<p>“Hi, I am a 40-year-old working as a senior developer for one of the biggest investment banks. I have always worked as a full time employee in my career; however the last 5-6 years have been very tough for me because of office politics, outsourcing, and economic conditions. The financial industry is not doing well, and we may be at the brink of another round of layoffs. My family is growing, my spouse does not work, and I still don’t own a house. I am worried regarding my job security & career growth. Considering Medicare does not kick in till 65, I am still looking at 25 long years of career. I am wondering what the best way would be for me to stay employable in the coming years?”</p>
<p>I bought the QLDs this morning and also wrote $630 July CCs for $1.93. I thought that was far enough OTM but am not so sure at the moment. I guess that I wouldn’t mind getting taken out at that price.</p>
<p>Interesting paragraph…
Business is just awful. I don’t know what that developer is going to do…</p>
<p>Aapl has a large influence on QLD. INTC, Orcl too…although not to the extent of Aapl…so you are increasing your bet on those stocks when you buy QLD. </p>
<p>Aapl has had a huge run this week. if Aapl gets to 630… That will be a nice problem to have.</p>
<p>12,000 before 13,500, though 13,000 before 12,000…</p>
<p>Second friend/ relative has lost their job…prior to these 2 ,i didn’t know anyone who had been laid off in last 4 years…This person was a well-paid executive, who likely won’t come close to the salary level they were receiving…</p>
<p>DW informed me that bonus won’t be above threshold , so that is a bummer…</p>
<p>The Progress Energy stocks that I bot 2009 are now Duke Energy stocks. I’m not sure whether I should sell or hold. DUK closed @$68.69. The Sept div will be $0.765/share which is higher than PGN’s $0.62/share. So, I guess I should stay put based on the closing px and div. Appreciate any thoughts on DUK. Not sure what to do so I’ll just run off to the gym and go to Costco for some wine and food for tomorrow.</p>
<p>Unless the employment numbers are extremely bad on Friday, I plan on staying in FAS, a triple bull S&P etf. I have made some pretty good coin in the past few days and have some cushion for some downside. </p>
<p>I really think the economy has turned despite the rest of the world. Housing has turned and it is what takes us out of recession. Employment will get better because of housing construction and because unemployment is not being extended beyond 99 weeks any more.</p>
<p>I think the spring upturn has died on the vine…I see hundreds of beach homes listed at prices below what they were purchased for…homes around the block that would have sold in april,early May are now seeing little interest…great article today about the myriads of families who would love to trade up are underwater,so there is no chance for that…I have been long housing for about 3 years, and have been fortunate…upside crom here? Not looking great…</p>
<p>A friend of mine just bought a 17 foot sail boat for $800 and bought a trailer hitch and got it registered. He said that a couple had sold their house in one day, and a ton of other possessions on the cheap and they lived in a nice neighborhood too. I get the feeling that there are a lot of luxury goods that require maintenance that are being practically given away. I read that there were a lot of abandoned boats back in 2009.</p>
<p>There are signs of economic activity - the malls and shops have lots of cars in my area. Sentiment isn’t so good - MA sentiment dropped 8.5% last month which is surprising as the jobs picture there is pretty good. Gasoline prices are way down as are energy prices in general. I understand that travel is heavy for this holiday week because gasoline has dropped a lot. My view on food prices is that they are down.</p>
<p>I think we’re in muddle-through mode - some good news weighed down by bad news and the expectation of more bad news. My feel on the employment report is that we tick up a point or two.</p>
<p>The stagnant construction projects in my neck of the woods are booming, and most of the houses with zero to nothing backyards are selling out fast, $400K plus. :eek:</p>
<p>Housing is turning…the stock market has made up quite a bit of its losses…oil prices are well off their highs…</p>
<p>But people seem kind of gloomy…</p>
<p>One of the keys to happiness is thinking positively about the future…</p>
<p>I don’t think Americans feel all that great about the future…</p>
<p>This is not an all inclusive list…</p>
<p>The unemployment rate for 18 and 19 year olds is in the 20’s.
The unemployment rate for people in their early 20’s is the the teens…
Income is stagnating and has been for a decade.
There are too many people owning homes underwater.
Income and wealth inequality are close to record highs.
Our politicians are controlled by a small segment of the population
US is falling behind in education, health care, infrastructure spending, compared to other first world countries…
Pensions and savers are screwed…
Government intervention in the markets is immense.
Young, educated people drink too much…
Baby boomers are getting old and have discovered they are mortal…
There is an editorial in the NyTimes today that explains that Americans have chosen selfishness.</p>
<p>After reading what I wrote…I guess I am feeling a little gloomy today myself. :)</p>
<p>Fewer homes on the market means price will go up. I think we are about to see housing inflation. As housing inflation starts there will be more new construction to fill the the missing supply. I am getting more and more optimistic about the economy because of what I see in housing.</p>
<p>I cancelled my order for the new Retina MacBook Pro today ($3K). I’ve been using my old one for a few weeks while waiting for the new one to get built and there’s nothing wrong with it - it works well and I don’t have to do anything.</p>
<p>I would have to spend about 20 hours setting up a new MacBook Pro and order various things to go along with it. It was a splurge purchase - sure, it would be lighter, faster, more energy efficient and a much better visual experience than what I have now. I’ve had a very good year so far and have money allocated for it. I think that I will buy one one of these days but before I do so I want to clean up my rather large stash of old computers in the basement - whether giving stuff away, selling, reallocating, etc. So basically do some more decluttering before bringing new stuff home.</p>
<p>Maudlin basically coined the term - the muddle-through economy, several years ago. He didn’t think that we’d crash but he saw an economy just slogging by - unemployment issues, demand issues, etc. It’s nice to see the housing market doing a little better and factory orders better than expected, etc. But I think that people are worn out from stagnation. I remember the early 1980s - people were used to it - they didn’t like it but difficult times were what you expected - if things got better, that was a bonus. I think that’s the next phase, acceptance.</p>
<p>The number of homes listed for sale are at a low,but for a reason…many homeowners are underwater,or nearly so…to sell would mean to write a check to the bank,so why sell? Many can afford their current monthly mortgage,but don’t have assets to trade up or out…we have been fortunate,thus far, to see increasing wages and benefits year over year,but it could change at any time…i don’ t think the wage disparity is a good thing for the country…middle class is getting squeezed big time, and many are living on the edge,one huge unforseen expense from big problems</p>
<p>An addendum to my reasoning of middle class being squeezed and one large unforseen expense causing major financial issues: in the past,many middle class families had access to lines of credit via their homes, those days are long gone, so the safety net disappeared</p>