Thursday, October 12, 2006
Happy days are here! Everybody feel rich?
posted by Quiddity at 10/12/2006 01:21:00 PM
5 comments
Every index is only as good as it's fundamentals.
Even taking into account Clinton's "bubble," for Bush to even come close to 1992-2000 growth, the Dow would have to break 20,000.
Funny thing is that about the only thing I thank Bush for is increasing the limit on after-tax Roth IRA contributions. At least he is giving me a chance to save myself if he does destroy Social Security.
Most of my office was closed a couple years ago due to not making money fast enough for the corp. officers. I talked to one who survived the ax yesterday. Health insurance benefits continue to be slashed. Deductibles rocket up. They moved the 401K to some firm nobody ever heard of. They are gearing up to end the defined benefits pension. They are getting ready to cut retiree health benefits.
Corporate officers are cashing out three dollar bonus shares at $33/share; reaping literally hundreds of millions.
The worker I spoke to feels under seige.
I told her to be happy, the economy is strong and getting stronger. She has a job, unemployment is low. America is great. Quit your whining.
Ya. I feel so fuckin rich, I may even get that pint of beer I have had my eye on!
I agree that the stock market went up in the last 3 months, but...
1) As pointed out, one wants to see a time period that shows a few cycles rather than a short trend. (Probably semi log as you are charting the growth of something)
2) As stock prices are in dollars, one wants also to adjust it by something like "Cost of Living"
If this is done, it does show a short term increase but not yet up to the top of the top of the market.
Them in the Bush years:
...the profits of Standard & Poor's 500 companies more than doubled from 2001 to 2005, according to Zacks Investment Research. S.& P. 500 profits now stand at 8.6 percent of gross domestic product, a high-water mark in Commerce Department data reaching back to 1947. And analysts predict that the median S.& P. 500 company will enjoy 12.8 percent profit growth this year and 12.9 percent in 2007, according to Zacks.
Us in the Bush years:
...the share of the economy devoted to workers' wages and benefits has eroded in the United States over the last five years.
...this economic slice, including wages, health insurance and pension benefits, declined 2.5 percentage points from 2000 to 2005, to 56.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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