What's Keeping Me Up At Night

Are you angry?

melanieblog2008 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:56:04 +0000

AIG: Billions of bonuses when we have lost almost everything. Funneled billions to Goldman Sachs.

BAC: Billions in bonuses where the stock price went as low as $3.00

Citi: Over 38 million compensation in 2008 to its CEO when it’s stock has dropped close to a buck. He used to hedge and now claims that the same hedge fund destroyed Citi

Are you in rage? Should they not be investigated? Should Paulson be investigated ? Is the market completely manipulated? Should you be paying higher taxes? Are they financial terrosist? What do you think?

Solution to the economic crisis

melanieblog2008 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:50:17 +0000

In my opinion, these are the steps we need to do:

(a) Lower taxes off the paychecks so that consumers see the money immediately in their paychecks thus stimulating the economy
(b) Pay off part of the principal of truly distressed homeowners directly to lender, make the application process simple and online. This can have lots of loopholes but making sure severe penalties for lying including jail time would prevent abuse. This would stop foreclosure and provide immediate relief.
(c) Stop short selling practice. This was one of the reasons of 1930 depression.
(d) Put market manipulators in jail to send a clear signal. Someone is surely manipulating it and gaining from these volatility and losses.
(e) Investigate folks like Paulson and Jim Cramer of CNBC for their associations and role in manipulation. There is too much talk about Paulson’s association with Goldman, role in bringing Citi down by changing his stance all of a sudden and so on.

Are you surprised with today’s market drop? Steel prices to drop another 50%

melanieblog2008 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:53:29 +0000

I was worried that people would get in the market rally and get spooked and warned of it. I warned of oil prices and stock prices and the new bubble that you have not seen yet.This is going to get worse with prices of steel that could fall another 50% and the year end selling for the purposes of tax loss. I don’t like this drop, it is not fun but when you inflate the market on a hype, that is what happened. Have you seen the 3 schmuks from auto industry who flew out in private jets begging for money? Wagoner has lost over 80 billions since he became the CEO. Until we get rid of these poor leaders, markets won’t see an upside. Nature has its way to take care of it and you will see that soon for good. Just don’t sell in panic but buy cautiously. And please do not day trade and treat your money with the same value as you do in finding deals at the local grocery store. I am surprised we complain about spending few dollars in mall when we are careless about investing thousands in the market.

I need a huge bonus as I went to an Ivy League College and am giving cash to bankrupt borrowers at zero interest rate

melanieblog2008 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:55:56 +0000

Lots of talk about foregoing bonuses. Isn’t that a no brainer. Isn’t all of this mess caused by them in the first place.

Does it take an ivy leaguer to figure out that all of these things are bad: forty to one leverage, adjustable rate loans, no money down loans, no employment loans , 29% interest on charge cards,.

And , free money for one year by Citicards. Yes, Citibank started to give you cash up to your credit limit for 1 year starting Nov 1, 2008 without ANY interest. Call them and you will find out so. Are we not responsible for our own demise? Are we going to pay those who make such poor decisions?

Yes Pandit must have made that decision to give out cash upto credit limit at zero interest rate and not realizing how many would default.

Don’t get spooked with today’s rally

melanieblog2008 — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:00:03 +0000

So far I have been right in predicting oil prices, stock market and hopefully this time too. There is a lot of inherent weakness in the market that some more correction is warranted. Job loss is at its worst with daily layoffs. Two biggest ticket items: house and auto purchase aren’t happening as near and bankruptcies are on rise. Emerging markets should be falling another 30-40% at the very least. They have risen 300-400% in the past that was unwarranted in the first place. Those drops would hurt us as we are all interconnected.

So why did it rally today? My speculation is that it is politically driven and would show similar strength and volatility until Nov 4^th, 2008 and than it will correct itself to where it should be. Unfortunately, politics does play a role and McCain needs every good news that can be out there for the next week. Have a pleasant day.

Iraq says Price of Oil should be $100.00: My request to President Bush

melanieblog2008 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:22:02 +0000

We have been saying all along that the price of oil was due to heavy demand. I have been saying otherwise. Now when the price slips due to low demand, the truth comes out. Iraq, our ally, has asked to raise the prices to $100.00/barrel. Saudis say the price should be $55/barrel, Iraq says $100 and others say $80.00.

Do I care if these countries have been spending recklessly thinking that the gas price that used to be $33/barrel would remain as high as $150.00 and that American dollars should go in to build their infrastructure?.

I told you that politics was involved in this artificial inflation of oil prices. It is now coming out in open. I want to request President Bush that high oil prices have slammed our economy and he should lobby against OPEC which is now trying to increase its price unfairly through its cartel. Please request your congressman and bring their attention to this desperate manipulation of oil prices by our so called allies. High oil prices is partly responsible for this economic mess. I see that stock market even more down next week unless we can compensate with some real good news.

The Next Bubble Is On It’s way

melanieblog2008 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:41:24 +0000

Watch out. The Credit Card Companies such as American Express, MasterCard, Citibank, Capital One are bound to pose a risk to all of us. Today, I had a Citibank employee try to sell me 1.99% interest loan payable in October 2009 on my credit card. She was very persistent.

Consumers are heavy in debt and we are creating another hazard? I couldn’t believe it that this was Citibank we were talking about that has just learnt a lesson. Things are tough for many of us. And such offers are bound to put us in a deeper hole and as well as the country. We know where the money will flow to: Middle East to pay for gas and to China to pay for many of our daily needs. May be Citibank wants the money to flow to Middle East.

Oh, this stock has gone down 50%, Should I buy it now?

melanieblog2008 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:33:18 +0000

Ok, I have already expressed myself on selling. What about buying? My immediate answer is “yes, yes, yes but with great caution” Making money does take some serious time unless you are playing a lotto. ‘Sell high, buy low’ as we say, stands still true. The question is ‘when’.

No one can predict the absolute bottom but I have predicted how low the DOW could go. It has overshot even below this level. Considering everything that is gong on muddled with politics, I think it is a great time to cherry pick stocks that are selling at a very low price, are low risk that may be protected by the government and in national interest, domestic stocks, those that have high intrinsic value and more importantly large companies that can sustain these swings. I would caution that don’t just pick stocks yelling “oh this has gone down 50%, so it is time to buy”. You need to research it and well. Think how much time do you spend mulling on a purchase of $100.00 in a store?

Remember, smaller company stocks are dangerous unless you know how leveraged they are, how their consumers may react to their products in this economy and if their products are discretionary. Also by ‘low risk” I mean, buy them so low, that you can sleep well and when you are almost sure that even in next 2 years you won’t lose money. You know how to do it: put a ‘buy’ order at a ‘limit’ price, so low that is at your comfort level, that is practical and it may get filled in the swings that we have seen. Otherwise, you still have your cash with you.

I must clarify why I said ‘domestic’. Emerging markets such as China, India, Russia are very risky. Their economies will react with a lag and likely in a negative manner. You may see that US investments are pulled out slowly tanking their stock even further after a small swing on the upside.

One piece of final advice : Don’t play the market on ‘margin’ but with your own money that you don’t need in next 2-3 years and when you are reasonably sure what you are doing. If you have lots of money and you don’t know what to do, feed the hungry kids that are dying of starvation every single day. You will be a hero and will feel good about yourself and I am sure that god will pay you back in many forms with interest.

Would Fed be willing to investigate Cramer?

melanieblog2008 — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:36:09 +0000

I have never watched Cramer before. In recent days, many have said that he misguided them and they lost all because of him. I ended up going to different discussion groups and could not find a single person who spoke well of him but found too many messages that spoke not well of him. People said that Cramer has a hedge fund and when he says ‘sell’, his fund likely ‘buys’ that stock. Doesn’t this deserve an investigation? Shouldn’t CNBC disclose what his fund is buying and what he says? Isn’t that same as misleading investors.

This evening I tuned in to listen to him (for the first time). I was dizzy. He said that one of his solution to the crisis was that ‘brokers have a secret meeting’. I am a proud American to find out that one of us is teaching trickery by saying that brokers should have a secret meeting hiding it from investors.

Should I sell?

melanieblog2008 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:16:32 +0000

Don’t sell your stock if you already own one. Think about it. If the market is dropping, where did the money vaporize? Nowhere. It is just a paper loss. It will rebound at such a speed, you will not even know. Loss will be hard to recoup, just as I tell people not to pay more for a house but rather opt for higher interest rate that could be refinanced. A lost equity will be hard to recoup. One more thing: Stop listening to Cramer. God bless America.