ZenLunatic

What bar are people going to hang out at before the show? Any recommendations? I'm so excited!

Dont really know yet, but I do like Sheffield's. They have good beer.

I was once told, by my college economics professor, that the majority of the national debt is money owed by one branch of the government to another. I don't know if that's entirely true, but it made me feel better...Now, the fact that China is purchasing our debt is scary.

I dont know about that statement. It is basically any debt our country has with bonds, bills, notes, and such. Can be anyone from companies, people, or another country. I think its at like 9 trillion, I dont see any one country taking that on.

Actually, as soon as I figured out that there's more than 100 coins spread across the stage, I passed without a problem. It's also nice to have a route in mind as you tackle this star.

That route is what I need to figure out. How long to figure out which route to take and accomplish it? an hour? any sugguestions?

I get what you all are saying, really I do.

The good part is you did sell and you wont lose anymore from this down sliding market. And my prediction is that it will continue to go down, so great chance to buy in at lower, but I have been wrong before.

I guess I just don't understand the logic. I start with X amount of money to invest in the market, which then loses 10% in 3 weeks, which means I now have only 90% of X to invest, and the money I contribute each pay period is less than what is being lost, so every week I have less money than I had the week before. How does this help me when the markets start to make a profit? If I move the money now into areas that are gaining 2% out of areas that are losing 15-20%, when I move it back into the stock market later I'll have more money to give back.

 

I realize that the market has ups and downs, but a recession is a whole different ball game. If my parents had been more prudent during the crash in the 80s I wouldn't have had to rely on scholarships and financial aid to get me into college. But they "stuck it out" and lost a good deal of my college fund before the markets turned around.

 

I'll be moving back into higher risk stocks when we have seemed to hit bottom and started the slow climb back up, but for now I'll be happy to know what I've given up as spendable income to put into the 401K is not just evaporating. I'd rather stop contributing altogether and use the money now while it's in my hand.

Your thinking is short term when you are in a long term investment. Everything that went down will come back up higher than before so you lose nothing and gain everything you bought in at a lower price in the long run. You have to believe this is just a temporary set back.

Finding the bottom is not easy.

I can't buy in if I don't have any money to buy with. That's how I look at it. I don't think of my 401K as a way to play the market, I think of it as my future happiness. Although I completely understand what you're saying, the prudent side of me just wants to have something there to gamble with if I want to. Right now I'm just watching the money come out of my paycheck and dissipate into thin air. What I lost since January 1 took me close to a year to put in. Maybe if I wait it out I'll see that money come back but maybe I won't. I'm not willing to just throw my money away. Right now my 401K is essentially a savings account which is A-OK with me.

Savings acct with 2% interest is pretty darn safe as it gets. If it eases your mind, then its worth it. No point in stressing over a 401k investment.

I understand how losing money in the market can be. I lost alot and now feel mutual funds where I feel comfortable.

The thing about you selling is that you just took all that loss. Its not a loss until you sell.

From my admittedly limited understanding of this stuff ... you sold your stock funds after the prices dropped, and now you're talking about buying them back when they rise again. That's where you're going to lose the most money -- not from the temporary downturn in the market.

 

You should stay in your stock funds during downturns, because if you're contributing to your 401(k) at a constant rate, you're buying more shares for your regular contribution than you were when the price was higher. That's the silver lining of the downturn -- you're buying more shares. When the prices rise again, you have more shares than you would have had, giving you a higher long-term yield.

 

If you were retiring soon, it would make more sense to protect your accumulated gains by shifting toward less risky funds (lower risk / lower return) ... but if you're still decades from retiring, it's better to wait out the bad times.*

 

_{* This is how I understand it, anyway. I'm no expert on this stuff.}

Thats pretty much it. I said similar too. Its really easier advice to give then follow though. When playing with your real money, emotions get involved and you make hasty decisions. Sometimes it takes experience to learn.

I know you're right about it being long term, but when I don't know what is going to happen with the housing market or my huge increase in property taxes or my job or blah blah blah.....I'd like to know I've got something there to protect me in case I need it. I would never withdraw from my 401K unless it was absolutely necessary but who knows if it will be absolutely necessary sometime soon. I will switch back to the stock funds when I see a light at the end of the economic tunnel, but for right now I'm happy to be keeping the money I have even if it's only accruing 2% than to be losing a year's worth of contributions in a month.

I do believe the market will go down more and I see my funds going down, but I still have like 30 more years before I will withdraw my 401k. I see my funds low and makes me feel bad but I see how low I am buying in at and it makes up for it. I will see probably see a couple more recessions before its all over. I do understand if you wanna withdraw from the market, but you can lose money in playing too. You just sold when you are down, and possibly could be buying in when its up. You lose all that gain. I feel it a safer move at my position just to ride it out and not play with it, but good luck to you. Hopefully you can buy back in at the bottom.

I don't know crap about the stock market, but I do know that I've lost 10% of my 401K investment in the first 3 weeks of January when I was up almost 20% for most of last year. I just moved everything out of my diversified fund into bonds and money market in hopes of keeping what's left of it and not losing any more for a while.

Your 401K plan is probably mostly invested in the US stock market. It goes down, so does your 401k. Depending on your age, your 401k is a long-term investment, you shouldnt worry about the loss now. Now is the time to buy-in more not sell off which you did. Unless you are close to retirement, all your losses will be recovered by the low buy-ins of the current down-turn. Just trust the markets will recover, which they will. Basically you are betting and investing in America, where you live and breathe, it will not fail. The economy is our backbone, without it, we dont exist anyways. Nothing better to invest in.

The economy is intensely personal. If you are doing OK, then the recession is just something in the news. I don't know how it'll work out for me. It might be fine, it might be the goathouse.

This applies to everything, not just the recession.

Bonnaroo is the premier music festival in this country.

Agree. Cant wait for the Bonnaroo lineup to be announced.

That one was intense. The hardest bit in the game by, as you said, a large margin. You need some excellent long-jump skills and a lot of luck.

Ok, I've reached this point and dont know how this is possible. The Toy Time purple star is impossible.

Tweedy!!! LIVE at The VIC!!

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'

Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963

I know the economy sucks and we are headed for recession but $800 would be nice. Pumping the country with 1.5 billion dollars will soften things somewhat.

Now at 117 stars. Damn this game gets tough at the end.

Good question. Maybe some of you that went last year can chime in?

I heard last year, not much of a line at all.

The difference is last year was in March and wasnt sold out. I think with the growing popularity of Wilco and of last years show, there will be a bit more of a line but at the same time it maybe freezing out so I really dont expect people to stand out there long before door opens.

I am just gonna hang at a nearby bar and check the area now and then for long lines.

So many great lines in the film, but my fave was 'You're a bitch and you're going to die of diabetes!'

Yeah, that was good. There was alot of good lines, I think alot of them are ad lib. Just Jermaine being his funny self.

I liked all the phone calls he made to his nemesis. Those cracked me up cause it rarely went the way he wanted and other times he just was weird.

Only about a week away now, getting excited. You think there will be a long line for doors to open?

Eagle vs. Shark

I got a pretty good laugh out of this one with some great lines. You'll appreciate it if you were into Napoleon Dynamite humor.

Here's the trailer

I just saw this being a big Napolean and Flight of the Conchords fan. I thought it was ok, but doesnt compare to Napolean or Flight shows. Jermaine's humor is good and alot of the jokes are funny but overall not enough to keep the pace going. That being said, it should be watched by any Flight of the Conchords fan.

that's why i keep my faith personal and don't subscribe to any particular denomination. i see no use for it.

that is way of the Zen.

I still don't see the basis for your ranking system?

Just my ranking on what I experienced and read. Maybe other people's ranking differ with their own personality and experiences.

The thing about religion is gets so big that it becomes a culture and then the people get lost in what is the culture and what they believe and feel in life.

I sort of agree with that, though I

"Best" as in most popular? What is this ranking based on?

Based on closest to the Truth.

You missed mormonism, which is way more popular than scientology (almost as popular as Judaism!).

I dont know much about Mormons. They the ones that go door 2 door and believe a set number will go to heaven?