Recent content by Alizar

Yea, they are about the only ones hiring engineers right now. The company I work with does a lot of government work (like nuclear site cleanup). Most of our office has been laid off/furloughed, or sent to another state for a government related project. I'm working on a DOE project now, hoping...

This is one of my sticking points whenever people state that "Global Climate Change" is a problem. I have been to a cave in Colorado where the bones of camels, cheetahs, and other animals have been removed. A brief discussion with the scientists working there showed that the climate in...

My wife and I bought our house with 10% down, and took out a second mortgage for the other 10% to avoid the mortgage insurance. This was cheaper than a larger first and paying PMI, even though the second was at a higher interest rate. We have several friends who recently bought houses and...

Seems like things have mostly just flattened off here in Denver. I think it's been that way for about a year now. I have a couple friends who just bought houses. Sounds like they got decent deals, but nothing spectacular.

Don't forget that with telecommuting, many people can work from home if they have to. My boss does not allow it now, but I am sure things would become much more leniant if people had no gas to get to work.

Agreed, I think gasoline costs are still too low compared to their true costs. I still do not know anyone who has significantly altered their driving habits due to the current cost of gasoline. I hear lots of complaining, but no one making real changes. It has yet to have any significant...

I agree with you, and I think this is what will keep us going for the next few years. The only thing I wonder about is what will happen as all the people in China and India (about 1/3 of the world's population if I remember correctly) gain wealth from their trade with the world. What if in...

I agree, I started thinking about that shortly after my first post. It does appear that interest rates in the US are still much higher than Europe or Japan, so perhaps that is leading more people to invest long-term in US bonds. I am still not convinced that is what is happening, but it is...

I think a lot of it has to do with economic study being more scientific (or at least trying to be), while investing is as much about psychology as it is science. Most economics use statistics (unemployment, inflation, etc) or "rules" (supply/demand) to explain things and make predictions...

How so? What makes a long-term investment have roughly the same risk as a short-term? Can you predict the future?

yea, but not for long, Toyota will pass them by next year.

How does private net worth go up 11% when private debt went up 11.6%? That does not make sense to me, doesn't private net worth take debt into account?

I realize even Alan Greenspan doesn't know the answers to these questions, but I'm curious what people on here think about them. First of all, from what I have seen M3 and the price of gold are pointing toward inflation. Long term interest rates, and CPI/PPI data (if you believe those...