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mike31c · 08-20-2007, 06:46 PM

welcome to the World Market.

A couple of things first:
The US Dollar has been weak against the Euro for several years...
The US Dollar has NEVER been devalued by the US Government (outside the conspiracy theories)... The value of the US Dollar adjusts to market reactions to the rest of the world currencies... Some call less purchasing power as devalued but it's not really, when compared to the rest of the World Market...

What is happening is the US Housing Market is collapsing under the weight of sub-par loans, which is causing many of the large lenders to sell off their stock holdings to prop up the bad loans. When they sell off that stock, it causes the market to react...

Many of these loans (on houses and the stock) were made from borrowed cash... When the investors get nervous, they want their $$$ back
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6663280

Here's an article published in my local Sunday's newspaper with a picture of what is happening...
--> http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/mult...907_circle.pdf

(sorry, this newspaper may ask you to register!)

Let me tell you something: I have been invested in the US Stock market for over 20 years (since I was 15yrs old) and this is not the first time a small bump has happened in the DJIA. I have seen similar bumps in 1987, 1989, and in bits and pieces in the 90's and the market has always corrected itself.

The Stock Market (401k's too!) is for the long haul and you really should NOT worry about dips in the market. Does it suck seeing your 401k drop in the value of the $$$ you put into it? Of course it does... But in all reality, if you get nervous over every single drop in value, then you should not be investing in stocks, mutual funds and the like... There are other short term options such as Treasury Securities such as Treasury Bills that some of which have a 4 week redemption time.

At the same time, it would suck like Smart Parts if all you had was your company stock in your 401k's and other retirement/investment plans and it all wound up like Enron...

Gold is a so-called Inflation safety blanket, not necessarily an indicator of what the world currencies will hold to because I can't remember a real Country still using the so-called "Gold Standard" of propping up their currencies.

I can't imagine what is going to happen if the stock market goes down, housing sales goes down AND inflation causes gold prices to go up, as I have only seen that happen in third-world countries...

08-20-2007, 06:46 PM	#7 (permalink)
mike31c Seasoned Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California	welcome to the World Market. A couple of things first: The US Dollar has been weak against the Euro for several years... The US Dollar has NEVER been devalued by the US Government (outside the conspiracy theories)... The value of the US Dollar adjusts to market reactions to the rest of the world currencies... Some call less purchasing power as devalued but it's not really, when compared to the rest of the World Market... What is happening is the US Housing Market is collapsing under the weight of sub-par loans, which is causing many of the large lenders to sell off their stock holdings to prop up the bad loans. When they sell off that stock, it causes the market to react... Many of these loans (on houses and the stock) were made from borrowed cash... When the investors get nervous, they want their $$$ back http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6663280 Here's an article published in my local Sunday's newspaper with a picture of what is happening... --> http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/mult...907_circle.pdf (sorry, this newspaper may ask you to register!) Let me tell you something: I have been invested in the US Stock market for over 20 years (since I was 15yrs old) and this is not the first time a small bump has happened in the DJIA. I have seen similar bumps in 1987, 1989, and in bits and pieces in the 90's and the market has always corrected itself. The Stock Market (401k's too!) is for the long haul and you really should NOT worry about dips in the market. Does it suck seeing your 401k drop in the value of the $$$ you put into it? Of course it does... But in all reality, if you get nervous over every single drop in value, then you should not be investing in stocks, mutual funds and the like... There are other short term options such as Treasury Securities such as Treasury Bills that some of which have a 4 week redemption time. At the same time, it would suck like Smart Parts if all you had was your company stock in your 401k's and other retirement/investment plans and it all wound up like Enron... Gold is a so-called Inflation safety blanket, not necessarily an indicator of what the world currencies will hold to because I can't remember a real Country still using the so-called "Gold Standard" of propping up their currencies. I can't imagine what is going to happen if the stock market goes down, housing sales goes down AND inflation causes gold prices to go up, as I have only seen that happen in third-world countries...