Equities are just far too risky

Re: Told You So

Hi Hawkwing

Everytime I have fallen on a banana skin, I just picked myself up and continued on my path of progress

Brendan
 
REMAINING USA CEO'S MAKE A BREAK FOR IT

Band of Roving Chief Executives Spotted Miles from Mexican Border

(San Antonio, Texas: Rooters Business News)

Unwilling to wait for their eventual indictments, the 10,000 remaining CEOs of public U.S. companies made a break for it yesterday, heading for the Mexican border, plundering towns and villages along the way and writing the entire rampage off as a marketing expense. "They came into my home, made me pay for my own TV, then double-booked the revenues," said Rachel Sanchez of Las Cruces, just north of El Paso, "and right in front of my daughters." Calling themselves the CEOnistas, the chief executives were first spotted last night along the Rio Grande River near Quemado where they bought each of the town's 320 residents by borrowing against pension fund gains.

By late this morning, the CEOnistas had arbitrarily inflated Quemado's population to 960 and declared a 200 percent profit for the fiscal second quarter. This morning the outlaws bought the city of Waco, transferred its underperforming areas to a private partnership and sent a bill to California for $4.5 billion. Law enforcement officials and disgruntled shareholders riding posse were noticeably frustrated. "First of all, they're very hard to find because they always stand behind their numbers, and the numbers keep shifting," said posse spokesman L.J. Earp. "And every time we yell 'Stop in the name of the shareholders!', they refer us to investor relations. I've been on the phone all darn morning." "YOU'LL NEVER AUDIT ME ALIVE!" is a common CEO response.

The pursuers said they have had some success, however, by preying on a common executive weakness. "Last night we caught about 24 of them by disguising one of our female officers as a CNBC anchor," said U.S. Border Patrol spokesperson Eric Nels. "It was like moths to a flame." Also, teams of agents have been using high-powered listening devices to scan the plains for telltale sounds of the CEOnistas. "Most of the time we just hear leaves rustling or cattle flicking their tails," said Nels, "but occasionally we'll pick up someone saying, 'I was totally out of the loop on that.'"

Among former and current CEOs apprehended with this method were Computer Associates' Sanjay Kumar, Adelphia's John Rigas, Enron's Ken Lay, Joseph Nacchio of Qwest, Joseph Berardino of Arthur Andersen and every Global Crossing CEO since 1997. ImClone Systems' Sam Waksal and Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco were not allowed to join the CEOnistas as they have already been indicted. So far, about 50 chief executives have been captured including Martha Stewart, who was detained south of El Paso where she had cut through a barbed-wire fence at the Zaragosa border crossing off Highway 375. "She would have gotten away, but she was busy stopping motorists to ask for marzipan and food coloring so she could make edible snowman place settings using the cut pieces of wire for the arms," said Border Patrol officer Dee Bopp. "We put her in cell No. 7 because the morning sun really adds texture to the stucco walls."

While some stragglers are believed to have successfully crossed into Mexico, Bopp said the bulk of the CEOnistas have holed themselves up at the Alamo. "No, not the fort-- the car rental place at the airport," he said. "They're rotating all the tires on the minivans and accounting for each change as a sale.
 
Sell, Sell, Sell

Hey,

Since I started this thread, stocks have collapsed and nothing really bad has happened.

The Fed says buy

The UK FSA says buy

George Bush says buy

Still they sell!

This market has another 50% to fall before prices are realistic.

Sell, Sell, Sell.:rolleyes
 
Independent - what a rag!

My god, that says it all about the Independent if the guy just comes on here and reports a discussion... And quotes these figures by Hawkwing connecting events with possible market slides (I mean, no offence, but he made them up!)...
You're a gas man Brendan, still defending your position... Maybe you're active in managing your investments, getting in and out of things at the right time but, let's be honest, trackers and most managed funds have been negative for almost two years now and likely will be for another couple(?) and that's what most people have their money in, if at all, in stocks. And even if it does "bottom" and grow eventually how long would it take an investment that has suffered the losses of the period to recoup the losses and then ACTUALLY grow? Maybe in terms of the invesators lifetime, it NEVER would?? For anyone who has had this period coincide with their time for saving towards a mortgage etc. it's been a disaster. To be honest, I find your smug defence and apologies offensive, give it up!
 
I think it's time to buy!

This selloff has proceeded more rapidly I thought. I'm going to increase my equity exposure. The risk/reward favours buying.
 
Happy Days are here again

Tyoung was right, now was the time to buy.

The Dow is surging.

Go away you bears and wallow in your own pessism. Equities are king. Life goes on. Normal service is resumed. Happy days are here again.
 
Re: Happy Days are here again

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> now <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> was<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the time to buy<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Your not a stock analyst by any chance? :lol
 
happy days

I think Bullish's comment is somewhat tongue in cheek.
I 'm not trying to make some shortterm call on the direction of the market. If I could do that my day job would pay a lot more. Rather, the flight from "riskier" investments like stocks to "safer" investments like cash and Government debt means that stocks offer a better risk/reward ratio relative to other asset classes. Logically therefore the longterm investor should increase his equity exposure.
 
Re: happy days

Hi nore

I don't time the market - I buy and hold for the long term.

What I have learnt from the discussion on Askaboutmoney and further reading is that some markets appear to be much better value than others from time to time. If I had sold out at the top of the market and if I buy in at the bottom of the market ( yesterday or after it has fallen another 50%?), I would be very wealthy. But I am not able to time the market.

Having said that, the Irish market seems screamingly cheap now. If I was a market timer, I would probably borrow to invest in it.

Brendan
 
You can't even trust Greenspan

I thonk the good Senator (if he still is one) made a very valid observation in the last Sindo.

He recalled that not very long ago Greenspan was complaining about stockmarket overexuberance when the Dow soared to 6,600.

Now that it had plunged to 8,500 (last week) the same Greenie tells us it is oversold even though the Corpo and other news is far worse now than it was then.

Even Greenie has a vested interest which prevents him telling it as it really is.

True, his motives are highly commendable - stability of the US and World Economic system - but motives don't matter. If Greenie was a financial adviser he would be suable.

Does anybody actually give investment advice which is truly independent of ulterior motives?
 
Under Your Nose, dear

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> "Does anybody actually give investment advice which is truly independent of ulterior motives?"<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Admittedly, such noble and selfless individuals are rare in this Mé Féin Republic of ours, but I can think of one individual who has, for some years now, given investment advice with no ulterior motives, and in fact at a financial cost to himself. He has also provided a forum where people from any walk of life can give and get free investment advice.

Brendan Burgess.
 
Ulterior Motives

Even the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Boss<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> has baggage - let's not say UM. But he is so wedded to the CoE that he is clinically incapable of giving out sell messages.

I am looking for some (knowledgable) person who has no axe to grind whatsoever in recommending Buy, Sell or Hold.

Robbie Kelleher comes close - with everybody else from Greenie to the Hobbit, when they make a recommendation, one is simply reminded of the quote "oh he would say that wouldn't he?".:rolleyes
 
Re: Ulterior Motives

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> I am looking for some (knowledgable) person who has no axe to grind whatsoever in recommending Buy, Sell or Hold.<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

That reminds me - whatever happened to Shane's monkey? :lol
 
Greenspan v Ross

Hi Rossy Fan,

I'd trust Greenspan a lot more than Ross. The mere fact that the index is higher than when Greenspan made his "irrational exuberance" speech means nothing. I read a report recently (FT ??) which quoted the Fed's valuation model (which underlay the irrational exuberance comment) as suggesting US equities are currently approx 20% undervalued.

Ross is an annoying commentator, imho, because while lots of the things he says make a good deal of sense, he can't resist (a) the populist approach, (b) at times, the latest fad, and (c) the self-righteous preening that he has called everything correctly. He cost BOI investors a lot of money, advising them to sell at the trough. He whined incessantly about the make-up of the bank's board (sorry, Senator ... <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> putting on sneering tone<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> "court of directors"), and advised them to co-opt new economy gurus like Fran Rooney. Reckon the court is glad it courted Donal Geaney ?? And Ross will probably castigate them for it now. Finally, this constant bullshit now about fund managers not deserving to be paid because markets are falling. In Shane's good old days as a stockbroker (before Dermot Desmond sorted him out), do you reckon he rebated commissions to customers who didn't make money on their trades ??
 
Ross the Populist

Mr Ross is simply an articulate self serving populist with a short memory - except for the less than 50% of his predictions which turn out right.

His analysis is shallow.

I will leave it at that.
 
Greenspan

Rossey Fan

"He recalled that not very long ago Greenspan was complaining about stockmarket overexuberance when the Dow soared to 6,600."

I would suugest that earning growth in a majority of companies in the interim period could explain why Greenspan now feels the market is undervalued. Although there are no doubt other motives as well.
 
In this article, Bank of Ireland Private Banking advised a client to remortgage his house to invest in a mix of stockmarket based funds. This happened 6 monthsa ago and had he accepted this advice, he would have lost tens of thousands of pounds.

I don't see this as a very big deal. Many advisors are urging people to remortgage their home to buy an investment property or, worse still a holiday home in Spain. There is a trade off between risk and reward and 6 months is too short to judge whether or not the advice was good.

Equities have tended to outperform the mortgage rate, so borrowing to invest in equities might be good advice.

Brendan