• Re: GENERAL QUESTION re USA...

    From TT@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jun 9 23:03:38 2025
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 22.14:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have
    financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec
    branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual significant
    civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement, than
    at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor my wife
    for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about 3-4 weeks
    ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it will recede,
    but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where we stood in our
    last year of earned income. It has all been passive income since then,
    and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly impervious
    to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial increase--I wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so the driving
    force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?

    It seems to me that the US stock market has detached from reality. It's
    the sort of late 1990s aka 2000 bubble stuff. It may have something to
    do with millennial mindset, covid checks and growing government &
    personal debt.
    But I think it's mostly about American risk taking optimist mindset, to
    put it nicely. Dollar helps in debt adding.

    Sign of the times aka irrational exuberance can be seen from valuations
    of Tesla, Microstrategy, Broadcom, Palantir etc. I don't trust US
    markets until these kind of bubbles have burst.
    Everyone wants to get rich quick & pile into meme stocks & shitcoins.

    I think valuations will crash at some point... but it's anybody's guess
    when. Could go on for years.

    I was thinking of buying today a starter position on msci world ex US
    etf... aka developed markets excluding US. Might buy it tomorrow...I
    don't think it's especially cheap & not a massive grower, but could be
    riding on a trend. Anyway it's kinda the last missing piece for my
    portfolio diversification... with exposure to Central Europe, Japan,
    Canada, Australia etc.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From TT@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 10 01:31:47 2025
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a sense
    that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no worldly reason
    for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the earlier
    it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments nowadays try to
    avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as well.
    But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter what
    happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, we're
    more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably a bit too
    careful.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to PeteWasLucky on Tue Jun 10 00:09:11 2025
    On 6/9/2025 7:02 PM, PeteWasLucky wrote:
    Sawfish <[email protected]> Wrote in message:r
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have financial policy being changed at

    This has been going on since 2007 when we had the financial market
    issues, toxic assets, bad loans etc.

    The market should have been left to correct itself and fix
    everything that has been going wrong as a result like very
    inflated housing market, equities, etc.
    But instead the Feds bailed the banks, bought the toxic assets,
    and as a result we never got a correction. We have had the
    longest Bull market in the history of USA so far.

    I tried to follow my own logic, and thought the market was very
    overvalued then and should self correct. So I kept good portion
    of my assets on the side for almost 15 years waiting for this
    correction but it never happened.

    Historically p/e ratio higher than 12 was considered too high, but
    people have no issues buying securities now that have p/e ratio
    higher than 100 :)

    The p/e ratio of sp500 is about 27 now while at times it was above 40.

    So in my opinion the free market isn't free as we think. It's
    protected now by the government and the feds.

    PSL - I just did a VERY quick read of your post and will state this: I
    agree with at least 90% of this. Plus I will venture that the Fed
    bailout of the airlines after 9/11 was the precursor.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?Q?Pelle_Svansl=C3=B6s?=@21:1/5 to PeteWasLucky on Tue Jun 10 08:56:01 2025
    On 10.6.2025 3.02, PeteWasLucky wrote:
    Sawfish <[email protected]> Wrote in message:r
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have financial policy being changed at

    This has been going on since 2007 when we had the financial market
    issues, toxic assets, bad loans etc.

    The market should have been left to correct itself and fix
    everything that has been going wrong as a result like very
    inflated housing market, equities, etc.
    But instead the Feds bailed the banks, bought the toxic assets,
    and as a result we never got a correction. We have had the
    longest Bull market in the history of USA so far.

    I tried to follow my own logic, and thought the market was very
    overvalued then and should self correct. So I kept good portion
    of my assets on the side for almost 15 years waiting for this
    correction but it never happened.

    Historically p/e ratio higher than 12 was considered too high, but
    people have no issues buying securities now that have p/e ratio
    higher than 100 :)

    The p/e ratio of sp500 is about 27 now while at times it was above 40.

    So in my opinion the free market isn't free as we think. It's
    protected now by the government and the feds.

    There is some truth to that. But "quantitative easing" goes only so far.
    That the markets are going up uninterrupted, means there's money coming
    in. Why/where/how, I don't know. Maybe the people that steal from you by selling you stuffs, invest part of the loot back.

    --
    "Sinners don't make demands. They make confessions"
    -- Septa Unella

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Whisper@21:1/5 to Sawfish on Wed Jun 11 01:07:15 2025
    On 10/06/2025 5:14 am, Sawfish wrote:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have
    financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec
    branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual significant
    civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement, than
    at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor my wife
    for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about 3-4 weeks
    ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it will recede,
    but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where we stood in our
    last year of earned income. It has all been passive income since then,
    and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly impervious
    to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial increase--I wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so the driving
    force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?


    Calm before the storm. Smokes and mirrors. Probably best advice is to
    get out of USA if you can.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Whisper@21:1/5 to Sawfish on Wed Jun 11 01:10:40 2025
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a sense
    that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no worldly
    reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments nowadays
    try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as
    well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter what
    happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, we're
    more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably a bit too
    careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From TT@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 10 19:14:05 2025
    Whisper kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 18.10:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a sense
    that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no worldly
    reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as
    well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter
    what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, we're
    more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably a bit
    too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Dollar has been declining, despite high interest rates in US.
    So apparently money is escaping US.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From TT@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 10 23:32:40 2025
    Whisper kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 18.07:
    On 10/06/2025 5:14 am, Sawfish wrote:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have
    financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec
    branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual significant
    civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement,
    than at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor my
    wife for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about 3-4
    weeks ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it will
    recede, but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where we stood
    in our last year of earned income. It has all been passive income
    since then, and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly impervious
    to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial increase--I
    wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so the driving
    force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?


    Calm before the storm. Smokes and mirrors.  Probably best advice is to
    get out of USA if you can.

    Perhaps. Although I don't think it's necessarily wise to leave US stock
    market altogether. The valuations can still double if US follows Japan's example in the 80s :)
    But I certainly wouldn't have everything in US stock market only. If US
    has a lost decade it'll be a long time to hold.

    My current equities portfolio:

    46% Finland + Nordic Countries
    28% US + Developed markets
    26% China + Emerging Markets Asia

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From TT@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 11 00:06:34 2025
    jdeluise kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 23.52:
    TT <[email protected]> writes:

    Whisper kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 18.07:
    On 10/06/2025 5:14 am, Sawfish wrote:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have
    financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec
    branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual
    significant civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement,
    than at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor
    my wife for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about
    3-4 weeks ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it
    will recede, but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where
    we stood in our last year of earned income. It has all been passive
    income since then, and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly
    impervious to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial
    increase--I wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so
    the driving force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?
    Calm before the storm. Smokes and mirrors.  Probably best advice is
    to get out of USA if you can.

    Perhaps. Although I don't think it's necessarily wise to leave US
    stock market altogether. The valuations can still double if US follows
    Japan's example in the 80s :)
    But I certainly wouldn't have everything in US stock market only. If
    US has a lost decade it'll be a long time to hold.

    My current equities portfolio:

    46% Finland + Nordic Countries
    28% US + Developed markets
    26% China + Emerging Markets Asia

    Dump worthless stocks where you get screwed by backroom deals and
    political manipulation.  Buy Bitcoin!  ;)

    :)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From TT@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 11 00:52:41 2025
    Sawfish kirjoitti 11.6.2025 klo 0.07:
    On 6/10/25 1:32 PM, TT wrote:
    Whisper kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 18.07:
    On 10/06/2025 5:14 am, Sawfish wrote:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have
    financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec
    branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual
    significant civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement,
    than at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor
    my wife for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about
    3-4 weeks ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it
    will recede, but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where
    we stood in our last year of earned income. It has all been passive
    income since then, and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly
    impervious to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial increase--
    I wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so the driving
    force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?


    Calm before the storm. Smokes and mirrors.  Probably best advice is
    to get out of USA if you can.

    Perhaps. Although I don't think it's necessarily wise to leave US
    stock market altogether. The valuations can still double if US follows
    Japan's example in the 80s :)
    But I certainly wouldn't have everything in US stock market only. If
    US has a lost decade it'll be a long time to hold.

    My current equities portfolio:

    46% Finland + Nordic Countries
    28% US + Developed markets
    26% China + Emerging Markets Asia



    I see where in our main managed account we have 56% in stocks, with an
    even split between US 28% international 28%.

    I'd have to dig to find out the specific international markets.

    Sounds good to me. You'll be fine.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to Whisper on Wed Jun 11 00:10:17 2025
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a sense
    that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no worldly
    reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as
    well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter
    what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, we're
    more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably a bit
    too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out by
    the Fed and the legacy media...
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?Q?Pelle_Svansl=C3=B6s?=@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 11 12:01:53 2025
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a sense
    that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no worldly
    reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as
    well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter
    what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, we're
    more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably a bit
    too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out by
    the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying there's
    a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt ballooning
    budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt ceiling. So he can
    keep barking at it. But you can't really have it both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    --
    "Sinners don't make demands. They make confessions"
    -- Septa Unella

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 11 13:25:12 2025
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a
    sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no
    worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter,
    at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as
    well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter
    what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans,
    we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably
    a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out by
    the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying there's
    a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt ballooning
    budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt ceiling. So he can
    keep barking at it. But you can't really have it both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning budgets"
    and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for yourself.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to jdeluise on Wed Jun 11 20:16:07 2025
    On 6/11/2025 1:37 AM, jdeluise wrote:
    Sawfish <[email protected]> writes:

    On 6/10/25 1:52 PM, jdeluise wrote:
    TT <[email protected]> writes:

    Whisper kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 18.07:
    On 10/06/2025 5:14 am, Sawfish wrote:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have
    financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec >>>>>> branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual
    significant civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement, >>>>>> than at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor >>>>>> my wife for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about >>>>>> 3-4 weeks ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it >>>>>> will recede, but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where >>>>>> we stood in our last year of earned income. It has all been passive >>>>>> income since then, and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly
    impervious to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial
    increase--I wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so
    the driving force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?
    Calm before the storm. Smokes and mirrors.  Probably best advice is >>>>> to get out of USA if you can.

    Perhaps. Although I don't think it's necessarily wise to leave US
    stock market altogether. The valuations can still double if US follows >>>> Japan's example in the 80s :)
    But I certainly wouldn't have everything in US stock market only. If
    US has a lost decade it'll be a long time to hold.

    My current equities portfolio:

    46% Finland + Nordic Countries
    28% US + Developed markets
    26% China + Emerging Markets Asia
    Dump worthless stocks where you get screwed by backroom deals and
    political manipulation.  Buy Bitcoin!  ;)

    jd, I've heard a lot about crypto and lets us bitcoin as the basis...

    What are the strengths/weaknesses of bitcoin vis-a-vis an
    international currency like the Euro or the dollar?

    I don't know much about crypto other than the first creation of issues
    came from cryptos being traded for services. This was the "mining"
    phase.

    So the supply is limited to what has been mined (created by underlying
    services or commodities) and it can grow based on more mining
    activities. There may be other ways, but I'm unaware of them.

    Its legitimacy is ensured by the blockchain that's attached each bitcoin.

    That's the extent of what little I know.

    Well, there are many blockchains.  Hundreds if not thousands of them,
    many of which are unique and have specific strengths (and weaknesses)
    for specific use cases.  With bitcoin, the supply is limited to 21
    million coins of which nearly 20 million have been rewarded from
    "mining" already.  This supply limit cannot be changed.  The reward rate from mining is also predetermined and "halves" every four years, so
    mining will continue well into the next century.  In any case, unlike
    some of the other popular blockchains (Solana, Ethereum) it is natively deflationary due to scarcity.

    In contrast, Solana and Ethereum have an unlimited supply and have to
    deal with inflation through artificial mechanisms like "burning".

    Also in contrast to other blockchains, no "incompatible changes" have
    ever been made to bitcoin, and no such changes would easily be adopted
    by nodes on the network.  This may be mostly psychological, but it adds legitimacy.  At least it can be said that the underlying principles of bitcoin are sound and have been battle-tested over the last 17 years
    without the need for an incompatible change to the architecture.

    On OTHER blockchains, incompatible changes are made all the time.
    They're developed by a business or an individual, and are just adopted/ accepted by the network (possibly due to the prevalence of "insiders").
    This means new features are added, but those features come with the risk
    of bugs and new security vulnerabilities.  These changes also put your
    funds at risk in other ways.  Early on in Ethereum's history there was a massive hack and they "fixed" it by forking the blockchain with the
    offending transactions revoked.  Such an action delegitimizes the
    blockchain - if they can get consensus to revoke a single transaction
    from the blockchain what's to say one day a change won't be accepted
    that wipes out your balance?

    I also think it's important that bitcoin was developed and released by
    an anonymous entity, rather than a known company or individual with
    biased self-interest and the ability to be manipulated.

    Of course I don't think bitcoin is perfect.  There are definite risks to
    the technology, quantum computing for instance.  But for the benefits I stated and more, it's considered "digital gold". But unlike gold you can easily store it non-custodially, or spend and trade it anywhere in the
    world quasi-anonymously if you're careful.  It can easily be used as collateral for loans, etc.


    ..or is the recommendation to TT another "travel tip", like when you
    recommended Pete visit Papua New Guinea?

    Nah, but I was joking about stocks having no value, I am a believer in diversification.  Just in my mind stocks and fiat currency lack the permanence, transparency, convenience and potential of bitcoin.  IF you
    are willing to tolerate the risk.

    Thanks for the lengthy post; very informative for laymen like myself.

    I buy $20 of either Bitcoin or Ethereum every week. It's not much money
    and if either takes off (like Bitcoin, again, is seeming to do) I will
    profit from it. Otherwise it just $20 I threw away on speculation as
    opposed to spending that money on delivery pizza that my belly and
    tennis game doesn't need...
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to Sawfish on Wed Jun 11 21:15:53 2025
    On 6/11/2025 9:02 PM, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/11/25 6:16 PM, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 1:37 AM, jdeluise wrote:
    Sawfish <[email protected]> writes:

    On 6/10/25 1:52 PM, jdeluise wrote:
    TT <[email protected]> writes:

    Whisper kirjoitti 10.6.2025 klo 18.07:
    On 10/06/2025 5:14 am, Sawfish wrote:
    I'm as surprised and anxious as anyone else, I suppose. You have >>>>>>>> financial policy being changed at whim, it seems, you have the exec >>>>>>>> branch to a degree ignoring the judiciary, you have actual
    significant civil disturbances.

    Yet today I have more money, as per my update financial statement, >>>>>>>> than at any time in my life, and I haven't worked in >11 years. Nor >>>>>>>> my wife for 8. We first exceeded our previous high water mark about >>>>>>>> 3-4 weeks ago, and it has stair-stepped up since then. Of course it >>>>>>>> will recede, but it will have to recede A LOT to get back to where >>>>>>>> we stood in our last year of earned income. It has all been passive >>>>>>>> income since then, and it exceeds our lifestyle needs.

    So how can this be? Why are the financial markets seemingly
    impervious to all of these disruptions?

    I can't honestly see any policy reasons for the financial
    increase--I wouldn't attribute this to Trump, that' for sure--so >>>>>>>> the driving force(s) must be something less obvious.

    What the fuck do you think is going on here?
    Calm before the storm. Smokes and mirrors.  Probably best advice is >>>>>>> to get out of USA if you can.

    Perhaps. Although I don't think it's necessarily wise to leave US
    stock market altogether. The valuations can still double if US
    follows
    Japan's example in the 80s :)
    But I certainly wouldn't have everything in US stock market only. If >>>>>> US has a lost decade it'll be a long time to hold.

    My current equities portfolio:

    46% Finland + Nordic Countries
    28% US + Developed markets
    26% China + Emerging Markets Asia
    Dump worthless stocks where you get screwed by backroom deals and
    political manipulation.  Buy Bitcoin!  ;)

    jd, I've heard a lot about crypto and lets us bitcoin as the basis...

    What are the strengths/weaknesses of bitcoin vis-a-vis an
    international currency like the Euro or the dollar?

    I don't know much about crypto other than the first creation of issues >>>> came from cryptos being traded for services. This was the "mining"
    phase.

    So the supply is limited to what has been mined (created by underlying >>>> services or commodities) and it can grow based on more mining
    activities. There may be other ways, but I'm unaware of them.

    Its legitimacy is ensured by the blockchain that's attached each
    bitcoin.

    That's the extent of what little I know.

    Well, there are many blockchains.  Hundreds if not thousands of them,
    many of which are unique and have specific strengths (and weaknesses)
    for specific use cases.  With bitcoin, the supply is limited to 21
    million coins of which nearly 20 million have been rewarded from
    "mining" already.  This supply limit cannot be changed.  The reward
    rate from mining is also predetermined and "halves" every four years,
    so mining will continue well into the next century.  In any case,
    unlike some of the other popular blockchains (Solana, Ethereum) it is
    natively deflationary due to scarcity.

    In contrast, Solana and Ethereum have an unlimited supply and have to
    deal with inflation through artificial mechanisms like "burning".

    Also in contrast to other blockchains, no "incompatible changes" have
    ever been made to bitcoin, and no such changes would easily be
    adopted by nodes on the network.  This may be mostly psychological,
    but it adds legitimacy.  At least it can be said that the underlying
    principles of bitcoin are sound and have been battle-tested over the
    last 17 years without the need for an incompatible change to the
    architecture.

    On OTHER blockchains, incompatible changes are made all the time.
    They're developed by a business or an individual, and are just
    adopted/ accepted by the network (possibly due to the prevalence of
    "insiders"). This means new features are added, but those features
    come with the risk of bugs and new security vulnerabilities.  These
    changes also put your funds at risk in other ways.  Early on in
    Ethereum's history there was a massive hack and they "fixed" it by
    forking the blockchain with the offending transactions revoked.  Such
    an action delegitimizes the blockchain - if they can get consensus to
    revoke a single transaction from the blockchain what's to say one day
    a change won't be accepted that wipes out your balance?

    I also think it's important that bitcoin was developed and released
    by an anonymous entity, rather than a known company or individual
    with biased self-interest and the ability to be manipulated.

    Of course I don't think bitcoin is perfect.  There are definite risks
    to the technology, quantum computing for instance.  But for the
    benefits I stated and more, it's considered "digital gold". But
    unlike gold you can easily store it non-custodially, or spend and
    trade it anywhere in the world quasi-anonymously if you're careful.
    It can easily be used as collateral for loans, etc.


    ..or is the recommendation to TT another "travel tip", like when you
    recommended Pete visit Papua New Guinea?

    Nah, but I was joking about stocks having no value, I am a believer
    in diversification.  Just in my mind stocks and fiat currency lack
    the permanence, transparency, convenience and potential of bitcoin.
    IF you are willing to tolerate the risk.

    Thanks for the lengthy post; very informative for laymen like myself.

    I buy $20 of either Bitcoin or Ethereum every week. It's not much
    money and if either takes off (like Bitcoin, again, is seeming to do)
    I will profit from it. Otherwise it just $20 I threw away on
    speculation as opposed to spending that money on delivery pizza that
    my belly and tennis game doesn't need...

    How does a person buy bitcoin like you're doing--a casual investor?

    I use Venmo. Others I know like Coinbase. Many platforms to use.

    But ultimately, I have only digital proof that those platforms hold my
    assets. That is very concerning to me...
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?Q?Pelle_Svansl=C3=B6s?=@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 12 16:34:06 2025
    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a
    sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no
    worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, >>>>>>> at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc. >>>>>>
    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as
    well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter
    what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans,
    we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think probably >>>>>> a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low. >>>>

    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out by
    the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying
    there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other
    things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt ballooning
    budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt ceiling. So he
    can keep barking at it. But you can't really have it both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning budgets"
    and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays lip
    service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the deficit by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax cuts more than he
    cares about the deficit.

    --
    "Sinners don't make demands. They make confessions"
    -- Septa Unella

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jun 13 23:36:16 2025
    On 6/12/2025 8:34 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a
    sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no >>>>>>>> worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next quarter, >>>>>>>> at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the
    earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc. >>>>>>>
    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed as >>>>>>> well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no matter >>>>>>> what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans,
    we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think
    probably a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very low. >>>>>

    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out
    by the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying
    there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other
    things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt ballooning
    budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt ceiling. So he
    can keep barking at it. But you can't really have it both ways, can you. >>>
    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning budgets"
    and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays lip
    service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the deficit by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax cuts more than he
    cares about the deficit.

    Care to show a link to this "recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul?"

    I bet you can't.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to jdeluise on Fri Jun 13 23:38:36 2025
    On 6/12/2025 10:09 AM, jdeluise wrote:
    Pelle Svanslös <[email protected]> writes:

    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a >>>>>>>>> sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is >>>>>>>>> no worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next
    quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the >>>>>>>> earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates
    etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed >>>>>>>> as well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no
    matter what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, >>>>>>>> we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think
    probably a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very >>>>>>> low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out
    by the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying
    there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other
    things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt
    ballooning budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt
    ceiling. So he can keep barking at it. But you can't really have it
    both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).
    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning
    budgets" and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for
    yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays lip
    service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the deficit
    by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax cuts more
    than he cares about the deficit.

    But you know what really gets his goat?  Being uninvited from a White
    House picnic, e.g. a poster child of waste, fraud and abuse.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5345620-rand-paul-white-house-picnic/

    "I’ve just been told that I’ve been uninvited from the picnic; I think I’m the first senator in the history of the United States to be
    uninvited to the White House picnic," Paul told reporters. "The White
    House is owned by the taxpayers, we are all members of it, every
    Democrat will be invited, every Republican will be invited, but I will
    be the only one disallowed to come on the grounds of the White House."

    "I just find this incredibly petty," he added. "I have been, I think
    nothing but polite to the president. I have been an intellectual
    opponent, a public policy opponent, and he’s chosen now to uninvite me
    from the picnic and to say my grandson can’t come to the picnic."

    Paul continued, saying "the level of immaturity is beyond words" before tearing into Trump himself.

    "I’m arguing from a true belief and worry that our country is mired in
    debt and getting worse, and they choose to react by uninviting my
    grandson to the public," he said. "It really makes me lose a lot of
    respect I once had for Donald Trump."

    Poorly done, your follow-up just proved that jd doesn't have a clue.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?Q?Pelle_Svansl=C3=B6s?=@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jun 14 10:32:16 2025
    On 14.6.2025 7.36, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/12/2025 8:34 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a >>>>>>>>> sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is no >>>>>>>>> worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next
    quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the >>>>>>>> earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments
    nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc. >>>>>>>>
    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed >>>>>>>> as well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no
    matter what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, >>>>>>>> we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think
    probably a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very >>>>>>> low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out
    by the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying
    there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other
    things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt
    ballooning budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt
    ceiling. So he can keep barking at it. But you can't really have it
    both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning
    budgets" and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for
    yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays lip
    service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the deficit
    by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax cuts more
    than he cares about the deficit.

    Care to show a link to this "recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul?"

    I bet you can't.

    I'll just correct one sentence: "He will support the BB bill if the
    increase in debt limit is removed". How balanced the actual budget is,
    is not a concern as long as the tax cuts are there. But there is a
    chance he might vote against it yet.

    Paul voted for a $1.5T increase in debt in 2017. He will vote for a much
    larger increase now. If only the debt limit is not increased. He needs
    that limit so he can waste everybody's time pretending to be a budget
    hawk next time a government shutdown is scheduled.

    I very nearly couldn't re-find the article. Thanks to hard work and perseverance, I did.

    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/06/05/rand-paul-trump-bill-tax-cuts-national-debt/84032972007/

    (There's quite a few fraudulent claims in that piece. Read it at your
    own risk)

    --
    "Sinners don't make demands. They make confessions"
    -- Septa Unella

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jun 14 21:07:53 2025
    On 6/14/2025 2:32 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 14.6.2025 7.36, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/12/2025 8:34 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a >>>>>>>>>> sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is >>>>>>>>>> no worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next >>>>>>>>>> quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the >>>>>>>>> earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments >>>>>>>>> nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates etc. >>>>>>>>>
    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed >>>>>>>>> as well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no >>>>>>>>> matter what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, >>>>>>>>> we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think
    probably a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very, very >>>>>>>> low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out >>>>>> by the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his
    thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying
    there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other
    things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt
    ballooning budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt
    ceiling. So he can keep barking at it. But you can't really have it
    both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning
    budgets" and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for
    yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays lip
    service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the deficit
    by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax cuts more
    than he cares about the deficit.

    Care to show a link to this "recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul?"

    I bet you can't.

    I'll just correct one sentence: "He will support the BB bill if the
    increase in debt limit is removed". How balanced the actual budget is,
    is not a concern as long as the tax cuts are there. But there is a
    chance he might vote against it yet.

    That is not very good considering you implied that your were copying and pasting an article. Thus your entire post is invalidated...

    Paul voted for a $1.5T increase in debt in 2017. He will vote for a much larger increase now. If only the debt limit is not increased. He needs
    that limit so he can waste everybody's time pretending to be a budget
    hawk next time a government shutdown is scheduled.

    I very nearly couldn't re-find the article. Thanks to hard work and perseverance, I did.

    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/06/05/rand-paul-trump-bill- tax-cuts-national-debt/84032972007/

    (There's quite a few fraudulent claims in that piece. Read it at your
    own risk)

    See above about me invalidating your entire post.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Scall5@21:1/5 to jdeluise on Sat Jun 14 21:10:52 2025
    On 6/14/2025 2:08 AM, jdeluise wrote:
    Scall5 <[email protected]> writes:

    On 6/12/2025 10:09 AM, jdeluise wrote:
    Pelle Svanslös <[email protected]> writes:

    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a >>>>>>>>>>> sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is >>>>>>>>>>> no worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next >>>>>>>>>>> quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... the >>>>>>>>>> earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that governments >>>>>>>>>> nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means... debt, low rates >>>>>>>>>> etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed >>>>>>>>>> as well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no >>>>>>>>>> matter what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, >>>>>>>>>> we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think
    probably a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very,
    very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted out >>>>>>> by the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced his >>>>>> thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just saying
    there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit. Among other >>>>>> things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt
    ballooning budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt
    ceiling. So he can keep barking at it. But you can't really have it >>>>>> both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).
    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning
    budgets" and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for
    yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays lip
    service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the deficit
    by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax cuts more
    than he cares about the deficit.
    But you know what really gets his goat?  Being uninvited from a
    White House picnic, e.g. a poster child of waste, fraud and abuse.
    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5345620-rand-paul-white-house-
    picnic/
    "I’ve just been told that I’ve been uninvited from the picnic; I
    think I’m the first senator in the history of the United States to
    be uninvited to the White House picnic," Paul told reporters. "The
    White House is owned by the taxpayers, we are all members of it,
    every Democrat will be invited, every Republican will be invited,
    but I will be the only one disallowed to come on the grounds of the
    White House."
    "I just find this incredibly petty," he added. "I have been, I think
    nothing but polite to the president. I have been an intellectual
    opponent, a public policy opponent, and he’s chosen now to uninvite
    me from the picnic and to say my grandson can’t come to the picnic."
    Paul continued, saying "the level of immaturity is beyond words"
    before tearing into Trump himself.
    "I’m arguing from a true belief and worry that our country is mired
    in debt and getting worse, and they choose to react by uninviting my
    grandson to the public," he said. "It really makes me lose a lot of
    respect I once had for Donald Trump."

    Poorly done, your follow-up just proved that jd doesn't have a clue.

    ?

    My post wasn't really related to Pelle's besides Paul, and because I'd
    seen the article that morning.

    But god, Paul sure made HIMSELF look weak, petty and immature here.
    After everything that Trump has proposed wrt to the BBB and tariffs, the
    one and only thing that makes Paul lose respect for him and speak out
    about it is being uninvited to some picnic for elites?  Seriously?

    And what kind of naive person thinks that Trump is going to have any
    respect for someone who is a "polite... intellectual opponent"?  He
    wants followers.  This is the kind of behavior MAGA and Trump see as WEAKNESS and exploit mercilessly.

    I am sure he was hurt about not being invited, but he has and will still
    hold to his beliefs. Very credible is Rand Paul.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?Q?Pelle_Svansl=C3=B6s?=@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jun 15 09:57:58 2025
    On 15.6.2025 5.07, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/14/2025 2:32 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 14.6.2025 7.36, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/12/2025 8:34 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 21.25, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/11/2025 4:01 AM, Pelle Svanslös wrote:
    On 11.6.2025 8.10, Scall5 wrote:
    On 6/10/2025 10:10 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 10/06/2025 8:45 am, Sawfish wrote:
    On 6/9/25 3:31 PM, TT wrote:
    Sawfish kirjoitti 9.6.2025 klo 23.25:
    American risk taking optimist mindset.

    It's almost necessary to discourage it periodically, and in a >>>>>>>>>>> sense that's what the Fed does if left alone. E.g., there is >>>>>>>>>>> no worldly reason for the Fed to loosen rates for the next >>>>>>>>>>> quarter, at least.

    Yes. Someone said that periodic crashes are a good thing... >>>>>>>>>> the earlier it happens the less it'll hurt. Also that
    governments nowadays try to avoid crashes by all means...
    debt, low rates etc.

    Although Trump looks like wanting to crash the market, and Fed >>>>>>>>>> as well. But the US retail investor keeps buying every dip no >>>>>>>>>> matter what happens. :)

    I do think that Americans love risk taking more. Us Europeans, >>>>>>>>>> we're more conservative & careful with our money. I think
    probably a bit too careful.

    I don't think that's a negative. My risk tolerance is very,
    very low.


    US debt is out of control, no one seems to care lol

    Some do, like Rand Paul, Massie, and etc. But they are shouted
    out by the Fed and the legacy media...

    Not sure what you're talking about. Powell certainly has voiced
    his thoughts on the sustainability of the deficits. He's just
    saying there's a right time and a wrong time to run a deficit.
    Among other things.

    Paul is a classic case of a fraud. He approves of the debt
    ballooning budgets (of Trump) but is opposed to raising the debt
    ceiling. So he can keep barking at it. But you can't really have
    it both ways, can you.

    The fingers should be firmly pointed at those who make the fiscal
    decisions. Trump, Congress (Paul).

    100% incorrect. Paul has always been against "debt ballooning
    budgets" and his voting record proves that. Go ahead and check for
    yourself.

    Not according to a recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul. He pays
    lip service to the deficit by whining about the debt ceiling. But he
    supports and will vote for Trump's budget which increases the
    deficit by trillions. Because of the tax cuts. He wants them tax
    cuts more than he cares about the deficit.

    Care to show a link to this "recent op-ed written by ... Rand Paul?"

    I bet you can't.

    I'll just correct one sentence: "He will support the BB bill if the
    increase in debt limit is removed". How balanced the actual budget is,
    is not a concern as long as the tax cuts are there. But there is a
    chance he might vote against it yet.

    That is not very good considering you implied that your were copying and pasting an article. Thus your entire post is invalidated...

    Paul voted for a $1.5T increase in debt in 2017. He will vote for a
    much larger increase now. If only the debt limit is not increased. He
    needs that limit so he can waste everybody's time pretending to be a
    budget hawk next time a government shutdown is scheduled.

    I very nearly couldn't re-find the article. Thanks to hard work and
    perseverance, I did.

    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/06/05/rand-paul-trump-bill-
    tax-cuts-national-debt/84032972007/

    (There's quite a few fraudulent claims in that piece. Read it at your
    own risk)

    See above about me invalidating your entire post.

    I hereby invalidate all RST posts other than mine.

    I'd make an excellent king.

    --
    "Sinners don't make demands. They make confessions"
    -- Septa Unella

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)