Stock Market Woes

a little perspective please

easy to get discouraged by short term fluctuations

market has been sliding down recently

but look at January! Market was up almost 6% just in January!
So now it has given back some and is up only around 3.6%.
Even that kind of rise is not sustainable.

a realistic expectation is for gains to average around 1% a month over a longer term.

I expect a range of between 1% and 2% average monthly return this year.
Which would put the market up between 12% and 24 % for the year.
That will make this a very good year.

very good indeed

What Is Wealth?

You can be wealthy with friends, but that is not my subject.
I am asking about the kind of wealth people usually associate with money
the bottom line

but what is it really?

stored energy

and how is it stored? cash, gold, hard assets, stocks, bonds
so many ways to store this energy of wealth

but what is it REALLY?

It is really the capacity to do work. That is what energy is. The capacity to do work.
So real wealth is productive capacity
like income property
It needs to be in a form that is productive
like a factory or a farm or a business or a skill or talent

If you are the best at tennis or playing the flute or drums, then
your wealth is this skill and talent and yet it must be used

it must be expressed in order to be wealth
all kinds of labor are wealth

your body is wealth, your environment is wealth, your community is wealth,
your family is wealth, all the knowledge of all the generations is your wealth,
all the books, all the songs, all the movies, all that is wealth

so really
we are getting richer all the time

I wake up and am amazed at how well we humans live.
I heat my water in a microwave oven. I turn on the lights and the TV and go online and if I want to go somewhere I can drive in my amazing automobile.

This is all wealth
computers
cars
houses
roads
all the pipelines for gas and water and sewage and electricity and information

unimaginable wealth

all around

and the friends are also wealth, all the people are wealth

Index Capital Gains

This is important to get on the table.
Right now it is often fair for gains to be taxed at a lower rate because they are not really gains
they are just phantom gains caused by the decline of value of the dollar from inflation
but there is a solution to this
index the gains to inflation
get rid of the preferential tax rate and instead index the gains

if you have held an asset for many years the phantom gain might be 60% or more!
that should not be taxed

only real gains should be taxed
only real gains should be taxed

INDEX GAINS
so that we are only taxed on real gains not the illusory gains caused by the loss of value of the dollar

Gingrich Rally

stealth rally
Gingrich rally

Stocks have been doing very well lately. Where is the big celebration?
Is anyone paying attention?
Maybe not. Maybe things are getting better because people are putting attention on their business instead of just whining and complaining

Does Gingrich have an optimistic message?
Is a plump old man that encouraging to see on TV?

We seem to be pushing up to break out through the old highs from last MAY
the market looks unstoppable right now
and the optimism is growing
the animal spirits
the sun coming back
the trees blooming
the spring
the season of growth

What People Do

what are infants doing?
what are demented people doing?
sick in the hospital?

all the categories
worker
student
retired
housewife
child

what if you want to be in some other category

none of the above

I sit
I watch
I wait
I love

I am a lover

what is your means of support

OH! DISABILITY!
independently wealthy
on welfare

begging

is it just about money or where your food comes from

I am a forager

I forage

stealing....I guess being a criminal is sort of a job
burglar, robber, drug dealer
hard work
no pension plan

Myth of Unemployment

Unemployment is just a definition
change the definition
change reality

nobody is unemployed

everyone employs himself all day
day after day
taking care of business

when people talk jobs and unemployment they are really just talking money

I WANT MORE MONEY

call a spade a spade

employ yourself, take care of yourself, full time job taking care of yourself
and your surroundings
and that makes it all better when you take good care of it

and don't be too upset about the people who want more money

New Year New Optimism

I really feel a wave of optimism sweeping my community.
People are upbeat and happy and the new slogan is
"SO FAR, SO GOOD"

And this optimism has a firm foundation

There is a new diligence and a new honesty happening

And a new sense of personal responsibility

Things really are good and getting better. I say this will be the best year yet.
The crooks are on the run now. You just can't hide as easily from the truth.
The internet has opened up the truth and reality to everyone.

This goes for crooked dealings in business, such as Corzine and MF Capital.
It also goes for crooked dealings in government, such as unreasonable pay and pensions for some public employees.

And the keys to success are now
honesty
good service
generosity
diligence
care

the old ways just won't work any more and we will all benefit.

What firmer foundation than the truth?