Figure out we're in a recession. How many thousands have to lose their jobs before it dawns on you that all is not well in La-la-land?
"But the stock market is at all time highs and the talking head on my TV set said the economy is doing awesome!"
Stock markets are ALWAYS at all time highs just before the crash, and talking heads on TV lie, all the time. Shocker I know....
GE is a case in point. You can only cost cut, "value" engineer and offshore for so long. Eventually your competitors will invest in people and technology instead of buybacks and kick your a$$.
I agree. IBM is the best example we can see of a stock that is propped up only by buy-backs from the corp itself. It's not high because of selling lots of products and fiscal responsibility/well-being (the good old way a stock would be high). It's high by financial gaming and tricks.
The terrifying thing is that this is rampant across all big enterprises. It's a massive bubble that's due to burst. It's right in front of our eyes, like the sub-prime meltdown in 2008. It's a huge house of cards that's now wobbling (if you check the market the past few weeks) and it's going to come crashing down soon. As I'm near retirement, I've moved all my accounts to a very conservative position after the spikes this week. I'm locking in my eight-year gains on this bull run and moving to cash, CDs, short-term bonds and very low stock exposure, half of which is overseas.
I think the stuff is about to hit the fan, especially if this tax plan doesn't pass (that would be the pin in the bubble for sure) and if it does, it seems like it will spell economic doom for the US down the line as it's a complete sham full of incredibly dangerous gambles.
Buckle up.