Anybody who’s relying on some risky asset (i.e. not cash) to fund their retirement would be well-advised to read this article, in my opinion. Nobody knows the future of course, but if you’re going to worry you might as well do so with the best of them.
Personal observation: Many people might find it comforting that U.S. stocks are soaring while the real economy deteriorates, but for fans of history this fact is a bit more hair-raising. We saw this same peculiar (and lethal) combination in the summer of 1929. Today the similarities are ignored because “Everybody Ought to be Rich”:
On Wall St: Something's Gotta Give waiting for last reel to unwind
May 11, 2007
If you are a film fan you could probably call it Apocalypse Later, while literary types might prefer Chronicle of a Crisis Foretold...
Investor gurus, banking chiefs, regulators and even private equity moguls are lining up to spread the word that the end is (almost) nigh.
The latest member of the furrowed-brow brigade is Ken Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America. On Wednesday, Mr Lewis provided a much-needed jolt of excitement at a meeting of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce with a call for "more sanity".
"We are close to a time when we'll look back and say we did some stupid things," he warned the Zurich-based great and good. He is, of course, absolutely right. As are KKR's Henry Kravis and Carlyle's David Rubenstein, the private equity titans who argue that their industry will not continue to have it so good forever. Familiar gloomy tones from legendary Cassandras such as Warren Buffett and Wilbur Ross only add to the general sense of unease.
These heady times of rocketing stock markets, gargantuan takeovers and supersized leverage just do not feel right...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18614260/
Addendum: People who cry wolf a lot ought to spend a lot of time around wolves.
2 comments:
Interesting post - I really like your blog, both for the content and the tongue-in-cheek presentation.
Btw, are you "ac" on the Calculated Risk comments section?
Oddly enough, there's more than a couple of people around who post as "ac".
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