Buddy Can You Spare a Dime (Revised Edition)
Michael Levy
September 20, 2008
The song, Brother Can You Spare a Dime was made famous by the 1929 crash and sung by Bing Crosby in 1932. ... It is now being sung by executives of America´s biggest financial institutions looking desperately for a hand out.
On 13 September 08, I wrote how some of the mighty have fallen in the USA´s financial arena and the one´s who were about to fall. Well, just a few days´ later they fell to scary levels and stock markets all around the world were in fear laden turmoil. On Thursday 18th September government, stock market and treasury officials met at the white house with the president. Here is what is happening in the current financial arena
The SEC have stopped short selling in many financial stocks
The stock market has gone up 900 points in 24 hours
The credit rating agencies that gave "tripe A" ratings to worthless junk bonds of corporations who paid for the ratings, downgraded the ratings of the same companies in their hours of need and support.
The government is doing its best to bail out the biggest institutions "who are too big to fail"... They will come up with a plan over the weekend.
The media continues to hype and sensationlize every action good bad or indifferent every moment of every day.
Expert upon expert appears on TV and has their own plans on how to help solve the crises and all fail to address the most important question ...How do we know what is true and what is false with so many differing viewpoints?
Credit was dehydrating and liquidity is still the most consequential missing ingredient. With government action financial institutions should be able to continue "business as ususal."
House prices continue to tumble and mortgages still hard to find for many people.
The SEC,still refuse to bring back the up-tick rule to limit the short sellers.
Gold shot up $90.00 in one day, two days ago... The biggest one day gain ever. However, gold is a hedge against inflation not recession. You cannot eat or live inside gold. Not many folks buy it for jewelry in a recession and the few that might are too afraid of being mugged to wear it. So be-aware what goes up quickly can fall even faster when the fear evaporates.
Companies are trying to de-leverage, however, at the same time newer ETF´s and definitives are being fabricated for people to trade. How can any company de-leverage by adding leverage?
So what is a person to do with their savings? I guess the folks who have no money have nothing to worry about. The folks who are looking for safety are best putting their money in USA Treasury notes but no more than one year out. The rates may only be one percent, but that tells us how much risk is still out there.
For the more adventurous with a longer time horizon I suggest investing in, the best of the best, in the hi-tech companies with no debt, large bank balances, great products and the best managements. Dollar cost averaging from this point may reap big rewards in the years ahead. Sell them well before they reach overvalued levels. A good indication is when everyone is tipping them when they have already gone up. Add a little each month and do not listen to experts with hyena like greed in their eyes or media with fear mongering monkeys. Remember, there is no such thing as a bad profit.
Still that does not ease the current pain of people who have lost jobs and houses… Who have lost life savings...Who are still reeling from the monetary confusion and chaos?
Everything passes in time, however, with a society that cannot distinguish truth from fallacies, accuracy from propaganda and intelligence from intellect, it will keep on reoccurring, in ever increasing circles of pandemonium, until everything and everyone is sucked into a black hole of total ignorance, far distant, from the true facts of life.
This song brought a tear to the eyes of all who heard it in 1932 and for sure many will cry over it now as events unfold....
Brother Can You Spare a Dime by Bing Crosby.
They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob.
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear,
I was always there, right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun,
brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee, we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-dum.
Half a million boots went slogging through hell,
And I was the kid with the drum.
Say, don't you remember they called me Al,
It was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal
Say, buddy, can you spare a dime?
On 13 September 08, I wrote how some of the mighty have fallen in the USA´s financial arena and the one´s who were about to fall. Well, just a few days´ later they fell to scary levels and stock markets all around the world were in fear laden turmoil. On Thursday 18th September government, stock market and treasury officials met at the white house with the president. Here is what is happening in the current financial arena
The SEC have stopped short selling in many financial stocks
The stock market has gone up 900 points in 24 hours
The credit rating agencies that gave "tripe A" ratings to worthless junk bonds of corporations who paid for the ratings, downgraded the ratings of the same companies in their hours of need and support.
The government is doing its best to bail out the biggest institutions "who are too big to fail"... They will come up with a plan over the weekend.
The media continues to hype and sensationlize every action good bad or indifferent every moment of every day.
Expert upon expert appears on TV and has their own plans on how to help solve the crises and all fail to address the most important question ...How do we know what is true and what is false with so many differing viewpoints?
Credit was dehydrating and liquidity is still the most consequential missing ingredient. With government action financial institutions should be able to continue "business as ususal."
House prices continue to tumble and mortgages still hard to find for many people.
The SEC,still refuse to bring back the up-tick rule to limit the short sellers.
Gold shot up $90.00 in one day, two days ago... The biggest one day gain ever. However, gold is a hedge against inflation not recession. You cannot eat or live inside gold. Not many folks buy it for jewelry in a recession and the few that might are too afraid of being mugged to wear it. So be-aware what goes up quickly can fall even faster when the fear evaporates.
Companies are trying to de-leverage, however, at the same time newer ETF´s and definitives are being fabricated for people to trade. How can any company de-leverage by adding leverage?
So what is a person to do with their savings? I guess the folks who have no money have nothing to worry about. The folks who are looking for safety are best putting their money in USA Treasury notes but no more than one year out. The rates may only be one percent, but that tells us how much risk is still out there.
For the more adventurous with a longer time horizon I suggest investing in, the best of the best, in the hi-tech companies with no debt, large bank balances, great products and the best managements. Dollar cost averaging from this point may reap big rewards in the years ahead. Sell them well before they reach overvalued levels. A good indication is when everyone is tipping them when they have already gone up. Add a little each month and do not listen to experts with hyena like greed in their eyes or media with fear mongering monkeys. Remember, there is no such thing as a bad profit.
Still that does not ease the current pain of people who have lost jobs and houses… Who have lost life savings...Who are still reeling from the monetary confusion and chaos?
Everything passes in time, however, with a society that cannot distinguish truth from fallacies, accuracy from propaganda and intelligence from intellect, it will keep on reoccurring, in ever increasing circles of pandemonium, until everything and everyone is sucked into a black hole of total ignorance, far distant, from the true facts of life.
This song brought a tear to the eyes of all who heard it in 1932 and for sure many will cry over it now as events unfold....
Brother Can You Spare a Dime by Bing Crosby.
They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob.
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear,
I was always there, right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun,
brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee, we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-dum.
Half a million boots went slogging through hell,
And I was the kid with the drum.
Say, don't you remember they called me Al,
It was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal
Say, buddy, can you spare a dime?
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