7 minutes ago, nauseus said:

Just about everywhere.

My congratulations, you are the clear winner of the most fact-free post on this thread.

1 hour ago, davb said:

A lot of middle class people have 401K plans and pensions, both of which are highly dependent on the stock market.

I get angry thinking about it. They intentionally jacked-up the stock market with 401k - suddenly all of these people sent a portion of their money into the stock market each pay period, regardless if it was a good idea or not, buying companies that may or may not deserve it. Stocks went up, but it was because of everyone now buying in. Approaching Ponzi scheme territory.

I look at it differently........"A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan that allows employees to invest a portion of their paycheck, often before taxes are deducted, to save for the future. It offers significant tax advantages—either immediate tax breaks or tax-free withdrawals in retirement—and often includes employer-matching contributions, essentially providing free money.

In addition the majority of the money is invested in Passive funds, rather than active funds and over time Passive funds tend to outperform Actively managed funds. "Over a 20-year horizon, passive funds (index trackers) generally outperform the majority of active funds, primarily due to lower fees and consistent market-tracking returns. Studies, such as those from S&P Global, show that less than 5% of U.S. active managers beat their benchmarks over 20 years, largely because higher fees, such as 0.75% for active vs. lower for passive, compound over decades".

6 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

Are you implying that cheaper gas means more consumption? Not necessarily true.

Cheaper gas encourages people to buy gas-guzzling behemoths.

The average passenger vehicle mass in America is just under 2000 kg. In Europe, it's 1350 kg.

You do understand higher vehicle mass means higher fuel consumption, yes?

13 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

My congratulations, you are the clear winner of the most fact-free post on this thread.

Well let's look at your $8 trillion added to government debt claim. How can you demonstrate that as fact?.

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Then change the tax code. Why didn't the dems do anything? Because they like the breaks as well.

Just more deflection. Tell me the last time a Democratic president implemented tax cuts the size of both of the Trump tax cuts, during both terms.

I'll bet you cannot.

23 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

What is your claim that "a big majority of stocks are owned by the wealthy top 10" based on?

And what constitutes a "big majority"?

Incidentally, what percentage of federal income taxed do the top 10% pay?

Actually, it should be "what percentage of federal income tax can the top 10% afford to pay and still live better than the other 90% of citizens" IMHO anyway.

4 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Americans have been using he metric system in high school chemistry for at least 60 years. People that can do arithmetic do not have much difficulty switching back and forth.

What I think is hilarious, is that we in the US can buy a gallon of gas for what Europeans pay for a liter.

The U.S. has a recurring problem honoring agreements.

In the 1970s, it pushed the world, at their great expense, to adopt the metric system. Then it reneged and failed to mandate its own implementation—leaving a fractured system that still costs the world dearly through inefficiency, duplicated effort, and preventable errors and incidents like plane disasters, etc.

How many trillions will Trump’s breaking of the JCPOA and pursuit of war cost the world?

8 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The Chinese are probably ecstatic, the market for EV's can only increase.

Until all the countries they are flooding impose tariffs, like Brazil just did

23 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Don't tell me, show me.

We were talking about the US, not the world, and the leftist that claimed that a big majority of stocks in the US are owned by the wealthiest 10% was shown to be wrong. That's what happens when you post headlines as facts.

So why use your "logic and common sense" to come up with something,

Where was it shown to be wrong? I don't see anything on this thread. If you have something showing it to be wrong, perhaps you could link to it?

24 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Until all the countries they are flooding impose tariffs, like Brazil just did

They are brilliant cars with amazing batteries and range - far superior to what is being produced in the west - the head of Ford visited some car plants in China and was humbled by the experience. Some almost totally robotic. As America dies and rots within accelerated by the idiot in charge China steams ahead and avoid wars.Smart people.

The US is in the prcoess of losing its hegemon status and will cause a lot of pain to the world before it realises it has lost. Hopefully these pointless wars will accelerate that decline and and get through to a better muti-polar world where we work with China as a global partner not an enemy. In Thailand you are all living under an earlier version of that.

In multiple interviews (including the Aspen Ideas Festival and sessions in late 2025), Farley called the Chinese EV industry "the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen." Driving a Xiaomi: He famously admitted to shipping a Xiaomi SU7 to Chicago and driving it for six months, stating, "I don't want to give it up." The Technology Gap: Farley warned that Chinese EVs are "far superior" in terms of cost and quality, noting that Western automakers are "25 years uncompetitive" in their internal engineering systems compared to giants like BYD and Xiaomi.

Just an aside so that non-Usofan retirees don't feel neglected: Not all 'pensions' are dependent on the stock markets' performance.

If you have a government pension (as I do from Oz, as my base income) then it goes up regularly with inflation (every 6 months in my case).

On 3/28/2026 at 3:42 PM, Yellowtail said:

Life gets better every year for me.

Takes one call to change that.

On 3/28/2026 at 3:22 PM, Yellowtail said:

So, you were wrong about the "big majority", and now you're deflecting with nonsense about taxes.

Any way you look at thedata, per the IRS, the top 1% pays ~50%, and the top 10% pays ~75% of all federal income taxes. That is true, yes?

And as I understand it, the percentages the rich pay of state income taxes are even higher.

Look at the data on the rate of tax per income paid across the wealth distribution curve.

It’s great news for the hyper wealthy, bad news for the poor and those on low incomes.

22 hours ago, Dan O said:

How many stocks in the S&P made up the bulk of that increase?

I don't really know. I am in mutual funds and ETFs for the most part but have done really well in the market. I admit it is hard to watch how much my net-worth is going down due to the war. I believe if I can hold long enough it will come back even if it takes a number of years.

On 3/28/2026 at 1:07 PM, JerryM said:

Only good thing (if u can call it that) is the baht is moving in the more baht per $ direction.

On 3/28/2026 at 1:07 PM, JerryM said:

Only good thing (if u can call it that) is the baht is moving in the more baht per $ direction.

Yes great news.

Lost 10000 dollars on my investments but the falling Baht has made me $50 a month better off.

1 minute ago, Kenny Boy said:

Yes great news.

Lost 10000 dollars on my investments but the falling Baht has made me $50 a month better off.

Send Trump the bill.

What goes around comes around! what goes down come back up! What goes up comes back down! 😂

It's not anyones fault these is the way the worlds goes around, another day, same <deleted>!

Investors with enough cash are waiting on the sidelines for the market to crash (ie minus 20%). They will then buy and be richer a few years from now.

On 3/29/2026 at 5:34 AM, EVENKEEL said:

I mainly care about my money. As do most.

I assume that if you have a keen interest in your finances that you try to stay informed about the economy and financial markets. I just finished watching Trump's cabinet meeting last week in its entirety, and I, as I believe most impartial viewers would likely agree, the prepared presentations the cabinet members delivered were shockingly sycophantic and detached from reality. Even allowing for the fact that these presentations were undoubtably delivered for the news media and propaganda purposes, and that hopefully more realistic and truthful assessments are being given behind closed doors, anyone with any financial and economic background should be able to see how one-sided Bessent's economic assessment was.

Here is a summary of why it was so obviously one-sided. Bessent glossed over or ignored:

·     the fact that the legality of IEEGA tariffs was overturned by the Supreme Court, resulting in continued trade chaos and need for budget-sapping tariff refunds

·      The Federal debt and deficit are ballooning out of control

·      Manufacturing employment is falling

·      Unemployment is creeping up

·      Developments in the Iran war, which should have been foreseen, have forced US to counterproductively lift sanctions on both Russian and Iranian oil

·      American farmers are suffering because of loss of soybean markets in China, as well as rising fuel and fertilizer costs

·      The global economy is suffering severely which will obviously impact the vitality of the US economy

·      Trump's maritime insurance initiative to facilitate shipments of oil through Hormuz has so far failed to produce results

·      Stock markets are in correction territory

·      the stimulative effect of tax returns are being overstated because they are being offset by rising food, energy, housing and services inflation, as well as plummeting consumer confidence

·      the claim that the strength of the USD is due to investment in US economy ignores the fact that there is a strong global interest in de-dollarizing the oil trade, and that this strength is likely only temporary due to flight to safety caused by global turmoil

·      Trump has already indicated that the Iran war will require supplementary spending of at least 200 billion, further adding to the national debt and deficit which in the long term will undoubtably result in a weaker dollar and a weakening of America's economic strength.

Bessent's presentation begins at :57 minute mark

On 3/28/2026 at 2:50 PM, Yellowtail said:

So that's something less than half the market, when you take out institutional and foreign ownership. But you knew that, yes?

False

The wealthiest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks even with market participation at a record high

• The richest Americans own the vast majority of the US stock market, according to Fed data.

• The top 10% of Americans held 93% of all stocks, the highest level ever recorded.

• Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans held just 1% of all stocks in the third quarter of 2023.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-ownership-wealthiest-americans-one-percent-record-high-economy-2024-1#:~:text=Top%2010%25%20of%20Americans%20Own,the%20Stock%20Market%20%2D%20Markets%20Insider

https://archive.ph/DW0A8

https://archive.ph/DW0A8

Do you deny that 93% constitutes a big majority? If not, how high does the percentage have to go?

On 3/28/2026 at 2:19 PM, Alan Zweibel said:

The thing is, a big majority of stocks are owned by the wealthy top 10%. So, it may affect how they vote. I suppose indirectly it could have an effect because of the the top 10%'s share of consumer spending. So that could weaken the economy. Anyway, the stock market is very volatile. I think factors like the cost of gasoline are far more important to most Americans.

According to information I read some months ago (but do not have the source at my fingertips), the big-time well-informed investors were slowly but steadily withdrawing from the stock-market. However the oligarch-owned mass-media were promoting investment in it, encouraging "mom-and-pop" investors to rush in and thereby prop up share prices.

The market is allowed to crash once the plutocrats have withdrawn.

Anyway, believe what you will.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Another click bait article about the end of the world because the great US Ponzi (Stock Market) is falling like a Soi 6 babe upstairs.

BFD. The market will come back and the smart folks will be rich.

40 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

I assume that if you have a keen interest in your finances that you try to stay informed about the economy and financial markets. I just finished watching Trump's cabinet meeting last week in its entirety, and I, as I believe most impartial viewers would likely agree, the prepared presentations the cabinet members delivered were shockingly sycophantic and detached from reality. Even allowing for the fact that these presentations were undoubtably delivered for the news media and propaganda purposes, and that hopefully more realistic and truthful assessments are being given behind closed doors, anyone with any financial and economic background should be able to see how one-sided Bessent's economic assessment was.

Here is a summary of why it was so obviously one-sided. Bessent glossed over or ignored:

·     the fact that the legality of IEEGA tariffs was overturned by the Supreme Court, resulting in continued trade chaos and need for budget-sapping tariff refunds

·      The Federal debt and deficit are ballooning out of control

·      Manufacturing employment is falling

·      Unemployment is creeping up

·      Developments in the Iran war, which should have been foreseen, have forced US to counterproductively lift sanctions on both Russian and Iranian oil

·      American farmers are suffering because of loss of soybean markets in China, as well as rising fuel and fertilizer costs

·      The global economy is suffering severely which will obviously impact the vitality of the US economy

·      Trump's maritime insurance initiative to facilitate shipments of oil through Hormuz has so far failed to produce results

·      Stock markets are in correction territory

·      the stimulative effect of tax returns are being overstated because they are being offset by rising food, energy, housing and services inflation, as well as plummeting consumer confidence

·      the claim that the strength of the USD is due to investment in US economy ignores the fact that there is a strong global interest in de-dollarizing the oil trade, and that this strength is likely only temporary due to flight to safety caused by global turmoil

·      Trump has already indicated that the Iran war will require supplementary spending of at least 200 billion, further adding to the national debt and deficit which in the long term will undoubtably result in a weaker dollar and a weakening of America's economic strength.

Bessent's presentation begins at :57 minute mark

Trump's performance would be comic if it were not catastrophic.

1 hour ago, biervoormij said:

I don't really know. I am in mutual funds and ETFs for the most part but have done really well in the market. I admit it is hard to watch how much my net-worth is going down due to the war. I believe if I can hold long enough it will come back even if it takes a number of years.

I'm only watchful because I wanted to make a withdrawl and this is a bad time. It will come back.

1 minute ago, ericbj said:

Trump's performance would be comic if it were not catastrophic.

Just before Bessent's presentation, Trump goes on this 14 minute digression about the alleged Fed Reserve construction project cost overruns and Sharpee pens that makes you want to scream about atrocious time management, and how everyone is just humoring Trump like Grandpa at a family picnic while the country is going to hell in a hand basket.

18 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Just before Bessent's presentation, Trump goes on this 14 minute digression about the alleged Fed Reserve construction project cost overruns and Sharpee pens that makes you want to scream about atrocious time management, and how everyone is just humoring Trump like Grandpa at a family picnic while the country is going to hell in a hand basket.

And the DOJ admitted just recently, that, contrary to Trump's allegations, it has no evidence of any criminality on the part of the Jerome Powell, the chair of the Fed.

Might be of interest regarding dollar strength:

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/10/09/why-is-the-us-dollar-gaining-value-right-now

In Thailand, think gold not dollars:

The headline stated 'bad news for all retirees'. Not necessarily. Far too early to tell.

On 3/28/2026 at 1:07 PM, JerryM said:

Only good thing (if u can call it that) is the baht is moving in the more baht per $ direction.

Agreed ... but then my retirement investment value is down $29,000 usd since January.