Das Kapital

[alexfarms]

I figure most of us here are farmers/ranchers or closely touched by one or the other. How many times have we had crops in the field or calves in the pasture and had our hearts broken by a free market system where our products were being driven down in value on the CBOT or CME? How many times have we thought how can "they" sell our grain or livestock on the board of trade when they don't even own any grain or livestock? We have thought they shouldn't be able to short our products in the market place, why can't we stop them? We saw our markets and incomes suffer, but we picked our selves up and made due with the hand we were delt, learned from our mistakes and went on to prosper another day and we wouldn't have wanted it any other way and we would like for our children to have it that way too. Well, this afternoon the powers that be in the UK have passed a rule in their "free market" stock exchange that no one will be allowed to short a financial stock until January 16, 2009. Yes, no short sellers allowed in their financial stocks. Immediately, our stock markets responded to move upward. Our administration has let it be known that they are preparing a plan collect the bad private debt that wall street firms have accumulated(gotten rich off of) and place it in an "rtc type institution", bad bank, where the owners of the debt will be free of it and allowed to move on with their businesses, while our federal gov't (those of us who pay taxes) will take on their bad debt. And our "dow" is currently up more than 300 points. We gotta keep these stock markets going up. The country just can't afford to let the stock market go down. There was a saying that I remember hearing that was widespread to those who endured the 1920's: what goes up, must come down. The world won't end if a few of these wall street firms go into bankruptcy.
It is capitalism that has made this country great, It is the reason most of our ancestors came here and it is the future our children will need to prosper and live freely. The man who wrote the book whose title I have in my subject line believed capitalism would not work because corrupt gov'ts would use their power to funnel the wealth of a nation into the hands of a few. He doesn't have to be right, at least not yet if our generation doesn't allow it to happen. We have never been a purely capitalistic country. We have always had some elements of capitalism and socialism in our govt every since our federal constitution was written in 1780. At that constitutional convention Benjamin Franklin stated that he reluctantly supported the constitution, with all its flaws, because he felt we needed a central govt for secure governance, but that he knew it would eventually lead to despotic govt, as all central govts had done before, when the people become so corrupt as to need despotic govt, being incapable of any other. Will it be our generation that will fail to continue to provide the kind of leadership and self descipline that self governance requires? In order for our children to be free to succeed, they also have to be free to fail.

 

[1982vett]

Yep, selling something you don't own in most places would land you in jail. Somehow that doesn't apply to Wall Street.

 

[Jim62]

Corruption in government ??

Surely not...........

 

[alexfarms]

As frustrating as this wall street bailout is, it probably is better than sending the country into a depression. Let's hope it works out for the best.

 

[larryshoat]

There was an old saying " he who sell what isn't his'n buys it back or goes to prison " . I've always said that unless you have a physical need to be in a market (producer and such ), you should not be allowed to short a market .

Larry

 

[1982vett]

There was an old saying " he who sell what isn't his'n buys it back or goes to prison " . I've always said that unless you have a physical need to be in a market (producer and such ), you should not be allowed to short a market .

Larry

Shorting a stock is a source of funds... I kind of think the along the line of something like; if you short a stock, the proceeds should be held on account (locked up) until you buy the stock back, after which you recieve any profit or pay the loss. Close the pawn shop so to say.