Thank Jah I'm not retiring soon, this shit is going to get ugly. http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/16/world/europe/greece-politics/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
The whole idea of the Euro was blatantly flawed from the very start. Currency is more than printing money; it's an entire fiscal and policy system. They tried to have one currency while they each did their own fiscal and policy system, and they even cheated the entry requirements quite knowingly, to let the Nations they wanted into the "club." In the end, either Greece or Germany will leave the EU; Germany with a "don't let the door hit you on the way out, EU", or Greece, kicking and screaming "UNFAIR!" every step of the way.
Cashed in my 401K last night... It's going to get ugly, fast. Prepare to be bent over and have a gigantic dildo shoved up your ass, world!
^^^ So when do you get back in? I too will likely move at least the bulk into a stable fund/cash, but timing when to return is the trick. The last recession I just rode it out and did alright. EDIT: Just saw this, a telling and funny indicator:
There are a couple ways to look at that. I see that and think "Man, I gotta get involved with these corporations!"
So why exactly is this thing with greece going to pull us into a recession ? I'm curious because I'm holding about 3k worth of apple stock and 401k with about 25% on foreign growth stocks.
Right before/during we hit rock bottom, when the worst of the worst is in full swing, that's when I'll buy back in... But I'm also a long long time away from retiring (If I don't die before retirement)
Don't pull out. Europe is going to reverse austerity. That's why France elected a (true) Socialist president.
I"m betting market jitters and need for "safe investments" is a good part of the non-self-inflicted side of what happened to Facebook's IPO today!
The balance in this global economy is so delicate and people are so ready to panic that a fart could set off a run on the banks anywhere in the world. Globally, people have lost all they can bear and do not wish to rinse and repeat. here, we're going to hear that everything is hunky-dorey right up until (and past) the point that it's too late to do anything about it. I saw that happen at the end of 2007. banks and lenders knew exactly what was going to come down and pulled funding for thousands of new construction projects. It all happened pretty much overnight. One day there's 13 houses to complete, the next morning every single job was shut down because the loans got pulled. Hundreds of homes sat 1/2 completed for a couple of years. When the contractors filed for bankruptcy, the banks took them back and shortsaled them to huge concerns that made big bank off of them. http://articles.courant.com/2011-06...-20110604_1_short-sale-short-sale-offer-agent
