Stocks Make Half-Hearted Apology for Yesterday

This is what they need to do to fix the housing problem. 15yr loan @ 3% 30yr loan @ 4% 40yr loan @ 4.5% If you pay the loan off early you get at 5% or the original loan amount early (less than 2/3rds through loan) pay off fee. You also are not allowed to have a HELOC while on this plan. Anyone with a credit score above 700 is eligible. Also this could apply for new buyers or refinances. And as long as your debt to income ratio is in line, you can roll all the debt you have on your house over to one of these 3 new loans. 0% down, closing costs rolled into the loan. This would reward people who have maintained good credit standing and would also keep people from overextending by using there houses as credit cards.

Ryan, your idea is pretty detailed and probably would work, as far as the math is concerned. However I don't think this will deal with dropping home values and the owners to consider walking away because they are so upside down. My idea has been to create a new security to trade based on Lien-backs. Take for example a person took a loan for a house at 400K. Their income only supports a full 30-year loan of 200K. The bank should re-write the primary loan with your numbers and then issue a lein against the property for the other 200K. As property values increase again and they are able to sell their property for 450K in 5-10 years then they can pay off the 200K on the lein and profit 50K from the sell. In the meantime the banks and big investors can trade the lein as Lein-Backed Security. They would be traded at a more stable rate.

Boy, that's part of the O bam a rally !

Closing thoughts from Beat the Dart ... The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 32.60, or 3.99 percent, to 848.81, as the Federal Reserve said it will extend the life of key programs aimed at loosening the credit markets and restoring stability to the financial sector; thus giving financial stocks a lift, the hardest hit sector since the credit crisis began, among the market's biggest gainers. Yet the market remains uncertain about direction, from how long the recession might last to more troubles in the struggling financial sector. Friday's jobs report that is widely considered the most important economic reading of the month will cause major concerns for investors about the long term prospects to buy equities. ... Maintain support to 752.44 last held on November 20, 2008 and change resistance at 887.31. Trade the market on both sides, with limited life cycle. Optimism in the market that a bottom had formed will be short lived. The weakening economy will disappointment and frustrate investors, especially as unemployment accelerates. ... General Electric Co. (GE) - last $17.16, said it expects to continue to pay its current dividend despite projections that fourth-quarter results will near the low end of its previous guidance. From a careful review of GE's balance sheet, keeping the dividend will compromise the company's financial stability. The noise by GE raised hopes that U.S. companies may fare better during the recession than the market has feared -- total bullshit! ... The dollar fell against other major currencies. Gold prices rose. Light, sweet crude fell $2.32 to settle at $46.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

amazingdv - your idea is good. And thats what the 300 bil HOPE program that passed in Jully was somewhat. But now - it seems - the govt/FDIC is just rewriting the loans without any liens. Basically the IRRESPONSIBLE homeowners are getting away scotfree - ofcourse at the other taxpayr's expense.

Dow 7500 is just a ARTIFICIAL SUPPORT LEVEL - its only significance is that we bounced off off it in 2002. Other than that, it has no value. When that breaks and then we bounce off some ARBITRARY ( preferably non-round number ), that should give us a true bottom. --------- Because 40% of S&P earnings come from abroad, so the dollar's strength should make earnings much worse going forward. ----- Dollar will continue its strength for the next 12-18 months because Europe is in as bad a shape as USA - and to GET THE PARTY RE-STARTED IN EUROPE WILL BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN IN USA.

Dow 7500 is just a ARTIFICIAL SUPPORT LEVEL - its only significance is that we bounced off off it in 2002. Other than that, it has no value. When that breaks and then we bounce off some ARBITRARY ( preferably non-round number ), that should give us a true bottom. --------- Because 40% of S&P earnings come from abroad, so the dollar's strength should make earnings much worse going forward. ----- Dollar will continue its strength for the next 12-18 months because Europe is in as bad a shape as USA - and to GET THE PARTY RE-STARTED IN EUROPE WILL BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN IN USA.

The Santa Claus Rally is a lump of coal. Bah, Humbug! I'm still in bonds and metals, thanks.

I'm out of the market for quite some time. Nothing's going to get better anytime soon. Even if there's a remote chance for a rally, the baby boomers who rode it down will sell like there's no tomorrow. Cause maybe there isn't.

But one of the main reason why bottom is near is that investors have started to make buys and there will be time when all weaker hands will get squeezed out. This is the time to do fundamental research and buy for long term at lower levels as weaker hands do selling at such low levels.

Boy am I glad I am not in charge of the financial system. Someone called this one the GREAT DISINTEGRATION. Sounds about right to me. All nations eventualy fall.

TOUCHDOWN...........not

As I told over and over again, The market has bottomed sice October 28 2008......The Dow Jones Index that time is 8,200...The swing either way is going up or down is 1200......Since then if it fall beyond 8 ,200 but not one break the 1200 border line which is 7,000..Anytime it fall below 8,200 a break up immediately a swing going north will follow.......Therefore the bottom line or the bounderyy line is 8,200.. Why...it been breach below that line the boedeline five times (5 Times ) and recover tine and time again the last one is December 1 2008 and been recovered back above 8,200 after a fall of 600 point Bear.at 250 pounds gorrilla has come....Hence all the bad news are all factored in...This time anygood news factored in will have a big positive in fact.....The secon points, we reach allready the bottom and it is not profiable to go shorting when the stock is too low to make anothe low is impossible otherwise they will loss a lot of money go shorting.....The conditon now is the market down swing pattern was allready neutralized and the way foward is just begun....A bull point is on the card till the end of the year and a rally is on the card.....Year 2009 is wait and see.......You can make a gain in this Christmas rally by tradition all points is going forward north star....Buy but be seleciive and take profit on January.1,2009......Good luck and happy Christmas......

TRY TO GO SHORTING AND YOU WILL LOST A LOT OF MONEY THIS TIME.....WHEN THINGS GO LOW FAR TO LOW,THE PRICE IS FAR TO LOW, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A PROFIT......WHAT I DO KNOW IN THIS TRICK AND TREASUROUS TREND TO GO SHORTING IS THEY GO BLEEDING HITTING THE ROCK RUNNING OUT OF OXYGEN.........THE TREND IS UP........

Have not you heard. The world is coming to an end.

Wow, it's dizzying to read about the different trading strategies for predicting when to buy or sell. No wonder investors are scared sh@#tless. Seems like more people prefer to speculate than watch the averages. The averages will tell you when it's time to buy if your stock chart is properly set up and you know how to properly interpret it. I guess people are afraid they'll miss it if they wait for the averages. Well, would you rather jump in too soon like Warren Buffet and watch, half your money disappear then wait 5 to 10 years to break even. It's your choice.

I am cautionary bullish...........everything is under consideration.......that why I used caution..........not suicidal............because the market is so trick and treaserous.......But wish to get in time......at the moment hit an run tactics is I am adopted......but alway on the upside, forward and stop,then foward.......That why I say January 1 2009 is the best time to get profit..........I might wrong but my perception and chart tell me so.......I am not forcing everybody to like my idea.........my be mine is basketket case......How about the other, they go wrong as well like me.......

Report show the 3Q productivity is much better.......See the headline in nwespaper and the news on T.V............It seem the headline will agree with my prediction....Thimgs will getting better.

I am cautionary bullish...........everything is under consideration.......that why I used caution..........not suicidal............because the market is so trick and treaserous.......But wish to get in time......at the moment hit an run tactics is I am adopted......but alway on the upside, forward and stop,then foward.......That why I say January 1 2009 is the best time to get profit..........I might wrong but my perception and chart tell me so.......I am not forcing everybody to like my idea.........my be mine is basketket case......How about the other, they go wrong as well like me....... Johnny, It should read like this. " I am cautiously bullish. Considering everything, caution is in order unless you have a death wish. The current market is tricky and treacherous, but I want to buy in at what I believe is a low, so I'm adopting hit and run tactics. I'm anticipating a short-term rally, even if the progress is jerky. Based on my analysis and perceptions, I expect a peak just before January 1st, and plan to take profit on that date. You don't have to agree with me- maybe I'm a basket case- but the market is so unpredictable lately that even very experienced traders have made costly mistakes." The content's there- but the way you post makes people discredit what you say and ignore your opinions. Just a thought, and intended as constructive advice.

I have only one strategy for these times of great volatility. I have seen several names for it: swinging, or killer investing. I call it "hair pulling strategy". I wait, sometimes months, till the stockbrokers are litterally pulling their hair on the front page of every newspaper. I buy then, and as soon as the stocks rally, I sell. The idea is not to tie my money indefinitely. The downfall, is that I have to be satisfied with a mere $1,000 profit for 15 minutes of work. The trick is to be patient and to avoid greed.