I keep seeing more and more commercials on TV for bankruptcy attorneys, debt settlement agencies, and consolidation services.... That is a sign in and of itself.... But my question: How much weight would you all put on today's (Black Friday) consumer activity as an indication of where the market is heading? Just would like to hear some thoughts. I really think this credit card debt biz is gonna hit us hard while "we" are focused on the mortgage debacle... I think credit cards are gonna be even worse than mortgages as far as economic damage, in part because we are already reeling from the mortgage mess, and when all these people (many of the same who got us in this subprime mess) start defaulting on credit cards en masse'.....it ain't gonna be pretty.
LOVE the thread title..really made me laugh. WITH you, not AT you. I mentioned Hyper-Inflative Depression on another thread, and was surprised I got some to agree that it's possible, 1 or 2 even said probable.
imho, this entire mess started when wall street figured out a way to bundle debt into CDOs a pawn them off with AAA ratings to the rest of the world.... no wonder banks could lend to anybody since they knew there was a sucker waiting to buy CDO's CMO's and the rest of the alphabet soup and Americans went on a spending binge like never before seen... for which a steep price will be paid...
Thanks for the info, I think I saw that phrase on a bumper sticker a long time ago...thought it was pretty appropriate. I am not super-educated on economics, so I always enjoy hearing what other people think about it all. I have have a common sense grasp, etc....but there are a lot of odds and ends that are WAAAY open to interpretation...and that is where ET comes in!
That chart is pretty nasty looking man. I agree with what you said. Spooky how they can do the things they do huh?
S&L debacle, junk bond debacle, currency derivatives trading debacle... CDO debacle... Nothing new under the sun. Keep that in mind whenever you think the end of our economy/stock market is near. Hard lessons learned. Educated opinions are a lot like markets. Always dance with the markets, but never marry them, for they'll take you to the cleaners faster than you can say your vows.
Yeah I'm definitely bullish on the USD long term no matter what. Unless this country itself collapses and we are in civil war or something, the dollar will rebound. No doubt about it. The US is too powerful and involved in too much for the USD to go to hell totally. Reminds me of Donald Trump going bankrupt...he may file bankruptcy (like he did) but next thing you know, he's rich again. Hook ups. Also-we have too many nukes for that crap to happen. The hell in a handbasket thing is only to those souls who are about to take a bath because they can't pay their bills- Not the economy as a whole over the long term. I am bullsih long term USD.
Trump was only bankrupt because he lost everybody's else's money, not his.... That takes some skill....
to get a handle on how much trouble the US dollar is in..... The mighty Albanian Lek currency was at 120 to the dollar 4 years ago... now you only get 83 Lek to the dollar...... Albania, mighty and great, is gaining on the US..... It's OK to cry.....
Oh yeah I know, I've been to Albania before...man that place is crazy. They don't allow Americans to use their ATM's I swear to God...or at least back a few years ago that was the case. Lots of mobsters there too. I mean lots.