Silver under $13 per ounce.. Wow!

Intel is down to 44.61. I'm starting to be slightly disappointed. Just slightly since I don't own much of it. If it becomes worthless I'll be out the initial $50 investment. But at its height, it was worth over $8000. That would've been a couple of really nice dinners out, a new bathing suit, and the cash to combine with a trade-in on my old jalopy for a decent newer vehicle.

You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run.

Wait
 

Well, I kinda planned my finances to die on the day of my last dollar. Death may come sooner than anticipated now.:a20: Meanwhile, gas is cheap and I'm stockpiling in anticipation of the hurricane.

Prime is now 0.0% - 0.25%.

"Money for nothin' and..."

We're now basically out of ammunition for stimulus, except for cutting those items (Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/Etc.) that have been considered until now..."the third rail."

It will be interesting to see, who reaches in first...to be electrocuted.

I suppose some people might think another tax cut for the wealthy and corp's might help, so +-75% of companies can buy back even more stock...thereby helping the 51% of Americans who own stocks.

Not sure how that's gonna help the other 49% though. :ohdear:

Depending on how far mortgage rates fall, some people may be looking at financing/refinancing their homes...and taking a lot of equity out.

Particularly for those people whose retirement is mostly in a defined contribution plan...and not a solvent defined benefit plan.

A 70-80 year old that takes out a 30 year mortgage, uses the money to buy more stocks at the lowest level in years, or just have the cash as a buffer for uncovered medical expenses...might not be a bad option.

I, for one, have a lot of empathy right now for those who aren't fortunate enough to have a solid and well-funded...defined benefit plan.

Because the scary part is, that a lot of the old defined benefit plans are heavily invested in stocks...so as to maintain that defined benefit for retirees.

Here's hoping we all pull out of this in good shape...and soon. :(

Ha, and therein lies the secret. :bigbow:

For some time Buffet has been chastised for sitting on a large cash position. I have hung in there with him as an investor in BRK as he is a lot smarter than I am. It will be interesting to see if, when and what he buys.

IMHO the P/Es of the S&P and DJIA have been running quite high. They likely will dip below their historical 15ish average before they stop dropping.

We live in interesting times.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming defined benefit plans, which were questionably funded before the market crash and are typically invested very heavily in risky assets classes, will come out of this solvent. And also don’t assume the Pension Benefit Gurantee Corporation will have the capital to bail out multiple insolvent plans.

That is why I took the cash equivalent in 2005 when I retired. But it takes discipline to manage that money. And of course once again I was the idiot per my peers ! Ha Ha. My sleep has never been better.

Many defined benefit plans (ok, the ones that still exist) have an option for a lump-sum payout at the outset of benefits, vs. depending upon the company to cover the pension over one's lifetime. The company's pension annuity payout is probably somewhat better than one could do on their own when purchasing an annuity in the outside market But, you can also use the lump sum for other investments, like IRAs.

I like my company, but do I think their pension is going to be solvent as long as I need it? No.

My company has (criminally) underfunded its retirement program for years - despite being a large government contractor who gets much of its defined benefit pension programs underwritten by the government in its defense contracts. I love the monthly checks, but I have a big concern about their ability to continue over the long run, as the actual funding of the program was underfunded by over $17 billion in 2018. Since then they have added some new funding, but obviously the current state of the investment world will have a further negative impact.

Is this a good time to sell gold and can you give reputable place to sell? Secondly did anyone hear of the possible withdrawal of up to $100,000 from our IRA's without paying taxes? A friend recently said she heard the latter is to happen soon.

No, about the IRA. But, if you are over 59 1/2, you can withdraw any amount from a traditional IRA without a "penalty". You just need to pay tax on it.