“Tech stocks were falling hard with the overall market Monday in the wake of the Standard & Poor’s downgrade as PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ) dropped 5% on heavy volume,” Tom Lydon reports for ETFTrends. “The Nasdaq-100 exchange traded fund is a liquid vehicle for trading a basket of some of the market’s largest technology stocks.
“Top holding Apple (AAPL) had been holding up relatively well in the sell-off until late last week,” Lydon reports. “Apple shares were down over 4% on Monday and testing their 200-day exponential moving average. The stock represents 14.3% of the Nasdaq-100 ETF.”
Charts in the full article here.
Government is not your mommy. Government is not a panacea. Government is a necessary evil. Keep it as small as possible.
In 2012, Americans should elect a president who understands how the U.S. economy works and what makes the U.S. great and give him/her a conservative congress that will work with him/her to get the U.S.A.’s financial house in order.
Ditto!
It seems that nothing that has transpired over the past three years has actually taught anyone anything. If not the last three years, the last three weeks should have opened a few eyes.
Not likely to happen, though, as it seems. American politics, as well as American public, are fiercely divided, and blinded, by their political allegiances. There is no calamity that great for America that would convince their politicians (and their public) to make political compromise with the others.
If (actually, when) this second recession does happen, it will be precisely because the two divided halves in America refused to agree to save themselves together.
Your post is proven almost daily by the moronic postings of First 2010 Then 2012. Until idiots like him are willing to acknowledge his party is at least as equally responsible if not moreso for the mess we are in, then nothing is really going to change.
You know, I’m having a hard time determining whether posters like ‘Superior Being’, ‘First 2010, Then 2012′, and the general right wingnuts are really as monumentally clueless as they portray themselves or whether they are so incredibly cynical of the average voters’ intelligence that they believe they can sell the intellectually bankrupt positions they pontificate to a sheeplike electorate. Either way, they’re willing to sell the country for the sake of the top 1/10 of one percent.
@ 8^þ
Correct.
+1
+1 (or, rather, -100s of points on the markets)
Just look at the historical record of budget (im)balances & cumulative deficits left after Republican vs Democratic presidents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
And jobs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobs_created_during_U.S._presidential_terms
You had me at “clueless”.
They will still be blaming obama while they are around a oil barrel fire eating dogfood out of a can. hey.. at least their misplaced ideals and anger will keep em warm when winter hits.
I am not an American and should probably bite my tongue, but it’s not as if I am unaffected by the madness that drives your politics.
I assume you are referring to the debt debacle. Kindly explain to me, since neither the Democrats nor 0bama put forward any plan until after the Republicans put forth at least 3 proposals, including the BBA (none of which were allowed to be voted on in the Senate).
It was actually a Left-slanted edit of an original GOP proposal that was finally offered up by Harry Reid (kind of reminds me of the way Google does business). With what were the Republicans supposed to comprise?
mostly, at least compromising on closing tax loop hole sin the very least.. not to mention allowing the bush era tax breaks to actually expire so we can earn revenue to pay back the defect. You can’t just stop all spending and let infrastructure rot altogether. it’s retardedness really. The hilarious part, to me, is these people are just peons for conservative rich people- brainwashed with ideals they can’t understand. It;s not like they would be affected at all by closing of tax loopholes, or even outright increases.. but hey- MAYBE… just mane- one day it could affect them when they achieve the american dream. pfft.
but hey- if that’s what we have to do- then fine- zero medicare and social security to start. Followed by zero federal monies whatsoever to tea bagger states- they get their smaller government and spending cuts. maybe then they’d STFU.
Shinola your understanding of economics is flawed.
Read “How economies grow and why they fail” (it’s a picture book so you can zip through it in a couple days)
In direct reply to your misconception that retiring the bush tax cuts will bring more revenue:
To raise revenue you need to drop taxes, it seems counter intuitive but here is why: taxes drop which spurs the economy to grow. The larger economy pays more taxes, even though the rate is lower. Case in point: Reagan dropped the tax rates in numerous areas and the revenue the government received doubled in a few years!
In a simplified math example
100B GDP taxed at 39% gets $39B in revenue
300B GDP taxed at 20% gets $60B in revenue
oh really? kind of funny- you’d think we’d have a bad ass surplus by now.
But let’s be more accurate- we aren’t talking about raising taxes- we are talking about letting tax breaks that had expiration date actually expire along with closing tax loop holes.
So- perhaps you are right… but you are at the same time wrong when you apply our picture book to current events.
Shall we cut spending as well? YES.
more money, plus less spending = less debt.
one sentence- no fancy picture book.
And btw- your simplified math example.. kind of all over the place… of course 20% of 300 will result in more than 39% of 100.
Are you sure you understand what GDP is and how it’s calculated? Were you comparing reagan years GDP to current GDP? Also- I can’t seem to find that book by googling it or searching on amazon.
Since at least April the president had been in discussion with the speaker of the house who controls the agenda of which bills come up to a vote in the house. Under law, all revenue and spending legislation must originate in the house then be passed by the senate and signed by the president. The compromise proposed by the president in private with the speaker and more generally in public was that the president would agree to (4t total) deficit reduction by including Medicare reform if the house would agree to tax increases. The republicans say Obama did not have a plan and at the same time they are critical of obama’s proposed Medicare cuts.
Excellent take, SB. But we AAPL holders face two kinds of problems. First, is the economic mess that universally impacts us and second, is the very uncertain future at Apple Inc. Regardless of the blind faith that MDN and others around here have, it is simply undeniable that the post-Jobs era is dominated with risk that simply have never existed before.
It’s easy to say government should be smaller, but where it falls apart is the details.
Where exactly are you going to cut government spending? Security, healthcare, economic subsidies? Everywhere you cut, their will be backlash and consequences.
Government is a necessary evil (as Thomas Paine eloquently argued in Common Sense in 1776.) But necessary nonetheless. The government has to spend money for many reasons. That’s reality. What’s not reality is the idea that government can just cut spending without major consequences, or keep spending without raising revenue.
As a taxpayer you should absolutely love the value you get from Medicare, which runs 2-3% overhead, compared with commercial for-profit health insurance which runs 30-40% overhead. Healthcare costs are up because the baby boomer cohort is now getting sick and they want anything and everything that can be done, which was predicted (also why Reagan RAISED taxes to create a social security surplus).
My paltry Medicare reimbursements attest to the bargain you’re getting. Now if only republicans would allow Medicare to negotiate for drug pricing, taxpayers would really save $.
Such a killer deal… remind us all again, why we should all be paying your medical bills, or give two shits about the kind of drug deals you’re getting?
I hate it when good will is coerced.
And stop blaming Republicans, its YOUR fault, dummy. You’re a big boy, and apparently been around a while. You helped vote both these idiotic parties into power, and all these stupid policies. The blame is with YOU and who ever else next mentions Republicans or Democrats.
You’re like 80 now right? Don’t you think its time to wise up?
Idiots like you make a bit of money, become a little independent and…… boom…..become the selfish, obnoxious, inhuman, uppity, scumbag that inflicts so much of the USA.
Inhuman? Since when has humanity ever benefited from adopting the behavior of muck leeches and intestinal parasites? I see you understand biology as little as you do economics.
I’m guessing your a Democrat party bottom sucker? Thanks a lot asshat, you and your ilk have screwed everything up with appeals to emotion and feelings. That’s what teen girls do, not adults with big responsibilities. You’ve cultivated a lot of tears and whining, but have only made misery worse. In terms of economic policy, you’ve merely switched heroin addicts to methadone addicts, congratulations you easily-lead, hypocritical, emotional infant.
Seeing as all this economic bullshit is entirely YOUR fault for being SO stupid, not any one politician Republican or Democrat, you’re entitled only to shut the fuck up from now on, ‘lil Paulette.
Oh, just off the top of my head:Department of Education; Department of Energy; EPA; FCC, a reduction in the salaries, tenure and pension and other benefits of Government workers.
Add in a complete revision of the Tax code and that would be a start.
You have a simplistic view of the world. The world economyt is a complex set of interactions, none of which exiusts in a vacuum. Historiaclly, governments have used their uniques status as controllers of currency to provide an economic engine when private capital can’t or won’t p[provide it. The neocons, by forcing the issue of the myth that government stimulus is a bad thing, have now forced us into a situation where NO ONE has the leverage to provide stability to capital markets. Your conservative view of the word is not “conservative”. It is a reckless and uninformed position that has been foisted upon you under the absurd notion that government has no role in the modern world.
It has been a long while since the U.S. Government has controlled its own currency.
The most bizarre suicide pact ever invented is the Federal Reserve; which is neither Federal nor a Reserve.
The Fed decides to increase the money supply by printing, let’s say a trillion dollars. And then they charge the American government interest on its own money?
Whoever thought that was a good deal? Well, we know who that is. As I said a day or so ago, Presidents have been assassinated for attempting to eliminate the Federal Reserve.
… suggesting we change just our president? or we toss out most of Capital Hill? We can’t, you know. Most of the Tea Party nay-sayers, those congressmen and senators who made it patently clear they lack a clue regarding how the economy works, will not be up for re-election.
As for “the government as Mommy”, are you saying the government should not act according to the teachings of Christ? Are you saying YOU do not follow the teachings of Christ? That you do not love your neighbor? Interesting, that! So, that isn’t “God’s hand” in your icon?
As important, in this forum, oh apostate, is that you did not address how this relates to Apple, or AAPL, or computers in general. I’d point out that the price of AAPL fluctuates according to the market and can be measured only in that context. It has no intrinsic value beyond what other traders are willing to pay for it, a value which drops more or less as the rest of the market drops.
Yep, just one more regime change and everything wrong with the U.S. will be fixed without any pain or sacrifice. No need to pay for it, and no one will suffer.
I am not playing these forum games anymore, “Superior” Being and F10T12. In the end, your rhetoric will get the attention and results that it deserves. You aren’t worth the time or the effort to re-educate. I can only assume that you are the result of no moron left behind. Good day and good riddance.
Like Germany did in the 1930s. How did that work out?
And there is more and more legitimate mainstream press (i.e. not Murdock’s tabloids, but papers of record) that talk about the “double-dip” recession, the second one being more severe than the first one. From Time/Newsweek, to the Economist, New Yorker, to dailies such as NY Times, Times (of London) and others, they present quite strong cases why this may happen soon.
I’m don’t know if it will or if it won’t, but I do know that if one single company ends up left standing after all the smoke clears, it will be Apple. And in all likelihood, its treasure chest will be at least as big as it is today.
You actually think Time/Newsweek are legitimate press but the Wall Street Journal (a Murdock paper) is not? And the New Yorker?! Puh-leeze!
I don’t think anyone will compare Time to Murdock’s tabloids. Or Newsweek.
As for the WSJ, that one certainly belongs in the same group of legitimate media (despite being in Murdock’s stable, if not for that long yet). They also seem to be anticipating the next recession.
In general, I think Obama is in way over his head and harbors far too many pie-in-the-sky ideas.
I do not like his transparent attempts at enticing class warfare, but he has precious little of merit upon which to campaign.
I’m voting for Anybody But Obama in 2012. Electing him was a big mistake.
I’m not an American and generally tend to not care too much about American politics, but it was impossible to avoid being inundated with the news from America over the past weeks. And to all of us outsiders, it was pretty clear that the President kept trying to compromise with his political opponents, while those opponents kept refusing to compromise. To anyone observing from outside, it was incomprehensible how could he give up support for things of extreme importance, and even more difficult to understand what was the thinking behind the insistence on cutting pretty much every single life-sustaining initiative, while every single major lobbying force was getting almost tax-free ride.
For all of us outsiders, it is practically impossible to understand how can a humane society exist that allows massive corporations to accumulate extraordinary, record amounts of profits, at exactly the same time when vast majority of country cannot find jobs and sustain basic life. Something simply does NOT seem right here.
I agree.
Though I am a staunch conservative in most respects, I’m also not a zealot, and can’t stand the partisan crap. From my point of view, the only people who attempted a compromise were Obama and Boehner. Boehner could not convince his party to compromise, and that was that. Now, the Dems act like they were screaming for compromise, blaming the Tea Party for everything, when in reality they were just as appalled by Obama’s compromise plan (raise taxes in exchange for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid reform), albeit for different reasons.
The Washington culture is despicable.
Social Security and Medicare are not “entitlements” paid out of the appropriated budget- they are funded by their own taxes, are solvent and are owed money by the US taxpayer. Congresses and Presidents past- of both parties- have raided Social Security and Medicare receipts to hide massive deficits. Dubya is the most egregious example.
Cutting benefits to citizens who have already paid to fund them would be a theft on the order of 2 Trillion $. Social Security is funded currently to 2039 @ 100% of current payout and 80% after with no change in rates of taxation. Indexing the amount of income subject to taxes would fund it into perpetuity @100%.
Betcha neither Faux Newz or CNBC told you Teabaggers that.
Well thanks for trying to be civil
You’ve just shown why politics in this country don’t work. I made no ideological stand, made no insults, yet you come back and insult me simply because you are on the other side of the aisle. That’s despicable.
As for your arguments: thanks for the SS facts. Here’s another: there are three taxpayers for every beneficiary, there used to be 20+. Now how about Medicare, which goes into the red just 6 years from now? Or Medicaid, which isn’t much farther behind? How about that in 2047, those three programs alone, at current rates, would consume ever penny of tax income in the US?
http://news.yahoo.com/debt-deal-set-pass-were-costs-045917154.html
If you don’t think these programs need to be reformed, then your being willfully ignorant of the math.
As an aside, I never wanted to fund SS or Medicare, so couldn’t you say I was “robbed” every time I got a paycheck? I go without some things I would like to have because I don’t want to be dependent on my government for income when I retire. I work hard and endure sacrifice to provide for myself. Why should I pay to reward others who didn’t? It’s like the story of the ant and the grasshopper we all hear as children.
Please show where in that guy’s post he insulted you? I read the whole thing and don’t see it. And there is no edit button so he couldnt have changed it.
Maybe he said teabagger, but i dont see anywhere in your original post you claimed to be any such member. So that would have been silly.
“Betcha neither Faux Newz or CNBC told you Teabaggers that.”
That was easy.
Well said, Predrag and MrMcLarge, and m159 below. What is inescapable through all the absurd politicking in Washington is that this country has been overspending its allowance for DECADES and now the credit-card debt has come due. Americans seem to believe (are we REALLY that dumb?)
that trimming a few expenses will let us
escape the trauma without reinstating and raising taxes. Who wants to pay higher taxes? Who wants to pay the multi-trillion-dollar costs of two unfunded wars? We have spent and spent and spent, and blame can be placed on both parties. And the idiots on both sides of the aisle who could not reach agreements on new taxes and spending reform probably still don’t understand the consequences of their actions. The net value of millions of Americans is taking a
hard hit in the stock market. Far, far more than the impact of tax increases to stem the tide of red ink. Had Congress reached a tax-and-spending-cuts deal weeks ago, Wall Street would have grumbled — and the Dow would have continued its climb. Now we have this, the handiwork of morons Left and Right.
Without a restoration of former taxes on the wealthy, debt reduction is not possible. Republicans eventually must compromise on that issue. The argument that it is necessary to let the rich get a pass because it helps the economy was disproven in one direction by the Clinton economy, and the other direction by GW Bush’s.
That’s a pretty simplistic view to take considering that Clinton’s economy also ended in recession.
As long as we’re throwing stuff out there haphazardly, I could argue that it does work given that we saw 5%+ economic growth during the Reagan years. He did it right. Republicans today have misconstrued and twisted Reagan’s economic policies.
Actually Reagan’s growth was debt-funded stimulus, in an upside down anti-Keynesianism. Debt funded stimulus can creates bubbles. George W’s budgets outdid even Reagan’s, both of whom posted record deficits. Obama foolishly thinks he can fix a problem caused by the bubble of debt-funded stimulus with more debt-funded stimulus.
Sometimes I feel like every president since Eisenhower has been worse than the one before.
Reagan’s growth was only partly debt-funded. It was initially credit-squeezed as the Feds under Volker had to bring Carter era inflation under control. I’m old enough to recall the “stag-flation” of 10% unemployment, 13% inflation and 14% mortgages. Reagan also ended the oil shortages by abandoning the ridiculous “old oil/new oil” control regimen administered by the Carter-created DOE. Finally, Reagan put forward the last real tax reform in 1986, eliminating many loopholes and encouraging business to make decisions less distorted by tax considerations.
Good points, Raymond. But Reagan also massively increased defense spending. And I seem to recall a great crash of 1987 followed by S&L bailouts, etc. Reagan did some good stuff, but he also unfortunately mixed in some not so good.
I would be glad to take Reagan or George H. W. Bush back in the White House. But the “W” was an “L” in my book.
Even Conservatives were not enamoured of GW
@j.eric
Most true conservatives I know (read: not just social conservatives), really don’t like W. that much, myself included. I like George W. Bush the person, and I agree with many of his non-fiscal decisions, but he spent money like a drunken sailor, and the economy should always come first. Once the fiscal house is in order, then, and only then, can other issues be tackled, otherwise you’re just building a house of cards.
The problem we seem to have is that we point at someone on the other side of the aisle and say “see, they did it, so I should be able to do it too or you’re being hypocritical.” Putting aside that nearly all politicians are hypocrites, just because fiscal conservatives (read: Tea Party) were wrong for not calling out W, doesn’t mean that they’re wrong now. I hate this “logic” more than anything else in politics.
m159,
Finding a sugar daddy to unfairly tax and mooch off like Anna Nicole Smith, does not fix the fact that you’re a shallow mooching whore draining all the resources and crying every time until daddy buys you something.
Plus if one group is taxed at an unequal rate, then it’s unfair and biased. If the wealthy pay more taxes, then poor people’s votes should only count 1/4, middle class only should get 1/2… but of course… this doesn’t work and leads to all sort of abuses, inequity, tyranny, financial problems… wait a second… it already has!
You probably need to read up on your Federalist Papers to a least bring your grasp on taxation and representation up to 1779 standards. I’m not calling you dumb today, I’m calling you dumb 200 years ago, which by today’s standard leaves you somewhere between Paris Hilton’s pubic shavings and Will Farrell’s dandruff on the IQ chart.
BTW, if you self-identify as ‘progressive’ or ‘liberal’ – its about time you bought a dictionary and learn what these terms mean, instead of joining cults based entirely off bullshit you see on TV. Stupids.
to all of us outsiders, it was pretty clear that the President kept trying to compromise with his political opponents
Then your media has done you a tremendous disservice. What happened is that once again, both wings of the Ruling Party colluded to vastly increase the level of our national debt.
-jcr
America does not need any enemies. It is doing a wonderful job fighting with itself. The republicans just want the situation to get worse and worse….because all they want is to get re-elected. The worse it gets the better their chances. So they will continue to do this regardless of the long term consequences to the electorate….whom by the way is are so easily manipulated. The reason why they are so easily manipulated is because they have such a weak media who itself only cares about it own profits and ratings. So unfortunately it is the US media that is doing you a dis-service not the external media. Sad, but true.
We could fix a lot of problems in Washington if we forced term limits upon Congress. One term. That’s it. None of this career politician nonsense.
Then they’d have no reason not to make the right judgements since they’d have no reason to worry about reelection.
Politicians are a dirty lot. They take money from special interests group – even from hostile regime, and ignore the interest of the people. They can do this because lobbying and corruption are legalized in the US. What the people need to do now is to mark out all such politicians and show them the door during the 2012 election.
Excellent point.
Well here’s something we can agree on macromancer. I’m all for this, as are most Tea Party people. The only thing I would add is that I’d extend the House term to 4 years instead of the current 2.
Do many liberals support term limits? I honestly thought that was mostly a Tea Party ideal. I have seen a few Dems support it, and I actually voted for one in the last election for that very reason, but I haven’t seen anything big like with the Tea Party.
(macromancer, I am calling you liberal based on many of your past comments, I apologize if you do not wish to be addressed that way, please correct me if you so desire)
Here’s some context for “your media”:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_08/a_pox_on_one_house031365.php
Where you are wrong PreDrag is that America spoke in 2008 and based upon that Obama shoved down the throats of Americans a nearly one trillion dollar stimulus package that was nothing more than a slush fund for keeping state workers paid and their pensions solid where as the money was to go to shovel ready jobs. When the other side complained, Obama said I WON! Turns out even Obama admitted that there wasn’t that many shovel ready jobs, the money dried up and states no longer have the money for the state workers and their outrageous pension plans. The Piper is calling! Long story short, election of 2010 was a rebuke of the Obama way and there was no compromise on the debt deal because, and to borrow a phrase from Obama, The other side WON!
“America spoke in 2008”. Right. A voter turnout of a little over 40% nationwide. So it takes 21% to win the election.
“there was no compromise on the debt deal because” the Tea Partiers are behaving “like cynical, spoiled children” (The Economist) putting ideology over the country’s welfare.
And that stimulus package may actually turn a profit when GM and Chrysler finish repurchasing shares.
“So go peddle crazy somewhere else.”
I don’t have a calculator and/or the inclination to do the long division. Somebody?
There are approximately 4,300,000 Americans earning in excess of $200,000.00/year. The deficit is approximately $14,000,000,000,000.00 14 trillion divided by 4,300,00 equals?
Just remembered my iPod (calculator).
14,000,000,000,000 divided by 4,300,000=$3,255,813.95 Now, if you could just get them to make a one-time tax payment, you’d be out of debt. Of course, not all of the 4,300,000 people have that kind of money to contribute.
Anytime you simply choose to “vote against” someone, you are risking a lot. I would advise putting a little more thought into the situation once the ballot gets solidified.
Sound advice. I shiver whenever I hear someone say they voted for “all the D’s” or “all the R’s”. Unfortunately, I saw more than one of both in the last election.
I absolutely agree. I would prefer anyone who is a successful business man and not a lawyer. Herm Cain or Romney maybe
Just keep buying and dollar-cost the best deal on the street. I bought 5 shares at 355.35 just a few weeks ago, so I’m still up. If it drops to 320 I’m happy because I buy ’em cheaper. AAPL will be fine; this is called a buying opportunity.
Exxon Mobile is falling faster than Apple. Apple is only $15 billion away from having the largest market cap.
Make that $13 billion. Although many here have seen this coming some time in not-so-distant future, it may actually come sooner than expected. And it will be a surreal moment (to quote Steve, after passing MSFT market cap).
You won’t fix your economy by taxing the little people and letting the big fish off the hook.
A progressive tax system should be put in place where the more you earn, the more you pay.
Trickle down theory has been long discredited as being a complete load of bollocks. The rich don’t employ more people if they get to pay minimal tax, they just fritter it away on crap like luxury boats and expensive jewellery.
Greece is a case in point that shows what happens when you have out of control spending and an unwillingness to make people pay tax, and a people who are unwilling to pay tax. The Roman empire shows what happens when this goes on for too long.
Oh, and while you’re at it, decapitate your military budget.
@stuart
Rofl. You might want to actually take time to find something like facts. Grease does have a spending Problem, but there biggest problem is big government. When too many people in a country work for the government, the government must borrow money to survive as there is no a tax base to pull new revenue from. Greece ownes many of its basic needs companies like for electricity. Taxes pay for the electric company to operate, then the electricity is sold to the public. Most, not all of these state run companies do not make a profit which means more taxes are needed to sustain the company and its employees. The employees pay taxes, but it is not new money, rather a return of taxes back to the government who took the taxes from profit company employees. On top of that, 25 percent of the Greek GDP tax base is gone due to small companies not paying any tax on their incomes leaving only a few more wealthy companies to pay the vast amount of true revenue for the govt. Take the 1 in 4 people who work for the goverent services areas and you have another 25 percent of the population not paying tax into the system. The way Greece’s socialist government wants to get themselves out of debt is to cut spending and raise taxes. Who’s taxes can they raise? The 25% who don’t record their sales? The 25% who recycle taxes given to them back? The people who work for the money loosing government companies? The only people actually paying the taxes that sustain the greek government are the “rich” which are becoming less so.
Like Greece the USA is similar. The “rich” pay the vast amount of the taxes which payed for the “poor’s” benefits. If taxes are to be raised, the USA needs to devise a better tax strategy where the tax base is spread out more and everyones taxes go up. Cut All government budgets, and not the crappy “we’re cutting 25% of our proposed
increase” ideas the politians seem to think we love.
The larger the government becomes, the smaller the actual tax base becomes. Increase the number of small businesses, like the way Apple started, and more people will become employed, pay actual tax, and our debt is able to be paid off or more easily sustained. Raising taxes on the rich only goes a little way. The real revenue for the government comes from getting people off the government salary and into business for themselves.
Thank you, Richie!!!!!
How many will read that and not let it sink in?
The same one’s who believe Obama can still save the economy, regardless of reality.
Capitalism is based on the idea that the economy can regulate it’s self based on what sells or does not sell, by what succeeds or does not succeed. By providing bailouts to companies that fail the US government has prevented our capitalist system from correcting itself. By trying to shore up our economy we have made the problems bigger, allowed small problems to persist longer than they should have. In order for the system to self correct portions of it have to fail. This is the beginning. It will get worse before it gets better.
Sold Apple when it topped $400 recently and moved it to Gold & Silver ETFs which happen to be up from the positions I bought them. When Apple settles out, I will buy back in more than the few shares I held on to.
As to the induced fiscal crisis, it was unnecessary and will amount to a long term tax increase on every American. It will significantly raise the cost of borrowing to state and local governments- not just the US. The extra interest cost will precipitate tax increases. All thanks to the overly inbred, misled tools of Murdoch, Koch, Rove, Norquist and Armey.
“I’m not an American”
No, really? Seriously?
Spoken like a true AMERICAN. Dimwit!
The Pentagon is not your mommy. The Pentagon is not a panacea. The Pentagon is a necessary evil. Keep it as small as possible.
I’m conservative. I also think the Defense budget is too big. But don’t act like nothing good ever came out of the Pentagon. To name a few:
GPS
Synthetic rubber
Jet Engine
Nuclear Power (obviously has serious potential issues, but is also an absurdly efficient power source)
The Internet
Jet Engine? I don’t think so. Arguably it was the Nazi war machine that got there first, though as a patriotic Brit, I’d like to point out that first wirkable patents were filed by Frank Whittle and the Royal Aeronautical Establishment, Farnborough.
The Pentagon did of course, give haven to Nazi war scientists to help the US catch up. So credit where credit’s due… 😉
I do praise the US military though everytime my iPhone (a phone!) knows where it is.
@stuart
You crack me up. Excuse me but when the top 1% of US earners pay 38% of taxes, the top 5% pay 58%, the top 10% pay 70% and the bottom 50% (i.e. less that $33,000 a year) pay less than 3 percent, just how much more “PROGRESSIVE” do you think it should be? Morons and simpletons, I swear.
Very common misleading statement. Income tax is NOT the only tax paid by those families in the lower brackets. They absolutely pay taxes: payroll tax, sales tax, state tax, property tax, local/state fees, etc. all contribute to an overall tax rate which can easily top the effective tax rate for high income families. Don’t believe me: Warren Buffet has famously said his secretary pays taxes at a higher percentage than he does on multimillion dollar income.
And everyone, BTW, is paying historically low rates. Low rates that have consequences:
From the S&P release:
Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act.
According to a recent study, the richest 1% of Americans control 42.7% of the total financial wealth in the country. That’s income, stocks, bond, real estate, etc. The top 10% control 83% of the wealth, which leaves 17% for the rest of us peasants to distribute among ourselves. We need to face facts. The USA is owned by the top 10% of our citizens (rulers?). We just work for them and they can afford to buy as many politicians as they need to keep the status quo. The “Progressive Tax” is a joke. We must demand more from those benefitting the most from this country.
cf: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
looks like the tea party and republicans got what they wanted. HOORAY!!!!! BOEHNER RULEZZZ!!!!!
I kinda think boehner will be doing viagra commercials to pay his mortgage sometime after the loses the next election.
Apple’s future is strong with or without Jobs. It was already proven with jobs first absence. Apple’s stock drop is non-sence given the fact that Apple has more money in the bank then the U.S. Government! Apple has been increasing it’s business thru out the economy down turn with record after record profits and still getting stronger.
maybe we could start with cutting programs for shrimp running on treadmills and 4 different agencies to test Ketchup viscosity, no?
It’s sure amazing that a company with so much reserve cash and pulling in so much revenue and profits can have its share price collapse in just a week or two. $400 one week, $350 the next. It’s almost like all consumers that bought Apple products returned them and got their money back. All that money just went up in smoke. It’s even harder to believe that Amazon stood up to the onslaught better than Apple did. What makes Amazon so much stronger than Apple? A braver investor base?
“Where you are wrong PreDrag is that America spoke in 2008 and based upon that Obama shoved down the throats of Americans a nearly one trillion dollar stimulus package….”.
Let me stop you right there…….
Do you mean the trillion dollar package that would NOT have have been required had BUSH not squandered the SURPLUS left by Clinton and if BUSH had not got himself entangled in illegal wars in the Middle East. I remember distinctly the day war with Iraq was announced. How the pro BUSH media was egging him on and you could just sense that they were rubbing their hands as if they were going to become richer now that they could get to Iraqi oil. Little did they know that TEN years later they would still be dying there. Oh, by the way, BUSH said at the time the war would only be a couple of weeks, a month at the most. Huh! Sure! Meanwhile ten plus years later…..
Taxing the rich will not solve this problem. Lets say we go ahead and jack up the rich tax base from 35% to 50%, 1st this would not begin to cover the deficit spending going on right now. 2nd this admin. shows no signs of doing anything to reduce our debt and any possible extra revenue would be used to hand out more entitlements. The government takes in 2.2T a year, yet it is spending 3.8T per year and their telling us they can’t reduce their spending? What? Government spending ten years ago was 100 billion under the current tax revenue, in the last 3 years we’ve had Trillion dollar deficits, this is unsustainable no matter how much you tax the rich. If you look at Obama’s tax filing for last year he could have chosen not to take the Bush tax cuts since he qualifies as the rich and he could have easily paid $167,000 more in tax, but he didn’t, why? If the liberals, progressives & dems who earn more than $250k/year want to tax the rich more ok fine, then set the example and pony up by paying more, no is stopping them from doing so. There is plenty of blame to go around for economic problem, but as a example a family who makes 100k/year cannot continually spend $300k/year, at some point no one will keep lending them any money and they will be forced to reduce their spending.
With the sell off that took place last week and today, APPL filled the gap and then some. I hope everyone had their stops in. With another 7 to 10 percent downside left in the INDU, a nice buying opportunity is setting up. I’m looking to pull the trigger to reestablish my long position in APPL when the INDU retraces 50%.
Obviously meant AAPL. My typing sucks!
Many thanks to The Downgrade President!
/s
As a former Obama voter, I am deeply ashamed and wish to apologize to my fellow citizens. BTW, anyone who actually paid attention during the last few weeks knows that Obama wasn’t willing to compromise JACK. It was pure spin. The “reforms” he was willing to make to entitlement programs were negligible while the higher taxes were huge. After all that, they would have had to come back again for another “compromise” with even more enormous tax increases. This independent voter has seen enough.
I got just one word for you……
You are a fckng lying repube pretending to be an Obama voter and we ALL know what you are. Did you really think you could fool us. Using the word JACK as anything other than a NAME……total giveaway.
Vote the tea baggers out and stocks will go up. Tea baggers want to cut everything.
how is this Obama’s fault? The republicans got “98% of what they wanted” with this debt deal. Those were Boehner’s own words. This debt deal caused the downgrade. So why aren’t we blaming the republicans for THEIR debt deal.
It’s Obama’s fault for caving to the Tea Party extortion: I get my way or I’ll ruin the country!
BS. Plain and simple.
No argument. No debating.
The Conservatives were outmaneuvered by the left and lost the debt battle.
If you don’t understand that, then tough shit, you don’t understand what the argument was over.
98% my ass.
Taxes? They will be raised.
Revenue? It won’t be, because taxes CANNOT be raised enough to pay for the Left’s vote buying with a sinking economy. Get over it.
The problem is leadership, and by that I mean a lack of it.
I think it is bad form to degrade a President, especially a sitting one
but he has turned out to be the biggest, whiniest pussy I could imagine.
(and I’m being easy on him)
The Democrats got what they wanted, and that was a crisis that ‘didn’t go to waste’, created by not having a budget in 2 years.
Take it away, Rick….
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/08/08/rick_santelli_if_not_for_tea_party_us_would_be_rated_bbb.html
Argue with reality. I dare you…..
you can’t even understand why bandwidth is chuckle.
and here’s the real problem.. dingbats like you who think this is a “party” problem and point fingers.
reality?
That’s cut spending AND increase REVENUE.
Instead, our country is paralyzed but dingleberries such as yourself who two the party line instead of actually siding with the country as a whole and facing reality.
Fuck you and your smart ass attitude.
For every dollar you raise in revenue, they will double spending.
Unless there is a Constitutional Amendment to reign in any future Congress, why should I give them more money when they have proven repeatedly that they will not act responsible with it?
They NEVER cut spending, just the rate of growth and call it a decrease.
If I thought they would actually take a tax hike and spend it to pay down the debt, I wouldn’t have a problem with a 5% across the board tax hike for X number of years, and at that point have it lowered once the debt is controlled.
And try proofreading, Braniac who knows all about bandwidth and nothing about hogs nor business.
yea- this new lion spellcheck is kind of a pwn3r.. lol.
well- why not close tax loopholes? Maybe go so far as to repeal the bush era tax breaks?
AND cut spending?
Say it with me- let’s do both. Because we can’t do one without the other and accomplish anything whatsoever. If we don’t increase revenue and cut spending- we won’t get anywhere. You can’t just cut spending. You can’t just increase revenue.
And yes- despite my spellcheck errors- you still have no idea wtf bandwidth is. And for you to get your info form rick santelli of all people… haha.. btw- he’s not highly regarded by wall street, and he tries to fit in with the real traders all day. he’s a sad sack man. and it’s no wonder he appeals to you.
Spellcheck is only good if you can read.
I don’t watch Santelli, but enough trying to explain something to a drunk child.
What part of ‘Congress does’t have to do what the previous Congress promised’ do you not understand? They can promise us the Moon and pay for it too and change it all in two years, just like ObamaCare, which they are now figuring out (actually they knew, they are just now admitting) is a money sucking pit that anybody with any sense knew.
So to reiterate, no tax hikes without guarantees, hog boy.
All of a sudden I am drunk? Does that approach and belief make you feel better? I guess for someone who lives in fantasy land- why not keep making shit up?
Are you that dumb? You’ll sit there and wait for some kind of constitutional amendment to “reign in any future congress” before we can dig our way out of a hole? WTF does that even mean? IT sounds like you are drunk.. I may have had a spellcheck error or two- but you have cognitive thinking issues.
Fuck it- let it all collapse and burn. I don;t have kids to fend for. You just may reap what you sow- and if I were a parent- I wouldn’t be holding out for a collapse based on some unrealistic bullshit.
But- let rick santelli tell you how to think. It will be comforting when it you find he never knows what he’s talking about and has been wrong throughout the entire financial collapse of 08.
You sound like a moron, but hey- I’m happy to keep you talking 😀
signed,
young smart ass whipper snapper who knows you need spending cuts as well as income to do real accounting.
Obviously you either have a reading comprehension problem
or learned your debating skill from valley girls.
And if you don’t even understand what a balanced budget amendment is, I wouldn’t be calling others dumb.
You can pull your fingers out of your ears and quit yelling ‘lalalalala’ now, I’m through.
btw- rick santelli is a fucking joke. if you are getting your info from him you are absolutely a putz patsy. but hey- it amuses the hell out of me that you get your thoughts fed to you by that reject… haha. you should just get off your computer and save yourself some unrealized humiliation.
I don’t generally watch CNBC at all, but I can agree with someone who sees how screwed up things are.
BTW, have a few drinks tonight? And do you argue with your adult friends like they are in junior high, too?
I’m glad you are finally through.
Your temper tantrums were quite embarrassing.
You have no content to say- just yelling. lol
I bump uglies form time to time with valley girls- but it doesn’t go further than that 😉
The only thing embarrassing here, besides your proofreading, is your reading comprehension.
But then, if you have no points to make, claim no one else does either. I’m sure it woks wonders in gym class
The US are not great anymore. Get used to it, tea baggers : the world is ready to move forward without you.
you should hope america picks itself up- the Canadian will only ever be beneath the US economy… sorry- but unless you hosers actually innovate outside of mountain bikes the US will just drag you down with us.
shinolashow
Just like all of the other political dust ups on this site; nothing was resolved. But since you used the word ‘hosers’, I am off to watch some SCTV reruns (DVD).
Enjoy your evening, all.
If all you guys are so smart, why are you not running
for Congress and try to fix the government’s faults?
Just saying. 🙂