Who Shredded Our Safety Net?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

But I personally avoided joining in my company 401k plan for years. Not because I had a better plan, but because I thought, and am now caught, in the down turn I predicted. No option for an actual retirement plan...

You do realize that you don't have to invest your 401(k) in the stock market, right?

And even if you do, you can always sell before you hit the bottom. Read this thread.

(As a side note, I sold all my equity funds in June 2008 and bought them back right after the market hit the bottom on March 9, 2009.)

Wilson they dont know what all that shite means! They be wantin a fvckin hand-out!

[ready4ONE 5,400]

But I personally avoided joining in my company 401k plan for years. Not because I had a better plan, but because I thought, and am now caught, in the down turn I predicted. No option for an actual retirement plan...

You do realize that you don't have to invest your 401(k) in the stock market, right?

And even if you do, you can always sell before you hit the bottom. Read this thread.

(As a side note, I sold all my equity funds in June 2008 and bought them back right after the market hit the bottom on March 9, 2009.)

Wilson they dont know what all that shite means! They be wantin a fvckin hand-out!

Speak English much?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ignoring the personal attacks, I thought it was a good read - the author showed how pensions, which were hard fought by the unions have all but disappeared, and instead we have 401k's.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

But I personally avoided joining in my company 401k plan for years. Not because I had a better plan, but because I thought, and am now caught, in the down turn I predicted. No option for an actual retirement plan...

You do realize that you don't have to invest your 401(k) in the stock market, right?

And even if you do, you can always sell before you hit the bottom. Read this thread.

(As a side note, I sold all my equity funds in June 2008 and bought them back right after the market hit the bottom on March 9, 2009.)

Wilson they dont know what all that shite means! They be wantin a fvckin hand-out!

And you be suckin' Obama's teat.

[scandal 951]

Ignoring the personal attacks, I thought it was a good read - the author showed how pensions, which were hard fought by the unions have all but disappeared, and instead we have 401k's.

Yes, there has been a massive shift over the past 30 years from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. That is undoubtedly true.

It is certainly change. Is it progressive change, or is it regressive?

The jury is still out, but I personally think it's progress. I like the control of having my funds in an account that I can direct and manage.

I'm willing to take the risk of poor decisions if I'm granted the ability to be rewarded for good ones.

That is a form of individual responsibility that I find very much in keeping with American traditions of individuality, and very much to my liking.

We have deep and liquid capital markets in this country, the deepest and most liquid in the world. For generations only the elite could directly benefit from them.

Those markets are now open to all. For some, they will prove dangerous. For many of us (I put myself in this category) this is a fabulous opportunity to benefit in a way we could not in past generations.

[mawilson 2,133]

Ignoring the personal attacks, I thought it was a good read - the author showed how pensions, which were hard fought by the unions have all but disappeared, and instead we have 401k's.

Yes, there has been a massive shift over the past 30 years from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. That is undoubtedly true.

It is certainly change. Is it progressive change, or is it regressive?

The jury is still out, but I personally think it's progress. I like the control of having my funds in an account that I can direct and manage.

I'm willing to take the risk of poor decisions if I'm granted the ability to be rewarded for good ones.

That is a form of individual responsibility that I find very much in keeping with American traditions of individuality, and very much to my liking.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Recognizing that the good folks who used to have exclusive access to the fabulous market system continue to run it, make the most from it, and ran it into the ground, I guess I don't appreciate the gamble.

At one point Enron looked like a sharp stock pick, right?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Don't mind Steven. He is just longing for more nanny state than we already have. He doesn't have any conception of taking responsibility for his own future, he thinks the government should guarantee everything from cradle to grave. It's just Steven being Steven.

Personnel responsibility is beyond his comprehension.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Monkey Trumps Wall Street With 200 Percent Gain

Dart-Throwing Monkey Returns to Wall Street With New Picks For Year 2000

Business Wire

01/12/00, 9:41p

(Copyright ' 2000, Business Wire)

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2000--Raven, the dart-throwing monkey with her own Web site, showed up many of Wall Street's finest with her 213 percent gain for the year.

"It's all in the wrist action," stated Raven, age six. A Web site and index have been created to monitor her performance. The Web site and the index can both be found at www.monkeydex.com.

MonkeyDex is the Internet's first index of Internet stocks picked by an actual monkey. MonkeyDex was created in January of 1999 when Raven, a six-year-old female monkey, tossed darts at a dartboard of 133 Internet-related stocks. Raven returned to Wall Street this year with a dart toss at a dartboard of 281 Internet-related stocks.

"She quadrupled the performance of the Dow and doubled the performance of the Nasdaq composite," stated Roland Perry, editor of the Internet Stock Review and creator of the MonkeyDex. "Not bad considering she wasn't able to participate in any of the hot new issue offerings," he added.

"And yes, she beat the Internet Stock Review's top 20 picks for 1999, which gained 79 percent last year. We did manage to outperform her with our Original Watch List, which gained 490 percent in 1998 and went on to finish 1999 with a two-year gain of 1,566 percent."

Had Raven been employed at a Wall Street Mutual Fund, her performance would rank her as the 22nd best money manager in the country outperforming over 6,000 Wall Street pros.

Raven's picks for 1999 were AudioHighway (Nasdaq:AHWY), down 21%; CMGI Inc. (Nasdaq:CMGI), up 935%; iMall (Nasdaq:IMAL), bought out; Inktomi (Nasdaq:INKT), up 177%; ISS Group (Nasdaq:ISSX), up 158%; Kushner-Locke (Nasdaq:KLOC), down 36%; Lycos (Nasdaq:LCOS), up 194%; Netspeak (Nasdaq:NSPK), up 88%; Onsale (Nasdaq:ONSL), bought out; and Ozemail, which merged with MCI WorldComm (WCOM).

Raven's picks for year 2000 are Audible.com (Nasdaq:ADBL), Broadcom (Nasdaq:BRCM), eToys (Nasdaq:ETYS), Litronic (Nasdaq:LNTX), Medium4.com (OTCBB:METV), Lycos (Nasdaq:LCOS), N2H2 (Nasdaq:NTWO), Prodigy (Nasdaq:PRGY), Software.com (Nasdaq:SWCM) and StarMedia (Nasdaq:STRM).

This year's dart-tossing ceremonies were recorded by a film crew from the National Enquirer and will air on National Enquirer TV (http://www.nationalenquirertv.com/):

Boston, WFXT -- 12:30 p.m., Midnight

Chicago, WFLD -- 12:30 p.m., Midnight

Los Angeles, KCAL -- 3 p.m., 12:30 a.m.

Miami, WBZL -- 1 p.m., 2 a.m.

New York, WNYW -- 11 a.m.

Philadelphia, WTXF -- Noon

San Francisco, KBWB -- 11 p.m., 12:30 p.m.

Washington, D.C., WTTG -- 12:30 p.m., 5 a.m.

About the Internet Stock Review Online

The Internet Stock Review Online is an Online newsletter designed to give broad coverage to Internet-related publicly traded companies. Each issue of the Online newsletter aggregates and reports on New Buys & Sales on Wall Street, coverage initiated or dropped on Wall Street, Big Movers, Earnings (or lack of) reports, news and/or news releases from Business Wire or PR Newswire, news from industry media or trade journals, news from traditional media outlets.

Each issue includes hyperlinks to the news origination source for full coverage. The newsletter additionally reports on the availability of streaming audio/video profiles, news releases, shareholder conferences and interviews with senior management of the companies covered.

http://www.krannert.purdue.edu/faculty/Rau...rtThrowing.html

Still comfortable?

[mawilson 2,133]

Recognizing that the good folks who used to have exclusive access to the fabulous market system continue to run it, make the most from it, and ran it into the ground, I guess I don't appreciate the gamble.

So don't gamble. Your 401(k) is *your money* and you can invest it any way you want, including

none at all. You can keep it all in cash or safe money-market funds earning just enough to beat inflation.

Edited June 29, 2009 by mawilson

[mawilson 2,133]

MonkeyDex is the Internet's first index of Internet stocks picked by an actual monkey. MonkeyDex was created in January of 1999 when Raven, a six-year-old female monkey, tossed darts at a dartboard of 133 Internet-related stocks. Raven returned to Wall Street this year with a dart toss at a dartboard of 281 Internet-related stocks.

An article from 2000? Seriously?

Back then you could pretty much throw a dart at any stock and still make money.

My question is, who picked the 133 stocks for the monkey to choose from? Obviously, if you

carefully choose the best performing stocks, you can beat the index.

[scandal 951]

Don't mind Steven. He is just longing for more nanny state than we already have. He doesn't have any conception of taking responsibility for his own future, he thinks the government should guarantee everything from cradle to grave. It's just Steven being Steven.

Personnel responsibility is beyond his comprehension.

Well since you are intent on insulting people's "comprehension" how about starting with comprehending the spelling of the word "personal"? Or is that just a teensy bit out of your league?

[scandal 951]

Recognizing that the good folks who used to have exclusive access to the fabulous market system continue to run it, make the most from it, and ran it into the ground, I guess I don't appreciate the gamble.

At one point Enron looked like a sharp stock pick, right?

Who said anything about picking a single stock?

Personally I favor a broad based total market index which tracks either Russell 3000 or Wilshire 5000. Those are not always available, so you can synthesize by getting sector based index funds. Start with Vanguard.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Quit the madness of insult. Please. I can tell you guys that the first person who insult is the person who has a problem with themselves. Some people view things differently. Isn't that what they taught in ethics?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

MonkeyDex is the Internet's first index of Internet stocks picked by an actual monkey. MonkeyDex was created in January of 1999 when Raven, a six-year-old female monkey, tossed darts at a dartboard of 133 Internet-related stocks. Raven returned to Wall Street this year with a dart toss at a dartboard of 281 Internet-related stocks.

An article from 2000? Seriously?

Back then you could pretty much throw a dart at any stock and still make money.

My question is, who picked the 133 stocks for the monkey to choose from? Obviously, if you

carefully choose the best performing stocks, you can beat the index.

Need fresher proof a monkey can do better than the experts? Here you go! A monkey in Chicago outperforms the market, thus market experts as a whole! Even in a market crash!

<h1 class="story_headline">A monkey's view of the Wall Street meltdown</h1> <h3 class="story_subhead"> THE CURIOUS INVESTOR | Time for some real monkey business</h3>

October 5, 2008

DAVID ROEDER droeder@suntimes.com

Edited June 29, 2009 by ready4ONE