Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (128643)	11/16/2000 2:20:02 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1570243

78 "fallen" chads seized (on the floor) by the sheriff in Broward this morning... These hand recounts are a farce... Gore is clearly desparate... Jim, You're right....I heard he's gone on prozac and has nightmares where he sees chads all over the floor....or is that Bush? Jajajajajaja! ted

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (128643)	11/16/2000 2:21:18 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1570243

It's the Economy, Stupid By Bill Meehan Special to TheStreet.com 11/16/00 1:24 PM ET I suppose that the market's recent action may have finally convinced many of the "experts" on the lunatic fringe that what's been going on in the Sunshine State is hardly investors' biggest concern. There are far more important issues hanging over the market, both fundamentally and of a technical nature. Questions like: How much of a global economic slowdown can be expected next year and what's that likely to do to demand for all goods and services? Is the belief in a soft landing -- espoused by so many economists and investors -- much more unlikely than the case was in 1994 to 1995? Is that the most likely outcome for a domestic economy that was supercharged by the Fed's actions in 1998 and late last year? And how much will higher labor, energy and interest costs squeeze margins in an economic slowdown of even modest proportions? Especially given the fact that the New Economy has largely been built upon increasing levels of corporate and personal debt. Was it ever reasonable to presume that investment spending on new equipment, most notably technology, would continue at the unprecedented rate of recent years? If not, then the rate of productivity growth will be far less than has been reported and will certainly fall. And if the rate of growth in the technology sector slows -- since it's a strong deflationary force by its very nature and one that's magnified further by how the government measures GDP and productivity data -- then inflation is apt to be much higher than most economists' models currently forecast. Let's face it, economists' models, including those employed by the Fed, have been woefully inadequate over the past several years in forecasting economic growth, productivity and inflation. Heck, the Fed's midyear forecasts haven't even come close, so we're not talking about long-range prognostications here. Six months is a lot to ask for from a weatherman, but the best economic minds at the Fed have failed to accurately predict economic data two quarters in advance. A dismal science, indeed. And one of the reasons why taking the other side of the trade against a large consensus of economists has consistently been a winning one. That alone should cause investors to question the chances of a soft landing. But it's the debt problem that's most troubling -- and far larger than it was in 1994-1995. We can all hope for a soft landing, but hope is not the best basis upon which to make investment decisions. The market continued Tuesday's reversal off the Nasdaq Composite's key support level (2850 area) in advance of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Some positive earnings surprises in tech land Tuesday evening also helped to rouse the animal spirits. The morning's economic data were more or less in line, so higher energy prices failed to dampen the bulls' enthusiasm. After all, the gurus had reiterated their opinions of how swell things are for equities, so who could afford to let yet another buying opportunity to slip away? Why? It is the fourth quarter, of course, and don't stocks always rise in the fourth quarter? (Does anybody believe this stuff anymore?) Of course, the Fed was not going to throw fuel on the dreary market and political situation, so a negative surprise was unthinkable. While few gave a move to a neutral bias by the Fed little more than a very outside chance (except, of course, the one guru who gave that outcome a 13-12 chance), the market folded after the release of the Fed's decision. Apparently there's just no pleasing some people. In any case, a clearly "softer" wording than was issued after the last FOMC meeting only generated selling. Perhaps many were just very eager to book short-term profits by selling on the news. In any case, upon further review, the Fed's statement was as much as one could have reasonably hoped for, and the market did manage a nice bounce back into the green by the close.

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (128643)	11/16/2000 2:31:21 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1570243

Personally, I think you're getting desperate for things to whine about, Jim. But don't worry, your friends in Congress have a backup plan in case things go against W. DeLay and company have lots of practice at this, whining about every close race they lose. G.O.P. Begins Jockeying in House on Fate of Election nytimes.com Representative Tom DeLay, the Republican leader who drove the House forward to impeachment, has sent a staff memorandum to Congressional Republicans pointing out that the House and Senate can reject a state's electoral votes if they decide that the votes are tainted. The memorandum, with the neutral title "Electoral College Process in the Congress," is one of several research efforts under way by senior Republicans as members of their party express fears that ballot recounts could deprive Gov. George W. Bush of a victory in Florida, and as scholars disagree over what would happen if there is no one to represent a stalemated Florida when the Electoral College meets in December. Mr. DeLay, a Texan who is the House majority whip, had his aides distribute the two-page e-mail memorandum in recent days. It sets out Congress's role in tallying and certifying electoral votes and the circumstances that could lead to the House itself choosing the president.

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (128643)	11/16/2000 6:50:44 PM
From: hmaly	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1570243

Jim Re..78 "fallen" chads seized (on the floor) by the sheriff in Broward this morning... These hand recounts are a farce... Gore is clearly desparate...<<<<<< Jim, are you trying to say that the workers there punched out the chads? If you have hanging chads, that doesn't mean that that vote doesn't count. It should and it must. Point is both dem. and rep. counties will have hanging chads. Once again, all of FLA. should be recounted. Then the hanging chads in the rep. counties will be counted as well as the ones in the dem. counties. With rep. and dem. observers looking at each ballot, the chances of outright fraud are slim. Certainly the managers of a dem. district will lean to Al's side, but in the rep. districts the opposite will happen. Will the vote be any more accurate than now? Probably not, but it will be deemed as the best we can do, and the end. So be it.