tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-775967109474059335.post5286154216573487833..comments2023-11-13T00:52:34.306-08:00Comments on Kevin On Investing: Financial News: Worse than Useless!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-775967109474059335.post-22336638777400705462010-04-26T23:06:07.791-07:002010-04-26T23:06:07.791-07:00This is a fantastic article...Thank you for includ...This is a fantastic article...Thank you for including the financial history of our country. As for what Harry mentioned, as well, I believe news on any subject feeds off of our most dramatic emotions. If what's going on in the stock market elicits the slightest bit of fear, the news will feed off of this and bring in "experts" to comment and get all of us going crazy. Unfortunately, I think it can be relatively easy these days to get caught up in the mass media craze... Especially when you hear phrases like, "The Great Depression" being thrown around...Marisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15908613265523053304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-775967109474059335.post-59461057674294129042010-03-06T12:39:31.071-08:002010-03-06T12:39:31.071-08:00Very well put! I think it's great that you are...Very well put! I think it's great that you are pointing this out because as you said, it sounds as if people listen too much to financial news and sell when stocks plummet, and buy when stocks rise...I'm glad you're teaching me while I'm young to do the opposite! I also really appreciate the reading references. It's really helpful for people like me who need to learn a little bit more on these subjects.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861041528361486862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-775967109474059335.post-71701565380350522572010-02-16T23:27:27.778-08:002010-02-16T23:27:27.778-08:00Hey Harry,
Good to hear that this is helping you ...Hey Harry,<br /><br />Good to hear that this is helping you break your addiction to what some refer to as financial pornography. Although I understand that it's easier to listen to the news or glance at the business section of the newspaper, I'll continue to encourage you to make the extra effort to read good investing books instead.<br /><br />People have been being caught off guard by financial crises for hundreds of years. Reading a good book or two that covers this subject helps realize that what we've recently been through isn't all that unique in many respects. William Bernstein's "The Four Pillars of Investing" devotes an entire section to financial history (one of the 4 pillars), reviewing a number of bubbles and crashes that have occurred over the years. I highly recommend this book.<br /><br />We've been through two big bubbles/manias and crashes/panics in the U.S. in the last decade or so: the high tech bubble/crash of the late 90s and early 2000s, and the credit/housing bubble/crash recently. It seems that a bubble is by definition something that most people don't realize is happening when it's happening -- otherwise people wouldn't continue to buy assets at inflated prices.<br /><br />Clearly there was a lack of transparency in the derivatives markets, and a lack of effective regulation to keep people from getting themselves into trouble. This includes people who bought houses they couldn't afford as well as those who made the loans to them, not to mention those who bought and sold the repackaged loans. While we may or may not get improved regulations to deal with this particular set of problems, human ingenuity is such that it's unlikely we'll ever keep creative people from finding ways to get around the regulations, coming up with exotic financial products, and finding investors to sell them to.<br /><br />It's also unlikely that human nature will change much, and that people won't get caught up in the greed that contributes to manias and bubbles, and the fear that exacerbates the ensuing panics and crashes.<br /><br />KevinKevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03576910288369216955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-775967109474059335.post-65764579728630364052010-02-16T13:06:08.764-08:002010-02-16T13:06:08.764-08:00Kevin,
I feel much better after reading this ar...Kevin,<br /> I feel much better after reading this article;especially after seeing that historically, stocks have gone up as we go in debt. I have a bad habit of listening to financial doomsayers which I need to simply stop. <br /> The only part of my questions that I still ponder on is how so many people were taken off guard by the financial crisis we had?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14201235289885400079noreply@blogger.com