Investing Thread

[rocket surgeon]

Those blaming Biden for the high inflation will, I am certain, now give him credit.

Market is already pricing in rate reductions next year.

  cars are being repossessed at one of the highest rates ever.  credit card debt is HIGH.  people dipping in to retirement funds, people are struggling to get food on the table, fill their gas tanks, fewer people are being recruited to fill Christmas shopping time period-thanksgiving thru Christmas/new years

not only are "things" more expensive, but you are getting LESS of it


AND, we are running out of coffee

hard to gaslight people over the grumbing of their empty stomachs

[jesmu84]

  cars are being repossessed at one of the highest rates ever.  credit card debt is HIGH.  people dipping in to retirement funds, people are struggling to get food on the table, fill their gas tanks, fewer people are being recruited to fill Christmas shopping time period-thanksgiving thru Christmas/new years

not only are "things" more expensive, but you are getting LESS of it


AND, we are running out of coffee

hard to gaslight people over the grumbing of their empty stomachs

I assume you exclusively blame 3 years of Biden admin policies for all the things you listed?

[Uncle Rico]

  cars are being repossessed at one of the highest rates ever.  credit card debt is HIGH.  people dipping in to retirement funds, people are struggling to get food on the table, fill their gas tanks, fewer people are being recruited to fill Christmas shopping time period-thanksgiving thru Christmas/new years

not only are "things" more expensive, but you are getting LESS of it


AND, we are running out of coffee

hard to gaslight people over the grumbing of their empty stomachs

8 out of 10

[MU82]

From the Wall Street Journal:

Inflation's broad slowdown extended through October. Consumer prices overall were flat last month and rose 3.2% from a year earlier, a slower pace than in September, the Labor Department said.

Increases in so-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items, also continued cooling, indicating underlying price pressures are easing. Core inflation is often viewed as a better predictor of inflation's future trajectory than the overall numbers.

The string of lower readings is moving closer to what Fed officials said would be necessary to convince them to stop raising rates. The central bank brought them to a 22-year high in July to combat inflation by slowing economic activity. Since then, the Fed has paused increases and is very likely to do so again at its December meeting.

The inflation data sent U.S. stocks and bonds soaring.

[rocket surgeon]

I assume you exclusively blame 3 years of Biden admin policies for all the things you listed?

yes, pretty much so

if you want to compare numbers with pre & post ice cream breath, i've got my popcorn, mixed nuts, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, and a couple of cold na brewski's going.  let me know when you're ready to show me your slide show. 

[Uncle Rico]

yes, pretty much so

if you want to compare numbers with pre & post ice cream breath, i've got my popcorn, mixed nuts, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, and a couple of cold na brewski's going.  let me know when you're ready to show me your slide show.

5.5 out of 10

[jesmu84]

yes, pretty much so

if you want to compare numbers with pre & post ice cream breath, i've got my popcorn, mixed nuts, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, and a couple of cold na brewski's going.  let me know when you're ready to show me your slide show.

So none of the things you listed were going on before he took office?

[MU82]

yes, pretty much so

if you want to compare numbers with pre & post ice cream breath, i've got my popcorn, mixed nuts, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, and a couple of cold na brewski's going.  let me know when you're ready to show me your slide show.

You do realize that the stock market isn't the economy, right?

Despite inheriting the biggest economic mess any president handed his successor in nearly a century, Biden's economy has been resilient and improving for 3 years. Record employment, growing GDP, solid union gains, infrastructure being built, etc.

And all of that - as well as a market back near its all-time high - has been accomplished in a rising-rate environment.

The 91-felony Criminal Defendant you worship was the only modern president ever to see a reduction in U.S. employment during his tenure. He promised to save manufacturing jobs but failed. He promised to repeal and replace the ACA but failed. He said his trade war with China would be "easy to win" but he failed so bigly that he had to start a new welfare program for U.S. farmers who were being killed by it. When he left office - only after fomenting a failed coup attempt against his own country - the American economy was in shambles.

But hey, at least your hero got a few feet of wall built - for which Mexico paid $0.00.

[The Sultan]

So none of the things you listed were going on before he took office?

It's what he's been told. He doesn't have the intelligence to actually develop thoughts on his own.

[dgies9156]

You do realize that the stock market isn't the economy, right?

Despite inheriting the biggest economic mess any president handed his successor in nearly a century, Biden's economy has been resilient and improving for 3 years. Record employment, growing GDP, solid union gains, infrastructure being built, etc.

And all of that - as well as a market back near its all-time high - has been accomplished in a rising-rate environment.

Brother MU:

With all due respect to the sitting President, Daffy Duck could have been elected and presided over an improving and resiliant economy. Our 2020 economic problems were not the result of the then President, but rather the fact that we all but locked the country down in 2020. There was enormous pent up demand for goods and services going into 2021 and whomever had been elected President would have benefitted from it.

You and I can argue about today's inflation and high interest rates forever. Both of us will have good points. But the reality is that much of the inflation has been caused by the stimulus programs during the Covid-19 pandemic, which put trillions of new dollars into circulation without any real economic growth. Add to that an inflationary infrastructure program that was more porky than Porky Pig and you end up with inflation we haven't seen since I was at Marquette.

The electorate, as we all know, votes its pocketbook. While you're right that more people are workling than ever before and unemployment is at historical lows, people are working harder and earning less in real terms. That's the irritating factor that's got the President in trouble and the Cheeto on the move.

As a final thought, the economic problem in 2020 was caused, as I noted, by Covid-19. Not sure if you lived through the late 1970s but that one made this environment look like a Sunday walk in the park. 2008 was no picnic either.

[The Sultan]

You and I can argue about today's inflation and high interest rates forever. Both of us will have good points. But the reality is that much of the inflation has been caused by the stimulus programs during the Covid-19 pandemic, which put trillions of new dollars into circulation without any real economic growth. Add to that an inflationary infrastructure program that was more porky than Porky Pig and you end up with inflation we haven't seen since I was at Marquette.

You are right about the cause of inflation. But it has decreased substantially over the last 12 months.  And what do you mean by "any real economic growth?"  Real GDP has increased the last five quarters - the third quarter in 2023 it increased at an annual rate of nearly 5%.

The electorate, as we all know, votes its pocketbook. While you're right that more people are workling than ever before and unemployment is at historical lows, people are working harder and earning less in real terms. That's the irritating factor that's got the President in trouble and the Cheeto on the move.

I'm not sure if they are working "harder," but you are right in that in 2022 they took home less in real terms.  I would like to see what 2023 looks like though because inflation has eased. 

[jesmu84]

Brother MU:

With all due respect to the sitting President, Daffy Duck could have been elected and presided over an improving and resiliant economy. Our 2020 economic problems were not the result of the then President, but rather the fact that we all but locked the country down in 2020. There was enormous pent up demand for goods and services going into 2021 and whomever had been elected President would have benefitted from it.

You and I can argue about today's inflation and high interest rates forever. Both of us will have good points. But the reality is that much of the inflation has been caused by the stimulus programs during the Covid-19 pandemic, which put trillions of new dollars into circulation without any real economic growth. Add to that an inflationary infrastructure program that was more porky than Porky Pig and you end up with inflation we haven't seen since I was at Marquette.

The electorate, as we all know, votes its pocketbook. While you're right that more people are workling than ever before and unemployment is at historical lows, people are working harder and earning less in real terms. That's the irritating factor that's got the President in trouble and the Cheeto on the move.

As a final thought, the economic problem in 2020 was caused, as I noted, by Covid-19. Not sure if you lived through the late 1970s but that one made this environment look like a Sunday walk in the park. 2008 was no picnic either.

Which stimulus programs?

Which Biden policies have caused people to work harder but earn less?

[MU82]

Brother MU:

With all due respect to the sitting President, Daffy Duck could have been elected and presided over an improving and resiliant economy. Our 2020 economic problems were not the result of the then President, but rather the fact that we all but locked the country down in 2020. There was enormous pent up demand for goods and services going into 2021 and whomever had been elected President would have benefitted from it.

You and I can argue about today's inflation and high interest rates forever. Both of us will have good points. But the reality is that much of the inflation has been caused by the stimulus programs during the Covid-19 pandemic, which put trillions of new dollars into circulation without any real economic growth. Add to that an inflationary infrastructure program that was more porky than Porky Pig and you end up with inflation we haven't seen since I was at Marquette.

The electorate, as we all know, votes its pocketbook. While you're right that more people are workling than ever before and unemployment is at historical lows, people are working harder and earning less in real terms. That's the irritating factor that's got the President in trouble and the Cheeto on the move.

As a final thought, the economic problem in 2020 was caused, as I noted, by Covid-19. Not sure if you lived through the late 1970s but that one made this environment look like a Sunday walk in the park. 2008 was no picnic either.

I agree with much of what you say here.

It's kind of like the tax cut of 2017 - any of the 8,064 GOP presidential candidates of 2016 would have signed that. It was hardly a big accomplishment by the sitting president at the time, and yet it is his signature economic accomplishment. (By far his biggest overall accomplishment IMHO was Operation Warp Speed, which helped get life-saving Covid vaccinations into Americans' arms; but in many ways he sullied his own accomplishment by caving into the anti-vax wingnut faction.) Otherwise, anything he actually had to work to get passed ... failed. Maybe if the draft dodger hadn't repeatedly criticized a legit war hero, he wouldn't have gotten that thumbs-down on the ACA repeal.

And of course Covid caused a ton of havoc. The previous president couldn't have handled the pandemic worse than he did - burning up the playbook he had been left, lying constantly about the severity of the situation, suggesting that humans could be injected with disinfectant, ramping up anti-Asian bigotry, saying something one minute and contradicting himself the next. Even those who blame it all on Fauci ... well, who appointed Fauci? Who stuck with Fauci? ("I only hire the best people!") In the end, the Criminal Defendant's horrific handling of the pandemic cost him his job.

If the current economic malaise (if it really is a malaise) is all the current president's fault, everything that happened due to the pandemic is all the previous president's fault, right?

Obviously, intelligent people know that what I said in the previous paragraph isn't true. The president of the United States isn't responsible for the economy. Indeed, most economists would argue that the president doesn't have a whole lot to do with it - and has even less to do with the stock market's rise and fall. I mean, was Barack Obama an economic genius? The stock market had a remarkable 8-year run under his watch.

Biden wouldn't be my first, second or third choice if I could pick a president from an open field of candidates. Still, thank goodness we have a president who actually cares about Americans.

[MU82]

Meanwhile, back to investing ...

DIS up about 17% since Douchey dared anybody to buy it.

[Golden Avalanche]

The electorate, as we all know, votes its pocketbook. While you're right that more people are workling than ever before and unemployment is at historical lows, people are working harder and earning less in real terms. That's the irritating factor that's got the President in trouble and the Cheeto on the move.

I'm not sure if they are working "harder," but you are right in that in 2022 they took home less in real terms.  I would like to see what 2023 looks like though because inflation has eased. 

Quite interesting the theme now is "people working harder, earning less" whereas in 2021/2022 the theme was "no one wants to work, being paid $18/hour to sling fries".

Like the weather on an island, stand around long enough and it will change. Dramatically.

[SoCalEagle]

This is a bad economy?  Really?   

GDP is so high, the Government is trying to slow it down. 

Anyone who wants a job can get one. 

Okay, inflation was running pretty high, but it has come down drastically.  If you're still griping about inflation, you're too focused on the problem we had last year. 

[rocket surgeon]

Not everyone can afford to invest in stock market. Many many many middle class struggling with every day needs, rent gas food energy.  They are spending all of their money on "life stuff".  Depleting their savings, preventing many from buying homes, having their cars repossessed running CC debt up, dipping into retirement savings etc etc  rents for apartments are way up, can't afford basics

You guys are out of touch with people who have less than most of us

[jesmu84]

Not everyone can afford to invest in stock market. Many many many middle class struggling with every day needs, rent gas food energy.  They are spending all of their money on "life stuff".  Depleting their savings, preventing many from buying homes, having their cars repossessed running CC debt up, dipping into retirement savings etc etc  rents for apartments are way up, can't afford basics

You guys are out of touch with people who have less than most of us

You're so, so, so close to the answers here

[rocket surgeon]

Which stimulus programs?

Which Biden policies have caused people to work harder but earn less?

You seem to ask a lot of questions to things that are obvious if you are paying attention.  Within hour one of his presidency he signed a number of orders that set the tone and the dominos started to fall.  It wasn't an accident. All the regulations, clean blah blah if you know how our economy works...

   we are about to have to spend $540+ BILLION dollars on illegal immigrants.  Director Wray just told us this morning our country is under more duress than ever from outside threats due to bidens open border.  Umm walls do work ya know they use them all the time for themselves

[rocket surgeon]

You're so, so, so close to the answers here

Well then bring it on home jes!

[The Sultan]

You seem to ask a lot of questions to things that are obvious if you are paying attention.  Within hour one of his presidency he signed a number of orders that set the tone and the dominos started to fall.  It wasn't an accident. All the regulations, clean blah blah if you know how our economy works...

   we are about to have to spend $540+ BILLION dollars on illegal immigrants.  Director Wray just told us this morning our country is under more duress than ever from outside threats due to bidens open border.  Umm walls do work ya know they use them all the time for themselves

Why respond if you aren't going to bother answer the questions?

[jesmu84]

Well then bring it on home jes!

With regards to the financial/economic struggles of those "who have less than most of us", I'll give you a hint - it largely has nothing to do with any single president/person.

[reinko]

Not everyone can afford to invest in stock market. Many many many middle class struggling with every day needs, rent gas food energy.  They are spending all of their money on "life stuff".  Depleting their savings, preventing many from buying homes, having their cars repossessed running CC debt up, dipping into retirement savings etc etc  rents for apartments are way up, can't afford basics

You guys are out of touch with people who have less than most of us

People just need to pull themselves up their boot straps, and stop depending on the government and politicians to solve all their problems for them.

[Pakuni]

   we are about to have to spend $540+ BILLION dollars on illegal immigrants.  Director Wray just told us this morning our country is under more duress than ever from outside threats due to bidens open border.  Umm walls do work ya know they use them all the time for themselves

$540 BILLION is an incorrect figure.
They're not illegal immigrants.
The border isn't open.
Wray didn't blame Biden.

Your ability to get so many facts wrong in such few words is truly impressive.

[Uncle Rico]

$540 BILLION is an incorrect figure.
They're not illegal immigrants.
The border isn't open.
Wray didn't blame Biden.

Your ability to get so many facts wrong in such few words is truly impressive.

Is it?