Archive for September, 2008
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Ramit over at
A Quick Review of the S&P 500 2008 Monthly Total Returns
Monday, September 29th, 2008Here’s a quick review of the monthly total returns for the S&P 500 Index through the September 29th close:
I’m thinking we’re going to want forget about this year!
I’ll update the Dow’s numbers tomorrow for those who are interested.
THUD!
Monday, September 29th, 2008That’s the sound the S&P 500 Index and other indexes are making today:
According to the Standard & Poor’s website, at Friday’s close the S&P 500 Index was down 5.44% for the month of September. Today ALONE, it is down 5.63% (at the time of this writing)! If this pitiful performance continues through tomorrow, [...]
Ross Perot’s Three Wishes for the American Public
Monday, September 29th, 2008AFM reader, commenter, and friend, Tom, sent me a link this morning to Ross Perot’s website, PerotCharts.com. I like Ross Perot because I think he truly wants what’s best for the America. While browsing his website, I watched the video on the main page. Towards the end of the video Perot was [...]
OT: This is Why People Should Evacuate
Sunday, September 28th, 2008From Two Weeks After Ike, More Than 400 Are Still Missing, in today’s Houston Chronicle:
Gail Ettenger made her last phone call at 10:10 p.m. She was trapped in her Bolivar Peninsula bungalow with her Great Dane, Reba. A drowning cat cried outside. Her Jeep bobbed in the seawater surging around her home.
Ettenger, 58, told her [...]
Stephen Schwarzman on How We Got Where We Are
Saturday, September 27th, 2008I saw this in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal and thought it worth sharing. It’s Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of Blackstone Group, talking about how we got into this credit crisis ($):
“It’s a perfect storm. It started with Congress encouraging lending to lower-income people. You went from subprime loans being 2% of total loans in 2002 [...]
Shocking: How Many Owe NO Income Tax
Friday, September 26th, 2008Get this:
Under current tax laws, IRS statistics for 2006 show that 45.6 million tax filers, essentially one-third of all filers, have no tax liability after taking their credits and deductions. “For good or ill,” notes the Tax Foundation, “this is a dramatic 57 percent increase since 2000 in the number of Americans who pay [...]
One Reader’s Reasoning on Why Younger People Don’t Save
Friday, September 26th, 2008I want to highlight this comment I received regarding why young people aren’t saving money (edited slightly):
I’m 27 and I can tell you really simply why we are not investing.
1. Since the day we graduated we’ve seen nothing but bad news. Huge tech crash, current crash. We’re not even back [...]
Hillary: Let’s Keep People in Their Homes
Thursday, September 25th, 2008This comes to us from Hillary Clinton’s editorial, Let’s Keep People in Their Homes, that was in today’s Wall Street Journal:
…we must address the skyrocketing rates of mortgage defaults and foreclosures that have buffeted the economy and ignited the credit crisis. Two million homeowners carry mortgages worth more than their homes. They hold $3 trillion [...]
It Looks Like Market Turmoil Is Scaring Off Young Investors
Thursday, September 25th, 2008From today’s Wall Street Journal:
The idea of saving for retirement always terrified Zack Teibloom. With the stock market’s big drop this year, it seems even more daunting.
“I don’t even have one K, let alone 401 Ks,” says the 23-year-old Mr. Teibloom, a recent college grad who works as an editor for a small magazine in [...]