I also refuse to participate in this "recession" depression . . . Ha Ha Ha !

DJIA breaks into the 7,000's, lost 500 points in one week.
I don't own stocks what does that have to do with me?

As we all know it's just an average of 30 stocks. But it a
barometer of the economy. As we head into the depression
everyone will participate in it, either directly or indirectly.

Bill Gates will lose billions, lay of workers, he will participate.
Your $200,000 home is now worth $125,000 you will participate.
Your family members that can't find jobs will participate.
We all are going to participate, don't feel like you are special
and it will pass you by.

No matter what party is in the White House they had nothing to
do with this depression. Events don't change trends.

Regards,
D.R.(Don)McArdle

Don,

By refusing to participate, I mean I'm not changing my lifestyle, buying decisions, etc, on what the nightly news reports as the latest impact.

Since I'm in my house for the long term, any market decline in housing doesn't affect me as a non-buyer, non-seller in real estate. I'm an owner and any loss in value would be like the "loss on paper" they report for Bill Gates, owners of Yahoo, WalMart, etc.

I'm self-employed, so I'm not worried about a pink slip in my next pay check or hearing my employer's name on the news as the economy exposes another corporate finance scandal.

When i cited the news anchors reporting about the "Worst economy in 50 years" I was focusing on the news media's manipulation of the situation and not which party benefited or was in power.

The same media gave us the flip-flop reporting on FL for Gore, OOPS, we mean FL for Bush, ERR Correction it's too close to call.

I'll wait to see the results, rather than accepting the pre-digested events as they choose to relate them.

Following like sheep to the slaughter is for people who can't use their own grey matter to make decisions on their own.

Like after any President gives their State of the Union speech, and before we hear the rebuttal, the talking heads on the boob tube tell us what the speech meant. I'm sure you don't need Dan Blather, Ted, Peter, or any of the others to tell you what the man just said 5 minutes before.

I respect a journalist who tells my his opinion or take on political speech or actions, but don't respect any who spin and massage the message to glean what they want from it and pass it on as unbiased reporting.

JMHO.

Dennis Bevers




And capitalistic life goes on, meeting the needs of businesses large and small!

Far too many investors focus on the "market value" of their holdings. I think it's one of the main reasons most stock market investors lose money.

No business focuses on its inventory's market value -- they buy, put a reasonable markup on it, and then sell when they can. They only address market value when they determine they want to buy or sell. And they restrain their buying and selling (and their fear and/or greed) with a plan. Age is another factor -- you don't want your inventory on hand too long.

Most stock market investors don't view their portfolio as a business. It's a shame; it's more profitable and less stressful that way.

Best,
Phil

Hi Dennis

>For the record, the company I represent as an independent agent,
>posted a 8.7% increase in sales from 2000 to 2001.

You have some good information to predict what the next 5 years
will be like in a depression in your field. Go to your company and
request the sales% from 1929 to 1933. This will be a good indication
of what to expect in 2002 to 2006. If you do please post it here, it should
be interesting

Ø $3000+ drop has no direct impact in my net worth.

I got out of the stock market when it was 10,000 plus. I saw this coming.
So this part of my net-worth is safe. But . . . .

Everyone should evaluate their net-worth every year on all their
income producing finances and possessions. Your possessions value
should be figured on not what you paid for it, but it's market value now.

That car I just bought cost $22,000. I drove it 5 miles to my house,
now it worth $18,000. My net -worth just decreased.

Now the real estate bubble, when it busts my $200,000 home value
will be around $125,000. My net-worth just dropped again.

Net-worth should be figured on today's values not what you paid for it.

>The same media gave us the flip-flop reporting on FL for Gore, OOPS,
>we mean FL for Bush, ERR Correction it's too close to call.

I agree one should analyze the new. When I was a kid we had a saying
"Don't believe everything you hear, and only half of what you see".

The news media caught hell on this one, but I don't put the blame on them.
Two out of three voters that was polled after they voted said they voted for
Gore, or they thought they did. Between the chads and a terrible looking
ballet the pollsters got, I voted for Gore, but the voting machine said
otherwise.

It was not really the news media fault, they were just reporting the news
they were getting. I think they shouldn't report about the election till
all the polls close in all 50 states.

>I'll wait to see the results, rather than accepting the pre-digested events as
>they choose to relate them.

>Following like sheep to the slaughter is for people who can't use their own grey matter to make
>decisions on their own.

This is the same way I fell when I visit forums. There is always the same
three people that post "this is spam" . It's like the forum board owner
and people that read the messages "can't use their own grey matter to make
decisions on their own".

It's like if their names are not there as a stamp of approval then we can't
figure out it spam. By the way they are regulars at fib forum.

Regards,
D.R.(Don)Mcardle

my net worth.

It doesn't measure how much I make, or spend. Those factors may come into its calculation... but the final number only measures my net worth.

> Everyone should evaluate their net-worth
> every year on all their
> income producing finances and possessions.

WHY should we do this every year?

I do this (figure my net worth) on a monthly basis to measure my financial progess towards my financial goals. For me, waiting until the end of the year to see how things are going doesn't allow me to adjust direction fast enough.

But most people do not really have financial goals... they just go to work to pay the bills until they retire and get the pension (usually paying off whatever debts they have with their lump sum when they retire). So why should they know their financial worth? And why every year?

> Your possessions value
> should be figured on not what you paid for
> it, but it's market value now.

Good point... and to figure "market value now" I figure what my possessions would sell for in a garage sale! Not insured value, or the price similar items are priced at in a second hand store. There may be a better method but I use the same method all the time so my figure are consistant. It also means I am under-mistic :o)

> The news media caught hell on this one, but
> I don't put the blame on them.
> Two out of three voters that was polled
> after they voted said they voted for
> Gore, or they thought they did.

Don, as per my other post... polls are meaningless unless we know WHO was polled - sex, demographics, political leaning, employment status, etc.

We all know we can find whatever answer we want when doing polls. And we can do five polls and get five different sets of results.

> It was not really the news media fault, they
> were just reporting the news
> they were getting. I think they shouldn't
> report about the election till
> all the polls close in all 50 states.

There is an alternative to this... make voting compulsory. Then it won't matter as much because everyone will be voting anyway.

Michael Ross


This could be what you are looking for...

Hi Michael

>So why should they know their financial worth?

Because when you get into big business deals they want to know
your net-worth.

>And why every year?

Because most people never do it at all.

You said you do it every month. That is a waste of time. If you make three
lines of people, one line of people that do it every month, that line would
be pretty short. The other line once a year, that line would be very long.
The third line for people that never make one out, that line would go from
coast to coast.

I been retired now for 9 years, and my retired income is in the top 10%
of retired peoples income. So I think I have made some good decisions in
my life. So once a year has worked just fine with me.

> Don, as per my other post... polls are meaningless unless we know WHO
>was polled - sex, demographics, political leaning, employment status, etc.

These exit polls are used in every election and they are right on the money.
All they want to know, who did you vote for. Nothing tricky about that question.

Nice talking with you Michael .

Regards.
D.R.(Don) McArdle

> Because when you get into big business deals
> they want to know
> your net-worth.

Most people won't ever get into big business deals, though.

> You said you do it every month. That is a
> waste of time. If you make three
> lines of people, one line of people that do
> it every month, that line would
> be pretty short. The other line once a year,
> that line would be very long.
> The third line for people that never make
> one out, that line would go from
> coast to coast.

Once a month might be a waste of time to you... being "retired"... but it does me quite fine and takes hardly any more time than updating my financials for the month.

I'm certainly not going to do it only once a year because that's how often most people who figure it out, do it.

> I been retired now for 9 years, and my
> retired income is in the top 10%
> of retired peoples income. So I think I have
> made some good decisions in
> my life. So once a year has worked just fine
> with me.

Yes. Just as once a year works good for you, once a month works good for me.

I look at it from a business point of view... it would be foolhardy for a business to not know what was going on except for once a year...

There's a company who keeps such a sharp eye on their financial status they know it by the hour!!!

Their reason... if they did it once a week, they could be blowing loads of money. And it's hard to argue with them seeing as since implimenting their hourly update their company has boomed. It has boomed because knowing their financials by the hour allows them to make production decisions by the hour.

> These exit polls are used in every election
> and they are right on the money.
> All they want to know, who did you vote for.
> Nothing tricky about that question.

A seemly simple question. But it still leaves a lot to be asked about... WHO is doing the polling, WHEN are these polls taken (that is, the results of the polls mentioned), WHICH booths are taken into account when the poll is released, Is everyone being asked or is it so-called random, and so on.

I mean, if there is a trend (:o) HA!) for Democrats to vote early in the morning and Republicans to vote later in the day, then an early poll will give a misguided figure. As will revealing early polls in Democrat strong areas.

And none of this takes into account the trend of not answering the question in combination with political leaning - do Democrats answer more or less than Republicans.

> Nice talking with you Michael.

Yes, thank you. Shows we can disagree? and discuss at the same time without calling names.

Michael Ross

There is always the same
> three people that post "this is
> spam" .

> It's like if their names are not there as a
> stamp of approval then we can't
> figure out it spam. By the way they are
> regulars at fib forum.

its fun to play with the trolls. If you can't make jokes about Elvis sunglasses and chilled rolls what good are these forums. LOL

I also agree with you that the networks should have waited until the polls closed to declare any projected wins. But, these are the same networks who promised us they wait until the polls closed in each state before they would make their pronouncements. The blew that one, as several counties in the Florida panhandle are in Central time zone, and were still open.

Needless to say, the networks held a trial and declared themselves innocent of any wrong doing.

So when does the American public get to be judge and jury?

Dennis Bevers




Fighting the recession one customer at a time!

Hi Dennis

>its fun to play with the trolls. If you can't make jokes about Elvis
>sunglasses and chilled rolls what good are these forums.

This has nothing to do with Elvis or chilled rolls. They do this on
other forums I visit. Seems you know who I'm referring to.

>Needless to say, the networks held a trial and declared themselves
>innocent of any wrong doing.

I have to agree with the networks, I live in the Tampa Bay area of
Fl. where a lot of this mess happened. And what happened in the
panhandle had no influence on the out come.

But to go a little further there was 10 million votes that were not
counted in all the 50 states. But you don't hear anything about that.

Do a little arithmetic and divide 50 states into 10 million and you
come up with 200,000 voters from each state that didn't count.

I know Ca. and NY have more voters then the smaller states, but
this will give you an idea of the problems that need to be corrected.

They keep telling us "every vote counts". Looks like a few slipped
through the crack.

Regards,
D.R.(Don)McArdle

If you believe the market is heading down, there's no reason you can't benefit from that. You can always short sell stocks, buy put options, or write call options, which would all be profitable strategies in a falling market. :)

Best Regards,

- Thomas.