The Profits of Doom

[Zorrofan]

Okay, I like to follow the lead of Charlie Munger, always invert, always look for the flaw in your thinking so when I get bored I like to read Zerohedge and a few of the other websites that lean to the bearish side..... yes, I am a bit of a bear myself currently but it really struck me today that some of these sites are very, very negative - the end of the world as we know it is just about here.  Then I noticed that this message is often " the end of the world as we know it is just about here, buy my book explaining how you survive and prosper in the economic collapse that's coming".

 

Some sites have some interesting stats, good information that should make you think, but they also tend to trot out the same uber-bears and their warning of imminent doom. Marc Faber has been warning of the collapse of the US since at least 2006? Any day now, its coming.......

 

Where do the rest of you stand. Do you just ignore these sites, do you find anything of interest there? Do you have a favorite site for economic data or are you like WEB, five seconds spent on macro is five seconds wasted?? 

 

Look forward to your comments....

 

cheers

Zorro 

 

 

[LC]

Personally I await the end of the world with an open mind, warm heart, fridge full of beer and a safe hidden behind my favorite piece of art filled with gold coins, a handgun, and an encoded map to my underground bunker located in Alaska. Let the revolution begin, comrades!  ;D

 

(oh, and I plan on using all the doomsayer books I've accumulated over the years as fire-starting material)

[Zorrofan]

Personally I await the end of the world with an open mind, warm heart, fridge full of beer and a safe hidden behind my favorite piece of art filled with gold coins, a handgun, and an encoded map to my underground bunker located in Alaska. Let the revolution begin, comrades!  ;D

 

(oh, and I plan on using all the doomsayer books I've accumulated over the years as fire-starting material)

 

LOL - You're never going to make it without some twinkies!!  And since this is the Corner of Berkshire and Fairfax, maybe some DQ and a coke?

 

cheers

Zorro

[LC]

My bunker is stocked with 3 years worth of DQ astronaut ice-cream, cherry coke syrup (just add water via my SODA), a dialysis machine from Davita (for when I eventually get diabetes from my wonderful diet), a shrink-wrapped copy of "Security Analysis", and a literal ton of annual reports ready to go! Time to catch up on some reading, 500 hours here I come! :D

[ScottHall]

Not really. Most financial commentary - or any commentary, for that matter - is useless. There are a few people whose articles I read and several more I follow on Twitter, but that's about it.

[bmichaud]

It's an interesting exercise to go back and read different commentary leading up to various market turning points.

 

Go back and read different Barron's from 2006 or old newspapers from 1987. You have the same mix of bullish and bearish commentary justifying the advance and calling for its end.

 

My conclusion: you gotta come up with your own objective set of indicators to give you a gauge of what you're trying to guard against. Or if you don't care about the market, buy with a MOS, diversify, and don't use leverage.