By John Kemp
U.S. and EU sanctions on Iran’s crude oil exports and its central bank were not supposed to affect either the volume of oil available or its price,provided markets reacted “rationally.” (click title to entry - thank you)
Rationally? They better act rationally! Why is this even an option?
The free market system is threatening national security of many nations. When is this mess going to stop? Does anyone actually believe opportunistic plutocrats will resist anything but Wall Street chaos to drive up prices? Hell, no.
Wall Street is exploitation. There was a time when it wasn't. It was where investors went to find opportunity, but, these days it is about scalping short term gains ASAP if not by the minute. It is hideous. This is no longer an investment market, it is Las Vegas.
An entire generation of Americans are rooked out of their future because greed merchants rob cash from markets and sequester it in their own bank rolls.
Then we see liquidity companies, private liquidity companies offering IPOs to obtain more cash out of the markets.
Look, Wall Street crashed when it hit 14,000 and we are seeing private liquidity companies looking for more money to run their operations in offering IPOs. Where does any reasonable person see this going?
In the good ole' days, investors liked their dividends because it allowed them financial security. They bankrolled those dividends to retire and if they owned enough stock they could actually quit their day jobs.
Example:
A dear family friend, about four decades ago, touted the benefits of mutual funds. You know what he did for a living? He was an independent business person of a small business called a shoe store. The kind of shoe store where the proprietor worked along with those he hired to actually fit the customer's foot.
When he paid for his shop and his home and had money saved besides he looked at a place where that money could make interest more than he was making at his shop. It was sitting in a bank account and he wanted to earn more than 5%, which was the going rate back then. So, he invested in the least risky stock market offering, The Mutual Fund.
Granted the stock market had an overall value of $1000 back then, but, what does that tell you?
That is the kind of analogy that should exist today, but, over time the markets got greedy and they actually believed they could out perform banks in offering 5% savings accounts, so they 'thunk up' the 401K. That was the beginning of the end of Middle Class security.
Now, the tail is waging the dog. There is absolutely no security for the Middle Class, the American Dream has been trashed and national security is at the whim of market pressures.
I DON'T THINK SO.
It isn't enough that the security of the Middle Class is gone, now political cronies want to buy elections so the entire of SSI and Medicare can be in their coffers, too.
Hello, America? Where have you gone? Where are your local savings accounts? Where are the banks that sincerely know you personally and value you for your deposit of $20 per week? Isn't saving 5 to 10 percent of your earnings enough for you? What makes anyone believe a savings account isn't more secure than an investment? It is backed by the FDIC, Wall Street should have such guarantees.
Oops, there I go touting big government again.
