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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (620)	6/24/2002 12:33:40 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

Lay ...Skilling ..And "Friends" will walk away 'clean' Count on it He's George's Best Friend... enough said.. T From the NEW YORK POST... ORDERLY STAMPEDE By BETH PISKORA ------------------------------------------------------------ June 23, 2002 -- The U.S. stock market is suffering a crisis of confidence unlike one seen during any other period in history. The major market averages fell in 12 of the past 14 weeks, even as the economy has steadily improved and corporate profits have consistently risen. Layoffs have mostly stopped, and most working Americans admit they are not fearful about losing their jobs. So what's the problem? For an answer, you might ask Martha Stewart. Or ImClone ex-CEO Sam Waksal. Or disgraced Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski. Or any of the other bigwigs of corporate America who are now under investigation - or arrest - for financial shenanigans. Of course, they're not likely to give you an answer. They are, you see, the cause of the problem. "It's a crisis of confidence," said Clark Winter, chief global investment strategist for Citigroup Asset Management. "We are still in the middle of an era of excess and imbalances. The excesses are now on the negative side. The market is ignoring good news just as - during the 90s - the market ignored all bad news. Investors in the United States are basically frozen. They don't know what to do." Even Harvey Pitt, the man who became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission promising a "kinder, gentler" SEC, has had to adjust and get tough - to protect individual investors. "There unfortunately are some less than honest folks on Wall and Main Streets," Pitt said. "Perhaps you've noticed. While they are not the majority by a long shot, they certainly have had a disproportionate effect in eroding investor confidence in the integrity of our markets and in our corporate managers." Indeed, investors, horrified by the hijinks at ImClone, Tyco and Enron, among others, haven't just dumped those stocks. They've dumped all stocks. Where's all the money going? It's not in the markets at all. Investors are hording cash. They put a whopping $5.14 billion in assets into money markets in the past week alone. There is now $2.3 trillion sitting in low-interest money markets. Americans bought $7.6 billion in U.S. savings bonds between the beginning of October and the end of May, according to the Treasury Department. That's up from only $4 billion in savings bonds sales in 2000 - yet more evidence that investors are looking for risk-free alternatives to the stock market. And investors put just as much money into low-risk bond funds in May as they invested in stock funds, according to Lipper. Bank Leumi just introduced a new certificate of deposit-like product, a 100-week timed deposit for people who want to park at least $50,000 somewhere safe for the next two years. The timed deposit pays a fixed rate of 3 percent for the first 50 weeks and an adjustable rate for the second 50 weeks, and Bank Leumi is already seeing great interest in the new product. With investors staying away, stocks are down. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 7.66 percent so far this year. The technology-packed Nasdaq composite has a loss of 26.12 percent, and the S&P 500 index is down 13.84 percent. "This market is dangerously close to breaking the already vulnerable psychology of individual investors," said Bernie Schaeffer, chairman of Schaeffer's Research. "It's ugly, ugly, ugly."

To: stockman_scott who wrote (620)	6/24/2002 4:35:24 PM
From: habitrail	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Unfortunately, I would not use outrage to describe most people's feelings. Most people seem content to explain it away as "business as usual" for big business and politicians. Most of the time, when I point out wrongdoing by corporations or the government, people just say, "Oh yeah, everybody knows that, tell me something I don't know." This is a sophomoric attitude; They are the world-wise cynics that know the play. If they are so smart, why don't they get upset or do something about it? Write to a congressman, read his blow-off reply, vote for someone else besides the 2-party shills. This country has taken interchangeable parts to a new extreme, if you know what I mean. Until we can wake the jaded, apathetic masses from their hookah-house torpor and get them to think about how they can use the pitifully small amount of leverage they have to effect change on their society, I hold out no hope for "the right thing" to be done.