Essentially the Fed and the Treasury are trying to stop ANY downturn at all, risking a crash in the dollar to do it. This is like risking your home by taking out a second mortgage just so your kids don't have to stop buying everything that catches their eye. Or so they can go to Harvard instead of a reasonably-priced u...more

It doesn't matter what you call them, we need to get rid of all of them and simplify the tax code. All of them represent some sort of welfare, either corporate or personal, and that shouldn't be done through the tax code. If Congress wants to give out corporate or personal welfare, let them man up (and woman up) and vo...more

Recently the more riskier stocks (like the Russell 2000) have been doing rather badly, and the better more-stable stocks are doing better (as in Vanguard's VIG ETF) . This seems a more "Risk off" trade than what he's saying. Is he just ignoring anything that doesn't conform to his thesis?

I usually understand the daily twists in the markets, but today is really odd. China and Brazil raise interest rates because of local inflation, and gold goes down?!? And the dollar goes up?!? And US stocks AND bonds both go down?!? Some of this I understand (and understand it's short-lived speculation) but the rest is...more

Yep, figured that was the case.   How about this one: Presidents Obama and Hu met to discuss free trade. One of them believes than anything can be confiscated from citizens or companies if it's in the best interest of the state. President Hu also believes this, and that the army should be used if any groups object ...more

So if I understand Bill's argument, gold is not mis-priced because nobody can say what the right price is. While this is semantically correct, it is hardly a good argument for or against investment in gold. If anything, it argues against it.   I do have a percentage in gold as a hedge, but I am well aware that the ...more

One thing that doesn't fit into this scenario is that last week when bonds took a hit based on the (less) tax and (more) spending deal between the President and the Republicans, not only bonds took a hit but also gold (in dollar terms). And the dollar went up against other currencies too, even Swiss! If someone could e...more

Here's one thing I don't understand, if the "world views US as deadbeat" idea is true: Bonds took a hit when this deal hit the wires--and not just Treasuries, all bonds. But also gold took a hit, and the dollar went up! This makes no sense based on this thesis. If people think the dollar is going to be devalued because...more

Ethically, it doesn't matter what other people do or have done. It's all about what you do: this defines who you are, it defines the kind of world you are saying is OK. So if you steal you are a thief--doesn't matter if your victims made it easy for you, or if they themselves are not pure. If you are a thief, you're sa...more