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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (620)	9/19/2005 8:07:28 PM
From: energyplay	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 219172

I'm VERY long energy.... So if I am moaning, it's like Austin Powers : Oh, baby , YEAH ! My portfolio feels so good ! Excuse me, I was carried away for a minute. I think what I beleive now is that lots of bad things happen in a year, maybe due to fractal geometry, may because of the way people's preceptions work. Later, a bunch of good things seem to happen... Note that there may be some type of nuke agreement with North Korea, as reported by some Chinese diplomats. Since this is good news, it becomes invisible - no one can hear or see it, even it printed and right in from of us. Note that you said productivity was increasing, as were educational levels. Also, Germany is more secure because the Ukraine is separated from Russia, and Poland is part of Nato. Those are some good size buffers. The EU market area has expanded, and Germany business is doing well in the new areas, often having the best known brand names. As many Europeans become more anti-American, the preference for German brands should grow. But nobody want good news now. Bring on the volcanos, locusts, taxes, even Alanis Morisette ! Get all the negative news in, I will need to buy something after I sell soem energy stocks.

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (620)	9/19/2005 8:23:20 PM
From: Moominoid	Respond to of 219172

The Australian's opinion: "Germany votes no The German election is a defeat for much-needed reform HAVING decided they do not want either reform plan on offer, the German people voted accordingly on the weekend. The governing Social Democrats of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lost the popular vote to Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, but by less than 1 per cent. And neither side seems likely to stitch together a coalition government with like-minded minor parties. It seems the two leaders may have to form a coalition government, which will make for interesting cabinet meetings, at least until one side tries to bring on another election. In the meantime, Germany will likely languish without the reforms it needs to kick-start the economy. The jobless rate of 11 per cent, accounting for 5 million people, is due in part to a welfare system that weighs workers and employers down with charges to fund social security. What is worse, Germany is not at the bottom of a severe downturn; it appears that the present 1 per cent growth rate is now the economic norm, and will stay so without reform. And the major political parties know it. Mr Schroeder began an economic reform program in 2003 to try to kick-start the economy by cutting personal and corporate taxes. But, in the process, he also affronted the German tradition of the welfare state by tightening unemployment benefits. The result was rebuffs for the Social Democrats at state elections, and in May Mr Schroeder decided to force the voters to back him or sack him, by bringing on a national poll. It was an astute strategy because if the voters were not pleased with Mr Schroeder's plan, the more they saw of Ms Merkel's comprehensive alternative, the less they liked it. To Australian eyes, Ms Merkel's proposals hardly appear onerous, and they would start Germany down a path to restoring prosperity. She wants to encourage enterprise bargaining, freeing small firms – with fewer than 20 staff – from the overall effect of unfair dismissal laws, and cut the top tax rate from 42 per cent to 39 per cent. But in an economy where there are public subsidies for hiring young workers, old workers and for people who work at night, a reduction of government involvement in the economy spooked the voters. The result was that Ms Merkel lost a 20 per cent opinion-poll lead during the course of the campaign. The lesson from this election is stark. The voters may know their welfare state needs to lose weight, but they punish politicians who propose diets. As in the Weimar Republic in the 1920s, when unstable coalitions were the norm, they have endorsed inertia, appearing to hope the system will somehow right itself. This is a very bad result for the world's third-biggest economy. Mr Schroeder has won a tactical victory for his party that demonstrates community fear of change. But his achievement has denied Ms Merkel a chance to implement her program and ensures Germany will not have a government led by a real reformer."