Re: Defense in depth?

On Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:47:52 -0500, "Michael Benveniste"
<mhb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Paul Ciszek" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Sure, we had no idea *when* the bubble would burst, but we could see
that the bubble was hollow inside. Is riding the bubble and betting
on when it will burst really the only option available? Isn't there
anything real (like businesses that produce goods or provides services)
that money can be invested in, in lieu of speculation?

Real? As in _Real Estate_ perhaps?

I am reminded of Tom Clancy's description of the Tokyo real estate
market meltdown in the book Debt Of Honor.

But the answer to your question is yes, CDO's compete with other
investments like stocks, debt instruments, and other tangible items
for investment dollars. Historically, debt instruments offer a
lower return and less risk than equity.

In case you didn't notice, stocks didn't do very well last year.
Neither did most investments. Not even precious metals were
immune to the meltdown -- over 2008 gold was flat while other
metals such as silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium saw
substantial decreases.

Heck, you could even speculate in commodities. Remember when
everyone was blaming the oil price surge on speculators? Ever
wonder what happened to those speculators since then?

But here's a not-so-little secret. The stock market gets all the
press. But the debt markets are _much_ bigger, and until this
meltdown most people outside of finance were barely aware they
existed.
--
"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."
Publius Syrus
.

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