Dear Jill,
The other thing to keep in mind here is this. All of these discussions concerning the market and the Houses and Greenspan, etc. don't directly affect most of the population. I realize the indirect effects, but realize that the people on this board are NOT typical -- not even close. The average salary in the US is just a little over $18,000. How many of these people even know there IS a stock market? How many pay ANY attention to whether QCOM, JDSU, NOK, etc. go up or down, much less have any knowledge about their technologies? I'm certainly not smart enough to understand who decides if the market will tank or simply correct and bounce back, but I'm also not so naive to think that you or I will make that decision, and I know that the millions of people making less than $50,000 a year have anything to do with it.
There's really no point to this other than to realize that most people on this board are in the blessed (financial) minority, and those $18,000 a year people are up to their noses in debt and have NO savings, stock, etc. to fall back on, so if this market crashes, they will not feel bad for anyone here in the least. I'd like to read Voltaire's ideas on who, if anyone, really controls the markets (I know he's written some on this), but more importantly, WHY at certain times. I know it's all for money, but where does the redistribution most often happen on major declines and bounces? I've said this before, but I see a really basic thing happening here, and it is the most worrisome. That being a developing greed in this market that has transcended from the top earners to every one with even a modest amount of stock. People seem to discount this trend of 2nd mortgages being taken to buy stocks and people in general being dissatisfied not with 10% annual gains, but truly unhappy with 30% annual gains. This is very scary, and in my opinion, when greed reaches this level, it can only end badly. That is not to say that it will lead to a depression, etc. I haven't said that. I only play the devil's advocate to stimulate thinking and discussion. I hope that is what has been done and no one has been offended.
I remain,
SOROS |
