Nice start to the trading day, up 1.2%.
THANK YOU CATERPILLAR AND 3M!!!
Nice start to the trading day, up 1.2%.
THANK YOU CATERPILLAR AND 3M!!!
I love 3M, but they have a lot of Chinese exposure, by design.
Up 195 right now, half an hour after open.
Nothing wrong with that.
I see the 401(k) contribution limits are being increased in 2015 to 18K with a 6K catch up. However, if you also contribute to a Roth IRA the sum of the contributions for the two can't exceed the above limit.
Is this new?
Up about 100 in late trading Friday, nice gain heading into the weekend.
If I had bought in the last week, I would be selling right now, depending of course on what I bought. I have no confidence in these index levels, going forward.
Just listened to a quick vid on M* from Bob Johnson, where he describes why he thinks that "consumer spending" will rise between now and 2015, and where he gives a few possible confounding factors.
Adjusting for the holiday season, I disagree that "consumer spending" will rise.
His 5 factors:
1) decreasing gas prices
2) decreased interest rates
3) decreasing new unemployment claims
4) return to historical spending rates
5) low inflation.
He acknowledges that "the consumer has been remarkably conservative in 2014", and that increases in spending have been about half those in wage increases, but he expects that to change (4), without offering any argument why he believes that to be the case. In fact, he argues to the contrary, that the "wealth effect" will decrease in the increasingly volatile market environment.
(2) relates to the housing market in particular, and how home purchase tends to drive consumer purchases, and he acknowledges that it is offset by increasing housing costs, including rent
(1) might matter a little bit, but the extra is already taken up, and then some, by increasing health care costs. If those costs are included in "consumer spending", then for sure it will rise.
(3) is ridiculous. That number is so meaningless it's hardly worth discussion. It doesn't mean that there are more jobs out there, or that they are any good, what it means is that the boomers are aging and leaving the market, for good (among other things, of course).
He doesn't really come down on one side or another, but gives factors on both sides--however, the impression I get is that he is trying to be optimistic, but that it's not working for him.
A good weekend to all, US elections are not far off...
BTW in searching for this thread, I found another letsrun thread that suggested the markets would be under 10k by 2014:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5346324
If only! Even I don't think it will drop that low
Up 108 now with less than 20 minutes to go.
nice v shaped bottom - up 6.8% already from the bottom globally
weird action - I am taking a little money off the table - certainly the market is brittle.
but only a little.
Here's one of those "stats", embedded in an "article", that can be used to support many points of view:
"those with a full-time job are probably making less than they did before the recession"
Things they tell you later is that the difference is only 1 dollar, so it's not a whole lot less, if it is less at all.
"There’s been no net gain for those (full-time) workers since 1999."
Well, this may be true as far as comparing two discrete data points is concerned, but there has been a lot of action in-between, including likely run-up's.
But I do agree with the general tenor of the article...and, I don't think the inflation stats take into account rising health care costs going forward, if they include health care costs at all.
Just something I thought I would share. BTW I did do a little buying and selling this past week, and made out very well on a percentage basis, but because the dollar value was low, the gain wasn't significant. But it was positive. Just dipping my toes in to test the water...it was more bracing than comfortable.
Mark my words, there will be more lively action in the markets in the not-so-distant future. I don't know if I would call them "brittle" as agip has. I think they are more like a large, organized storm, that could fly apart under its own impetus, and that throws up internal tornadoes now and then.
Here's the article:
So adjusted for inflation, people are making essentially the same as they were in 2007. Not bad news, not good. Meanwhile the markets continue their upward trend.
I want to tell everyone what total b.s. this is.
First of all, the number of individuals is very, very low--so low as to be negligible.
Second, and more importantly, the number includes BOTH citizens AND permanent residents, and does not differentiate between the two.
Permanent residents can, and do, give up their residency for all sorts of reasons, the number one being that they return home according to their pre-existing intentions when they gained residency. It rarely has anything to do with tax reasons.
It is in no way proven that this number, or this trend, has any relation to FATCA.
just fyi if anybody cares
Pointing Out the Obvious wrote:
So adjusted for inflation, people are making essentially the same as they were in 2007. Not bad news, not good. Meanwhile the markets continue their upward trend.
Actually it is bad news. Ever heard of this thing called progress?
Ever hear of regress?
Ioplki wrote:
Ever hear of regress?
My, aren't you moronic!
No. You?
Ioplki wrote:
No. You?
You've proven my point.
I know, but I don't think you really do.
Down around 30 Monday lunch, kind of a wanker day.
Finishes up 12, a total wanker day.
Glad I spent it doing admin.
Pointing Out the Obvious wrote:
Pointing Out the Obvious wrote:So adjusted for inflation, people are making essentially the same as they were in 2007. Not bad news, not good. Meanwhile the markets continue their upward trend.
Actually it is bad news. Ever heard of this thing called progress?
In 2013 dollars, the average middle-class salary increased from $48,000 in 1965 to $51,000 in 2010.
The bad news is that its fallen 8% since Clinton left office.
http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/charts/census/household-income.html?household-incomes-mean-real.gifglobally we have retraced about half the loss from the September highs - some technicians will sell here automatically.
I have no view on whether that works as a strategy, but any downturn here will probably snowball a bit as stops are triggered.