So I decided to go online and take a peek at my portfolio. I got that feeling of anxiety like when I'd get that report card in the mail or that college letter. Will the grades be bad? Did I get rejected by my #1 choice in colleges? So I bit the bullet and ran the online report. Eeeek!!! Almost an 11% drop since its high 2 months ago. Not as bad as it was 3 years ago but it hurts nonetheless. Thank goodness it's just paper money. Regardless of whether you have a financial advisor or you do it yourself, I think anyone in the market is going to get screwed. I could've have pulled out and then get screwed by capital gains both short term and long term or just ride the storm like last time and wait for the market to recover.
The big question is whether it will recover or not. With QE2 discontinued, is the market just adjusting to true market levels? What's the US government going to do to stimulate the economy? Should they do anything at all and just let everything adjust accordingly? It seems that anything the government does is going to add to the deficit so Congress is going to be wary of that or risk losing seats on either side of the house. One dude I saw on TV says this is uncharted waters. If true and we can't predict what's going to happen market-wise, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. I'm going to rely on my buddy Merrill and ride that bull until he tells me jump off or those no more left of him to ride. In all seriousness, these really are difficult times for many and the picture of the economy is not getting any brighter. I'm concerned because unemployment numbers are still horrendous. I receive daily emails from the major job boards and jobs in my field are scarce. Home prices are down and sales along with it. Are we headed for a double dip recession or are we in it? No one seems to have the answer but as more and more of the unemployed lose their biweekly checks after 99 weeks, the economy will suffer even more.
Best of luck to those of you in both private and public sectors. California just announced that tax revenues are much less than they anticipated (even I could have predicted that but the numb nuts in Sacramento live in fairyland and grabbed onto those optimistic numbers so they can start getting paid again after passing a bullshit budget) which means that school districts will lose funding and more friends and valued coworkers will be gone and/or salaries cut again through the use of furloughs. And if the economy doesn't shape up, those working in transportation and logistics will be hurt as their revenues fall creating a vicious cycle because they will in turn raise their prices causing more pressure to raise prices on consumer goods. And what about gas, it's been quiet lately as the oil companies give us our annual summer reprieve but when demand shoots up in September after labor day, Bam...we're going to take in the shorts. Times ahead are looking grim. But heck, damn the torpedoes. Most of us can't do much about it anyway so let's just be smart with our money and squirrel some away for that rainy day because it's going to be a monsoon soon.
Times are definitely tough. I haven't even bothered to look at my 401k, because I don't want to scare myself. I survived the 2008 downturn by staying put, and keeping the contributions flowing. I'll have to ride it out again this time.
ReplyDeleteCorporate America is even more brutal in 2011 than it was even a few years ago. In the last few years, my company has consolidated regions, cut staff, and dumped more responsibilities on those of us who remained. When they finally realized we were drowning and needed help, they began to hire again. In India, and now, the Philippines. I'm sure at 10- 15% of our wages and benefits. So corporate America is still looking out for itself, the shareholders, and looking to squeeze every last dime of profit available, at the expense of us poor sap workers.
Carlos, it first started with manufacturing jobs shipped out of expensive states like CA to states with less overhead, TX. Then Corp. America began sending manufacturing jobs to Mexico until Asia (other than Japan) built up their infrastructure. Then someone got the idea of farming Customer Service then IT out to India, Pakistan, Philippines, and other cheaper countries. Sending jobs overseas will continue along with consolidation of facilities until a company finds the right balance of being lean while still providing marginal customer service. I can write a book on how corporations sacrifice quality for profits all in the name of everyday low prices. Unfortunately, it's the way of capitalism. Just watch China in 20 years..They'll be the next Japan and Cambodia, Vietnam will step up.
ReplyDelete