Recent content by bettles

Neither side wants to budge. So fine. Here is how to fix the problem and the growing debt permanently. Simply keep all spending exactly where it is now. No cuts, no additions, no adjustment for inflation ever. As long as spending is kept exactly where it is and not raised, inflation over...

Only time I've been to a mall in 2012 was when I was having some work done on my car nearby and it was raining so I didn't want to walk around outside. Then the only thing I bought was food. Actually, that's wrong. When my TV (which I've had since 1989) broke back in September, I did buy a...

Actually, it probably has more to do with the fact that Windows 8 makes some radical changes, whose benefits are not clear (particularly for desktop users). I've been saying this since I used a beta copy of Windows 8 this past summer. I could go on with the details, as well as with examples of...

It's anybody's guess if an agreement will be reached in December or not. I tend to think it will, but it is far from certain. If an agreement is not reached in December, you can bet that when one is reached in January or early February, everything will be made retroactive. Thus, although...

Okay, I just had to bite on this one. Its quite obvious to me. The reason is because both the nation, and individuals, have large net debts. Deflation would make these debts even larger, whereas inflation allows them to shrink relative to the number of dollars floating around. So inflation...

Depends on the type of drug. Heroin, meth, coke, they are likely to die off, possibly in large enough numbers to significantly decrease public assistance costs. On the other hand, if large numbers of people started using some of the classic "psychedelic" drugs of the 60's (LSD, mescaline...

It might make sense from a logical perspective that higher fuel prices cause grocery prices to go up. But then again, oil prices fell something like 70% in under a year beginning in mid-2008 and I don't seem to recall seeing grocery prices go down then. So that to me calls that correlation...

Last I checked, major US stock indexes are higher now than they were during the summer of 2008 when everyone had their eyes on energy prices. Food prices are certainly higher. The cost of health care, groceries, rent, have all gone up over the past 3 years. Why should energy prices be the...

For most people, I think the actual cost of the gasoline to get to and from work is quite small. Go ahead and figure it out - how many miles do you drive to/from work each week? And how much does that cost you for gasoline? Even in an SUV it is likely far less than other costs associated with...

One would hope, by purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles. But that does not appear to be the case. On the way to work this morning, I saw a huge billboard that said nothing but "Sexy Urban Vehicle!". A block or so down, there was another billboard advertising a local SUV dealership. If...

Fed's in the red to China A very scary thought Not benign, a Contrary monetary shot To redesign a New world in which Beijing has bought The sway to say our rules of play may be for naught And someday will be fought "Bearish", by VersusPlus

What happens in Egypt, stays in Egypt!

I voted bullish for this coming week, but now that I read Cramer is bullish, I may need to reconsider, since I consider him a contrary indicator. So maybe we in fact won't see new highs this coming week again. Could take a few weeks for that to happen instead.

Before you get in, you should already have decided under what conditions (both going your way and not) you will get out under.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166 points today, its largest one-day fall in 5 months. How long do you think it will be before the Dow is back at a new 3-year high again?