Comments on: Finding Holiday Uses for Stock Shares

By: Jurgen

Jurgen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:34:13 +0000

Food and bottled water were not on sale at the Wal-Mart store.

Items on sale at the Wal-Mart store included a $798 Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV, a Bissel Compact Upright Vaccum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as “The Incredible Hulk” for $9.

By: Jurgen

Jurgen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:08:49 +0000

With all gloom and doom everywhere, one would think that a US consumer is standing somewhere in a soup kitchen line, but in reality they continue killing each other for a big screen TV.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

The bears might be surprised in December by the power of lower gas prices (equivalent to two stimulus packages) and growing incomes (0.3% according to the latest Personal Income and Spending report).

By: Edward Lim

Edward Lim — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:27:48 +0000

Hey guys… I’m thinking of stinging on my Christmas dinner celebrations to buy Microsoft, AIG, Exxon Mobil and GE… hehe… they all seem like a great deal now…

By: AGG

AGG — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:33:33 +0000

What does recovery for the US economy entail? Certainly not giving more to the banks which have a disappearing class of worthwhile debtors and hence no one to lend to. But that is precisely the strategy which W. and Obama are pursuing. Such a strategy cannot possibly work because there are no credit worthy borrowers – and so far it has not. Quite simply the system has to reverse itself to save itself – and there is little sign of that. The idea that the rich should get poorer and vice versa has no precedent in this society. And Obama shows very little of such tendencies, and his advisers are dead set against it.

So here we are – with a capitalism that has been too successful at extracting wealth and no remedy in sight. Quite simply there are ever fewer people who can afford to buy Mr. Ford’s cars. This is simply a crisis of overproduction – not a new idea, of course, but one that seems to explain the present state of affairs very adequately. Could it be the end of the road for this system? Probably not, because it has still a role to play in the developing world. But it would seem that we are in for a lot of suffering, a lot of turmoil and considerable opening for some radical changes in our way of life – for better or worse.

John Walsh is a professor at U Mass. He is not an a practitioner of the Dismal Science, and he frankly doubts that “economics” as taught in the universities now, as distinguished from political economy, is a valid discipline. He has some knowledge of the physicists and mathematicians who put together the Wall Street “instruments” that have triggered the present crisis. Many of these people knew that they were simply providing their bosses with simulations that proved what the bosses wanted proven. And many of these former academics openly referred to themselves as “whores.” It may be dangerous to let too many physicists go unemployed. He can be reached at john.endwar@gmail.com.

By: AGG

AGG — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:24:32 +0000

Loved the MSFT turkey, C candyland and the AIG frozen veggies (frozen is about right and the meat was stolen by execs). Windows 95 included a fax program. Windows Vista only includes fax with the premium edition. Progress in charging people for the air they breath is America’s business model. Billy Goat Gates is a poster boy for greed and deserves his losses richly.
Off topic but I just read this and it shines a powerful light on the intractability of our present financial situation; i.e. until greed becomes shameful, there will be continued chaos.
It’s at Counterpunch by Walsh: The Root of Our Problem. WAGES!

By: babycondor

babycondor — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:48:38 +0000

to the editor

todays’ quote of the day is missing some words, i think:

‘Reported in Shove, “The place of Marshall’s Principles in the development of economic theory,” —Wildon Carr, Economic Journal December 1942, p. 323.’

By: wunsacon

wunsacon — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:38:53 +0000

I thought a share of Citigroup will now only buy you a bottle of Two Buck Chuck?

By: Mike in Nola

Mike in Nola — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:36:11 +0000

I was pretty surprised at the cost of the turkey this year. Have they risen a lot recently or am I getting like my parents who keep talking about being able to buy a loaf of bread for a nickel back in the 1930’s?

By: dead hobo

dead hobo — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:36:36 +0000

I could swap a share of Citigroup for a festive bottle of Boone’s Farm. (I like to save the Ripple for special occasions since it is mighty scarce now.) Maybe a couple of shares of Microsoft could be traded for a carton of smokes and a stick of beef jerky. These guys are lame. But some of them are pretty good at going after spare change.

By: Byno

Byno — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:21:52 +0000

Hmm…

100 Shares of AIG or Guitar Hero World Tour?

I’d have a hell of a lot more fun doing my best John Entwistle impersonation, and I know the game will still be around in six months.