Royal Bank of Scotland says "sell everything"; conomic crisis peaking over the horizon?

[Pebble thats Stubby]

but if your murdered by looter parasites, then those looter parasites would loot and steal that bullet which could have saved your life and anything else of value, therefore leaving your heirs with even less.

[Marcus Agrippa]

Read Boomerang, New travels in the third world by Michael Lewis. Is the world coming to an economic end? No, but the three places to watch are France, Japan. and the UK. The truth is economics are extremely outdated in their current form. Actually, rather the idea's ofbusiness it out of wack. Infinite Growth, which is something a lot of people believe in ISN'T possible, the means of production has changed, the law of ideas have become blurred with the internet, and so forth. The world has changed and the market hasn't evolved at all. It's more or less, still the same as the market was 100 years ago. Massive shorting, crowd buying, speed trading and so forth put the market under pressure.

[DireWolfSpirit]

the value of each bullet can be calculated only with reference to how many looter parasites remain to be shot.  as it is axiomatic that there will always be more looter parasites who try to take the hard-earned precious metals and bitcoins of the god-fearing white citizens of rock ridge than remaining bullets available to shoot them after the looterpocalypse, the value thereof should increase more or less exponentially as each incremental looter is shot and the available bullets approach zero.  one can barely contain oneself thinking of the infinite value to be conferred upon the last bullet, the One Bullet, as it were.

this indicates that the canny investor should carefully weigh the value of each available bullet, as an investment, as against the value of the investor's own life (measured in present value of future earnings), especially as bullets become progressively more scarce.

in the context of the looterpocalypse (whether initiated by atlas shrugging or proletarian uprising), wherein normal commerce has ceased and industry has ended, the general lack of remunerative employment means that the present value of any particular investor's future earnings is always already less than the value of the bullets aforesaid, and accordingly each individual rational investor should reasonably prefer to save the bullet as an investment, to be conferred on one's heirs, and therefore be murdered by looter parasites. it's pure adam smith. go read it, motherfuckers.

"Whenever I venture onto the mean streets of Philly, I usually cram a dozen musket balls between my ass cheeks for safe keeping. I firmly believe all Americans should as well. Each night they can then scoop out the unused shots onto the family dining table, tabulate the totals and calculate the replacement costs for any of he musket balls that inadvertantly become wedged into the anal cavity."

Adam Smith- father of modern American Economics and fledgling NRA founder.

[Tears of Lys]

I'll bet a round of drinks here in Detroit that the market goes down tomorrow. 

 

[sologdin]

"Whenever I venture onto the mean streets of Philly, I usually cram a dozen musket balls between my ass cheeks for safe keeping. I firmly believe all Americans should as well. Each night they can then scoop out the unused shots onto the family dining table, tabulate the totals and calculate the replacement costs for any of he musket balls that inadvertantly become wedged into the anal cavity."

Adam Smith- father of modern American Economics and fledgling NRA founder.

we must of course always be careful in citing smith.  the novice will normally fall into the trap of using the wealth of nations without reference to the principles in the theory of moral sentiments, in the absence of which the wealth of nations fails abominably, as evidenced by the disposition of the modern world.

so, for instance, when smith argues in WoN that

Now ya see it ain't no love in this b**ch
Strapped on the defence, pull it only when I need it
See these n****s wanna play me for my earned sh*t
They ain't earned sh*t, they wanna take, I gotta empty clips

we should make certain to read it in pari materia with the corollary passage in TMS:

So what, if some muthafucka gets shot?
That's how the game is played
Another brother slayed, the wound is deep

But they're givin' us a band-aid
My education's low but I got long dough
Raised like a pit bull, my heart pumps nitro

[all swedes are racist]

Wonderful

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Sologdin,

Interesting, my wife has for years maintained that Capitalism is not "immoral" it is "amoral" and a mistake many criticis of Capitalism make is to ascripe a moral element to the profit motive Smith describes in The Wealth of Nations.

[sologdin]

Sologdin,

Interesting, my wife has for years maintained that Capitalism is not "immoral" it is "amoral" and a mistake many criticis of Capitalism make is to ascripe a moral element to the profit motive Smith describes in The Wealth of Nations.

not unreasonable, though TMS does ascribe a certain morality to the system, i think.  generally, though, the moral critique of capitalism will be the rightwing pre-capitalist set of objections.  if an alleged marxist is making a moral argument, it is a form of right deviationism doctrinally, to use the stalinist pejorative, or, at least, it is a non-marxist critique.

[TerraPrime]

Sologdin,

Interesting, my wife has for years maintained that Capitalism is not "immoral" it is "amoral" and a mistake many criticis of Capitalism make is to ascripe a moral element to the profit motive Smith describes in The Wealth of Nations.

That only carries so far, because deliberate propagation of an heretofore amoral system in the face of evidenced injustice incurs a moral toll on that decision.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I'll bet a round of drinks here in Detroit that the market goes down tomorrow. 

 

Prescient one, we are down about 450 on the Dow at present.

[Iskaral Pust]

We're getting closer to an attractive buying opportunity.

Why do we need a thread like this every time markets are volatile? I can tell you right now that the next few years are likely to be sideways with volatility. If it gives you a cortisol spike each time then it's time for you to hold cash.

My very long term money is in all stocks, plus a big chunk of guaranteed return (traditional pension plan and a life insurance saving product). My discretionary money has all been in cash for more than a year and is just itching to buy some cheap assets soon.

[sologdin]

My discretionary money has all been in cash for more than a year and is just itching to buy some cheap assets soon.

you aren't hearing me, yo.  bullets.  bullets are the way of the future.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I used to take all my financial advice from Chappelle. Turns out that fucker has been the ruin of me . He was specifically gauranteeing a chicken joint on every corner was "a cant miss opportunity" if a brother ever made it to the White House. Turns out the Chappelle School of Economics had a few problems when it was applied in the field.

 

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

I'm changing jobs soon and it makes me wonder if I should convert my existing 401k to something safer. 

[Tears of Lys]

 

I'm changing jobs soon and it makes me wonder if I should convert my existing 401k to something safer. 

How come?  Is your 401k all invested in your present company's stock?   (BTW, it's never a good idea to have your entire portfolio consist of one thing - particularly if it's the company you work at.  Enron taught us that, right?  People lost not only their investments but their jobs at the same time.)  

And remember that 401k money is subject to stiff penalties and taxes if you don't roll it over into another retirement account. 

[Fragile Bird]

 

How come?  Is your 401k all invested in your present company's stock?   (BTW, it's never a good idea to have your entire portfolio consist of one thing - particularly if it's the company you work at.  Enron taught us that, right?  People lost not only their investments but their jobs at the same time.)  

And remember that 401k money is subject to stiff penalties and taxes if you don't roll it over into another retirement account. 

Actually, not only Enron but stocks like Procter and Gamble as well.  I remember reading a business story about how they invested company pension assets in P&G stock only (and, maybe, some super safe money fund that paid virtually nothing) and had a very restrictive stock option plan where people who got stock could not sell the stock unless they retired or left the company, and, iirc, if they left the company they lost a lot of their shares.  In March of 2000 the stock fell from $58 to $26 on bad news, so if you retired that year and were expecting to live on your company pension and your stock, half your pension was wiped out.  Still not as bad as Enron, but pretty grim if your annual pension one day was $20,000 and less than $10,000 the next.  The stock has fallen sharply twice since then, I hope they changed their pension plan rules.  https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl#q=procter+and+gamble+stock+price

Never put all your eggs in one basket.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

 

How come?  Is your 401k all invested in your present company's stock?   (BTW, it's never a good idea to have your entire portfolio consist of one thing - particularly if it's the company you work at.  Enron taught us that, right?  People lost not only their investments but their jobs at the same time.)  

And remember that 401k money is subject to stiff penalties and taxes if you don't roll it over into another retirement account. 

I work for a law firm so my 401k isn't the company stock. But stocks make up 93%. I  would prefer to put it something safer just in case something like this happens.  I've got a lot in it for a young guy.  

[Tears of Lys]

As a young guy, you have time on your side for things to recover - IF you're invested in quality stocks that you're fairly certain won't go belly up anytime soon.  Like, I think you're safe with Apple, Google, and the like.  That's what I mean by quality stocks.  If, however, you've chosen to go the riskier route, then maybe you want to take some money off the table.  I sure as hell would hate to have to sell right now, though.  If you've got more than is comfortable in stocks, consider waiting till the next up-tick in the market to sell.  (Of course, THAT'S when everyone wants MORE, not FEWER stocks. )  

It takes a strong stomach to stick with it when the market's as unsettled as it's been (and will be for a while.)  And not just nerves of steel - before investing in stocks, you should have at least six-eight months of cash sufficient to cover all your expenses in case your job disappears for a while. 

 

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

As a young guy, you have time on your side for things to recover - IF you're invested in quality stocks that you're fairly certain won't go belly up anytime soon.  Like, I think you're safe with Apple, Google, and the like.  That's what I mean by quality stocks.  If, however, you've chosen to go the riskier route, then maybe you want to take some money off the table.  I sure as hell would hate to have to sell right now, though.  If you've got more than is comfortable in stocks, consider waiting till the next up-tick in the market to sell.  (Of course, THAT'S when everyone wants MORE, not FEWER stocks. )  

It takes a strong stomach to stick with it when the market's as unsettled as it's been (and will be for a while.)  And not just nerves of steel - before investing in stocks, you should have at least six-eight months of cash sufficient to cover all your expenses in case your job disappears for a while. 

 

When the switch happens I'm going to see a financial advisor to see what my options are.  I know nothing about my 401k at all beyond what it is currently worth. I don't know which stocks I'm invested in.  I'm glad I'm getting a civil service job that has a pension so this is just extra.  

[James Arryn]

Serious question: do you think a conservative fear-based political power would ever by cynical enough to try and cause a crash, and if so, could it be done?