The Dividend Pirate

Bear Stearns» BOFA» Chrysler» Citi» GE» GM» Lehman»

Popularity: 24% [?]

Great visualization of the credit mess.

bear» credit» credit crisis» depression» lending» recession»

Popularity: 91% [?]

I had just finished my 11th grade in 1997. If I had invested money in the broad US stock market index in 97, I would have made a 0% return today. Big losses send the two major gauges to levels not seen in nearly 12 years. Ouch!! Thank God I didn’t have much money then. An excerpt from CNN,

The Dow and S&P 500 tumbled to levels not seen in nearly 12 years Monday, as investors continue to worry that the government’s efforts to slow the recession won’t be sufficient.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 250 points, or 3.4%, ending at the lowest point since May 7, 1997.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 26 points, or 3.5%, ending at the lowest point since April 11, 1997.

The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 53 points, or 3.7%. The tech-fueled index has held up better than the rest of the market so far this year, closing at the lowest points since Nov. 20, 2008.

“It’s fear-based selling,” said Dave Hinnenkamp, CEO at KDV Wealth Management. “The fact that we’re touching these multi-year lows tells you we don’t know where the bottom of this thing is.”

“There is just nobody who wants to buy right now,” said Ron Kiddoo, chief investment officer at Cozad Asset Management.

“Worries about how long it will take for the government programs to have an impact and worries about the health of the banks and the autos are all there,” Webb said.

But there is also just the day-to-day reality that many investors are losing money and don’t know when they are going to stop losing money, he said.

Recessions and economic downturns are tough. They also provide us a lot of examples to learn from. I came across one such story today. ABC news reported the rise and fall of Florida celebrity broker Carlos Justo. Click this link to learn more about how Carlos went from 20 million dollars net worth in 2005 to being bankrupt and 12 million dollars in debt in just a few years. For me the story was of a guy who became a millionaire from a janitor and is back to ground zero. But more than anything it is about him not giving up and having the will to come back. I wish him all the luck.

There are many lessons to learn from his story,

• Be humble: When everything is going right for you, you tend to lose touch of reality. You might feel that you are the smartest, richest and the most intelligent guy around. If you ever feel this way, do a reality check. Fortunes can change on the fall of a hat. It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction
• Avoid greed: During the DotCom boom, a lot of people became paper millionaires from companies that didnt make a single dime in profit.But they were greedy and didnt sell shares. They wanted more. In the end they were left with worthless stocks. Similarly a lot of investors get greedy during boom times and expect unrealistic returns on their investments.