Your Reaction To Bush's Securities Reform Proposals

brian_igo · #1 07-10-2002, 01:48 AM

Running to shoot my mouth off in the Soapbox about the political mess Bush is in may have revealed my true colors, but I am also curious about your reaction to what Bush had to say.

What do you guys think about his plan? Is it enough to restore confidence in the markets, should he have done more, or is the problem beyond the scope of government to correct?

And the big question, did his speech yesterday inspire you to put money into the stock market? Do you feel secure about having money in securities right now?

Brian

poseidon · #2 07-10-2002, 10:59 AM

I didn't listen to his speech, I've been swamped with work... haven't even been able to do much more than listen to the morning news as I get dressed, but the fact that Daschle and his buddies don't like the speech probably means it was a good one.

As far as confidence in the market, I haven't really lost it. We've survived much worse -- oil embargoes, wars, hard recessions, etc. and the market has always come back. If you consider all the bad stuff with the DJIA in the last oh thirty years, there's been something along the lines of 9,000% appreciation in the market overall.

I still have plenty of $$ in stocks. Those stocks are good, solid companies that I follow and continue to do research on.

I realize that the market isn't going to bounce back overnight. It may take a few years to get back to where it was pre-4/2000, but in the long run, I'm going to do just fine.

erik_kosberg · #3 07-11-2002, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Do you feel secure about having money in securities right now?

An easy answer is yes, always. Sure, you can feel confident investing in dotcom, tulip-bulb type equities, but you can also feel confident investing in prison-building, defense industry, and toxic-waste abatement equities. Whether times are booming or glooming, there’s always something to invest in that you can feel comfortable with.

Gotta stop watching those re-runs of Buffy...it’s warping my investment objectivity.

rich2003dm · #4 07-12-2002, 11:03 PM

I am quite comfortable.

The key to my comfort has little to do with Bush's speech or my own near term view of the economy.

It has much to do with a diversified portfolio of solid stocks with very little in speculative ventures. I don't have a great deal placed in any one stock so the Enrons and Worldcomms of the world will never have much of an effect on me. And time is on my side. I can afford to wait the market out because I don't have an immediate liquidity need.

That, of course, will change as I approach retirement. I'll be moving money out of stocks and into less volatile investments. But for now, the market is still a good place to be in the long term.

Rich

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #5 07-12-2002, 11:33 PM

Honestly? I would have a reaction if I could figure out what he was talking about.

I am woefully

ignorant of Enron and all that stuff. All I know is companies are saying they made more money than they really did and their CEO's seem to have a lot of money by some strange coincidence.

My 403b is in diversified funds - bond funds, mutual funds, etc. My quarterly statement didn't look pretty but I'm confident that by the time I retire in 30 1/2 years, it'll be nice. I'm still contributing but I might shift what percentage of my contributions go where.

mnehr · #6 07-15-2002, 02:07 PM

To put it simply, I personally believe in the market being self correcting and that government should stay out of it as much as possible. In all of the cases we have seen, (Enron, WcomE, etc.) laws were broken. Other than adding to the bureaucracy, what honest help would more laws make. We need clearer enforcement, yes, but I believe, as we have seen, the market is the best enforcer.

I will expound more when I am not working on a handheld...