The #1 Threat to America
February 8, 2008 4:00pm by Barry Ritholtz
This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client. References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. The Compound Media, Inc., an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers Please see disclosures here: https://ritholtzwealth.com/blog-disclosures/
What's been said:
Discussions found on the web:Posted Under
Previous Post
Quote of the Day: Warren Buffett
Could this possibly be a Stephen Colbert gag T-shirt?
Come quickly, dear Bear Lord, come quickly! lol
Something that’s very scary to moi is the rationing of farm credit.
If the banks make me use my OWN money to buy baby beef critters, maybe I don’t buy as many. If MCD bawls about cheese prices, wait til they are paying $4 pound for hamburger…
Pork bellies almost a buck. Wheat up the limit days on end. God forbid if people notice inflation and begin to hoard…
I remember the 150 pounds of sugar in my moms larder as the price went from a nickle to 60 cents a pound back in the bad old 70’s.
Inflation always begins with the monitization of some ‘event’ which quickly flows through commodities. Cost push then demand pull and back again.
Gotta quite chewing the coffee beans.
Something that’s very scary to moi is the rationing of farm credit.
If the banks make me use my OWN money to buy baby beef critters, maybe I don’t buy as many. If MCD bawls about cheese prices, wait til they are paying $4 pound for hamburger…
Pork bellies almost a buck. Wheat up the limit days on end. God forbid if people notice inflation and begin to hoard…
I remember the 150 pounds of sugar in my moms larder as the price went from a nickle to 60 cents a pound back in the bad old 70’s.
Inflation always begins with the monitization of some ‘event’ which quickly flows through commodities. Cost push then demand pull and back again.
Gotta quite chewing the coffee beans.
The #1 threat to America is: America Itself
#1 threat to America, or at least a solid contender is…perhaps, maybe, possibly $60 TRILLION dollars in unfunded debt held by the Federal Government….Somebody better start asking where we are going to get the funds as they are now starting to come due…
Where did you get that T shirt from? Kudlow, the king of crazy town!!!!
Greed is America’s #1 threat, hands down!! That would go better with a bull mentality.
as mentioned previously, this is direct product of The Colbert Report
Manbearpig.
(er, link!)
Manbearpig.
The number one threat to America is the idiots who inhabit it.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the availability of a free and public education for all, since at least 1964.
Sigh, I wuz there.
In keeping with the theme…
http://tinyurl.com/38n5r9
Top 9 Reasons A Grizzly Bear Would Make A Great Republican Presidential Candidate
With Governor Mitt Romney now out of the presidential race, conservative Republicans are left with very limited (some would say “no”) options on who to vote for that best represents their belief system.
With no traditional choices remaining, we have decided to think outside of the box, and so we present:
Top 9 Reasons A Grizzly Bear Would Make A Great Republican Presidential Candidate
9. Although vehemently anti-gun by instinct, they still support the right of the American people to carry firearms.
8. Strong name recognition in California.
7. (tie) Extremely territorial by nature, would vigorously defend our borders against illegal aliens, drug runners, and elk.
7. (tie) With average weights reaching around 1,000 pounds, highly unlikely to enact freedom-limiting fast food ban.
6. Annual hibernation likely to induce fond memories in conservatives of the later Reagan years.
5. (tie) Would never utter such condescending and dishonest statements as “my distinguished opponent.”
5. (tie) Campaign slogan “Speak Softly And Carry Gigantic, Razor-Sharp Claws” should play well in the South and Midwest.
4. In the right lighting, just may mistake Nancy Pelosi for a frightened caribou.
3. Would have no qualms about defecating on Helen Thomas after being asked one of her inane, semi-lucid questions.
2. Really know how to handle those pain-in-the-ass hippy protesters who tie themselves to trees.
1. Fully prepared to use any technique necessary to gain vital information from captured terrorists including waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and eating them alive.
VERY FUNNY, Rockitz.
May I add one??? Sleeps all winter and goes fishin the rest of the year.
Images of Bears are everywhere. Think about that…
Kudlow should call it the tinkerbell economy because it runs on optimism and hope instead of fundamentals.
If the people in charge started being honest the whole thing would collapse.
I wouldn’t be keeping too much sugar around. Apparently that stuff explodes.
Now let us not retreat into a cave but let us explore the fornication of bearhood. Is it so tragic that a multitude, dare I say preponderunce, of individuals should sell their overpriced equity vehicles.
They will certainly be back once the formerly discussed vehichles become reasonably priced, some 20 or 40 % below the current pricipatice.
I stand ready to buy the S$P at 83.
Well said. *=)
Jonathan Livingston Seagull market analysis… if we all just *really, really believe* the S&P should reach new highs, then it will.
It’s impossible to respond to Luskin because he never specifies which permabears he’s referring to.
Assuming it’s someone like Roubini or Mish, well, they’ve been absolutely right about the progression of events. If anything, they’ve been conservative in their estimates of the problems.
It is obvious that it is from Colbert Report’s threatdown. Although when I went to see the show the # 1 threat was robot bears.
ross,
Can you please explain to me how economics makes paying a bank 5% – 10% in interest makes food cheaper than paying cash(and having to not charge more to pay back the money borrowed PLUS the interest charge on top of that) for said same food? I’m kinda lost here
I can see how it may make food cheaper by creating temporary abundance on the short term but what about the long term?
I wouldn’t be keeping too much sugar around. Apparently that stuff explodes.
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet Donna. Wait until you see the explosion made by the commodity sugar bubble that Uncle Ben is creating for us right now right before our very eyes
DavidB
Farming is a business not unlike many others. Gone are the days when you had family farms on a cash and carry basis.
If you cut off credit to a retailer for inventory finance, he won’t have anything to sell you. You may well be able to forgo a new winter coat but not bread and milk.
Farmers have hard assets in the form of the land, machinery, infrastructure. Many use bank credit for inventory ie seed feed fertilizer. A good farmer keeps a straight set of books. Some are risk takers some not.
My point was that when you restrict credit you must become smaller. When you become smaller you have less to offer and the price goes up. I didn’t create this financed based economy but I must deal with it.
As banks become more risk averse and I think we all know they will, it will impact the least credit worthy among us. Those represent the marginal bushel or bail. Prices are set at the margin.
I’m not trying to absolve stupid lending practices of banks, only pointing out that the Soverign Wealth Funds ain’t going to lend me money directly for my seed corn.
Threatening grizzlies? And all this time I thought it was greedy crooks dressed up in $2,000 suits selling scheisser in a box to rubes who were getting their money from the home ATM.
off topic:
help me understand, how buying a stock/share with all the talks of recession is going to be profitable.
let me take example of Apple, they have a p/e of around 25.
which means for every 100 dollar invested they earn a $4 per year.
now lets say USA goes into long recession (unemployment almost 7-8%) which means profit of most company will fall, which means stock price will shrink, unless people are still trying to outbid each other to own equities.
so is that true the people who are buying stocks right now are assuming:
1. USA will not go into long recession, profits will not fall but rise, and they will reap a huge 15-40% early bird gain, for being contrarion?
2. Their companies are special, they will earn more profits no matter what?
3. They will always find a buyer who is willing to pay more, irrepective of earnings.
4. They will be able to sell before it starts going down?
cinefoz, kk or any of the bulls please share your opinion, i am not trying to mock, just trying to fathom, what makes people risk capital for a small return in the current environment?
If I were younger, I’d hop on my chopper and me and Captain America would set off in search of America – but with age comes cynisism – because now I don’t think we would ever find it.
Camelot was purchased in a leveraged buyout deal, the round table knights transormed into a board of directors, the castle razed, and on the bare ground was constructed the Homeland, to protect the citizenry against all manner of threats – except those threats already inside the walls.
The best hedge is to short honesty and go long obfuscation.
Their companies are special, they will earn more profits no matter what?
The problem with good tech earnings is that most tech companies, even those extremely profitable ones, don’t share their profits with their shareholders. And that was when the economy was strong and the companies were making huge profits. When there is weakness and credit tightens, companies will have smaller profits and will want to hoard their cash, so they are even less able and willing to share profits with shareholders.
What good are company earnings if shareholders don’t benefit from that income? The only beneficiaries of strong profits at tech companies are company insiders (stock options, huge salaries, bonueses, great benefits) and capabale momentum players.
I won’t “invest” in companies until they learn how to respect shareholders and share profits with shareholders.
Ross,
What you farmers should have realized 100 years ago but apparently didn’t(funny, it only took me about 5 years of financial education to figure it out) is that if you willfully make yourselves dependent on bankers to finance a single link in the chain of your operations then it is not you that controls your production but the bankers.
It is the same as any other industry. The borrower is servant to the lender and there is no reason why farmers should still be beholden to bankers for their operations except for the fact that it is the ‘easy’ way of doing business…that is until the banker decides to buy up a bunch of ag stocks(now I am beginning to understand why they have been pumping them) and then restrict your ability to get credit. That sounds like a neat and profitable little game. Maybe you guys will learn this time around
Roubini was on Kudlow over a year ago screaming that the US was in a terrible recession. I don’t know he he can be considered right when his call is off by at least 12 months and I am sure that the severity of this recession (if we get one) won’t be as bad as he expected.
DavidB,
I don’t know where you got your 5 year financial education but if I were you, I’d ask for my money back.
Thanks for the philosophy but I have made a lot of money using the Banks money. Bankers are essential stupid. How else could I borrow a million bucks @6.75% fixed for 30 years and pay it back with devalued currency?
If you want a real education, get a copy of Oswald Spengler’s ‘The Decline Of The West’.
It took me 4 years to get through it (multiple re-readings) but you will wind up as a quieter more informed individual.
Gotta go move some hay
Cheers
Modified Second Amendment : Right to arm the bears.
We were due for a downturn. However, it’s interesting that the volatility, both upwards and downwards, started around the same time they repealed the uptick rule (July ’07).
>> The best hedge is to short honesty and go long obfuscation.
Munn, holy s***! I love this line. This might unseat my long-time favorite quote: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
>> Bankers are essential stupid. How else could I borrow a million bucks @6.75% fixed for 30 years and pay it back with devalued currency?
>> “Gotta go move some hay”
Ross, LOL!
Everyone’s been talking about it, now we’re seeing it:
(via Yahoo)
OPEC COULD DITCH DOLLARS FOR EUROS: CHIEF
OPEC could switch the pricing of oil from dollars into euros within a decade, secretary general Abdullah al-Badri told a weekly magazine.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could adopt the euro to combat the decline of the dollar, Badri told the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), published in London.
Ross,
If you have so much money then why are you crying that banks are curtailing your credit? Your argument isn’t consistent
Bankers are essential stupid. How else could I borrow a million bucks @6.75% fixed for 30 years and pay it back with devalued currency?
BWA! HA! HA!
Who do you think is printing out of thin air and devaluing that currency? You may be borrowing it but they are only printing it up for you to trade your labor for