MAR 25 INDEX UPDATE
--------------------------
Over the weekend I was having a discussion with a friend concerning the world's economy and the possibility that this bear market may last longer than many think. I could feel fear in his voice and the beginnings of desperation in light of his total portfolio being cut in about half. Of course he was also one of those critizing me in the past for being bearish and conservative, and even went to the extent of calling me stupid for being short in 2000.
In light of his desperation, I tried to put things on a worldly perspective with the hopes of calming him down, so I read him the following which Im sure many have seen in the past. The following is only a portion of the complete comments:
>>>>>>
If one could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:
There would be:
6 people would posscess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the U.S.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would have a college education
1 would own a computer
+++ If you have food in the refrigeratior, clothes on you back, a roof overhead and a place to sleey .... you are richer than 75% of this world.
+++ If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace +++ you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy
..................
<<<<<<<
After reading it to him he felt a bit ashamed for a few seconds, then continued his despare. Although I did not want to see my friend in such despair, what came to mind was the huge level of greed that us Americans have. Even if one was to lose all their investment money in the market, they would still be doing better than the majority of the world, but I guess that is not good enough for most.
And when I hear some try to put the majority of the blame on GREENSPAN, what about that individuals greed which caused that person to invest beyond their means and beyond common sense. And what about the greed from some big firms which help facilitate individual greed as those firms maniulated the market.
The last time I mentioned the topic of greed, I did not get too much response - either I was way off base or I hit too close to home. |
