Just because the solution is simple and obvious does not mean it will get done. But, having tried every other failed solution does mean we might get around to it sooner or later. My guess is later.

So, just cutting to the chase, the solution is to ban funds of all kinds. Yes, that does mean the return of the INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR! And, that should be the ONLY kind!

Yes, it is frought with problems, as solutions go. The conglomerates of investors not being able to work together is certainly not one of them. They have aided and abetted the robbing of millions of people of wealth.

Ok, the big question right off the bat is what about 401K's. Those are good for building retirement are they not? In theory, yes, and in simple forms, very definitely. But, they should be managed by INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS, not conglomerates.

What is my issue with these big funds? Quite simply, they get enough shares to control prices.
Price controls have been OUTLAWED, everywhere but here. And, it is high time we recognize that, and do something about it.

Between the media and the fund investors, and individual investor has not got a chance. That is just wrong! And, what is worse, the funds are not doing significantly better anyway. Investors are still getting blindly robbed.

But, without the coordinated efforts we see in funds management, it is unlikely that thousands of individual investors could get the price control funds get with the massive numbers of shares they work with per individual stock. And moreover, especially not all at the same time, across many, many different stocks.

So, what have we tried that has not worked already. Pick a government bailout. Any one. There have been many lately, and not one of them that will not dig deeply into taxpayers (sooner rather than later, but that too). Quite simply, the government has no place in the private sector AT ALL! Yes, I do favor MASSIVE reductions in government spending, and in government in general. It has proven to be expensive, and a MISERABLE FAILURE! The government could and should provide and encourage more employment, without it adding to government, as it were. Ie, we need less, not more congressman, and especially we need less benefits for them.
The idea of public servants has been lost somehow. But, the government has adequate resources for, and needs for infrastructure growth. That would add a lot of jobs alone, and serves to be more beneficial over time than any bailout seen yet. Incentives for small businesses to open and expand would also put people back to work, and raise the tax base.

So, as the new congress comes into session soon, I hope it has more sense than any previous one for some time. And, to those leaving GOOD RIDANCE! You have FAILED MISERABLY!

But is it all the government's fault, or or they just playing victim? Certainly, you have to lay some blame on housing and banking for making poor loans, and bundling them in such a way that they cannot be sold, or even properly valued. But, that is PRIVATE BUSINESS mis-mangement, and the market deals with that as it should. They get FORCED out of business. Our bubble-headed government is not even letting that happen as it should.

Unfortunately, to get to the return of the individual investor, I don't see any solution but for the government to get involved, and simply abolish them. Dear God, I hate to get the government into anything these days, but I don't see any other way around it.

But, if they did this, the market would rebound faster, and stay stronger longer. Will it recover if they do nothing? Probably. But you may see levels of 5500 on the Dow before it does. We are currently dangerously close to breaking a long standing support level, and if it goes, it will go BIG!

Why listen to me, when my portfolio is doing so poorly? Rules of the game mention being close to fully invested. The results speak for two things. I made some bad investment choices (like to be in the market at all), and show the effects of what funds can do to stock prices (and it ain't pretty).

Face it folks, most investors have at most a few hundred shares of an individual stock. Funds control millions. Can you do things with millions you cannot with hundreds. You bet! They have, and they will continue to. Are they doing you a favor? Certainly most investors are feeling enough pain to so NO, definitely NOT!

Is some level of joblessness worth fixing this problem? Well, not if it is your job at risk. Then again, if you invest, as an indiividual investor, you might actually make more than your job pays,,, in time. Maybe not even that much time.

We know what has not worked, and we keep doing it. Why not try something to FIX the problem!

Comments: View Comments |  Thursday November 20, 2008