I found this article by Mark Hulbert in "Barron's" quite interesting. He looks for similiarities between now and the Great Depression, and finds some not-so-bad news. He writes, in part,
"After examining several aspects of the stock market's behavior during the 1930s, it would appear as though a replay of that decade might very well be less scary than assumed by many of those who superficially draw the analogy."
Who knows what will happen in the future, but I found the article thought-provoking.
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Interesting read, thanks for posting the link. The doom and gloom is widely exagerated. Obviously the 1930's were a much worse time. Last night on Fox for the first time in months most of the economic news was upbeat and uplifting. One good day in the market dose not mean a turnaround but why is it that bad news always makes multiple headlines and positive news mostly goes unnoticed. I get the feeling that we have just entered the turn for a shortlived bull market.
Location: Virginia, and Caribbean snowbirds in winter
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Good article, Coach. Another difference was the drought and resulting dust bowl that accompanied the great depression and created a major problem for agriculture and a displacement of many small farmers. We may have droughts today, but not nearly to the extent of the 1930s, nor is our agriculture as dependent on small farmers and steady rain patterns. Then again, I'm not a farmer.
__________________ When the wind changes, change tacks. The Retiree Formerly Known as SoonToRetire (TRFKASTR)
Good article, Coach. Another difference was the drought and resulting dust bowl that accompanied the great depression and created a major problem for agriculture and a displacement of many small farmers.
You mean like this?
Governor requests emergency aid for Texas drought | Reuters
"Parts of south and central Texas... are suffering from their most severe drought on record, exacerbating the woes of the state's cattle industry already been laid low by the country's deepening recession."
"Drought is also gripping much of the rest of the U.S. southwest, threatening farmers and water supplies in fast-growing cities.
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last Friday declared a statewide drought emergency, urging the state's cities to impose mandatory conservation measures to cut urban consumption by 20 percent."
__________________ Numbers is hard...
90% of building a retirement nest egg is just showing up. The other 10% is half the battle.
I thought it was interesting to read that the volatility is so much less now than it was during the Great Depression. It is mind-boggling to imagine what investors must have gone through back then.
Not that we don't have worse in store - - I have no idea.
__________________ "Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities." - - H. Melville, 1851
Meanwhile, there's a lot of funny looking wet stuff coming down from the sky right now... I have no idea what it is...
__________________ "Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
"Parts of south and central Texas... are suffering from their most severe drought on record, exacerbating the woes of the state's cattle industry already been laid low by the country's deepening recession."
"Drought is also gripping much of the rest of the U.S. southwest, threatening farmers and water supplies in fast-growing cities.
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last Friday declared a statewide drought emergency, urging the state's cities to impose mandatory conservation measures to cut urban consumption by 20 percent."
Like I said, I'm not a farmer
But I did live in south and central Texas when young. No offense, but how can you tell whether or not there's a drought?
__________________ When the wind changes, change tacks. The Retiree Formerly Known as SoonToRetire (TRFKASTR)
"Parts of south and central Texas... are suffering from their most severe drought on record, exacerbating the woes of the state's cattle industry already been laid low by the country's deepening recession."
"Drought is also gripping much of the rest of the U.S. southwest, threatening farmers and water supplies in fast-growing cities.
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last Friday declared a statewide drought emergency, urging the state's cities to impose mandatory conservation measures to cut urban consumption by 20 percent."
you must have missed the dust bowl show on History Channel a few months ago. the dust clouds were so big that they reached NYC
Marble Falls is about 30 miles away from me. (We got "only" 5 inches of rain that night when they got 18.)
__________________ "Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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