Good story, Terry. However, a few people in the village did not buy
back the monkeys because they saw through the scam. These people then
bought land from the people who now needed money and eventually owned
the village. So the story is not without its happy ending.
Ed
On Sep 27, 2008, at 9:22 AM, Terry Blanton wrote:
Here is an amusing anecdote:
Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the
villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.
The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to
the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10
and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.
He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the
efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back
to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of
monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey,
let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 ! However,
since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would
now buy on behalf of him.
In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. "Look at
all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will
sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you
can sell them to him for $50 each."
The villagers rounded up with all their savings and bought all the
monkeys. Then they never saw the man nor his assistant again, only
monkeys everywhere!
Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works!
<end>
On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 10:05 AM, Terry Blanton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Damn! How'd that get there?
People were forced into the money market. The traditional way for
saving when I was a child was the passbook account. I prided myself
for every dollar that got stamped into my book. The move by the
banks
to reduce these rates made people look at certificates of deposits.
The CDs gave the banks reassurance that the money would remain with
them for the term of the deposit.
Then the money market fell and many people who were living off their
retirement funds moved into mutual funds in order to maintain their
ROI. The result is an inflated stock market.
You *do* agree that the peak of 14,000 was quite inflated for the
DOW?
Terry
On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Edmund Storms
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yes, 4th line first word.
Ed
On Sep 27, 2008, at 8:39 AM, Terry Blanton wrote:
Did you see the word 'forced' in my post?
Terry
On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 9:33 AM, Edmund Storms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
Come on, get real. No one is forced into the stock market this
way. Pass
book accounts always pay less than other investments because
they are
considered safer. Same with money market accounts. A trade off
always
exists between safety and the risk of making more money. Lots of
different
investment methods exist these days that allow a person to
match their
risk
to an expected reward. The difference between these methods
involves how
much knowledge and attention is required. A passbook account
requires no
knowledge, hence gives the least return. Money can be made in
the stock
market even now, but this requires knowledge and attention,
which most
people do not have or do not want to get. In this life, you get
what you
pay
for. In making money the payment is in time and attention.
Otherwise, you
have only yourself to blame.
Ed
On Sep 27, 2008, at 8:16 AM, Terry Blanton wrote:
Jeff,
You hit the nail with your head when you pointed out the loss
of rates
on passbook accounts. The loss of reasonable returns on these
havens
forced people into the money market and eventually into the stock
market. The result is an inflated and volatile stock market and
people living on the edge of panic.
I'm not sure the bailout will restore the waning faith of the
masses.
And, our entire financial system is founded on faith in fiat
funds be
it cash, stocks or bonds.
Terry.
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 4:53 PM, Jeff Fink <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: Edmund Storms [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 4:25 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Edmund Storms
Subject: Re: [Vo]:OFF TOPIC News of the bailout
Actually, only the Supreme Court can answer this question and
they
show no interest in doing so. The cause of the problem is
obvious to
anyone who has looked at reality. Many mistakes were made,
but each
has been identified and attempts will be made to apply a
correction.
Of course, the corrections will be imperfect because of the
required
compromises, but they will be put in place no matter who is
elected.
The only issue of this electron is how will the next mistake be
handled? The next mistake is now being created by the
structure of the
bailout. The next president will have runaway inflation and
high
interest rates. Who do you think will handle this problem to
your
benefit?
Ed
Right now we have inflation running at approximately 10%
annual rate
and
savings accounts paying around 1 1/2% for a net loss of 8
1/2%. On top
of
that we must pay income tax on the 1 1/2%. Part of Obama's
plan to
balance
the budget is to subject that 1 1/2% to social security
payments as
well!
It is part of his plan to redistribute the wealth. Inflation
is a tax,
and
it loots the savers. The stock market is too scary to mess
with.
I-bonds
are paying 0% interest right now, but even at that, they might
be the
best
investment out there.
The majority of people endeavor to conduct their lives in such
a manner
so
as not to be a burden to others. They are the targets of this
redistribution. Some poor people seek jobs while others milk
the
system.
If the job creators are plundered by the government, where
will the
jobs
come from? When the haves are reduced to havenots, we will
all be
losers.
We cannot advance the economy by punishing the hard working
successful.
Jeff
