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trust and confidence!

Not knowing which way the stock market will turn, in particular the DOW. Some say that it will go down to 5500. Others say that we are at the bottom and we will have a sharp rally and the bear market is over.

Not being able to employ more people.

Trust & low income

I believe the uncertainty in the economy and the direction we are headed to, makes it difficult to invest in this environment. Also, the constant statements in the media indicating this is the worst crisis since the Great Depression has instilled a situation where investors are holding on to their cash positions.

I just returned from Asia- specifically India, although the economy seems like it is moving, I was told by locals that a recession is just starting in that country.

not living long enough to see the recovery

Awesome. I’ll follow this one too.

Not having the experience to know how to “trade volitility” when that is what is most predominate.

Income has slowed and lost 60% of the investment money . Also not knowing if anyone can peg the bottom of this ride.

Looking for the sound wisdom in the current turmoil. Difficult to see all the currents in the redirected flow of capital. Looking to find the clarity . . . . .

Fear of the unknown. I am reluctant to invest in the market with the daily bad news about jobs, the economy, unemployment, etc. Interest rates are pathetically low - so low it led me to pay off our mortgage. We are debt free and do feel good about that.

Uncertainty. Uncertainty creates fear and an unwillingness to move. Everything looks like quicksand. Lack of terra firma feeling. Hello? Do you understand me?

Your guidance on the direction of the markets has been outstanding and has made me a lot of money. The problem is timing of the market is being controlled by the Plunge Protection Team (PPT), Specialist and market makers. How to dodge these interferences is my biggest issue.

I would really like to thank you for the good information you have given for gratis. The U.S. Government was telling us that it was limited to the subprime crisis and the banks were sound. People should be going to jail and not getting bailout money from the poor taxpayers who have no choice in the matter.

Thanks

Again

Dave

No extra money to invest in the market; would rather invest in the real estate market. (Already loosing money in my 401k protfolio)

I’ve been net short since September and have made some progress, but I keep getting whacked by the sudden, foolish bear rallies. Unfortunately, I also need income, but find those bonds that actually pay a return a bit too scary. I sold just about everything in early September.

Low income opportunities and friends with out savings.

The amount of money I have to invest.

lack of seed money due to sickness. Hope to remedy in time.

Hi Martin,

I believe it is ignorance and incompetence (applies to upmarkets as well as downmarkets) as harsh as it may sound. We can make money in any environment - as your team has shown us, and not just while stocks moving up.

I followed your general advice since over a year and have made upwards of 25% profit last year with my portfolio while running my business fulltime.

Thanks for your insight and valubale and courageous forecasts.
Karl

How much money should you shoot for? We have a system of fiat currency; the value depends on what the government and their banker buddies says it is worth.
Right now we have a deflationary environment, that can change in a flash to inflationary. The inflation can go to hyperinflation. Inflations (hyperinflations) always end in deflation again. Check Zimbabwe.
Government insists on soviet central style of economic management…a system that is a proven failure.
Seems to me Gold and Silver (precious metals) are the only investments we can talk about at this stage.

what works and how !

low income. as a simple as that

where is the market going…. short term ?

Have all my investment assets in cash at the moment with the exception of inverse ETF’s you have recommended. Don’t know if I should buy gold via GLD as an added protection. Since I live in the UK the value of my assets are a function of the GBP/USD rate of exchange. Causes me great concern as I could have an up market day one day only to see my assets reduced because the USD weakens against sterling.

Ignorant politicians who make things worse.

Losing Principal

housing and frozen credit markets

No trust in banks, nor in corporate execs with regard to the honesty of their financial statements nor in the rating agencies. I can tolerate risk, but not dishonesty. Where do I put my savings now? Arthur Aberman is into short-term treasuries, probably OK, but are long-term treasuries save with all the risk the feds are taking on??

Signed: Ten years retired.

Fear of the FED. Will they devalue the dollar?

Fear of losing my savings during my period of unemployment….Fear deters you from making investment bets, even when you think you will be right!

Fear of loosing more money, don’t trust anybody.

Wallstreet crooks hustling funds and trading programs bleed me dry

confidence in where the markets are heading

CDs, I have three million in CDs, with no dudections for the IRs.

HELLO….I CANNOT SEEM TO GET TRACTION WITH STOCKS…I HAVE SUBSCRIBED TO YOUR HIGH YIELD SERVICE, BUT THEY ARE DROPPING TOO. WITH DOWNS LIKE TODAY AT 400 POINTS, I AM OF A MIND TO JUST SELL ALL AND SIT IT OUT. REAL ESTATE DOES NOT OFFER MUCH OF A BETTER SOLUTION. I WORRY ABOUT THE BANKS, HAVE MY ACCOUNT WITH E TRADE, AND WORRY ABOUT THEIR BANK ALSO. WORRY IS THE WORD….JIM HURST

I’m asking about a high leverage technique in which sector with the least amount of risk

Guts.

To afraid to take a risk. Lost enough, and job security.

Our Federal Government! When government bailout plans in the 100’s of billions of dollars change by the day. When they bailout some but not others (for the record they shouldn’t be bailouting out any of these firms). When it is obvious that the most powerful people in this country’s government don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to finance & economics…how can people be expected to make the decisions necessary to make money???

The money I have in interest bearing accounts is drawing nothing (.1$) BUT, I guess the old saying “Pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered” is right. I shouldn’t be greedy when others are suffering.

It appears there is nowhere to hide right now except in gold or silver until about 2012 when this will turn very ugly with deflation….

Confusing voices and firm predictions diametrically opposed to each other rendered by long-term friends and economists with respectable track records, such as yourself. For example, you are going to Dow 5500 or lower while even in your own camp some are going over 12,000 first. There has been enough error and enough success by each of the many (expensive) subscriptions I have (including your group) to both inspire hope and consideration, yet paralyze decisions and action.

Fear of the market tanking even more. Would like the name of a company or two that are dependable gold sellers (bullion). I think gold will do well in for quite some time.

I am a firm believer in the idea you can make good money in any market. The trick understanding the short term trends and being able to move quickly. You won’t make any money in the “safe” investments, at best you can break even, which for most is better than the heavy losses in most markets. As a novice investor my biggest barrier is experience, knowledge, and having the right tools.

In addition to my last submitted comments I find it terribly confusing when you, Larry, Jack, and others do not seem to agree on things like the USD or gold getting stronger. I know each has a different philosophy but as I subscribe to several of your investment letters it would be nice to receive one consistent message from the Weiss Group.

Thank you we are invested with WCM

I will try to type “slower”! I am afraid to invest because of limited funds.

THERE IS NO OBSTACLE TO MAKE MONEY, I JUST DON’T HAVE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN OUR LEADERS AS OF NOW, TO MAKE ANY INVESTMENT, BESIDES TREAS AND GOLD STOCKS AND HARD ASSETS.

don’t know who to believe.

My biggest obstacle is the commodity downturn. Now that the natural gas price has begun to improve, perhaps my oil land gas trusts will strengthen.

great depression incoming , fiat money , counterparty risk , general insolvency , bullshit market. Universal bankruptcy. Monetary system broken.

FEAR! Almost around every corner!

The total lack of credibility of financial advisors

Low income

Is it the Right to move into Gold Junior Stocks?My only hunch , IF DOW tanks, which Martin I believe is the case, then GOLD STOCKS will get decimated again OR WILL IT THIS TIME AROUND?

Right now I am wary due to
being unable to detect a trend
huge moves being generated by mostly unpredictable actions of government
too much uncertainty with respect to uncertainty as opposed to the classic “uncertainty with respect to loss” consideration.

Martin your guidance certainly has helped me in this tough market but one of the obstacles in making money is you are always promoting so new way to make money. that’s why I joined safemoney. why not charge more for safemoney and make the advice free or charge less for the ideas. as a retired 70 yr old I’m reluctant to gamble $2-5m. you say if we dont have that kind of money then we shouldnt get involved in currency or other investment ideas. if that’s the case hustle outside safemoney.

In the “real” business world significant drop of activity in option trading, probably the best time to be in provided one does exercise responsible risk management.

Getting in front of a financial backer who is open minded to listen to an idea that can help them, their community and our great nation. I want to quit my day job and launch 3 web portals that will drive costs out of our system and teach people how to solve problems with less dependency on government.

Volatility and the belief that things cant get any worse

We just don’t know what our government is going to come up with next. It is impossible to make good plans for the future.

trying to decide which scenerio is going to win out (deflation/inflation). Martin W. says deflation, Larry E. says hyperinflation. I respect both opinions. Both scenerios require different strategies. It lools to me like there is a very good chance the dollar will eventually get trashed. So, do you want to be in any dollar denominated investments ?

Lack of employment.

in today’s market I would say the lack of Lenders and capital either private or Federal.
ray

We continue to be lied to by our leaders (in government, business and media) about what they have allowed to happen to our wider economy. If a scintilla of truth comes to widespread light about our abject bankrupt state because of hundreds of trillions of dollars in derivatives (likely worthless), we could easily see the Dow go to zero.

It is against this backdrop that I have no trust in anything but cash as a current investment.

I’m a technical trader, with a good enough set of indicators (personally developed) to keep me out of the current chop.

Besides, I’m 78 and not taking any chances…and my capital is limited.

I don’t think you can fix any of this, but the confirmations you’ve been giving that this is a time for caution (T-Bills) have helped my peace of mind.

I believe the market is more than ever driven by crises which are unpredictable and I don’t like the odds of investing in that environment.

When it comes to “spending” I would love to invest what I have but on a very “limited” in come,what could I expect! I need a lot of help!

The conviction and courage to implement a defensive strategy in the midst of so much noise and opposing opinions coming from the investment community.

Market Volatility and lack of faith in economic and political system going forward

The market is too volitle, and there is too much debt.

Hopeless optimists delaying the crash. I’m short!

I’m in Retail. Fear and caution are driving shoppers away from Malls and shopping centers and those that buy are looking for deals. The good news is that landlords are now willing to make deals and even re-negitiate leases.

Thank you to Martin and company for giving me a heads up that this crisis was on it’s way. I was prepared.

Many like me who have lost money recently, now decline to venture out into the markets at all for fear of losing more. Once burned, twice shy. That’s the bottom line for me.

You have recently stated that a second great American depression in now inevitable. I believe you. The government efforts are too little too late to stop it.

Given that likelihood for declines in the economy of the US and the world lasting years, staying in short term treasuries (thanks for that good advice, repeated over and over in your fine newsletters) seems like a good approach.

And, although as some of your colleagues say, some profits can be contemplated from well placed currency plays or from reverse ETFs betting on declines in certain sectors, this approach is difficult for an individual to time.

I am very interested to hear if

a. you would alter the US dollar focus in favor of other currency investments or
b. you would comment about this moment as a good time to enter the bear market strategy fund in Weiss capital management.

thanks

Minus capital and confidence.

The #1 obstacle to making money right now, in this environment is, the SEC “Pattern Day Trading Rule”. This SEC rule should be abolished!

fear, uncertainty and low income

I have some gold shares and GLD — should I do “covered calls” on these for more income?

I live in Japan. You have, too, Martin… My savings are mostly in Japanese yen. I wish you’d give more insight in what’s happening in the yen-US$ relationship, both short-term and long-.

holding winning trades with the wild market swings. I really think this market could break down very hard

lost enough

I need specific ETF,s and their expected ranges to risk making investment,s now,

Lack of faith in others, by judging what is going on right now..

I am in the business brokerage business helping Sellers (business owners) sell and Buyers to buy. The lack of available funds for financing is putting the breaks on transactions getting done. If that were not enough, Buyers are also scared to commit too and I can not blame them.

The irrational behavior of the majority of the people in the markets.
This makes it hard to maintain perspective and continue to try to
be rational in my own decisions.

Chosing the information to rely on.

Do not have enough money to invest in anything.

current debt

I have far too much credit card and similar consumer debt to even consider investing beyond what goes into my 403-b account with TIAA-CREF.

Volatility is a problem right now. The daily swings, both in stocks as well as in currencies, are fairly large and largely unpredictable. Politics is also playing a role. Who knew this morning what Geithner was going to say and what effect it would have?

There are as many opinions about where we are headed and what to invest in as Carter has pills? How can one know?

I’m making money!

It is my understanding that seventy percent of all trades in the market are made by the Hedge Funds, thereby being the controllers of the market. I personally believe that these highly paid individuals play every day to a “pre-determined concert” of buys/sells within the framework of what is happening in the news that particular day, and that the outcome is pretty much known to them, but very few others. The difficulty, or obstacle, to making money in the market is that one has to adopt a new reality. If one has two consecutive days of earning money, sell! More and more people are going to the sidelines, and if one thinks buy and hold is the way to go….he/she will go broke. The volatility and the Hedge Funds, and the way they operate are my biggest obstacle. They should have strict rules for their operation, but—they are “unbridled” and are taking a lot of people’s money in an underhanded manner.

Cash and confidence. It seems that everyone is right and everyone is wrong all at the same time. Very hard to predict what will happen next in these trying times.

no fundamental based trends
trends are played and broken daily by traders, manipulators and central bank intervention

I have no belief in anything right now because the financial markets are being manipulated. When the rules are changing all the time, how can one even begin to make accurate decisions?

Fear!!! The markets are too volatile and profitable trades do not cover losses on stopped out trades.

Hi and thanks for all your advice. My current problem is fear which is exacerbated by the extremes in volatility. Just when you think it’s safe to dabble again, the market has a 300 point down day. I just don’t know anymore if I should be short or long, so I stay out, and no money can be made if you are out.

Lack of trust in the financial system.

Since I am a real estate broker, the biggest obstacles are the housing crisis and the mortgage crisis.

Not knowing when the market has hit bottom.

Fear of loosing money as I am retired. My wife and I feel that our standard of living has eroded. This stems from asset and home devaluation.

Can’t do much with 401k and that’s where most of my cash is. I have about 5 minutes a month to dedicate to figuring out the conflicting advice of what to do with the rest of my cash, so I do nothing with it- I don’t have the time or patience to take care of it and I dont trust someone else to lose it and say “oops!”. I have some limited free cash to invest and no clue which place to invest it! Each product you offer costs a lot of cash and I have no idea which one is the right one for me.

Whipsaws! Trying to indentify ‘tradeable’ trends!

My own lack of knowledge about how to read charts and how to forecast with a certain amount of accuracy what will happen. I have only a small amount of money available to me right now (about $5000) to invest as my husband and I are trying to build up as much of an emergency fund as possible. I’m not sure where I would get the most bang for the buck with this small investment.

To feel comfortable that I have the proper diversification in my portfolio under present market conditions.

Fear to trade, unable to call an entry point and the direction of the market.

Trust and Confidence!!!! Seeing all the bailout money being wasted on a no fix situation!!!! High unemployment rate!

Not having the time, knowledge, or impetus to buy & sell or invest on my own.
Need a person, stockbroker, or service to invest or buy & sell for me!

Government intervention in the markets….

Forget about the markets…..
The real problem with America is lack of honest work and if there is honest work it doesn’t pay well. Instead America has become home to wise guys who can make money (used to at least) just by talking and asset shuffling. Not to mention the politicians who are mostly hot air. I take a deflationary and jaundiced view of the country I love and grew up in. We have to get back to a base economic reality but the present deflation will force this upon us anyway. And no one likes this base reality, we have been deferring it for years because Americans try to avoid physical work and science and engineering in college. Americans became addicted to dreaming, addicted to money for nothing and “the money of the mind”

And part of the reason people are so interested in investing is because their jobs don’t pay enough. Back in the 1950s you just earned money and banked it with 2% interest

It takes money to make money! I don’t have much left to do anything with. I’m afraid to do anything with the several thousand we have left. My husband and I are retirement age and don’t see retirement ever being possible. We need help, but can’t really afford it. Lack of money is a huge problem.

NOT LOOSING MONEY!! PRESERVATION OF CAPITAL/PRINCIPAL!!

Belief that another expensive course will make a difference.
Trust

The #1 obstacle is timeing this temporary deflationary period - for the main event! Which is the hyper-inflation, which is guaranteed to follow in the Fall of ‘09 to the Fall of ‘10! Why is this the turning point? Time tested repeating commodity cycles are afoot. We will know the time to sell the dollar and buy gold by listening to the market - not by picking an anxious entry. I will say that I do know exactly what to look for! Good trading to you.

Confusion abounding! Who’s right, who’s wrong. As the economic situation unfolds, a scary picture is being painted as we speak. This financial crisis is much worse than the news media and banks will ever let you know. SO, what do you do? Focus–do the right thing, conserve your cash, invest only in Tresuary Bills (short term), don’t buy a new car if you don’t absoultely have too (millions of good used cars right now), pray that our goverment leaders are asking for divine help in their decision making! Because most of them are not true business leaders, they are people who ran for a particular office and won! That doesn’t make you business savy! Love your family, wife and kids during this financial mess! We will be fine. Just use your head and stay calm. Thank Martin for his advice and his teams advice.

I have just no confidence in any source of financial information, especially if that source is encouraging me to invest in something. At the very most basic of our financial structures, the individuals in charge have proven themselves to be blind, ignorant, selfish and quite possibly dishonest with the public they are entrusted to support with viable financial information. I’m 77 years old and still not smart enough to smell the scoundrels before they have a hand in my pocketbook.

I just took off last half of year to care for parents who both died within 12 days of each other and were buried in November so my savings has been sort of used up and then with the crash, my retirement funds are not looking pretty and I have 4 sons in college… BOTTOM LINE LACK of capital to get started or restarted in making investments.

My obstacle is that I already lost almost everything I had in the early 80’s. It would take a volume to tell the story about all of that. Then what I did salvage out of that mess was taken by a series of Medical issues including accidents, cancer, etc. I have been living on S.S. Disability for several years now which is $1009.00 per month and I am having a hell of a time making ends meet. I know I probably shouldn’t be getting your letters but I read them to try to figure out what is in store for the future. I am 65 years old and have kids and grandkids that don’t seem to have a clue. I come from homestead family’s that saw unbelievable obstacles and they have passed down to me somewhat of a survivalist mentality that young people just can’t get a grasp of, even though they know the history. I enjoy getting different perspectives on things. Thanks Ed Lipp

I have seen my money go down to almost nothing. I am afraid to take out whatever little is left. I also feel that the trust I had in the ompany holding my money is loosing ground.

None actually. Just fear that instead of making money in this crazy market I would just add to my losses. Making money in this market seems to be fit for a day trader and not a intermediate/ long term investor like me. I would rather concentrate on how to earn money doing something I enjoy than play the markets with the odds stacked against me.

Too much month at the end of the money.

I lack the inteligence for making good investments.

There are money making opportunities EVERYWHERE you simply have to be creative, opened and flexible.

The falling stock market and the low yield on Treasuries and fixed income instruments

Yes. Looking for a Job..Loosing Confidence and Time..

The uncertainty about Washington policy and its unability to rescue the US financial system meltdown which has caused recent market high volatility. Its been very high upswing and downs, if we’re in the wrong side of the market it can get you stopped out till death. Until more money left to open another position to cover-up.

Martin: I need help in trading. In other words, I can follow Jack Ctrooks in WCO and Mike’s Rapid Fire ETF’s but, I really don’t have the time to read & execute all of the trades. Can you set up a trading account for me at Weiss where somebody at your end can execute their recos?

Peter

Getting out of the market when I am down so much and afraid I’ll miss the upswing.

High volitility

Fear of this market swinging so violently up and down. i have been a seller of puts and calls for POT for a while. its been nuts keeping tracking of it..

Market volatility is so unpredictable it is not possible to do any practical investing.

We must get rid of big wasteful government and big wasteful taxation by government.Every way the average person turns they face bureaucracy and headaches when simplicity is needed.We need government off peoples’ backs and out of their pockets.Government is now mortgaging the futures of peoples’ children,grandchildren and maybe even great grandchildren.We need a NEW American Revolution!!!Ron Paul speaks common sense for small government!Thank you for your information and heroic efforts!

Low income, customers.

my personal feeling is the stock market works on 3 themes, hope, fear and greed. currently, i dont see any hope just despair followed by alot of fear. i have friends getting pay cuts, layoffs and big reductions in home equity. who knows when and where the bottom will be . no hope plenty of fear, who has excess monies to invest in such unsure times, it is really scary out there now. thankyou for asking, dg

The exact timing of entering the markets again is critical. Specifically, when will the US markets hit the bottom? When will international markets get to the bottom and specifically China, Brazil, India? Gold and silver has been rising. Obviously i may have miscalulated when i sold all of my gold and silver holdings in expectation of buying them back at lower prices. Will gold and silver also drop again in the next six months or so before they hit a consistent rise?

Not concentrating on the “new” needs of consumers… as in Saving money, and finding ways to consume less.

Excellent research….terrible newsletters…..too many chiefs….not enough indians…time to clean house.

the uncertinity of the markets & lack of trust in washington

Invested in Canadian dollars and need to convert to US. Hope oil and commodities will lift the Can dollar to par before I invest. Currency play is key

Finding a reliable on line broker with reasonable prices where I can trade ETF’s.

go

Pensioner. No longer gamble on shares. Money in safe savings accounts,low interest but my money is secure.

Hi All,

We think the Weiss group has been providing great advice and service for a long time…

However, we remain highly critical and skeptical of their recent push toward currency trading…this honestly does not make much sense…statistics show that only 1% of currency or forex traders make any positive cash flow without losing their shirts….

In addition, they push the fear factor way too far…after all, if you remain properly diversified in different asset classes, you will be just fine…and guess what? this current crisis will not be the end of equities, or real estate, or REITs, or high yield bonds, or foreign bonds…it only means that you should be skeptical of what Wall Street is telling you, and diversify aggresively…after all, people have making money and prospering through many events in the past….remember late 1870s…1907, 1914, 1929, 1937, 1941…1973…1987..1991…2000..and now 2007…until now and ongoing…the message is, capitalism works, and you just need to realize that any investor MUST follow a proper asset allocation program for his/her needs…

Cheeers..and looking forward to hear from you…

Like others here, my biggest obstacle is having limited funds to invest. Opportunities abound if you know where to look, even in this market. But with limited capital it’s hard to take advantage of those opportunities. Sure, there are leveraged investments, like leveraged ETFs, but one mis-step early on could wipe out your capital.

Biggest problem is risking 401 K savings while under 59 1/2 with no part time income to supplement spouse income to pay mortgage etc.

Lost most of my $ already.
Looking to cash in on a large tax refund this year.
Ready to go again.

Larry

Chaos, turmoil and uncertainty with respect to anything that has to do with making, keeping and growing money.

I keep losing money on trading ultra etf, guess I need better entry and exit points.

Would like to invest , but not at this time due to market going DOWN.. I want to try your currency trading but I know that nothing is Free and I would have to spend alot of time to learn that kind of investment strategy , however with that said I still toy with the idea of your trading ways.. I do look forward to reading your Money and Market everyday , Thank you Richard

best test to explain world markets I have heard is…

ASSUME:

American business is running at only a small percent of ultimate capacity. For your problem assume 65%. This means a factory is only turning out 65% of what it can sell. If it turns out more, it goes into inventory or prices come down even more.

Assume this business is already cutting back on employees and hours worked because management isn’t stupid and they want something left in the bonus pool for December bonuses.

EXPLAIN:

How money from any of the so-called ’stimulus’ legislation will increase sales or explain how the company will use the money to increase production rates beyond current demand levels so they can hire someone back.

Government actions large and small, actual and “expected soon”, including outright manipulation - have ALL the markets in complete flux. While it is certainly more of a traders market, I’d really call it a gamblers market. Not being a gambler I’m mostly waiting.

Fear over losing more principal.

Most of the stocks I have now are oil, energy and precious metals. After losing about half the value during 2008 I am reluctant to move ahead mostly to ignorance of what might be coming on the horizon. I don’t know if I should sell everything and just sit on the cash or just let things “ride” for the time-being. I am at a “fork-in-the-road”.

Fear of loss

Not enough time in the day — or night.

too many uncertain variables makes investing that I always felt a bit of a gamble now a real crap shoot. I am investing regardless but primarily corporate bonds in my retirement acct and personnally nyc GO and revenue bonds. Will see if the Fed buying back 100 year t bills will lower interest rates and hence increase price ofthese investments plus decrease and make more affordable getting a mortgage.. At least these are not boring times.

My Health

Close to fully invested. Confidence to move one investment into another that will give me a return.

I did not pick my parents correctly.

Pensioner,no longer gamble on shares.Low interest savings account

uncertainty,volatility,mistrust of the markets

Not sure which market to trade now

uncertainty

G@B next year we will be £1000000 air,s

For a person like myself who has not traded in the paper investments you & your staff are experts at picking, being able to have a member of your staff\inhouse be able to actually place my orders for any of the investments you recommend would be a best case scenerio for me versus my having to pick & trust a total stranger at a un-tried for me brokerage firm (which is somthing I can not risk). I know you choose not to provide said service for your own reasons however that`s what has kept me glued to the sidelines & cost me profit opportunities I`m sure, but thanks for asking. Jay.

No money to invest and no access to any money to invest

The Fed, Treasury, JPMorgan, & Goldman/Sachs. I am convinced that JPM & G/S have been naked shorting gold and gold mining shares at the behest of the Fed & Treasury. The SEC has turned a blind eye. Now the head of enforcement in the SEC is being replaced, as though that would make a difference. Ha! I have lost all confidence in the federal gov’t. It appears now the law breakers are the law makers. The law applies to everyone but them. If that is not true, why aren’t Gleithner & Daschle in jail, or heavily fined, or both. The bailout so far has taken care of those who gave big political contributions; started by Paulson & now to be continued by Geithner (another G/S alumni).
As you may surmise, I am a gold investor.

people are frozen with fear and scared to move their money out of anything right now…even though they know their ship is sinking. i see way too many retirees who have a short, selective memory and did not learn from what the market’s did only a few years ago…’01, ‘02 and ‘03. greed is very powerful and it has made many retirees, or people close to retirement, lose a lot of sleep the past year. for the majority of retirees, the stock market is not the place to have their money…money that they need to be there for them for rest of their lives. there’s way too much bad advice being given out there from all the brokerage houses who only deal with stocks, bonds and mutual funds…way too much risk for a good chunk of their clients.

Hard to find an automatically trading system for day trading.

so muck conflicting advice on what is going to happen. Hard to know which way to go.

I don’t have enough money at this time to play with and gamble on loosing. And yet if I sit back and do nothing there are great profits to be lost. I need to know that I am in good hands and that my hand will be held every step of the way. I am a middle aged baby investor.

LOOSING 50% OF MY PRINCIPAL IN THE MARKET.

I feel the number one disaster right now is LOW INTEREST RATES. Everytime they lower the rates they are stabbing a knive in the heart of baby boomers and twisting the knife. Interest rates are ridiculously low. A million dollars cash right now will earn you $25,000 per year if you have a liquid account. Poverty wages. Why is it so great to encourage people to go into debt. Interest rates on savings should be a least 5% and never lower. Low interest rates are making everything worse. They are only helping those who made this mess to begin with by using debt irresponsibly.

I enjoy reading your emails, but I need someone to make the investments for me, I asked one time but I beleive you do not make investments for people -correct>

Fear of all investments and no confidence that our government knows what they are doing.

I would like to anticipate the market so that I can make successful option trades. Market trends help, but I am afraid there is no transparency on maximum trades that get traded on the news or ahead of the news. The little guy is at the mercy of those controlling the news. Is there anyway that this can be supervised. Also perhaps bringing back the up-tick prior to a put or sell purchase order might have a controlling affect. Thanks for all your insights. They have been helpful. NL

THE ONLY PROBLEMS I HAVE ARE CAUSED BY THE MORONS WE SEND TO WASHINGTON…..IT’S NO LONGER A FAIR GAME WHEN WE HAVE THESE MORONS CHANGING THE RULES EVERYDAY…

we are in unknown waters and lack a clear, concise compass, ie valid information.

Risk! I am retired with a fair amount of capitol to invest. I know that I cannot survive in the long run on the interest of treasury bonds. At this time I lack the confidence to invest large sums in the equity markets. It seems that there is no reasonably safe investment strategy that will not whipsaw me into a loss.

I’ve been to 5 CFP’s and they are all more interested in themselves than making me money. So it is the complete distrust of the totally loaded against the small investor system that causes me to not move forward and the latest debacle is only the tip of the iceberg, greed & dishonesty is everywhere.

Hard to find two nickles to rub together

There is alot of money to be made in these markets. #1 obstacle is a slowing of loans to purchase new businesses. Other than that I follow Martin’s and Larry’s reports and their advice, especially on gold and short index etf’s, done very well. By the way, is there any way the safe money report can give a current list of banks that are originating business loans, especially with respect to different industries. Thanks.

The markets are far too volatile and unpredictable> Being either short or long holds high risks and one must be a day trader to make money without undue risk. Trying to predict the market sentiments is impossible. The government is now the 900 pound gorilla.

Lost some money on my 401K Retirement account, where do I go from here?
I’m 55 years old.
What funds should I be selecting now. Or move funds over into an interest only option.

Fear. Sometimes I feel paralysed and don’t know whom to believe or trust. Everything I buy seems to go down whether I use inverse ETF or buy divident paying stocks. So I do nothing because I’m tired of losing money. So I let it sit in US short term treasuries and bank deposit even though I get no yield.I still own about 20% of my portfolio in stocks.

What does awaiting moderation mean?

Not knowing where to invest in this very uncertain and volatile market.
Protecting the value of my savings while maximizing the income from them.

The more opinions I read the more confusing it is. I don’t think the government or anyone else has the answer at this time. It seemed perhaps the market was bottoming out around 8000 until today., altho some say 5500. Waiting for some semblance of a trend.

Those that still have their job are in fear of losing them - those that lost their job cannot qualify to refinance or diig out of an upsidedown position in their home. Even those in the upper class are holding on to their money - putting off major purchases. It’s a great time to buy a home or investment property but people are holding out for lower rates and a more secure future.

I feel very strongly that we are in a depression and the government is following the same road as FDR did in the 1930’s depression. It did not work then. The Second World War was the catalyst that turned the economy around then, not FDR’s policies. Why follow the same ineffective policy now?
I believe we are heading into years of depression and that the market will fall much, much further over the coming years.

Interest rates too low for those of us on a fixed income and cannot afford to take risk with our money.

In 1997 I started a small buisess which we built to the point where we were number one and still are within in our market influence. In June of 2008 we sold our shares to a public company for several million dollars and have been scared to do anything with the cash. As I read your newsletter the question is security, I am closer to 57 than 56, I signed on to manage the business for another couple of years with an option for another year. Having a place to place the money with a secure reasonable return is the main road block (obstical) right now. In two words, “feeling secure”. We are very comfortable with our life and life style and do not like to gamble our hard earned cash.

Paul

A. Having cash to invest in anything. B. If A were not an obstacle then trying to figure out how government intervention will mess with the investments you know can and should produce good returns in this environment.

Under performing business complete with cash flow problems is #1. Clueless administration and politicians is a very close second. Why not revive the RTC to liquidate these troubled assets at auction rates?

I have been reading your financial information and your dad’s for over 26 years-both of you have been on the money every time-my great grand dad was a medical doctor in 1929 and lost over a million dollars in the crash-it wiped out our family wealth-my brother & I grew up dirt poor-I just retired from the third largest bank in world-you have called the banking problems to the T-I have not lost any money!! Thank You for the wonderful advice-What a Great Publication!!
Kent

I’m forever glad I started subscribing to MaM eLetter and could take advantage of both your conventional and unconventional wisdom. My #1 obstacle to making any substantial money is having so much of my wealth tied up in an inflexible 401K. I have been able to put other small $$ in ETFs and a couple of options. Due to bad debt decisions I didn’t have the means to try the Personal Money Machine at this time. Maybe if I get laid off from my job and get the 401K in lump (!) But I think it’s a great idea and am still thinking about it.

Like you wonderful people I saw and predicted the bubble in housing and loans in 2005, and was laughed at by many. But I got out and they aren’t laughing anymore.

Now I see a larger problem called our naive economic leaders as the biggest obstacle to a shortened depression and a long overdue cleaning of our economy which has needed for 25 years. Controlled inflation is nothing more than borrowing against the future and creates little if any value added in production.

How can we impeach these appointees or publically VET them? The same guys that got us here are still captaining the ship into the next iceburg. Spend ourway out of debt - Bah!

I would like to anticipate the market so that I can make successful option trades. but I am afraid there is no transparency on maximum trades that get traded on the news or ahead of the news. The little guy is at the mercy of those controlling the news.

Every time I pick a new stock, something bad happens and it goes down. There needs to be a complete wash out so that the market can form a new base from which some stability can occur. At least we would then have a better idea of which companies will survive and pay safe dividends. The Government is not helping because every time it acts, new uncertainty occurs and its ” best laid plan” does not work.

after burning my fingers miserably aversion to risk is my biggest obstacle

I lack trust in the market and in the government bail out plans. I am
preserving capital in Treasury Money Market accounts and TIPS, but want to eventually
build my nest egg for retirement.

how we will recover what we lost, and putting trust in some advice. NOT THE FED>>>

Am not so much interested in making money as I am keeping the money that I’ve already made !!

It takes money to make money

Since I have recently retired, I too am concerned with capital preservation. I have 75% in cash, money markets and Canadian bonds. Trying to decide when to re-balance this portfolio is not an easy job. I planning to use dollar cost averaging as a buying strategy - buying once a month during any dips that occur in the third week of each month - the last week as a general rule often has an uptick as managers “polish their portfolios”! I buy mainly ETFs for diversification and low costs, but which ones and the asset allocation are the hardest decisions to make.

low funds.
not understanding the full scope of bull & bear & so many other terms.
how can a person make so much money with 1,000.00 or even 100.00
afraid to invest market …economy is so screwed up.

wondering what you charge to help me invest.
how can you guarantee a win?

Volatility . Getting on wrong side of major swing.
Conflicting advice
Like don.t fight the fed
Buy gold
Deflation to drive raw material prices down
Frustration

My biggest challange is finding companies that will be able to take advantage of this down turn and pick up market share and gain strength over the next 3-5 years!

To receive dividends from stocks that are safe and sequre for the future and beond the present downturn.

Paul

I refuse point blank to invest in anything other than cash right now. I dont think anyone knows how deep this hole is. With all due respect martin, I admire your opinion immensly, but I am sure even you would admit it could get a few percent worse than you have bravely stated.
My Speculation right now is through the simple and hugely tax efficient UK Spread bet market on FX. I have trained myself through passing the STA diploma and use Jack Crooks et al, for fundamental input. So far This is proving encouraging. I started along this path some time ago (2007), as you were calling the risks Martin, which is why I felt empowered to decline your offer. But 3 years ago I would have swallowed it whole. I was actually forced into a finacial mess much like masses of people are in now and saw short term, cheap FX trading as my only way back, as I can no longer work. I therefore believe your FX strategy is a great Idea and was relieved to see you come up with it.

Confidence has left the room.
Time is running out fast.
Cash is King.
Timing is everthing.
Recovery is nowhere in sight.
Changing Peoples Mindset.

Our structural steel company of 30 years has only gotten better year after year. Right now, my confidence in the construction market has been shaken through the media and nightly news. Normally I’d make what ever capital investments were going to increase production, BUT NOW, I’m on hold till my confidence returns.( PS, I don’t listen to the media any more)

Your issues cover mainly the USA Sector but lacks info on the Canadian Sector where I live. For now I’m just sitting on the cash waiting for more info hopefully on where in the Canadian markets to invest.

Lack of financing to get my business off the ground.

Difficulty predicting the future (with any significant degree of confidence)

Since I do not desire to do the research on my own, I feel it best to try a pay service from time to time that does the research for you and provide recommendations. Every one I have tried has failed. I find all the services pad their performances with unrealistic entry and exit points. Furthermore, past performances are greatly exaggerated and are basically sales pitches. So my biggest obstacle in making money is finding a truthful, reputable, consistent and affordable reco pay service. I would have no problems paying for something that works and keeps my risk and losses at the very minimum.

Too much volatility to risk pulling out of Treasuries.

I have followed your previous advice on getting out of European stock and buying US Government issues and although returns are not big the capital value vis a vis GBP has soared. I have however not ventured into your “can’t go wrong” currency markets; on which I made a $65,000 theoretical loss by dabbling without committing cash.
It would appear to me that the present time is not for speculating, certainly not after the half baked measures announced from Washington today. I intend to stay put and see how things settle, you may also be wise enough to do likewise!!!!
Detecting the upswing ahead of the curve with some confidence ought to be the next task with careful analysis as to the likely market segments to move upwards first.
My best wishes for your future efforts and thanks for your advice.
Kind regards,

Freddie Barter

The crash is still yet to come……………

I’d like to know if and when to cash out my IRA. If the government starts to meddle with our retirement funds then I’d rather cash out my IRA early and take the penalty. I’d rather have something than absolutely nothing.

Since I have recently retired, I too am concerned with capital preservation. I have 75% in cash, money markets and Canadian bonds. Trying to decide when to re-balance this portfolio is not an easy job. I am planning to use dollar cost averaging as a buying strategy - buying once a month during any dips that occur in the third week of each month - the last week as a general rule often has an uptick as managers “polish their portfolios”! I buy mainly ETFs for diversification and low costs, but which ones and the asset allocation are the hardest decisions to make.

What is your #1 obstacle
to making money right now,
in this environment?

Defensively…where to invest or whether to invest at all? Isn’t cash still king?

do not know when is the best moment to invest and which sectors and which stocks should be invested.

I luckily smelled a rat 18 months ago and went almost all cash, therefore avoiding the wholesale destruction of my then blue chip (LOL..BLUE chip indeed) portfolio. However, with interest rates at next to nothing cash is idle. I am in no position to lose my hard earned assets so I wait and watch and dabble in energy royalty trusts that even now pay a half decent dividend. I enjoy Money & Markets and the insights even if I don’t always agree with all of them. My advice…be fearful and distrustful because right now it is only the fats cats getting the bailouts of our money. The fed is bleeding us dry.

The markets make NO sense. When news is at it WORST - the DOW will go up that day. It almost feels like the market is being manipulated and I’m not even certain by whom. Personally I love ETF’s. They can be a rocky ride and are not for the faint of heart.

I am retired, living from pay check to pay check. What is a fellow to do?

In a word, Uncertainty.
It creates too much risk.

Why would ANY rational and prudent person invest in a declining market that is projected to lose at least another 10% to 20%, or more? And due to the unknown collateral damage that may occur, nothing appears to be a good bet where even one’s principle is truly safe. When the professional “insider” fund managers are investing in “zero interests T-Bills” that fairly well defines the overall situation, doesn’t it? The only “guarantee” for Investing in this declining market is the loss of principle. Congress must formulate and issue regulations and means of oversight for INSTILLING INTEGRITY in the market; and our economy has to hit bottom before things can mprove. It is a difficult situtation that we just have to work through. The government is dragging it out by artificially propping up too many failing institutions and dragging the process out.

Too much money being ‘created’ by the mint & fed.

Knowing when to best cycle into the market (and into what?) fred

Martin,
I like to believe there is no obstacle to making money in this market. All the tools are available. All I need to do is take action.
Following the info from the Safe Money newsletter has given me profits and prevented huge losses that I would have racked up by listening to my broker or myself. Any losses I have are due to my own hesitation or not paying close attention.
As you can tell, I am happy with the results I am getting. And I’m looking positively toward the future.
Keep up the good work.

Hi and thank you. I have a orientation on the 16th for a tractor truck driveing job, for j b hunt.Then deit to pay off. What gave you this Idea of a blog?

Lack of confidence:
1- Lack of confidence: In the companies, in their performances and their net asset value, PE ratio and potential for Growth. Is any thing left? Also, unpredictable currencies and commoditiies. So, high volatility everywhere. For example, I am now interested in the high yield corporate bonds. BUt what would be the purpose when the market is supposed to fall another 20 percent.

2- Lack of confidence also in the predictions of different financial newsletters and professionals. Those who claim could make you money, but in reality their money is not really where their mouth is!

After all, now more than any time else we are seing more Chaos than PREDICTABILITY!

THE BANKS!!!
It was the Banks that created this crash, Bernie Madoff and the likes. They want bailouts, (not to save us), but to pay themselves HUGE bonuses and 1.2 mil to reno their office??? Why should one ever trust them again???

As a Canadian, I am playing it safe, putting my money into the TFSA ad RDSP, the Gov’t came out with. Also, taking it out of the BIG lousy banks with their puny $60k guarantee and putting it into the provincial bank or credit union which has an UNLIMITED guarantee on your money.

I expect it to be worse for at least 2 years. After that, then think about scooping up devalued stocks and real estate. But for now, the safe hiding place for me is CASH!!!

Happy Saving!!!!

after havinf lost about 1/3 paper value of my stock portfolio, i am locked in. remember , you haven’t lost a penny until you sell ! so i am pressed for cash to realize some nifty bargains hanging in front of my mouth.

Trade Options…only PUTS. I can have a good profit on a day like today, but did not do a “take.” I do not have any fresh monies and would like to rake in some profit. Drives me nuts, not taking a timely profit. Only to see a bounce up…once profits, evaporate. Now the option time is working against me. I know, I need better discipline. I am wondering if and when we are going to be experiencing more substiantial down days.

It appears we may be seeing the start of another leg down?? But now I don’t have fresh monies to take advantage of.

Not having enough to risk. The unknown. Too many pot-holes in the road.

I have no obstacle to making money. It’s the loosing it that gets me.

I agree with several of your visitors, that (erratic) market volatility has been the main obstacle in the way of my making money consistently.

I will hang onto inverse ETFs, as I expect the DOW will (as you’ve indicated in your emails) lose several hundred more points. Currency options are “almost always” a go; they’ve been difficult lately, but I expect they’ll show their true colors by Fall.

I am a gold and silver person. The SEC and CFTC= goldman sachs and JP Morgan Chase. It’s called MANIPULATION!

None - you’ve made it possible for me to not need to answer this first question!! Thank you!!

Trying to stay focused on my plans in the midst of so much conflicting daily information

I am 74 years old and have been consistently 80% invested in equity, mutual funds and individual stocks until early 2008. I have been raising my cash position in all my accounts to about 50% cash at this time. I have also invested in short term treasury ETF,s just to stop the bleeding (down about 30% since beginning of 2008 in all my accounts). I am very concerned that the worst is yet to come and I don’t think our government has the answer to the problems that started 10-12 years ago with 115% mortgages to people who should have been renting and then Wall Street creating the CMO’s that became the investment of the decade until it all blew up! I am currently in “preservation mode”

insufficient personal energy to watch risk investment 24/7 minute by minute which current environment requires

Fear, uncertainity and trust. Newly retired several years ago, we suffered severe losses due to poor professional advice. Unable to regain those losses and now with reduced resources we don’t know what to do.

Hi Martin,

I believe what everyone needs and wants is the opportunity of
funding an investment that is managed by a team of experts.

For example, entry level one: For those with little capital, take
a low investment from $100 to $10,000, and build group funds
with say a minimum of 5,000 people or more, leveraging a higher
investment amount.

Entry level two: $10,000 to $50,000 and so on, with x number
of participants in this group.

Based on what you put the funds into, you could offer a decent
ROI in terms of 30 days, 60 days to 180 days or more. You may
also choose to piggy-back on other investments that are doing
well.

I’m not stating this very well, but I’m sure you get the drift of
what I’m trying to say. Food for thought? Too many of us
haven’t a clue.

Trust. Is anything really safe? I know you’ve advised treasury bills or an all treasury money market fund. I’ve had both: the bills through Treasury Direct and the all treasury money market through the Reserve Fund. Yes, the same Reserve whose primary fund broke the buck. My account was frozen for about three months before I finally got access to my supposedly ultra-safe money. Personally, I don’t trust anything and certainly not the government. They’re the clowns that got us in this mess and now they’re making it worse!

I would have to say time and lack of confidence. I have very little time to manage investments, as my job is 60-70 hours a week of high stress, high impact management. I don’t read even your advice with the time and clarity it deserves, and I become hesitant to do anything because I lack confidence that I fully understand what I need to do it effectively.

My greates obstacle has been bad financial advice from my investment advisor who works for Switzerland’s largest major investment bank. It would be nice to find someone to handle my 401k who has my interest at heart instead of their own. I thought we were paying a fee each year to these guys to do this for us. There is little or no communication coupled with a “buy and hold” attitude. The best advice that I received and acted on was to take half of my investments an move them to secure investments last summer before the precipitous drop in equities last fall; this advice was from you Martin. Thanks!

I believe your argument that the economy will trend down for several more quarters. I am uncertain that anyone can, with relative safety, make money on the way down. So I’ll stay in cash and wait for signs of a turnaround. Washington’s actions may extend that happy day from quarters away to years.

Uncertainty in the markets and the impression that no one - NO ONE - knows what to do or which way the economy will go. Stock market up or down? Inflation or deflation? It is neither a risk-taking environment nor one in which the most conservative investor can be assured of a reasonable return and the security of his investment.

Brain damage, perfect hindseight, no foreseight!?!

Getting a loan! I could open a $600,000 - $1,000,000 medical pracitice, but no one would give us a loan, tried since August 2008. They lied in congress today saying banks are trying to loan money but business don’t want it.

Too much volatility . I lost big money on recent stock trades.

Low income, fear. Economy and possibility of job loss.
My only investments are in a 401K and to say the least, don’t know how much will be left, if any, before this crisis is over. I cannot take it out or do anything about it.

Mainly lack of trust and fear and not wanting to loose MORE. 74 yr old …..not interested in long term investing……but need to carefully manage what I do have left….have taken some large losses….still invested in market with balance….and it continues to go down. How to get out. Where to safely put it when I do.

market uncertainties and lack of trust on those that provide an advise for profit making.
I believe that trust is necessary in order to face this critical financial times. definetly, this is not a time to save but rather to invest, however, most investors that have lost the most, has been through their financial institution´s financial planners.

buy puts

Lack of patience.

I want my inverse ETF’s to pop tomorrow.

I want the next bull market to start the next day.

Secondly, my perception of the media investment experts has been shattered. They are clueless. They grab theories out of a big bag. Sometimes they get lucky.

I’m retired and afraid of losing money. I am 40% physical precious metals and 60 % cash and have been since 2005. So I’m ahead and want to stay that way.

the need to be a nimble trader

FEAR says it all. NO Confidence in the markets. Job Security falling. Not knowing when or what to invest in because the little money we do have CAN’T be lost.. Country is headed in the wrong direction…..

My biggest obsticle to investing right now outside of my 401K,is I’m maximizing my debt paydown. I want to be totally debt free in 6 years.

Trying to stay focused in the midst of so much conflicting information on a daily basis

Not having information to select what stocks to buy.

With the lack of ethics displayed by many major and some smaller financial companies, including banks, brokers, investment advisors, etc. and their executoves, the media is having a field day projecting only doom and gloom, which in turn has a tremendeous impact on trust and confidence in the economy and its players on the average investor. I am not advocating cleaning up the news, however, supporting the institutions that are doing good is not something the media is good at. There are many, many good companies out there doing their best to provide acceptable service to the consumers and investors, only to be mistreated by the lack of trust and confidence that prevails due to the sensationalizing of the few bad apples. Same applies to the mortgage crises. At one time, all the government had to accomplish to avoid the crises was to guarantee the mortgages, suspend mark-to-market, and require banks to re-negotiate with their mortgagees to acceptable levels. However, if that had been done, then the banks would not have been able to market their REO’s while still receiving FREE BILLIONS from their old friends, the representatives of the taxpayers. All we did was to guarantee their profits. No additional lending occured. The waste this TARP money created (3% of GDP)is insane. Consumers and investors need to pick themselves up and search for the places their money will move this economy foward, IGNORING the media and government interference in our free market. The lack of oversight by the government in the past is no permission slip now to mortgage our childrens future with these irresponsible spending bills. This is a nightmare come true. The inflationary incubation period is starting with the distribution of these trillions of dollars. What is keeping me from making money? GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN THE ECONOMY.

Cash is King?……
isn’t 5.2% in 60 month CD enough when people are loosing 40-60% in stocks?

WOW!
just like my BRO said….”more is NEVER enough”.

pay off your house, have cd’s, metals, and your hobbies!
Bolt the door, sit back, put your favorite movies on and pop some
popcorn…..NOW THAT’S LIVIN!

I,m in Scotland and have completely lost faith in the people who run the country. This will go down in history as the most morally corrupt government that it has ever been our misfurtune to ever let near power.they are completely out of touch and to my mind hav,nt the faintest idea what to do to impove the situation, .What with a huge unsustainable public sector to fund and everbody up to their necks in debt caused by living far beyond their means for years i think Britain will be bankrupted eventually .I suppose their next move will be to print trillions and cause massive inflation.i,m staying in cash at the moment ,i have a suspicion that no matter what the powers that be do this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I just hope it learns governments, companies and people to live within their means.

?

There are No problems. The market is always the same. Some days good, Some days bad. Trust in the Lord. Invest in Gold (GLD) and Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) which could double your money on March 30th if the FDA approves their obesity product.

After losing so much money already in my past and present investments it is hard to trust any financial advisors. Too much manipulation of stocks, bonds, silver and gold in the markets so it is hard to trust anyone.

Martin,

My #1 obstacle to making money right now in this environment is not being able to base my investment decisions on market fundamentals and technical parameters. In today’s environment, the market is driven by the latest rhetoric out of Washington. For example, on any given day, there may be an overwhelming number of really awful economic reports released. Yet, the market may rally, fiercely I might add, on the mere HOPE that Washington MIGHT be about to announce some new stimulus package or bank bailout program. It has become totally absurd and irrational.

With that said, I do wish to thank you for all your very sound advice you’ve give me throughout the years both via Money and Markets and Safe Money Report. Your advice has been profitable to me, but more importantly, it enables me to sleep soundly at night.

Regards,

Scott

No fresh money, to invest in other markets like FOREX.

Not knowing how to manage the volatility and choosing a suitable time frame to trade in.

Collecting from customers to have the capital to invest when you recommend new ways to make money.

Mixed messages by so called pundits when its quite obvious it gonna take more than pumping green backs into banks to revive the world economy.

The need to be conservative as we are officially in what most refer to us as the retirement years. And yet we would like to see not just protection but some growth that is relatively safe as our risk tolerance is dramatically reduced.

dont know who to believe/trust..suspect the doom and glomers are wright,but that goes against my nature. I STILL have options trades in place, but two of five are underwater, my mad money acct, is down so far I cant do too much trading..

Martin, thanks for your efforts to help people. I’d like to sell short but knowing what and when is the problem. I’m also trying to educate myself about options trading.

I agree with most of the sentiments expressed. My situation is almost exactly that expressed by Arthur Aberman. I am more concerned about not losing principal, rather than making a lot of money in the market. 3 month U.S. treasury bills, bank CDs, and some gold works for me. All $ from maturing CDs will go into short-term treasuries for now. Martin’s “Mr. Conservative” recommendations are perfect for me; and I am very grateful for that sound guidance over the last year.

Access to funds to expand - Reduction of my capital lines - increases in interest on existing borrowed debt. 7 years new in my construction business - survived divorce, tax mistakes, breakup of original partnership, etc. (all, or most of the 101a mistakes).
But at this time the bootstraps are already pulled up around the ears and the voice is back to my seventh grade sprano octave. Still going forward without fear- just an enhanced sense of prudence.

I don’t know what to do or where to start,My home is payed for I have gold and silver.Little cash.What can I do to get ahead?Trade in a couple oz of gold?Buy stock or ETFs?Low Income ($945 SSD)

Retired and don’t wish to risk the nest egg in these uncertain markets!!!

I definitely would say the very high volatility. Right now it is a market for the daytraders and the swing traders. Every time their is a rally one way or the other it is met by sharp reversals. You either have to be perfect in your timing or you are going to miss and wind up being in the middle and then profiting is difficult. I think it is a great time to gather cash. Hmm wonder who else has been saying that.

Indecision and Fear

complete failure of confidence in the banks and investment houses I thought were honest.

No further capital to invest as I decided not to bail out knowing that Im in this for the next 5 to 10 years. My existing portfolio is predominantly in gold, silver, uranium and associated miners. Im also in natural resource and commodity funds with a punt on geothermal. For me it was the fear of jumping and not getting back in and therefore turning paper losses into real losses! I believe strongly that over the next ten years I will have recovered and made substantial gains to make this period a minor stress! My portfolio is about 30% down on my original investment made 2 years ago. I wish I had available cash to be snapping up the bargains that exist in this sector right now!

I have money to invest, but can’t afford to lose it. The bank seems safer than the options.

too scared. bail-out is doomed. all in treasury bills or government only money market.

The key issue in todays environment is having a good feeling about when the recession will end. The market usually forcasts events six to twelve months in advance. Right now the market is not showing any conviction on the economy getting turned around to positive growth.

Fear,not necessarily reality based,but the general climate speaks to me loudly.

let me rethink that….. i don’t trust the federal reserve as far as i can spit, so let’s abolish this privately owned company, that is licenced to print money like there is no tomorrow; and let’s reintroduce the gold standard. that will reintroduce some confidence into the market. now there, that’ll be enough to get me into trouble……

Since I am a swing trader. this is the best trailing 12 months I ever had, with shorting from mid may 2008. & going long november 20 2008 till about january 6 2009.

Larry Lurie said it much better than I, but I totally agree with his comments

little money to invest, no knowledge of how to invest, fear that top management will keep all the profits.

I lack trust in the market and in the government bail out plans. I am
preserving capital in Treasury Money Market accounts and TIPS, but want to eventually
build my nest egg for retirement.

Clive Bambury Investor

Up until last year I was heavily invested in central London property, but bailed out of most of it over the past two years. I truly believed the bubble would burst and I can’t understand why the powers that be missed it so badly. That said, I have no confidence in equities and for the last few months have been playing the foreign currency swap market on platforms with a couple of major banks in the UK. Who have been pretty helpful in assisting me with setting up. Listening to Obama today I am not convinced their good intentions will find root and I have heard rumors that the Russians may default on loan repayments with Europe. If that happens I guess gold will be the best bet for the short term, as currencies may devalue considerably. Your thoughts please.
Looking forward to receiving your FX CD collection and expertise. And thankyou. I find your newsletters inspiring and most helpful.

Fear and more fear

Only have two positions; primary one is gold and is in a Canadian gold stock–RIC on Amex. ”Second is Arna-both common and Jan, 2010 options.
Do you have an opinion? Woud appreciate any comments that you might have.

The lack of trust and confidence that investment programs that I look to for assistance actually will work and aren’t just smoke and mirrors and alot of hype.. and that my money I pay for advice doesn’t just go to waste until the next “big idea” comes along. This is a crazy market. Your perceptions have been spot on over that last 2 years but unfortunately some of the services have not been. COPT was a bust for me. Makes me gun-shy about currency trading.

Panic and sheer fear

Due to old enough.

Who to trust? So much negativity. Information overload.

Fear of losing what little I have left

State of financial market and drain it places on other stocks. Waiting for market to hit its bottom and all toxic portfolios uncovered.

Lack of capital - lost $19,000 since October 2007.
Now invested uniquely in gold mining stock.
Also being eaten alive by credit card debt and interest upto 21.6%

Funds…Capital…No Capital to Invest…

How about a Mentor that does not charge for his forex course, trains that person and hires that individual to help others. Imagine the goodwill and the increase in business!
Carl
February 10, 2009

Watching my 401k of 11 years of saving drop to half its value…meaning MY money, MY earnings, not the stockmarket values, MY MONEY has been STOLEN. I had to use my first 401k to put my daughter through college, started a new one when I started this job, and now it is gone with NOTHING to show for it. Everyone tells you to save save save for your retirement, and now at age 62, I was looking forward to having enough saved to be comfortable…not rich, but just able to live as I had when I was working in a couple more years…and now that is gone. I sometimes think this was part of a plot to keep all us Baby Boomers working til we drop over dead so Social Security won’t have to pay us back some of the money we paid in.
If anyone thinks I want to put money into the stock market now, they are crazy. I would rather go gambling at a casino…probably do as good if not better there.
After a lifetime of being a responsible citizen, saving, paying my bills, and buying homes I could afford (MY criteria was no housepayment could be more than I make in a week…one salary, not both, one salary, one week.). What ever happened to personal responsiblity? What happened to financial responsiblity? From what the news says, all this was caused by people buying homes they couldn’t afford. Seems to me, when I have asked for a morgage, I had to put 10-20% down, show proof of salary, they checked my work record and credit reports….what happened to that criteria? Did the bankers get dumber and greedier? Sorry, don’t feel sorry for people that bought more than they could afford…they deserve foreclosure. And the banks that loaned the money should be punished as well. Those financial officers should be fined and get jail time.
Sorry, I am ready to see people get jail time for causing this mess. To me, they have STOLEN our money and need to be punished.

preservation of capital is more important than trying to make money in these volatile markets due to greed and lack of regulations. Who can we trust when even your supposedly representatives do not want you to know the extent of this financial fiasco?
By the way is there somebody that knows it ?

DO YOU STILL FEEL THAT 2 & 3 MONTH T-BILLS ARE SAFE? I HEAR NOW THAT THEY MAY BE IN A BUBBLE.IS THIS TRUE?

Not having my channell analysis program working. You are too far away too sort this out I will have to find a local fixer.

Confidence and ability to find safe investments. I do not trust the government officials. They do not know what to do with this crisis. It seems to me they are all cheaters (taxes etc) in some way or another. I think they are going to bankrupt this country very shortly.

I have tried investing in options and did not do well. I would really like to learn how to make money daily and weekly but am afraid to lose precious capital in todays economy.

I wouldn’t say there obstacles to making money in this environment. Many of us have followed the analysis from Weiss and either protected ourselves from the downside or earned a respectable return while others lost their shirts. There are elements of this environment that make investing very different from “traditional wisdom”. Many of the comments already point to the extreme volatility of the markets with the difference between intra-day highs and lows on the Dow often exceeding 200 or more points. Couple this with the availability of leveraged ETFs indexed to up and down markets and the volatility takes on the look and feel of gambling. Fortunately, having the analysis from Weiss is like having an edge against the house.

(I do not advocate free-wheeling with my or your financial future. Having a sound financial plan, having reserves against unforeseen life events, looking for steady overall returns, protecting capital and the other lessons we have all been taught remain prudent. If you are going to be active in this market, the volatility often forces more frequent trades than a traditional buy-and-hold model. This can make the tax consequences a headache unless a tax-deferred account like an IRA is used for these trades.)

My number 1 obstacle is trust. I don’t trust Washington, Wall Street or and “financial wizards”. I have all my assets very liquid and am presently renting. I have done some investing with double inverse ETFs and may do so again as I think we’re on the verge of another deeper plunge.

How to inform and alliance with as many people as possible in exposing and bringing the criminals of the financial scandals of this century into justice and help to rebuilt a system that is resources beased and not monetary based.

The key issue in todays investment environment is guessing when the recession will end.

My biggest obstacle to making money in this environment or in any other environment is FEAR associated with committing new monies to equities that may behave as poorly as my other great choices of 3-6 months ago that now lie in the intensive care ward with a crash cart close at hand. Preservation of capital carefully built over a lifetime is quite important and I have lost two years earnings in the past few months by not cutting my losses and by not sticking with my inverse ETFs. In effect, I am my own worst enemy and my past successes combined with a certain amount of market rebound usually saved the day….but not lately. I always buy with the hope of selling higher (optimism) and the new paradigm of buy low and know it will go lower requires a psychological recalibration. Also, watching the markets to carefully or closely is not good for me. I need to buy into a trend that seems logical such as staying long all of my good quality gold issues (ABX, KGC, GFI, AUY, etc.) and staying with the inverse ETFs (SDS and others) and stick with the trend until it has achieved its full potential. Finally, I must promise to keep more faith in the good Dr. Weiss and Mr. Larry Edelson and the others on the team … they are smarter than me.

there is an old saying in the financial pits ” fear and greed drive the markets, the rest is bull-crap” how true this is.. If you daytrade as I do, you need volatility and volume. I believe that the markets have changed dramatically, long gone are the days of buy and hold! If you trade the futures markets be very careful!! maybe spreads or options/ futures together. I believe Martin Weiss and his staff are true and genuine in their efforts to help us out in these turbulent times. They have been bullish on gold and bearish on the stock market for some time.

thank you

Reducing the inventory. Cash flow is diminished to the point that personal asssets will have to be drastically deminished.

Obsticles

not enough money, choices are many without enough thought, trust in making a choice and this doesn’t happen to be all with others some is with me….I could have 20 choices and 1 is wrong and I will pick the wrong….

We have had a Humpty Dumpty landing instead of a Goldilocks landing.

My #1 obstacle is how to follow your advice AND keep my money in Canadian dollars. Following US stocks/indexes as well as currencies is too much for me to handle.

I have learned much from your articles and read them daily. However, I had started subscribing to your newsletter after having purchased my positions through gold and silver ETF’s. Economically, what is happening now, I expected to happen more than a year ago and without the bubble of a strong dollar. In the meantime, I am content to continue riding out the commodities ebb of much of this past year.

An inability to tune out, turn off, not pay attention to all the news letters, gurus, wise folks and just look at the market. This market has a long term big down trend with a potential major resistance at recent lows. This market is in a sideways channel of a couple of months and until it breaks up or down out of the intermediate sideways channel, I just do not know which way it is going. Sideways markets just are not worth paying attention to and only lead to short term losses. Which ever way it breaks out some gurus will claim brillance. I will not have been brilliant but hopefully I can become patient.

The unknown reliability and diversity of the advice that is out there………….

I lost alot of money during the 9/11 situation and have ever since been timid about investing money. I do have some stocks with companies that I bought back in the 90’s and have enjoyed watching them split but I am well aware that I am losing money with them now as well. What can we do to ensure our trust in the economy in order to invest in 401K’s and such?

Last time I invested in your options, we lost all our monies?? We were up considerably but then your investment team lost all the monies. We were up about $50,000. and they kept buying options but lost them over about 9 months. Therefore, am apprehensive in investing in options again??

The idiots in Washington!!! What are they doing to our country!

We can’t buy our way out of this, we can only produce our way out of this. We’re doomed if we follow the politicians! They want us to become a socialist nation!

Avoiding dividend cuts and corporate bond defaults.

Lack of experience in the finer arts of investment (e.g. beyond mutual funds, straight share purchase, etc) and the hesitancy that comes with that.

Cannot afford to lose any of my capital trying to increase my retirement money.

Is it inflation or deflation????????????
Are those high yield dividends safe? I bought ACAS and they suspended dividend!
Cash is king but those high yield dividends are sweet!

Risk Aversion !!

My own lack of faith in financial system. With the federal government giving money to so called too important to fail public companies I can see no end to the contraction of the economy. The ownership of common stock seems doomed by what the government is doing today and by the fact that managements of public companies are overcompensated for positive results and unpunished for massive failure. Shareholders don’t have enough of a say about how management is compensated the for the service it provides. Finally the Madoff 50 billion dollar ponzi ripoff totally undermines my faith in the system.

At age 82, and being a 100% disabled veteran of WWII, my prospects for living long enough to enjoy greater financial rewards are fairly slim. Therefore, all of our monies are
in CD’s and T-Bills with very little interest, though we have two special accounts with one Credit Union which pay 5.02% on $35,000 in each account. There are requirements which we must meet in order to get this interest, and we have to watch so as
to not getting more than $250,000 in each account, and I believe the FICA, as of December 31 of this year, may elect to change the amount being insured. Right now we are more concerned with the return OF our money than the return ON our money. I think that was a statememt made by Will Rogers, or was it Mark Twain?

As a GM car dealer,our volume has fallen to unprofitable levels due to lack of reasonable credit for our customers.After 83 years in business with GMAC,they now demand additional security to floorplan our inventory and very high credit scores for our customers. Further our local economy is in the pit due to the fall in the timber and textile industry.

Dear Martin: My reluctance on the investment vehicle is one of; low income, Trust, Feds, cost of living, uncertainty, amount of initial investment, on retirement mode and not knowing entry, exit and the time to hold or sell. Have some inckling as to when to exit but it is a gut guess and not technical.

Conflicting advise. Safe Money says the DOW could fall to 5500 and to keep our money safe in US Treasury money markets, while other publications are saying that now is the buying opportunity of a lifetime and to be buying quality growth stocks.

cash flow problem due to losses in 2007-8

I misjudged my timing in buying put options on Lennar a month too early (and stupidly not putting a stop in) thus losing my investment capital.

Too many with a herd investment mentality causing mass distortions reading the same investment recos. Prices turning on a dime for no good reason.

FEAR

Knowing what to do with the remaining funds after having sustained major losses in the market.

Trepidation (fear of losing even more than I’ve lost already), anxiety, uncertainty, indecisiveness, ignorance … all rolled up into one big, fat, useless question mark.

A daily currency report from your team would gretaly assist me in the challenges I have as a Currency Trader.

I have followed your advice and kept my money safe so have not lost any money but I was counting on interest income. Which is at .001%. That is crazy. It seems like all the rules have been turned upside-down.

Mark to market accounting needs to be modified like it was in 1938. Adding more money to the system without doing so is like adding water to a bathtub with a hole in the bottom.

The argument that it will reduce trust in the banks. But look at market action of the banks when they suggest it ( up ) and market action when they leave it off the table ( today )

The market doesn’t agree with that theory.

My single biggest problem is that most of my funds are in an IRA account with Charles Schwab and while I have what I consider to be excellent intelligence on the markets I wish to trade, i.e. international, Schwab does not allow me to trade internationally on line. I have to go through their international desk and enter the trades with a Schwab representative. By the time I do this a good share of the trades have moved beyond my buy/sell points.

FEAR. Being a UK resident it is difficult to relate to all of your good trading advice, however your market predictions have been spot on. I would like your considered views as to whether the UK and Euro equity markets are now likely to fall to the same levels, in % terms, as your predictions in the USA, bearing in mind the relevant average PE’s of each market.

FEAR
Lack of turst
not knowing where to invest ie. US, Canada, Asia, Europe?

Fear! I was doing great with investing in property. I have lost so much sometimes I do nit trust myself anymore. I also was doing great investing in Silver and it took a big tank that no one expected and I second guess myself. I need some successes.

Lack of confidence in the timing of the long term trends.

The 16th Amendment

For over 23 years I’ve been looking for these very markets per the advice of two friends who are each now multi-billionaires and credited by top publications and books as two of the absolute best traders in history. I helped them with their first investors from the 100s and 100s of billions in investment capital known well by me. Today, my biggest challenge is finding the right investment managers who can, first, preserve capital, and second, profit in these markets, and third, have experience in managing 100s of millions in investment capital. Certainly, integrity is key, too!

Refusal to believe the current situation is as bad as youpredicted. To date….you good….I bad. Not sure yet I am believer.

TRUST
In the Government. (Politicians really)
In Advisory Services, who always look great until you get on board.
In Myself. Always wait too long to act. Then when I decide to move quicker, it backfires
In Money. The pile is getting smaller

do not want to waste any gunpowder(cash)

fear of the stock market and the probable crash of the market by summer if not sooner…..

The market should have crashed last year, but for the bailouts….

There is not sufficient liquidity in the world to stop the crashes of the banks, the stock market, bonds, mortgages, credit cards, etc.

I don’t have the time to devote to monitor investments myself and managed accounts tend to have pretty stiff minimums that exceed limits I am willing to consider for that type of investment. I’m personally well protected if there is deflation but at risk if there is inflation so any managed account I did invest in would need to have a similar target. Brokers I’ve worked with in the past haven’t impressed me, Money and Markets does impress me. Well considered opinion with logical reasoning and advice.

Losing so much in the stock market and my house shortly after retirement

not enougy $ to get started.

Significantly underwater on my goldstocks.
Feeling with so much uncertainty, it is better to keep my powder dry until I can see which way the wind is blowing for more than a day or two at a time.

My debts have reached the level of leaving little or no cash flow. My husbands physical condition with Parkinson’s and kidney problems leaves little or no time for anything to be launched in the direction of making more money again like it used to be when I could work in the field of Real Estate.

Am fully invested in Canadian oil & junior mining stocks, and green geothermal, wind and wave energy stocks.

FEAR OF LOSING MY RESERVE.

WE ARE HEAVY IN REAL ESTATE. MY WIFE HAS BEEN A TOP REALTOR FOR 28YRS & HAD 2 TRANSACTIONS LAST YEAR. I HAVE INVESTED IN SMALL DEVELOPMENTS IN FLORIDA WITH MY SON IN LAW WHO HAS BEEN A HIGH END BUILDER FOR 18 YRS, & WE GOT CAUGHT IN OUR LAST DEVELOPMENT ON THE OCEAN( HALF OF THE BUYERS DID NOT SHOW @ CLOSINGS). NEEDLESS TO SAY WE ARE GOING BROKE. MY WIFE & I HAVE 3 NEW CONDOS IN FL.& ONE CONDO PLUS OUR MAIN HOUSE IN ILLINOIS: ALL FOR SALE. IT COSTS $ 100K + TO MAINTAIN THESE PROPERTIES. WE ARE EATING UP OUR SAVINGS FAST. I WOULD LIKE TO INVEST IN CURRENCIES< BUT I CAN’T DO ANYTHING NOW. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ADVISE, BUT WE HAVE NO OUT YET!!

Lack of regulation and fear that Wall Street will take us for another ride.

maintaining income

No obstacles, trying to accumulate some cash and just patiently waiting for wave 5.

AFTER READING THE PREVIOUS BLOGGERS…ALL OF THE ABOVE.. I’M 63 YRS OLD AND DISABLED. CAN’T AFFORD TO LOOSE MY INVESTMENTS. I AM IN CASH NOW,
(800,000 PLUS.. LOW INTEREST % RETURN IN MM FUNDS) AND KEPT MY CANADA OIL
AND GAS ENERGY INCOME TRUSTS (THESE ARE DROPPING IN VALUE AND MONTHLY
DISTRBUTION.) IF ONE FOLLOWS THE MONEY, I BELIEVE OUR BANKING SYSTEM IS INSOLVENT.

RISK IS THE BIG FACTOR! WE ARE IN UNCHARTED WATERS AND THE EXPLANTATIONS
CHANGE BY THE SECOND. JUST TO MAINTAIN THE VALUE (PURCHASING POWER) OF CASH ON HAND IS A CHALLANGE. TIME WILL DEMINISH THE RISK AS THIS ERA UNWINDS. CHINA IS LOOKING BETTER EVERYDAY!

I am 50. If I don’t screw it up, I will have the assets to retire. Per your advice, I am sitting on cash and short term treasuries. I have invested a small amount in the short ETFs that you suggested. My obstacle…….fear of moving more assets to a short position and having the market rally.

Today there is a new reality with about 50% of our superfund gone. Hopeing we have hit the bottom today is a possibility but probably unlikely. Biggest concern is to get a balance right today that can help protect on the downside and yet give you some upside to recover, if we ever will ,some of our losses. Do you establish a portfolio now with 50% cash and 50% of the best stocks in the world? What currency do you use if all our funds today are in AUD

I’d like to invest and make money but lack the knowledge as to what to buy and/or sell. I think that because of the volatility it is important to have a plan as to what to buy, when to get in and when to get out. By making short term trades, I believe you could make a profit. At some point with some stocks it may be good to buy and hold, as they may return a nice profit.

Confusion, doubt, and the manipulation and fraud by the gov’t and large corporations that can change market conditions so fast.
Also, not having the time needed to fully understand what is going on day to day and to devote to investing smartly.

Timing my entries and exits has to be my #1 obstacle to making money right now, in this market environment. I either get in too early, and have to endure a lot of pain, or I exit too early and leave a lot of money on the table.

TRUST

Trust and confidence in the market and a way of investing that is easy.

Low starting capitol to invest

I need the very best financial information and incite to guide me through these ruthless markets.

I feel the biggest problem in making money now is created by the polices and
programs devised by our politicians (both federal and state). They do not appear to
have our country (and most importantly its’ citizens) headed in the right direction.

They are more concerned for their own selfish benefit (and their cronies) then for
the people they are suppose to represent.

If they would base their decisions on “sound economic” policies we could resolve
the economic disatser they have created. I would aslo add common sense as a
requirement in their decisions.

Unitl our government can get itself “straightened out” I do not see an opportunity
to make money in the usual manner. The best way to make money will be in gold
or inverse related selections.

Unfortunately making money in these types of investments means our country is
in a financial mess.

Thank you for the opportunity to express my thoughts. I wish you success in
this new endeavor.

Until our government gets itself “straightened out” I do not believe

volatility

The stock market is in the middle of its range. If you go short you could get crushed by the soon to be Fiscal bubble to replace the Tech, credit, and housing bubbles of recent years. If you go long you could get clobbered by the unreal amount of toxic waste that still exists in our economy with the same people, ideas, etc. that created this mess trying to solve the problem with more of the problem (debt consumerism). Time for us Americans to stop buying stuff they can’t afford!

reply is simple and direct: —- lack of investment capital

It would be good if someone would advise on how to invest by the month to produce a decent shorter-term return. Penny stocks are attractive with the low up front cost, though the risk becomes greater. Many (including me) do not have a lot of cash on hand, though they may be able to put together $50 or $100 a month to invest. But…where should it be invested?? I am retired, and live alone. I cannot afford to Lose money, but I would like to grow something. I keep an eye out all the time, and have not found an investment that will be reasonably safe, and provide shorter term growth, with only a monthly investment.

To avoid losing what I have!!!!!!!!

FEAR!

Not sure who to trust on the markets. Some predicting further doom and gloom other advisers exactly the opposite.People have ulterior motives for their reasoning.How do we trust you.

Martin,

My #1 problem is that I don’t have anywhere near enough income or capital. I have a little money in stocks in my own little portfolio. I have saving s going to mutual funds through the tax-deferred retirement plan at work. I also have a small investment property that is cash flow positive (about 9.5%). The problem is that I don’t earn enough extra money at my job to invest in another property for a while or invest at least $1000 at a time. right now my money is locked up or flowing at a trickle. I know you can’t solve this problem for me. If I need more investment capital, I have to earn it somehow or borrow it from a lender, but there’s another brick wall. Sorry to vent, but the lack of income or investment capital is killing me right now.

Uncertainty of asset value and loss of confidence in the crediblity, fairness and honesty in the equity market universe ; additionally , there’s a prolonged and growing concern that the finest, most prestigious economists just cant fix whats going on here……….much more pain to come……..thats why I’m keeping my cash in my pocket………convince me otherwise………I’m willing to listen………………..HK

The present market is only appropriate for short term trading, not long term investing. It therefore becomes critical to only buy stocks of the highest quality with the strongest balance sheets and further, only buy these stocks at times the market has significantly sold off. Also, only buy stocks which have a long history of paying growing dividends over a significant period of time. By buying in such fashion, one limits the downside risk and if one does make an error in timing, one will not be “stuck” in a stock of dubious quality.
Stay away from the financials at this point in time and diversify across sectors and markets which offer the greatest degree of quality and safety. And when one has the opportunity, do not be reticent to take ones profit.

BKM

The most controlling element, I believe, is the human element of fear. I have faced it, but I must admit that it is still one that you constantly must face in order to invest despite the condition of the market. The conditions of the market have been w/us since the markets began–even on the most simple scale. Since greed and exploitation share in the marketplace, many types of regulation whether from gov’t or the private sector itself have developed over time. Yet, I think, it is the combination of these attempts of, to control or not control, that will, hopefully, bring about a solution for the better. Of course, if each of us took responsibility for ourselves, I do believe, this global sphere would have less wobble as it turns.

I am committed to the precious metals market and with possible hperinflation on the way am waiting for the ride.

Although I have the seed money to invest, I lack the experience to capitalize on these extremely volital markets, and the tremendous income potential they provide.

First, I like the information that I get from you. However, your team recently sent a letter out requiring an initial investment of a quarter of a million dollars. I think it would be a good investment but that’s a lot of money to put at risk since all investments have risks! Could you lower the amount. Second, at times I fell the information I am getting from the various letters that are sent out that they contradict eachother. One minute I am reading that I should be investing in China, then I read I need to be in treasuries, and I read that I should be in other things. As a conservative investor I am looking for safety and also a way to keep up with inflation. Now, it appears deflation has crept in. What to do? Is there someone to talk to at your end to get a clear advice? Maybe there needs to be a service at your end where for a fee one could talk to one of your folks! Just an idea. Keep the letters coming and thanks! You have forced me to wake up and I really don’t like what I see out there. Who can you trust, your government, your banker, your broker that suggests that you get back into stocks??

My personal business is very slow and am happy if we can match last years sales even though ‘08 was off 58% from ‘07!

We think the world of your sage advice Martin, thank God we got out of all stocks and went to Treasuries in the spring last year. Then unfortunately we did follow some suggestions from your team last year on BRIC funds, GLD, raw materials and a little china funds. None have made any money. Now only in Treasuries which even those make me a bit nervous, but I’d rather make 1% or 0% than loose 40%! We are trying small bits of Jack’s currency recos, but that just started. We wanted to participate in your trading advice offer, but thought that we shouldn’t take a $2k expenditure unless we can follow advice daily. We might miss an alert and take a big hit. My belief is; if history always repeats it’s self like the depression, it’s markets and Gov’t mistakes. Then it should also be true for the upside. Just waiting patiently.

Is the government capable to stop the economy from collapse?

Mark to Market accounting.

Fear of losing more. “No place to hide.”

Thank You Martin. Your on target. I am convinced we are headed for a very deep down turn 2250 to 3000 on the DOW; ahead on Gold, Gas, Oil and other metals. What is ahead of us wiill make the 30’s a picnic. Martin, we are now experiencing a generational change. Very few businesses nation wide have managers that grew up during the depression of the thirties, consequently they have only seen short term down turns in the economy and consider only short terms ahead. No one in WDC or NY has any idea how poor the education of our young citizens really is. Over fifty percent do not graduate from high school. This is a major fact, when it comes to actually doing quality work in a factory or business.

CONFUSION! All of the promotions, mostly your org. are conflicting and promoting
costs to subs. to more material. You are creating revenue for Weiss, and for a very few
of out here mostly trading $’s

Retired. Need income and preservation of capital. Rates erode base and inhibit any current investments for fear of further losses.

Not enough available income and not enough time to seemingly chase a crazy market on a daily basis. It seems that investing for the long term is simply not possible right now, and trying to time the market to make a buck is hard. Trust.

Dear Mr. Weiss,

The problem is that I’d been chosen for what the Federal/ State governments (now nothing more than gobs of malfeasance!) call ‘mind games’, which are terrorist acts carried out on U.S. citizens in this United States, and as I spoke and keep speaking out against these malicious endeavors having seen the damage done to other Americans, these ‘mind game’ terrorist who are paid our U.S. tax dollars as ‘employees’ now proceed to steal all my stocks, gold funds, as well as already stole my home and properties, destroyed my life and my families lives.

These government terrorists, products of the University of Washington in this State of Washington, invade the privacy of American homes from other living quarters in our communities to destroy Americans at will, ruin their families, steal from them to deny their children a future if identified intelligent and capable to do away with dissent against the heinous crimes they mean to perpetrate on Americans indefinitely in this United States!

Calling Voo-Doo ‘mind games’ or terrorist acts doesn’t put these miscreants and their malefactors above our U.S. laws. Voo-Doo can not be called a new U.S. Economics!

As a matter of fact, they chose me as a challenge, but they lost these challenges time and time again, and summed it up at a $100 million each one for me and my family, but rather than let us have the funds these criminals owe us, they now just want to keep sharpening their skills on me, depriving me and my family of a good, normal way of life.

It’s not enough for these university idiots to impair our babies before they are birthed any more, or cripple our children before they are allowed to go to school, they now want to use our American homes for animal pens, our families for meat, maladies and body parts, and to engage in Search & Destroy Missions under a Bush-Nazi Racial profiling System to demolish our abodes as the breeding grounds for all our future American leaders, seeing as the Campaign Finance Reform law to keep our grassroots chosen American leaders from the running for Congress or the White House doesn’t seem to be enough any more!

So you can see the dilema that I’m in! Funny thing is that this United States has never found me wanting: I made it a priority to serve our U.S. military after I graduated from high school and before I did anything else, then serve them in Vietnam for over six years under a U.S. Navy contract #44105, taught the U.S. Navy three years, the U.S. Air Force for three years, the U.S. Army for 1-1/2 years, and not only served our U.S. government and State government, but cared enough to uphold our laws all these many years later!

Meanwhile my relatives, who chose not to do any of the above, now live better than I do as they stuck their noses up these ‘mind game’ terrorist buttholes and kept their mouths shut about the terrible damage that they have done to turn this country into another Third World Hovel!

Today the subhumans who are allowed and brought into this United States are indoctrinated into ‘mind games’, which as I said are terrorist acts, some not even U.S. citizens, permitted to invade the privacy of our homes, financial accounts, medical records and reading habits to destroy the very Americans who gave them a good way of life and provided their children with a future, paid our U.S. tax dollars to have these congressionals call that hidious craft their job security!

Though I always stood-up for Americans, these slum dwellers, ghetto inhabitants, houseboys and housegirls now beat-up and accost me every day, invading my privacy and letting other Americans see them get away with it, or accosting me somewhere else in public trying to get me to break the law so that they can hold themselves witnesses against me and that to finally have me put away to keep my mouth shut while they keep sharpening their skills on me to preferably destroy other Americans for what these cretin call ‘A Whole New industry’!

I Could say a lot more, but all I can do for now is try to keep abreast of their lawless antics, and that’s why I subscribed to you! You’re always on top of things and I do appreciate that very much! I was following your father since the mid-1980’s.

Keep up the good work and God bless!

Very Sincerely, Alfred Koppel.

Am 80+ vertually wiped out of my retirement income on this latest trend on commodies

To much data and information,which conflicts and is directly opposite of the next piece of data.To much uncertainty due to goverment action,lack of action or incorrect action.No clear plan or path to follow.

Trust and confidance

That’s an easy one Martin. The daily rebalancing of these inverse etfs is killing me. Even if your right on the overall trend, you end up losing money in a choppy market due to the nature of the rebalancing. You lose much more on a bad day than what you make on an equally good(point-wise move) day.

I’m 80 and cannot wait for the market to recover!

Day To Day Volatility

I am systemactically investing in the gas pipelines that pay a good dividend and are 80% tax deferred. In 1982 the government passed legislature that certain bussiness would not pay any taxes at the corporate level. This gives the ability to have an IRA outside of an IRA and more controll over your investments using a cost averaging approach. Some of these Mlp’s have good balance sheets and their dividend is as secure as any other investment I can think of at this time. These guy’s have been pushed down so far that it seems to be a good buying opportunity. But because of what is going on in the economy, you need to $ cost average into the different positions.

I wish the $ would get moving and I am getting tired waiting for Gold & Silver to come down so I can buy more. I realize I need more patience but Treasuries are not generating much.

Have big real estate exposure and scared of its losing value everyday.

Probably reluctance, because of age, to learn put&call options and currency. My long term investments were decimated last year.

I need a safe Canadian brokerage account. Can you recommend one.

The public’s lack of confidence in the economy. I have rental property (15 Houses) and am have a difficult time renting the 3 vacant ones. And of course not many people are buying. The mortgage companies are getting bailout money but are raising interest rates all they can. I am trying to get 2 banks (GMAC and TB&W to lower interest rates to 6.5% but am being ignored.

The greatest obstacle to making profitable investments has been the bad advice that I received over the past 2 years from my 401k manager who works for a large Swiss bank that has been in the news lately (probably should not mention them by name). It would be nice to find an advisor who communicates once in a while and acts in investor interest rather than their own and doesn’t reward themselves with a fee even though clients are loosing money.

Based on the great advice in your newsletter, I liquidated about half of my stocks last summer before the precipitous drop in equities.

Martin , I am a retire, who lives off Investments and SS , Everyday I get more dividendcuts. I have some cash but am afraid to let it go.I need safety and Income.

What is your #1 obstacle
to making money right now,
in this environment?
Weiss advice……!!
Can’t be that, you guys have been for the most part spot on.
I think the biggest obstacle is trying to determine if Congress can turn this into an inflationary spriral similar to the 70’s. Back in the 30’s all the goverments around the globe were aiming for balancing the budgets, quite a deflationary move. Now all the governments around the world are attempting to stimulate their economies. Either case, it should be a downer for the equity markets.

Too many different people giving to many different forecast and all them rationalizing what they say.

Government regulations and taxes

I’m just not very smart.

I have not been able to identify any clear cut trend yet in any asset classes except in gold, e.g., oil is up and down, retail is falling, REITS are inconsistent, commodities still lack direction(except for gold which is more than a commodity….it is money). It may be that when the Obama spending bill ( not stimulus bill) gets going infrastructure spending may be the place to be..

I don’t know what you’re asking me.

Daily VOLATILITY

Trust in a system. Knowledge of which investment vehicle to drive through this recession. I have been burned before by someone telling me about a great way to make money.

I think we are doomed. They will try to pump up this market and make it fly and it is possible to rally, but it does anyway. They drive up the short ETF’s and they tank and then they run up the stock. Some people are making a lot of money. I have mine in CD’s, annunity’s, I-Bonds, E-Bonds. I have a few oil stocks and FSYS, KWT, PBT,BPT,ROM, DBO and NSC. I am looking into buying ENS, FSLR, APD,ZOLT, ANDE, and ORA. However this market could drop much further down. Every time I tried to buy short I got killed. Most people trade SKF SRS TWM and DTO. I don’t.

Mostly I swing trade US equities or ETF’s, but of late daytrading even seems too long of a time horizon genearlly speaking. In the past I’ve also enjoyed scalping successfully, but the roller coaster emotional aspects of this type of trading keeps me away from it these days.

World currencies do have appeal, but after tracking recos from MAM’s finest for the last 3 months, it is highly obvious the choppiness of the FX market also makes for indeterminate currency trading, even by the best players.

I’m concerned about getting too over weighted in physical gold and at the same time trying to stay away from holding too much USD for obvious reasons.

Knowing what to invest in.

Fear of losing more money is the biggest obstacle to making money today. For now, raise and hold cash and you will narrow the gap between yourself and other higher net-worth investors who continue to lose money daily. Some day when we rid ourselves of all the derivatives and phony assets and markets hit bottom, you will have maximum cash to invest in the market and narrow the gap further as markets begin to recover. The time to transition into gold/precious metal related investments will be when/if the dollar begins to show signs of collapse.

My belief that things are so uncertain (including advisors’ advice) that in this environment there really is no safe way to make money.

I have about $20,000 in a defered compensation account with the city of Spokane, Washington. They match up to $150/month. That is 100% on my money. Not too bad. The only problem is the plans are married to the stock market and lost about $4300 in the last quarter. The only way to get the money out is to quit. Walking away for a good paying job wouldn’t be the smart thing to do right now. My question; is there any way I can get out of this loosing situation and put the money to work.
I recently subscribed to Jack Crooks Currency Currents.
Regards, Clyde

Lack of knowledge

Very difficult market environment. Losses significant. Now mostly in cash and preferred with some common in financials, energy/metals/gold and short some currencies.
Richard

I believe the Fed is the problem. It’s still run by the scarecrow . . . . if he only had a brain. We’re not in Kansas anymore. The constant weakening of the watered-down dollar is causing our food to cost more each week. People don’t have extra to spend on retail, etc., so the economy is stalled. If the interest rate was above 5% again the dollar would be strong and groceries (many imported) would cost less. People would have something to spend at the store and drive retail (demand) which would create employment to sell and to replace goods. With sales increasing, company profits would rise and so would their stock value. Economies start at the bottom and work upward — there is no trickle-down in reality. And with a decent interest rate, banks would have no trouble attracting capital from increased savings accounts. They really don’t need to bleed the taxpayers and lower the value of the dollar. It’s self-defeating. But that’s our government. . .

Jack Crooks currency investment, but they are very expensive to subscribe to.

The worry of making a bad losing investment leading to further loss of capital which is a more mind shuddering experience than leaving cash earning no return or selling good but fallen shares which should recover at some future date. Better to live on bread and water for a year or so than run out of assets a couple of months before I run out of breathe. No, no more worry than I already have,thank you. I.’ve never blogged before, but I think it’s a great idea. V.

FEAR. To me we are not near the bottem and remember the 30,s and 40,s

Okay Martin: My reluctance on the investment vehicle is one of low income and not knowing what the initial dollar amount is needed. Entry and exit on a short time period is needed and must learn process. I cannot trust the FEDS and the Federal Reserve but I have to learn how to get out of their tidle wave and survive.

My biggest obstacle is the uncertainty of the national and world situation right now. I own aa lot of gold and silver right now because in my opinion it is the safest place to be and if even a small advance in these metals as predicted by Larry Edleson could result in huge gain with little downside risk.

Thanks to you and your group, my wife and I finally gained enough confidence and decided to sell EVERYTHING we had in mutual funds back in November 2007.

Now we feel unsecure and afraid to make any mistakes, so we leave everything in Altamira High Interest Cash Performer (Altamira now belongs to National Bank of Canada). It pays a daily interest of only 2.5% these days but the money is very liquid. I can see that we could make a lot more with inverse ETFs but the volatility is scary! Currency trading is too mysterious and looks kind of complicated.

So we do nothing else !!!

I do volunteer work @ a veterans hospital—-People are scared–THE COMPANIES ARE LAYING OFF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE–they all worry( BUY EXTRA SOUP & TOILET PAPER )

Too much debt and not enough money to invest in a couple of the tools your company and partners offer to help me such as the currency course..

Some IRA money has been in an AXA Equitable annuity for 8 years. Now that I’m able to pull it out with no penalty, I’m looking at a John Hancock annuity that has quite a few living benefits, so I might roll this over. But that would “lock me in” for another 3 years, and I’m also concerned with the strength of Hancock (or any insurance company). Maybe I should rollover this money into another kind of IRA, not an annuity. Treasuries, via Fidelity, etc?

Suggestions?????????

My perversely risk-averse wife!

Retired 2 years ago at 72. Had over a million dollars investeed
in the market. Have gone through three financial advisors &
have done better on my own. Lost 100k before bailing out in
October 08. Now 80% in Treasury’s and 20% in gold with
Fidelity. About ready to dump the Treasury’s & go to cash.

The fear of revenue loss.
I have been able to hold on to most all of my investments thanks to your timely advice along with Larry’s as I am a subscriber to both publications. I would like to venture out to more investment recomendations but the fear of loss has held me back to a degree. I have been paying attention to both of your recomendations and will probably dip my toes back into the arena soon, as I do have the liquidity sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right opportunity.
I am simply waiting for some strong recomendations.

Thanks

Ron Imperiale

I have a question about Treasury Bills and Bonds. Given all that is going on now, how would you rate the liklihood of a US government default on these securities in the near term and within the next 3-5 years? If a default were to occur, what alternatives to these investments would you recommend?

Hey,
I’m happy not to be loosing a lot of the money that I do have control over.
Its not much but its safe. Thanks Martin and Crew.
My 401k is down a bunch.
Been doing Currency Options since December with no pay offs yet.
Wont go near the Stock Markets due to their total disconnect form reality, manipulation,
and insanity.
Would try other avenues if I could afford.

Don’t know which way to go.

Had a smallish manufacturing business (electrical transformers, etc.; max sales $5 mill.)
Almost went broke in ‘91 after suffering a stroke. Subsequently had sporadic work as marketing consultant, accumulated a little capital to 2000+; made some in stock market but lost considerable in wake of dotcom bust. Sold all around 2006; left cash in brokerage account now down to less than $10K in IRA; income from Soc.Sec.; no mortgage but substantial real estate taxes. Am very cautious about risking the little nest egg. (i do greatly appreciate your work; remember your father’s advice but had never fully believed his dire predictions.)

THE SEC NOT CONTROLING THE THEIFS THAT ARE STEELING MONEY FROM
HARD WORKING PEOPLE WHO INVEST IN THE MARKET. THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE
PUNISHED FOR WHAT THEY DO. THE LAWS NEED TO CHANGE TO PROTECT THE
INVESTORS.

Too nervous to stay in the market more than one day at a time. A lot of your ideas are for the US market which I won’t touch due to such volatility in the currency exchange (I am Canadian). I just don’t believe in US short term treasuries. It is at the point where you can start to lose money in them as they come back down to PAR (but suppose you bought into them because you are from Russia, Australia, UK etc., then the movement to PAR is not a problem if the US currencies holds up against these people’s home currency, which I think it will for quite a while yet).

Husband making no money, bonuses for 2009 going down, so keeping a lot of money in my socks, 3.75% high interest saving account in Canada (under $100,000 per institution) and buying the TSX index at the end of the day when it drops 2.5% or more in a day and selling it out the next day even if it only goes up .5%, but usually I catch 1 to 1.5% gain the next day.

There is a major turning point coming up in mid April, for those preparing (Martin knows) all is good, those without a clue(the overwhelming vast majority) goodness gracious great balls of fire, what happened. This is called the PHASE TRANSITION.

The Hedge fund managers are still heavily in the market bringing down all of the corporations. When they get to a point where the stocks are at $3.00 to $5.00 a share; maybe that is the time to jump back into the market. The risk is just to great to hang on to the higher end stocks. As they slowly go South the Hedge fund managers make billions and they have billions more to make before they exit the market.
The market is just to volitile. The risk is just to great. With the advent of computers, they have the advantage over smaller investors; as when to jump in, and when to extract their gains at the expense of the small investors.

reliable information

Fear !!! Don’t know who to believe. Should I take my loses and start over or hold on

I see many of you seem to want to get back into the market when it hits bottom. Wait!
We are just getting started into the DEPRESSION. The opportunities will be awesome @ the bottom. I’m impatient also because of an aversion to shorting. I did though buy some pro share inverse Euros. We’ll see what happens,

I have lost more than half of my pension fund value and as that is my only income,
I am very unsure of were to put my cash reserves to increase their value safely.
I live in Australia, here the Government is going to put $200 billion back into the economy in direct grants over the next 3 yrs.
In a country of only 21 million people that is going to take a very long time to pay back.

Lack of confidence in who to believe and in which direction to go.

I’m still “making money” by going to work and earning a paycheck. I am even saving money by living significantly below my means (blame the recession on people like me, if you like). However, investment income is near zero because I have nearly all savings in short term treasury securities which pay diddly squad in interest. My obstacle to making investment money right now is my lack of guts to buy on the really bad days, hold for a few days in the hope that it is technically oversold and unload it all again. I simply don’t have the time or nerve to play that game. I also don’t have confidence in buy-and-hold strategies when it comes to stocks right now. I can’t afford to loose more than the 20% I lost last year but if I want to retire, I can’t afford to keep holding treasuries forever either. If this is a 10-year dolldrum in the markets, I’ll probably die in the harness.

Discipline to sell. Sometimes I get greedy like a pig… and like a pig, I have been slaughtered! So in a word: DISCIPLINE

I’ve consistently believed that a volative market is a trader’s delight and an investor’s nightmare. If your prediction on the DJIA is going the materialize, ETFs and shorts seem logical.

Dear Martin,
The way of investing has changed so much in the last several years. I have no confidence in the market and I am tired of losing money. The new money machine program will be “key” I hope to turning things around for a more prosperous future. The market is scary today, and I like a lot of people have no confidence in the markets. I did sign up for the money machine only at the very last possible moment before the deadline, and the anticipation I have is very high to learn a new way of making money!!!

Sincerly,
Nelson

At 79 years old,an economic recovery needs to happen within 5 years!! Am thinking of selling half of my mutual fund portfolio and purchasing solid dividend producing stocks.
With so much money being printed, should not one invest in “gold”?

I suspect that the #1 thing that is stopping me from making money right now is also the #1 thing that’s saving me from losing it. I’m only trading with money I can afford to lose, and frankly, that isn’t very much.

I’d like to take this chance to say thank you for providing such great free advice, steering me in the right direction. I hope someday I’ll be able to afford to take advantage of some of your premium services. Maybe you could create a lower cost product aimed at newbies and small fry.

In the meantime, I could certainly benefit from a lesson in exit strategies. I’ve been fairly successful spotting uptrends but haven’t done very well figuring out when to get out.

Uncertainty — frozen as in “Deer in the Headlights.”

FEAR, FEAR and more FEAR. Luckily I retired from the financial industry two years ago, sold my house for 7 figures and moved to Montana. My MBA in Finance helps a little but in this new world we live in you can’t trust people, information or the Govt. Greed destroyed what our forefathers labored so hard to build and it will take years to build confidence and recover.

p.s. Tony’s my neighbor by coincidence !!

My feeling is that the stock market system is broken; that greed and illegality has been the only successful strategy for the past 12 years; and that I would be a fool to invest in such a rigged system.

My money is 100% in an IRA so when I make a stock purchase I have to hold for four days before I can sell. The market is in a trading range at the present time and five days can be an eternity. It is very difficult to predict out so far ahead of time. I am making gobs of money in my day trading account.

I knew this was coming because I’ve been reading high-level newsletters (such as yours, Richard Russell, Harry Schultz, James Dines, Aden sisters, Wellington Letter, etc.) since the late 1970s. Still, I lost money, though much less than most people (about 6-7% of my liquid investments and about 2% of my total net worth, not counting whatever I lost on my house, which is paid for).

My problem is that there’s really nowhere safe to park a lot of money other than treasuries or gold. I’m not very motivated to get into the stock market, the bond market, or the real estate market, until this thing hits bottom. I’m in “preserve capital” mode right now rather than “make money through investing” mode. I’m just waiting for the bottom, where I hope to be liquid enough to scoop up what no one else wants at that point.

Uncertainty as to the nature and extent of government involvement in the markets.

I’m not sure what the market is going to do . You say it is going down , another writer from this service says it is at the bottom . I have done what you say to do ( cash ) 98%. but new money is going into the market. unp , s&p . , Dig , I’m just a small fish trying to make it. I have my ears open hoping to learn but I have worked too long just to flush this money. Untill I know what to do and when I’ll mostly just be watching.
Thanks for your input , I read all of them.

No income, recently got laid off from AT&T after 10 years of service. Trying to keep investing in my Roth IRA but every month my contribution investment just loses more money, and watching my 401K depleted to nothing after saving 30% off my monthly pay check for ten years. My account has been decimated from almost 500k to less than 155K. When is this all going to stop?

Big losses on traditional safe-haven retiree stocks, e.g., GE, NOV, DOW, MO, PM, PG.

I’m anticipating the big move upward in gold that your team has been talking about. However, I don’t have a good grasp on how gold stocks will be affected when the market moves down towards 5500. Generally, gold stocks were dragged down with the market last fall when the market tanked. Is that going to happen with the next move down by the market? Do I have any security in gold stocks or should I stick only with gold bullion and ETF’s?
Thanks for all you do!

Fear, and uncertainty about which “expert” to trust at this time.

Deciding between deflation and inflation. I know we are deflating now but with the massive
creatiion of money going on I am leaning towar inflation.

First I should thank you and your partners. If not for your advice I would not be able to invest. With that said, I at my age have little courage or desire to invest until I see at least three postive quaters. With a S&P PE of 18 I still think we are over priced.

I would like to be able to make money without taking a lot of risk. Options, currency, futures and other types of trading are to risky and/or expensive to get into. What I am looking for is a mentor or adviser that can guide me with making investments that will pay 5-10% and does not have high risk attached to it. In the current market I have not found this rare bird, or at least one I can afford. I am currently following most of the advice found in Safe Money Report. However, I am not making much since most of my funds are in cash. On the positive side, I am not loosing anything by following Safe Money Report.

I agree with Michael,
I am like everyone else right now. Which way do you turn? There “seems to be” no rhyme or reason to the markets! With the news of job looses the markets go up…
Today the news of Obama’s package the markets plunge!
My wife has shorted some stocks but seems we are just one month off the needed numbers to turn a profit.

Looking forward to our blogs!

I am awaiting receipt of the currency trading package that I subscribed to. Can you advise when and how it was shipped? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I followed your advice for the past four years, and am OK financially and am carefully trading inverse ETF’s with success so far. You and your team have been eerily accurate, and for that my wife, extended family and I are most appreciative. Keep up the great work.

Lack of trust + even the best experts and the ‘not best experts’ get it wrong so how do you devise a strategy that has got a 50/50% chance to get it right or to get it wrong!!!

Dear Martin, I read with interest the argument that based on valuation the market could be due easily another 40% down from here. In the current environment I certainly see this as a possibility. On the other hand sentiment is a significant variable in this equation and I do believe that if sentiment turns positive we could see the end of this horrific situation. In the meantime there are fabulous values out there which are more in line with the lower case general market scenario.

Not being able to invest in an active, rewarding market. Most of my funds are in Treasury Only MM, as you have suggested.

It almost takes a crystal ball to know how to make a few bucks.

I have decided that I will follow one newsletter writer… Louis Navellier and his Blue Chip Report and his Quantum Growth. So far so good!!!!!! He keeps his recommendations well spread out and does not concentrate on any one area.

In Australia the government has guaranteed bank accounts up to $1m and there have been no bank failures because we never succumbed to removal of our banking regulatory system. I can still get over 4% interest from the bank. The domestic economy is still strong, even though sentiment is bad. We have been very fortunate because our currency has fallen 30% against the greenback and hence the yuan so our export commodities have remained competitive in a contracting world market. I worry about the greenback because it’s really defying gravity and if confidence in the greenback falters it would be bad for us because our currency would revalue against our trading partners (Japan, China and the US), though probably good for US export trade. I would then consider investing in US stocks or real estate, at the right time.

Getting back to your question - the #1 obstacle to making money for me is fear that further nasty plunges in value worldwide could happen this year.

The IRS

To much debt, right now I am putting all my efforts into getting out of debt

Not having money to invest after Hurricane got through with us. I did not try to collect from the Insurance Company because I knew they would jack our insurance up sky high to get it back in spite of our paying for 60 years and not having many claims. But i really do not know much about investing and do not have time right now to learn for i am just now winding up all the damage done during the Hurricane and my husband has been in the hospital for nearly 14 months and that left me strapped for time. I will try within the next few months to learn a lot more and try to get some money to invest for I find it fascinating. I had cancer 5 years ago and it has taken that long to get me back on my feet but still have times that I am down for days.

Lack of motive.

I am retired and live on social security. My retirement ira is with vanguard . in june I rolled every
thing into short term treasury bills per your recommendation. my social security is 2400 a month. I am recovering from an unexpected surgery . thank you for assisting me in preserving my life time IRA . I worked 3 jobs for many years. many of my friends refused to believe stocks would go down and not come back up again They were advised to stay in the market by their financial advisors. my financial advisor did the same thing. no advice no money for him. I now am my own financial advisor. I am interested in getting into a gold and silver mutual fund of some sort . Trading curriences is to risky.

Fear

Ignorance

Confusion leads to inaction. Clients are so confused as to what to do they prefer to do nothing. they are scared silly! I am in the financial planning, estate planning business.

More capital as I swing trade between commodities and precious metals.
Despite Mr. Crooks ideas on the dollar…. the precious metals will appreciate.

Best of luck to everyone.

Cool idea. The impediment for me is that I depend on my dividends, now diminished, to provide me the standard of living I have. I lack free capital to invest in more risky ventures.

great way to comunicat.
actualy yr predictions are solid.
looking forward working with you and yr team.

obstacles i don’t have…just wondering how long this is going to last this major change !!!..and the economies we are heading to !!!???.

I make money when the market goes up and lose when it goes down. It changes every day. I need to buy aservice that will show me how to day trade.

What to buy and when to sell

In a fiat currency world, it seems pretty clear that we need to be looking past deflation to how we position ourselves when governments inflate their way out of the mess they are creating. The problem is timing and trying to understand what the policy response will be and when, and what will be the triggers for inflation. It is easier with ETFs to position for inflation than it used to be, but governments do not and will not make it easy; remember the the 1933 confiscation of Gold! Bottom line is, inflation will make speculators of all of us, otherwise I would just sit here and save like my parents.

Not being able to invest in a rewarding market. Most of my funds are in Treasury Only MM as you suggested.

I don’t feel I have enough knowledge as to how the market works My portfolio is invested in a conservative type trust. Guess I have little courage to make any changes.
Regards

Have limited investment funds. I have followed your advice and admit it is dead on. If I had the money I would subscribe to one of your services like I did last year. It worked out well but I just do not have enough cash right now. I am also unemployeed as of Feb 1. That is scary and cannot take chances.

I am making money…in my consulting business, and this is my primary focus. I’ve been using money made to reduce the principal on my mortgage and putting some aside for a renovation project I promised my wife we’d do this year. However, in my self-directed investment portfolio I’ve had very uneven results in following advice in some of your option services and am reluctant to commit meaningful money towards making money this way until I see more consistent results. The fault may be mine since I cannot always react to buy or sell recommendations in a timely manner. I’ve not been able to have a large enough discretionary investment “stash” to take advantage of every recommendation, so I may be loosing out by picking more loosers than winners due to the limited capital dedicated to speculative investing.

Martin everyone says this a recession and I believe it is a depression no job and trying to hold onto what you have is important in these times and someone you trust in.for the right help.

I can’t seem to be able to pull the trigger and invest in inverse ETF’s in a down market…my mind doesn’t seem to work that way!

The large loss in pension, 401K and annuity and no good choices to get the money back by retirement. Not knowing when and where the large amounts of cash on the sidelines are going to go in the future.

My first obstacle is knowledge. How?
The second is information.

What is your #1 obstacle, Martin?

Having taken your advice , I am in a completely liquid position,awaiting your buying suggestion… I will not follow up on any advice that suggests I should get involved with the option market…. Thank you… Les Unger

listening to the “scratch sheets” that I have subscribed to. I have kept a record of them on my watchlists and for the most part they all suck.

Hello

Martin,
This is great. I just read the comments of others. We can agree with almost all.
Nothing beats personal contact. The real problem here is a face with investing, that we have confidence in. Same with our government. We really appreciate the info received
from you. CONFIDENCE is the magic word.

Fear of being burned, losing more…lack of confidence in financial advice from those I once trusted….worthless and non-credible. Also lack of confidence in CEO’s to deliver on promises. Was a significant investor in Dow Chemical stock for year mainly due to the stability, predictibility and decent and reliable dividend year after year for a hundred years. New CEO comes in and puts the company at incredible “transformational” risk at the worst time in history. Stock falls with others to first level and he goes all over the news media (to those adoring fans of his on Squawk Box) and guarantees the dividend…multiple times. Hung in there with a good yield and a dividend guarantee. Then his “sure thing” deal with Kuwait falls apart and the specifics of the Rohm & Hass acquistion come to light…with NO bailout clause for literally any reason. Stock falls 90% and now the CEO says that “the low price of our stock is the market telling us that our dividend is too high”. Translation…no guarantees and dividend cut is imminent. I trust no one anymore!

Mostly some fear and not being able to trust the government and the markets. Someone earlier in this Blog mentioned the PPT - Plunge Protection Team. Sometimes I wonder if there really is such a group - it seems like it. From the standpoint of my business (retail), people just aren’t spending money. I can’t much blame them. Thanks for the advice you give in Money & Markets and in Safe Money Report. I’m thinking seriously about taking the plunge and investing some money in the inverse ETFs and GLD.

This unpredictable market is making it difficult to get ahead of the power curve, coupled with the market theives without standards.