A bit more on our little discussion about the GFC (2007-2009). If I remember, it actually "felt" longer and in many ways it was. I think it took around five years or so to even get back to the pre-event market levels. The employment level took even longer. I had a close friend that sold out of his investment portfolio during that time. He never invested another dollar in the market after that event. He just could not do it. There were a lot of investing scars after that event.
On to our happy place, which happens to be basking in the sun of the continued market gains. A nice start to the day. We continue to roll the right direction....up the hill.
I had to look out of curiosity. It appears this is day #27 of the government shutdown. We may be on track to beat the record at this point. I think the longest was 35. To be clear, I'm not making light of it for those that are dealing with it.
W, yes I’ve read a lot and watched plenty of videos on how it all went down. I was more curious to know if there was any mainstream news floating around beforehand/leading up to the big hit, or if it mostly was a surprise black Monday type event because…. I’m my small area of south Louisiana, I don’t feel there were people buying houses that couldn’t afford them to be in our faces. In other words, in day to day life there was nothing to physically see examples of. I think here we would have only got a visual from news headlines if there were any, which it seems there was from this thread. This was likely due to the fact that there was still massive amounts of hurricane Katrina recovery money pouring into my local area. Most people in my area became house rich during that time frame from Katrina stimulus and insurance payouts during that time.
Blake....no it was not a sudden BLACK MONDAY event....it happened and escalated over many months. BUT....from about March of 2008 till about October of 2008......we were in an EXTREME situation.....with a really significant possibility of a world wide COLLAPSE like never seen before. One wrong move by the FED or our government...and we would have gone down.....along with the rest of the world. I am sure as SMOKIE noted....that there were and are many investors that never recovered from the TRAUMA of it all and the post traumatic shock of it all.
I bet a lot of us...."little people"...tend to do a lot of the same things as Buffet. You will not see many CELEBRITIES do many of these things. Ten Things That Warren Buffet Does Differently https://www.realclearmarkets.com/ar...t_warren_buffet_does_differently_1142994.html
A real BOOM going on today. I am hanging on for dear life on my little surf board....RIDING THE BIG WAVE. I am up over six figures today with a couple of hours to go......and.....of course.....COST and HD are RED. LOL....fine with me...I still value them in my portfolio.
HERE is the markets today. S&P 500 rallies 1%, on pace for first close above 6,800 ever on potential China trade truce https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/26/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
You know....random things happen..... in investing and sometimes for the good. Back in the era of the 2007/2008/2009 disaster...I was posting on a Money Board that no longer exists. There was one poster that was kind of a crazy guy.....a real fanatic/conspiracy nut-case. BUT....on the banking issue he turned out to be right. He would post every day all day long about the coming collapse of the banks. All sorts of articles and material. We all gave him a hard time....but I started to read a lot of his stuff and it drove me to look into it. Even though he was a NUT....he was right on that one issue and thanks to him....I had more awareness of it than many people. UNFORTUNATELY....when it was over...he could never let go of it.....and....he never was willing to invest because he was still waiting for the collapse to happen.
I guess we will soon have more CLARITY on the next FED chair. Bessent lists five finalists for Fed chair job, and Trump says decision coming before the end of the year https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/27/bes...cision-coming-before-the-end-of-the-year.html
I guess it is obvious that I am back from my wife's Dr appointment. She does not need a hip replacement. She will go in on Wednesday for an injection for hip bursitis.
YES there is. AND...it is way more accurate and up to date than the old fashioned government data. Perusing Private September Data Mid-Shutdown Private sector data abound. https://www.fisherinvestments.com/e...y/perusing-private-september-data-midshutdown The FED and the government are back in the dark ages of data collection, number crunching, and accuracy. with all the modern computing power and everything being connected....it is ridiculous that we can not pull up accurate data.....every single day. You can bet that private business and big investment banks can do it....to the minute.
WOW....a big way to start the week today. I had a BIG gain today. Also....a beat on the SP500 by.....0.47%. What a great start to a HUGE earnings week. If earnings come in nicely....this week could be one of the best in a long, long, time. I also hit a new....ALL TIME HIGH....today. BASKING IN THE GOLDEN GLOW......as I continue to.....RIDE THE WAVE.
PLUS....the close today. S&P 500 rallies 1% to notch first close ever above 6,800 on potential China trade truce https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/26/stock-market-today-live-updates.html Good news for the MASSIVE numbers of Baby Boomers that are heading to retirement....with little to no pensions....over the next few years. BUT....now they have to decide how to allocate their 401K and IRA funds in retirement in order to....make the money last, not take too much short term risk, and deal with tax liability.
I wonder if this is happening due to....AI....making the jobs un-needed and a flattening of the organization chart? I doubt that any company will admit to this...IF...it is happening. These are "corporate" level jobs. Amazon to announce largest layoffs in company history, source says https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/27/amazon-to-announce-sweeping-corporate-job-cuts-starting-tuesday.html
A good enough report. A bit of growth in the jobs market....but "tepid". In other words...."just right"....for investors and the incompetent FED. US job market shows signs of 'tepid recovery' in October, ADP says https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-j...d-recovery-in-october-adp-says-131938561.html As a long term investor i do not care about the FED. they are NOT a factor in investing......perhaps trading....but NOT investing. They are basically an...IRRITANT.
Good news for AAPL shareholders. An indication of good things ahead....hopefully. Apple races past $4 trillion market value as latest models revitalize iPhone sales https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-races-past-4-trillion-133246794.html
AND....even better news for investors and shareholders. Microsoft, OpenAI reach new deal to allow OpenAI to restructure https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-openai-reach-deal-allow-130719271.html AWESOME that MSFT is going to own a 27% stake in OpenAI......at least for MSFT investors. Also a good thing that this move now clears the way for OpenAI to become a public company. When it happens it will be a HUGE IPO.
