No financial guy has ever seen anything like this! These are new times. Things will get worse before they get better. Most ALL stocks are down, commodities are down, and even bonds are flat. Very strange. I moved all of my securities into MM and bonds last March so I have escaped the worst. I am sorry to all who have lost. I am in the hedge fund business and this is terrible. I have never, not ever dreamed anything like this would happen. Not only do the markets suck, but we have yahoos like Madoff and others defrauding the public. I have no crystal ball, but I would think no recovery until at least the third quarter of next year, if we are lucky. Do not sell anything right now that is down. I might suggest allocating more toward bonds or Money Markets until we begin some type of recovery. Hang in there. We have seen horrible things before and we will get through this!
I am referring to the ups and downs in the market. Nothing is exactly the same but what would you call the Great Depression then? The markets tanked because of the unsrupulous conduct of those in charge,,,period. People like Madoff are all over the place and well insulated otherwise how was he able to pull off 50 billion dollars in a Ponzi scheme so easily?
Rich Dad Poor Dad,,,the book,,,remember the authors warning? Guess he was right now wasn't he? There are other authors who read the signs and forecasted these kinds of problems as well but nobody listened because hedge fund boys were selling stuff they didn't have a right to sale,,,it's like selling air, you don't see it but it's out there. We knew about the sub prime loans,,we knew about how wrong it was to sell a loan at inflated values because we're all believing the BS that property and real estate are the best hedges against inflation,,,now c'mon. Have you read the last 100 year values of real estate across the board and I'm not talking about New York penthouses either. Everyone was on this roller coaster thrill ride and acting like the bottom would never fall out and anyone who says we didn't see this coming is putting their heads in the sand and acting like this is such a shock.
If they don't get a handle on the foreclosure market then recovery won't start until 2010 at best. The second coming in real estate is all those ARM's that were sold and will be coming due in years 2010-13 and this wave will kill the market unless the Gov't will back the real estate industry in backing loans as they are starting now with re-fis in the 4.5% area. I'm not usually a gloom and doom kinda guy and I'm not an economics major but I listen and read quite a bit and the experts did know but nobody listened to them because we were busy counting our money when the sub prime lenders took us all to the cleaners.
My fingers are crossed, too,,,,,we have since changed our portfolio as did our financial guy and we are at least earning 5-7%. To all investors out there who have money in the market,,,it's ok to ask questions, it's ok to walk into the office and demand an accounting of where your money is being put. If you sit there on your hands and just keep dishing it out to some investor and he's telling you that there isn't anything he can do right now,,,,time to get another guy. As grandpa always told me,,forewarned is forearmed and not doing anything is disaster. Time to get educated esp. when it comes to your future and retirement because the wrong guy can lose it all,,,every cent you worked 20-30 years for. Just my economic rant,,,,
