Housing decline 12+% Consumer Confidence Slides..where does the smart money go?

[alf]

Confidence Index is my key leading indicator and it isn't doing too well. We have been here before. So where does the smart money go? Please comment.

WSJ:
"The Conference Board, a private research group, said that its index of consumer confidence for April fell once again, dragged down by yet another sharp decline in the present situation index. The confidence index now stands at 62.3, down from an upwardly revised 65.9 in March and compared with economists' expectations for a reading of 61.5, The March reading was originally reported at 64.5.

The confidence index was 87.3 in January and has fallen from its most recent peak of 90.6 in December."

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Overseas.

[legion]

Dot coms....um....housing.....errr.......crude....

You want to make money in a down market? Sit on some cash and be prepared to buy when the bears are running the show.

[HardDrive]

Unless you have to move money around, why 'do' anything?

I put my money in Bershire Hathaway B and a Vanguard overseas viper (VWO) last year. Those are my 'ride out the storm' holdings. As for our 401ks, IRAs.....why do anything? Are they down? Sure. They were dramatically up, and now they are down. So what?30 years from now, I want to have seen 7% a year.

Like legion said, don't lock in losses by selling, and if you have a pile of cash, put it in a short term products like a CD. You won't make much, but at least you won't lose money to inflation.

[alf]

Good calls so far except for legion

Just picked up some BerkB, not doing anything with 401k or IRA but have some liquid slush money. I think am going to buy some J-swords

[turbo6bar]

Sitting on cash waiting for killer RE deals. I am like a vulture, but well fed. My money is on significant deflation of housing stock, while a growing credit crisis places ever greater value on cash holdings.

[competentone]

Originally Posted by legion

You want to make money in a down market? Sit on some cash and be prepared to buy when the bears are running the show.

Be careful about sitting on cash for too long.

With the approximate TRILLION dollars of liquidity as "stimulus" the government has pumped into the economy since last summer's beginnings of the credit crisis, it is only a matter of time before that "stimulus" triggers massive amounts of inflation.

"Printing money" is not a productive activity -- except in the minds of the delusional economists (and their corrupt banking buddies). Creating more money does nothing to help the economy; all it does is line the pockets of those with the political connections who get their hands on it first!

[competentone]

deleted double post

[artplumber]

OIL....seriously....

[Jim Sims]

915 parts.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by artplumber

OIL....seriously....

Seems SO obvious, don't it?

[Lil Black Car]

I have been living in Germany for a few years and have been wondering about the actual state of the economy since leaving. It seemed okay to me in South Carolina when I left and my folks in West Texas say things are fine. I surely do not understand the troubles behind the mortgage troubles because no one made the folks who have gone tits up sign the papers. They did it to themselves. But if things are so bad how can discretionary spending be so high with Americans spending over $500,000,000 on ipods in the past few years, and with the release of the new "Grand Theft Auto IV" video game sales are expected to exceed $300,000,000 in a couple of weeks! If things are so bad and costs so much how can we afford to spend that kind of money on something as trivial as video games? Maybe this is where we need to be investing our money.