Investments are ALWAYS Good.
Buffett/Graham used to say..."A rising tide floats all boats."
A rising stock market, when it's public HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. That means, much of the REAL MONEY has been made. When it's public, sure, you can make 10, 20, 30%, but there are WISE investors already in, finding deals, making upwards of 100%! THAT is investing. It isn't about "hearing" what's good or bad...it's about discovering for yourself what seems valuable.
In mutual funds, index funds, ETF's, and anything that is actively/passively managed, you'll ride the coaster, to one degree or another of how the market does. That, however, does not mean some stocks are not flying high, you just don't own them, or don't know of them.
When I hear "is the market good now", I hear...
-someone trying to make a buck now.
-someone now committed to a long-term plan of saving/investing.
-someone who isn't aware that opportunity ALWAYS exists.
In investing with mutual funds, while the US large cap growth/value sector might be underperforming historical averages, small caps, mid caps, and international MIGHT be. THAT is diversification. In mutual fund investing, if you're not actively persuing the market, then go truly diversified. When the market tanked off in 00, 01, and 02, bonds flew well. They propped up many falling portfolios with 5, 7, and even 15% returns. Diversification DOES work with the market, especially if it's your "SAFE" retirement plan.
I'd say the same applies to Real Estate, because it's NOT about the property, IT's ALL about the OWNERSHIP. Location matters, but you have to find WILLING sellers/buyers to make deals. You might find perfect locations, but no one is selling. Markets do impact to 1 degree or another, the amount of availability on either side. For instance, the glut of interest only mortages combined with the TRUE floundering economy, will result in increased foreclosures, leading the proactive investors to find numerous deals.
I went through the same thing with stock investing. For years, I studied stocks, read, even took numerous courses in college. I could evaluate, talk the lingo, and even build great plans, but I never actually put to work my own information. Useless. Utterly useless. However, I finally took action, made deposits, made some stock plays, and never looked back. It's fun. You learn and grow. JUST JUMP IN, both feet.
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All that economics touted on the news are near 100% WRONG. They're used to keep consumers OVERBUYING, to induce market cycles, and manipulate money. Back when we were about to go off the Gold Standard, FDR told all his cronies that Gold would be re-priced from $20 per ounce, to $35 per ounce, or the effective holdings would be multipled by 1.5. This happened behind the scenes, without the general public knowing. All holders of paper money lost out, while all holders of gold WON.
Moreover, the jobs being CREATED aren't necessarily WEALTH creation jobs. Not that many of us want to be saddled to the "man" for life, BUT, it's useful to know what statistics are true and what are false. Jobs being created are minimum wage, or ones CLOSE to min. wage, such as restaurantes, admin, and low wage employees. Manufacturing goes over seas, mostly to China and India, along with much of our tele-centers. A global economy lowers the effective wages of the wealthy countries TRANSFERRING wealth to the poorer nations, sort of. The wealth really flows up, to shareholders and owners, because manufacturers in the new country aren't going to pay the market rate of the world. Instead, they pay as minimal as they can, like 3cents per hour in most of these countries. And while cost of living is lower in other countries, 3cents/hour isn't enough to live on, or build any future value. It's dubious as to whether this helps or hurts the country.
MOST economics professors, teachers, and doctors will tell you the CPI (inflation) basic DISCOUNTS the major inflationary devices. These include, housing, fuels, and healthcare. Housing has risen, and with rising home values, taxes rise, as does the governments imposition of NEW taxes to pay for this war, and future obligations of social security/medicare. As far as fuel goes, that isn't likely to come down as long as we use the long-forgotten model of FOSSIL fuels being LIMITED and FINITE. They're not. And they're proving this to be true. I've met with many elderly and soon-to-be retirees and their biggest worries are...
-Rising costs of gas.
-Rising costs of Prescription drugs.
-Rising costs of healthcare and nursing homes.
-Rising costs of home price and retirement homes.
Clothes don't necessarily RISE in price, because you can go to wal-mart, HOWEVER, Jeans are ON AVERAGE more than they were years ago. So the MAJOR components to life have risen at near exponential rates. Whereas non-basic items have risen by the CPI standard. Yeah, computers are cheaper, but given the amount of viruses, spyware, storage, and performance required by web pages, the price hasn't been a DRAMATIC drop. You get MORE for $1000, and computers aren't near the 2000, nor are the laptops that HIGH, but technological change has only imposed GREATER demands for increased performance and capability.
Lastly, inflation is the hidden tax. Most citizens already give up 10-15% of their income at the minimum, and more likely the average is 20%, leaving the average wages of $50,000 with $40,000 of disposable income. If you spent every dollar, your sales tax, real estate taxes, car taxes, gas taxes, alcohol taxes, tobacco taxes, capital gains taxes, and even taxes on taxes incurred during the process of producing whatever you buy, you can see that taxes themselves fleece the population of nearly 50% of what they make AND more!!!
If you're fine with that, FINE, but I'm not, and my dollars are the last voting right we have.
Inflation is a manipulation of money depending on what the Fed wants to do, and normally that is dependent on whatever their agenda is.
Is it war?
Is it savings?
Tax cutting?
Is it social programs?
Is it spending?
And dollars ARE NOT a store of value. Investments exists AS A STORE of value, to produce income, or to stay constant throughout your life. Gold is the first store. Real estate, the second, though more cumbersome. Stocks can be, if you know what you're doing, as can other currencies, too. However, people NEED to be enlightened to the fleecing they incur EVERYDAY, and stop watching American Idol in the process. GET OUT, GET ACTIVE, and remember the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights was written to PROTECT people from Government, BOTTOM LINE, and at NO point in history should we forget. At not point should we feel like they're a BENEVOLENT father. In fact, they're a conniving, jealous mother, that will manipulate you into getting what they want.
That's the bottom line.
A-Unit
