Remember the movie The Big Short? What's the corruption rate?

[shockey80]

That movie is special to me because only a few people in the entire country figured out the housing market, economy were going to collapse and I was one of them. I did not have the inside information, numbers the people in the movie had. However I did something they did, I looked and saw a problem, a problem that was so crazy you had a hard time believing it. I did not dismiss it, ignore it, I kept on looking until I could figure it out. The problem was out in the open for all to see.

I watched the prices of houses soar and then what happened next defied logic, Houses sold faster. I can still remember saying to myself, soon people will stop buying because the prices are un-affordable. That did not happen. I remember asking people, did everybody get a raise? I didn't get a raise. Why are people buying houses that have doubled and tripled in prices? How can they afford it? Over time it got to the point where I knew the economy was going to collapse. I figured it out in the summer of 2007.

As we watch the madness of Trump, as we watched the Mueller investigation, the impeachment trial. What else was happening that we did not look at? Is anybody paying attention to the corruption rate? What's the fraud rate under Trump? At what level is oversight? How badly have the govt. agencies that handle oversight been gutted? The people who remain in these agencies, are they reporting problems they see or do they ignore them out of fear of Trump? What is the de-regulation level? Finally, what is the self destruction rate of the American people?

I could argue all of these rates, levels are at the highest levels in our history.

The American people have developed severe tunnel vision. They are not curious at all. They completely ignore the consequences of their decisions, the danger of their apathy and ignorance. In general the American people have become a people who only care about getting what they want at any given moment without even considering any consequences, dangers, It's like nothing else exists.

I have a saying I tell people. Don't think like Spock, think like Captain Kirk?

When people look at the state of the economy, they look at job growth numbers, unemployment numbers, GDP, stock market numbers. That's thinking like Spock. Think like Captain Kirk. What's the corruption rate, fraud rate, oversight levels, regulation levels. These give you a better idea of the state of the economy. These rates are telling us we are going to get whacked. We are going to get hurt sooner or later.

Like I did back during the housing fraud market, I am looking, I see big problems, great danger heading our way when it come to our economy. I can't tell you when it will happen, I can only tell you it will happen.

[Squinch]

1. I've been thinking this for some time. I did get out of the market a while ago because

of it. Problem is, when these things happen the economy "soars" for a good long while before it drops. Right now I'm in the "Crap! I forewent 20% returns for a year!" stage of this process.

[empedocles]

3. I like Will Rogers, ''I'm not concerned with the rate of return on my investment, I'm

concerned with the return of my investment''.

[I have T-bills and a few hedges].

[mopinko]

2. i'm so glad i cashed my 401k in 4 years ago.

i got a big chunk in my divorce, and couldnt take it out of the market fast enough. i took a big, big tax hit, but i was fine w it. my maintenance agreement was such that i wasnt gonna see a lower tax rate for 7 years.

i bought a little single family home out of bankruptcy, fixed it up, and got my ideal tenant- someone who could afford to buy a house, but has too much student debt.
proud of the work we did. lots of great salvage pieces, and ready for another century of providing a great place to raise kids in a great, diverse hood.
my tenants are adorable, we 2 super cute little boys.

fuck wall street. fuck your paper. i'll take bricks and boards and dirts, thank you very much.

btw, i did this despite my own house, on the other side of the block, dropping 50% in value in the crash. this hood got hit hard. but it is solid, and the crash brought me 3 pieces of property i never could have afforded otherwise.
so, yeah, on that score, thank you wall street. i will never forget my mother telling me that the people who got through the depression well were the ones who had enough money to scoop up the spoils.

[shockey80]

4. When I figured things out in the summer of 2007, I went to my financial advisor.

I had a 401k and I wanted to protect it. I told him what I had been looking at the past few years. I then told him the economy was going to blow up.Those were the words I used.

He agreed with me that there were problems, but he did not believe the economy was going to collapse. I said, Bullshit, It's going to blow up. I remember asking him, is there a place I can move my money where I will make money when the economy blows up. He said, not that I know of.

A couple of days later he calls me and tells me about a fund I could move my money into. I could not believe what they were offering me. Even the investment firms were caught up in the madness. They believed everything would keep going up with no end in sight. I laughed and told my advisor I will take it.

About two years ago I get a letter from the headquarters of the investment company offering me 15,000 dollars to move out of my account into another one. I laughed and did not accept it. My advisor told almost everyone takes the free money. I said good, now I know I did the right thing. Lol!