Welcome to Thunderdome

TheCatt wrote:There's an argument that low interest rates also promote bad investment by companies as hurdle rates may be a factor of interest rates. (Cheap capital/debt/bonds, for instance, means that low return projects become profitable)

Thanks for the primer! This part caught my eye because I was hearing a guy on the radio last week talking about the "Skyscraper Curse" (I think it was). He was pointing out through the 20th century on that whenever a record breaking skyscraper was built that shortly after a massive collapse happened. It wasn't really the fault of the sky scraper, but rather the sky scraper was a symptom of the overall problem. The low interest rates and bad investments. And that around the time they finish the building, things are primed for the downward slide. Was kind of interesting.

Lots of jobs created in January.

That's interesting as January is not really known for being a big jobs month, being post holidays and all.

Vanguard expects nominal annual market returns to be 5% over the next 10 years.

Or about 3% after inflation.

Bill Gates shits on AOC's New Green Deal, specifically raising tax rates on the rich.

Also, reading that article I don't think I've ever been aware that there are functioning members of society who think "modern monetary theory" is a valid plan of action. They can all go fuck themselves with that nonsense.

Bill Gates says money does buy some happiness.

I mean, duh.

Gates, who is worth nearly $100 billion, is not the only high earner with this mentality.

After researching more than 1,200 self-made millionaires, author Steve Siebold found that the wealthy aren’t afraid to admit that money can solve most problems.

“The rich see money as a positive tool that has the power to create freedom and opportunity for themselves and their families,” Siebold writes in “How Rich People Think.” After all, “if you have a problem, and you can make it disappear by writing a check, you don’t have a problem.”

"Money can't buy happiness" is right up there with "The check is in the mail" and "I won't cum in your mouth".

But I do cum in their mail.

The check is in your mouth.

2.6% GDP growth

The solid growth in the fourth quarter resulted in the economy posting 2.9% growth for the full year. That's the best year of growth since 2015.

That's got to be a little disappointing in the face of such a large tax cut. On the other hand, the economy isn't overheating, and things look decent.

Lyft files for IPO.

I prefer Lyft to Uber.

Leisher wrote: Lyft files for IPO.

I prefer Lyft to Uber.

Any particular reason why?

I always use Uber, but mostly because I started with them. That being said, if Lyft offers me a better price, I'll choose it, and have a few times.

TheCatt wrote: Any particular reason why?

I believe Lyft is better for drivers and passengers based on their own internal policies and the types of background checks they run vs what Uber does. Also, Lyft gave me 3 free rides a few years back in Vegas when we were there with a large group, and they saved me over $100.

I've used both and have both on my phone, but I just prefer Lyft and seem to get better drivers. I also have spoken to a few and they usually talk better about Lyft over Uber (all drivers pretty much work for both).

Jobs # very low for February (20k). Bunch of people yapping about it.

Honestly, it may just be noise. Shutdown ended, We've had a wide separation between the household (unemployment) and employer (jobs created) numbers for a while, to the tune of a few hundred thousand jobs. This may just be the statistics converging back, as they normally do.

Nothing to panic about, unless it does this 2 more months.

The rich won't be paying for the New Green Deal and all the other progressive handouts.

Interesting article about how Hollywood is a fantastic example of a free market, which is funny considering most of the Hollywood elite's political views.

Both are the same link. I'm skeptical of the premise of #2

Fixed it.

Fed says they will probably not raise rates all year.

That's good news for Trump, and most of us. The downside is it means economic growth isn't going crazy. The upside is that it means that the fed expects the economy to be good, not great, and not bad, growing about 2.1% in 2019.

Growth is growth. I prefer slow and steady growth to anything else. It's boring, but safe.