**HAD** to go get coffee this morning (I try not to leave the house bc covid)

their 401Ks and stocks. The black guy surprises me though.

I, like many many others, have to rely on a 401K for retirement because that system was shoved down our throats years ago, so yes, I'm glad the stock market is doing well. But it's doing well DESPITE Benedict Donald, not thanks to him.

They weren't completely wrong, if you only look at stock indexes. The market has done considerably well, and that really isn't directly tied to what Trump did. If anything, he hindered it. There was a perception that he was freeing things up due to deregulation, but the foundation was built under Obama.

The other fact is that stock market is only one factor in the economy. The pandemic hit the lowest economic classes the hardest who don't really put money into the market anyway, so it's less likely the market would really show this side of the equation. The strain on the lower classes isn't going t be prominently reflected in the market. We also have several households in financial crisis, which is going to have to level out at a later time and this will hinder growth. Even within the market, things shifted away from travel, etc and went more toward companies like Amazon because of what was more viable under pandemic conditions.

My investment accounts have gone up throughout Trump's term. I don't credit him because he's been so incompetent elsewhere. Also, factor in the banks were just lending money left and right without a second look. I had credit limits I didn't even ask for which were 5x my annual income. Now that the pandemic hit my lines were cut to be more reasonable and closer to what I'd expect them to be, without me even asking.

Especially precipitously. There are scenarios in which people should take good news from Wall Street as good news for all, but it is generally only good for people who have the price of entry.

During the pandemic Wall St has reaped record profits while Main St stands on food lines.

Alot of deluded people also bought into the idea of Trump as a 'great businessman' from the image he projected on The Apprentice. They don't care that he doesn't pay taxes - they secretly wish to also be rich and not pay taxes as well.

PJ is probably the the most gentle of all the commentators, if you will, because he said he would give all the time in the world to listen to someone that has no filters. An odd way to look at it, but that is apparently what he said in response to one of the progeny who said "Of all the people that have ever been on this show, you are the only one that actually seems to like my father."

Even then, Penn finished with "No matter how bad you think he is, he's worse."

as I have explained to some folks, I don't just vote my IRA and Mutual Fund.

besides the small effect they might have on the stock market

Thank you, but...

Honesty, the slow and steady of the Obama years was calmly reassuring. This current market is making me queasy. The irrational exuberance is strong with this one.

And most don't realize the fed is buying up stock to prop up the market. Also, some middle class people think that having a 401K plan & some company stock makes them investor class. Most of the lower/working/middle class don't have a clue just how rich the wealthy really are.

This video is an amazing eye opener! America's wealth distributed as a slice of pie. The entire vid is about 6.5 minutes. The interesting part starts at about 30 seconds. Worth the watch!

It is NOT.

1. Real Estate Bubbles

Housing and commercial real estate prices can rise too high too fast, pricing some buyers out of the market. This can lead to a number of factors that might burst the housing bubble.
2. Commodity Bubbles

When inflation expectations rise (regardless of whether or not there is real inflation), investors tend to pile into hard assets like gold, oil, and base metals.
3. Equity Bubbles

Investors who are looking for higher returns may flock to stocks rather than fixed income instruments, causing equity prices to rise, perhaps out of line with reasonable valuations.
4. Debt Bubbles

Cheap money, especially when offered for extended periods of time, can lead borrowers to become complacent and take on more leverage than they can really afford.

Bubbles don’t become ugly until they pop. There are 2 main problems with any type of bubble: First, they always pop eventually. Secondly, we never know when they are going to do it.

"The uploader....blah blah blah."

I'd really like to see it, but don't even know what search term(s) to use.

I was hoping that SOMETHING might have improved, but obviously not. Both ends of the "reporting" (etc) spectrum, not necessarily wealth-wise, have their extremists, but the super-wealthy rarely have policy a position other than "MINE!"

My rule-of-thumb is...find a person from whom you could take 95+% of their wealth and their daily life wouldn't change one iota, and you've found a person that could at least help the situation. Nowhere near all of their money, and probably not even close to half of their money, but they can afford it, quite literally.

The last number I heard bandied about in regards to the wealth of Jeff Bezos was $107 billion. How can one person POSSIBLY need that insane amount of money? Could he get by with, say....$97B? 90? 80?

If he needs more "fulfillment" than that, I can recommend some places. It's right there in the name.

because Dr. King says our lives begin to end the minute we remain silent on things that matter. They can know that THEY are the ones out of bounds.

It’s a sin against the Holy Ghost to run out of coffee in my house!

I have numerous ways of making it too, just in case.

I will be so happy when this alt-reality Trump created, goes back to where it came from, never to return.

Bank, market, Ocean state, and home. No problems except they were sold out of my dogs refrigerated dog food. My dog is eating a beef roast this week. It is cheaper than the dog food?

you said "while they smear shit on our hallowed halls"
a friend of mine said something about that yesterday
i have not heard about that
is that really true? where did you hear that?

[link:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9126409/MAGA-mob-rioters-smeared-POO-Capitol.html|

others, not so much. I've encountered some Baltimore black men who thought Trump/GOP would mean less riots in their city or less crime or something like that. Not sure that's working out.

cooked (no drive-throughs, restaurant deliveries, even coffee from Starbucks) since February. When I'm on the way home, to go through a drive though seems like a no-brainer for the moment, but then I just think COVID. I'm not that concerned about food contamination, but all the other exposure potential that exceeds what I am already getting from HCW work exposures. When people have kindly donated pizza for me and my colleagues I've not been able to convince myself to indulge prior to showering head to toe--even though I've been starving. A lot of it is mental, but... Now that I've had a year eating nothing more than the most simple foods to prepare (though healthy, non-processed) possible, I don't know what would happen to my cravings if I return to prior patterns. Still, that doesn't appear likely any time soon. Am I saying others should not purchase food out? NO. But I won't any time soon.

I don't see life returning to prior any time in the foreseeable future, frankly. We lost all opportunity to contain COVID when we could have. The vaccine will help but I foresee it being a stopgap with booster doses and new vaccines every year or two becoming the norm. I'd suggest that everyone get used to their mask as a modern-day "security blanket." We'll be mourning more than a lost way of life for a long time to come.

"I wish I had taken more precautions".

I don’t bother trying to educate anyone anymore. I have relatives who think organic food is poison. There’s no coming back to reality with some of these nutters.

grocery store. Did those two idiots you were speaking of even have masks on? And yes, they are idiots if they believe that bullchit.

I mean, the vast majority of them know better, but what is with the Trumpy black people?

Which is really a mask for deep insecurity--his and theirs. They are even willing to overlook his racism.

All these folks need a big dose of cognitive rational therapy.

You threw a bucket of cold water on those peoples

You could have finished with "Snap Out of It"
(Cher)

I will never understand.

themselves, they think it doesn't exist. Or that it doesn't apply to them. But to be honest, I have NO idea how any person of color can live in the United States and not experience some degree of racism. The only way is if they live in their own ethnic community and have zero interactions outside of their bubble.

asked one why, he said "They hate China."

I believe that much of the deregulation has caused major harm to our environment.
I believe that some of the tax cuts for corporations and the extremely wealthy may have helped the stock market while causing harm overall due to increased deficits.

So, just like a physical trainer does not get credit for his trainee having good looking muscles, Trump does not get the credit for the economy, he gets the blame for the economy.