And make sure all of your investment funds are FDIC insured whenever possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSWA000014120080711 http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/companies/indymac_fdic/index.htm?postversion=2008071120 and http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/companies/fannie_freddie_shares/index.htm Be safe. "My advice is always free and worth every penny!" -Christopher Erickson Network Design Engineer 5432 E. Northern Lights Blvd., Suite 529 Anchorage, AK 99508 N61° 11.710' W149° 46.723' Meade 16" LX200 SCT www.data-plumber.com "Monetary contributions to support the Data-Plumber.com archives are always welcome via PayPal to [EMAIL PROTECTED]" > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Craig Froehle > Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 7:56 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [Treo] Fw: An open letter to all airline customers > > Christopher, this HAS to be one of the best off-topic posts > ever on this list. Very informed review and I think your > speculation is spot on. Thanks. > - Craig > > ..... Original Message ....... > On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:09:45 -0800 "Christopher Erickson" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >(Warning: long, informative post) > > > >Actually I thank the US banking industry for this one. > > > >Specifically, it was all started by Bank of America. (The same > >people that are currently giving credit cards to illegal aliens, > >but that's another story). > > > >The banks are the ones who gave out extreme risk home loans like > >candy bars to people who couldn't afford the payments and were > >gambling on house flipping to "kite" their debts forward and be > >able to stay solvent. > > > >It didn't help that there were countless TV shows, magazines and > >web sites that were warning people that they shouldn't miss out > >on the "incredibly profitable" house flipping craze. > > > >When the real estate market saturated and went flat, the flippers > >started going down in financial flames like mayflies around a > >campfire. > > > >This, of course, was inevitable and quite predictable. > > > >This in turn left the banks with a huge number of defaulted > >loans, deflated and unsellable real-estate that was often in a > >state of unlivable mid-reconstruction and a greatly diminished > >incoming loan repayment revenue. > > > >Somehow, the banks didn't see what was about to happen and got > >badly bit by the loan default Tsunami. Or maybe nobody wanted to > >be the first one to "blink" and maybe miss out on another year of > >wild but ultimately unsustainable loan profits. > > > >This left the US banking industry in a greatly weakened state and > >a number of big investment house names on Wall Street were > >suddenly on the brink of default. > > > >So then the feds started printing money with wild abandon to loan > >to the banks to keep them solvent and to avoid a cascade effect > >that would result in a complete "depression era" style US economy > >collapse. > > > >Their plan is that this will soften the impact of the banking > >crisis by spreading the "market value correction" across the > >entire US economy, which incidentally, is mostly sustained by > >middle-class Americans. People who's retirement funds are the > >majority financial instrument in the market. > > > >As an interesting point of trivia, the concept of a "retirement > >nest egg" mostly didn't exist before WWII. Back when extended > >families and a rural existence was more the norm and not the > >exception. The kids generally inherited the family farm and the > >grandparents migrated into less demanding family roles. > > > >Anyway this means a lot more paper money in circulation with > >less gold behind each dollar. > > > >This greatly depressed the value of the US dollar on the > >international financial market. > > > >International investors started switching their investments away > >from the US stock market and for the most part, to the next best > >thing, which was oil futures on the international commodities > >market. > > > >Note that a significant portion of those investors are once again > >middle class Americans and their retirement funds. > > > >The Chinese will buy oil at any price. Actually they "must", or > >the momentum of *their* economy will falter and cause a massive > >Chinese financial disaster. > > > >Combine the demand for international oil futures with the Chinese > >demand for oil at any cost with the weakened US dollar and we get > >the devastating US oil prices. > > > >All of the big oil companies are publicly traded corporations who > >are required by US law to make their best effort to legally > >maximize the investments of their investors. If they were to > >attempt to suppress their own profits from high gas prices, they > >would be promptly buried in investor class action suits and FTC > >investigations. > > > >*end of history lesson* > > > >--------- > > > >*start of speculations* > > > >Fuel prices are not going to go down. The Federal Reserve, with > >full support from both political parties, will continue flooding > >the market with printed money. > > > >US dollar will continue to slowly weaken on the international > >market. The Federal Reserve "experts" believe this approach is > >preferable to an uncontrolled roller coaster ride in the banking > >industry. Eventually it will stabilize and then begin to build > >again as the feds begin removing the excess paper money (and > >recovering the low interest federal loans to troubled banks) from > >the US money supply. > > > >Energy costs will continue to go up. An unavoidable consequence > >to doing a (hopefully) controlled deceleration of the US economy, > >giving it time to absorb the mortgage/banking crisis and > >eventually get back on an adjusted and stable growth track. > > > >Meanwhile, solar energy and other alternative energy markets will > >experience *explosive* growth. Eventually (measured in years) > >that will lead to market over-saturation and a "market meltdown", > >where most of the mid-sized energy companies will either be > >absorbed or go into default. > > > >There will also be an explosion of "snake oil" alternative energy > >salesmen, selling bogus hybrid car conversion kits and just about > >anything else that might be passed off as an "energy saving" or > >"energy generating" device. BEWARE. > > > >Hybrid, high-efficiency and all-electric cars are going to be all > >the rage for the next five years or so. Most will be so expensive > >that it will make more sense to keep driving your old gas guzzler > >and to supplement it with a bicycle, motorcycle or scooter. A > >good bicycle can be good for your health too. High efficiency > >cars that actually make financial sense are probably still seven or > >more years away. > > > >In the near term, OPEC might step in and implement price caps to > >keep the cost of a barrel of oil from going too high. This makes > >sense from an OPEC long-term financial perspective. They don't > >want the world to be weaning itself off of their addition to > >middle-east oil any time soon. > > > >If you have investments in the stock market, hopefully they are > >all in market index funds and not all in a small handful of > >companies. If not, then now might be a good time to convert your > >investments into reliable and safe market index funds, like the > >S&P 500. I would suggest taking the long view and take solace > >that the market will recover (it always does) and that your > >investments will ultimately come through unscathed. This "long > >view" might be four to ten years for a full recovery. > > > >People over 55 will be the hardest hit by this current market > >slump because they will need their retirement money much sooner > >than younger investors, who will be able to wade through this > >slump and in fact, can benefit from making good index fund > >investments now, while the market is undervalued. > > > >If you have any investments in any air-travel related companies, > >I would suggest moving them NOW to an S&P 500 index fund. > > > >There might be a rebirth of the use of railroads to move product > >and people. Trains are still one of the most energy-efficient > >methods of transportation in existence. > > > >I hope this helps or at least entertains! > > > >"My advice is always free and worth every penny!" > > > >-Christopher Erickson > >Network Design Engineer > >5432 E. Northern Lights Blvd., Suite 529 > >Anchorage, AK 99508 > >N61° 11.710' W149° 46.723' > >www.data-plumber.com > > > > > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > >> Behalf Of Eugenio Perea > >> Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 12:24 PM > >> To: [email protected] > >> Subject: Re: [Treo] Fw: An open letter to all airline customers > >> > >> > >> Responding to the original letter -that places the blame on > >> speculators- > >> here is a very interesting piece from the Economist, stating the > >> opposite case: > >> http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11670357 > >> > >> Cheers, > >> > >> Eugenio > >> > >> L . . . wrote: > >> > maybe they can make hybrid planes :))) > >> > > >> > I heard that some airlines were grounding the 747s. I > >> suppose the 777 can make it across the pond. > >> > > >> > On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 1:50 PM, Scandals & Animals < > >> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > > >> > > >> >> ...... Original Message ....... > >> >> On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:48:44 -0400 "Craig Froehle" > >> >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> > >> >>> Perhaps the consumer airline industry doesn't deserve to > >> survive in > >> >>> its current state. Could it be that there is simply no > >> way to fly a > >> >>> person half-way across the globe for anything less than > >> several times what the typical consumer is willing to pay? > >> >>> > >> >> I hadn't realized this, but I heard that a 747 holds > >> 53,000 gallons of > >> >> fuel, and jet fuel is well over $7 a gallon now. I don't > >> know how many of > >> >> those gallons it takes to go from NY to LA, but that has > >> to cost an awful lot. > >> >> > >> >> I heard an airline exec interviewed, and he said soon, air > >> travel will be > >> >> only for the rich. The days of the common man flying > >> anywhere except under > >> >> unusual circumstances are gone unless the price of oil > >> plummets. Think of > >> >> what that does to the Hawaiian tourism industry. > > > > > >------------------------------------ > > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
