will lose more value if it’s not invested, even in a crappy economy. Better you should buy gold or diamonds and bury those like pirate booty.

A downturn in the markets is actually the best time to buy IRA shares. Even though the shares you currently hold will lose value in a downturning market, you MUST continue to buy shares at the low price at the same or greater rate. It’s the only way your money will be returned when the markets start to rebound, as they invariably do. Read up on something called “dollar cost averaging”.

Like I said, these sluggish periods are only bad if you need to cash out on investments that you paid a higher price for at some earlier date.

#5

It was Greenspan who kept the econony together for the last twenty years. It’s always been Greenspan. We’ll see how things go without him.

Either way, it’s not that our economy has any real issues. It’s just that we were so far advanced that we were well ahead of every other country out there. However, that growth eventually hit a ceiling…you can’t grow forever. Now we’re finding that other countries like China are finally catching up and everyone seems to think there’s a problem with our economy. It’s not us…it’s just that the rest of the world is catching up to us…we’re just staying the same. This was inevitable…you can’t dominate the planet forever.

Of course, legislatures have ALWAYS misunderstood the workings of the economy and always pass silly economic packages that always do more harm than good. It’s no coincidence that most legislators are lawyers, not economists. The only way the economy gets worse is if our own government passes bills to ruin it…the outside conditions are only natural. (Of course, I still wonder if the Fed is as competent as they were with Greenspan, but I don’t see anything too alarming as of yet).

Even this talk of a recession isn’t that bad…these things are cyclical…after a period of growth, you will naturally have a period of recession…there’s nothing you can do but weather the storm.

Stevo

#6

wipes brow

Thanks Bill!

#7

yeah i wish i would have bought some gold back a few years ago, shit has doubled in value, what is it now, like 900 something for an oz of 24k, i know it’s worth a lot

#8

I wish I would have bought Exxon stock a few years ago… 11.66 BILLION dollar profit in the 4th quarter of '07 and a 40 BILLION dollar profit for the year…

#9

safe = fireproof

brady = confused/disgusted by economics and finance

#10

wheres CHUCK when i need him?

#11

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSWAT00918420080324?sp=true

:slight_smile:

#12

I got a notification from the IRS stating that I should be getting my rebate check of $600 sometime in the future.

So I got that going for me.

#13

^^Yes, the XM-Sirius merger finally went through. This shouldn’t be on the list of companies going away though because this has been in the works for a while. The government has wasted 3 years and millions of dollars fighting this because they feel that it would create a monopoly over the satellite radio market.

So remember, with all of the bad shit going on right now, our gov’t has had nothing better to do than to keep two aspiring radio companies from merging and giving their customers a better service.

#14

It still needs FCC approval but they have said they would approve when congress did! So i will be getting every NBA,NFL and now MLB game on my service. Hope it happens in time for the playoffs! GO TIGERS!

#15

sweet! Now I can enjoy Zepp radio, Thriller Radio, Jam On, and every fucking sport all on one tuner. Saaaaaweeeeeet

#16

^ Don’t Forget the GD channel and Howard! Finally my XM counterparts and i will be able to converse freely again!

#17

as did I, but it states that you’ll get up to $600. So I am assuming that most people aren’t going to get a full $600.

don’t be surprised if you don’t get the full 600

#18

And don’t be surprised when that money is deducted from your 2008 tax return when you file next year. it is not extra money, just a prepayment on next years return!

#19

Thanks for the financial advice, Jew.

#20

Anytime, Goy!