George! :),
(only kidding). The world isn't coming to an end yet. Wall Street, and the publicly traded corporate thugs who've gorged themselves selling stock, and options, along with the fat bankers, financiers, and off shore hedgies who number near 10,000 in the Caymans alone, and who control half the NYSE, and half the London exchange, who had a field day with CDO's, and CDS's aren't quite finished yet.
I wouldn't put to much "stock" in our 3 rating agencies who now wish to downgrade our credit worthiness after being bought and paid for to help all the crooks in the financial industry like Goldmans, and the investment banks giving triple A ratings to the securities that brought down world economies that were nothing more than junk, garbage.
The very people who helped pave the way for all this were the very ones who helped generate the attitude that corruption, and fraud was the way to successfully bankrupt not only our nation, and its people, but the economies of the world, just so that 1 percent, could live 10x's over in the lap of luxury, and still be able to increase their wealth.
Do you not think there's something wrong when a US president has the power to nominate people like Greenspan, Cox, Summers, and to what affiliation were these presidents?, not be called to account for them?.
These people were all used feed the most greedy in the land. A system that allows publicly traded corporations to be used like personal ATM's for the insiders.............and in the midst of laying people off Bill Gates was selling hundreds of millions of dollars in stock every several days, weeks, and months at the expense of investors, or anyone who might have a mutual fund, or 401K whose managers invest in companies like this because of the name, and the revenue that it generates that on the surface looks to be a good place to grow ones investment, but in reality isn't. Its what taking place on the investment side, not what products the company is selling.
From this revenue is what should be making the salaries of these people, and like everyone else should have to work toward retirement to receive a pension. It shouldn't be spelled out in a contract for how many stocks they will receive, and what few years they have to serve in order to receive it at the expense of individual investors, and employees who want the money used for expansion, growth, and jobs. When a company stops growing so should the insiders salaries that should be paid out by check from the genrated revenues, "not from stock, or options". Just like any other employee who has to punch a time card.
This at its root has opened the door for this corruption, and its growth, same thing in the days of the Great Depression, something you and I are fortunate that we didn't have to live thru, less we had a bootlegging operation going on :). Just look at the OTC market, "All are crooks, all are scams", but our system allows for them to file S-8's, and 504D's, and in its reality there's is little to no accountability, and its a market where these CDS's were being sold and purchased, and where 20,000 scammers exist with at least 1/3 of them trading daily, and with no oversight.
Just put your money under your mattress, you'll draw just as much interest, and you'll at least be able to look, and count at it now and then. Its as safe there as anywhere else, and if for some reason it becomes worthless we can use it to start a backyard campfire with so we can roast hot dogs, or marshmellows.:) As long as you're throwing the party! :)
