So whats on your holiday wish list?

Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-105mm f/4L IS
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A ticket for the 2009 European GP in Valencia.

 

The impossible.

 

Christmas is all about the boy these days. One of his presents is a play workstation with a bunch of tools and parts to build an engine. My master plan requires patience

 

For my wishlist #1 would be that the kids in Iraq come back sooner than later and with sound minds and the only ringing in the ears would be from the people stateside thanking them so much.

#2 As for those who participate in Fchat, nothing but the best of health.

 

+1 for our soldiers
If I could have one thing it would be a vintage ferrari, my wife(driving with me) and a Millie Miglia confirmed invite, wait thats three things oh well

 

For the Government to stop trying to "fix" Wall Street and our capitalistic markets. That and a new Ferrari F430 Coupe.

Happy Holidays.


Joe

 

All I'm wishing for, for me, is good vision. On the verge of blindness, it ain't no party!

And I wish for happiness, understanding and empathy for everyone on our planet; though that will most likely never come to fruition.

 

Hmm. I never was much of a Bush fan, but this year I really like him: He and his administration does everything to fix Wall Street and our capitalistic markets and I greatly appreciate it. Without his (and Paulson's) swift action we would be facing total chaos by now. They did the same thing every other government in the Western world did, just a bit faster. Kudos to Bush for that.

Sorry for the hijack.

 

I wish: An end to the recession and a fairer society where everyone has access to top-quality health care, where everyone can earn a pension they can rely on to guarantee a good standard of living based on their lifetime contributions and not indexed to some hysterical stock market portfolio. In a nutshell, a society where 401(k)s and unregulated private health insurance companies become a thing of the past. And that the financial system will never be allowed again to drive us all into the ground just because of the uncontrolled greed of a few.

 

Hey Andre,

If you havent read this yet, sounds right up your alley...I know its lengthy, but a good read none the less: The End, by Michael Lewis http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom


And for xmas...I just want some darn nice weather so I can take the car out of hibernation!!!

 

Yeah, I have seen this before. Pretty good and fascinating read.

 

What I would like won't fit under the tree. However, it has 4 wheels and goes varoom with 12 cylinders. This is the wish list wasn't it?

 

Fascinating read!!! I tell you what - when I was 26 I went through a series of interviews at Goldman Sachs in London. I too was fatally attracted by the prospect of easy money while having no financial or management skills whatsoever. In the end they didn't take me so I ended up fighting for my career in the corporate world, having to sweat over every penny. We know now what a complete global fraud Wall St. (and London City) have perpetrated on all of us for the last 2 decades. Still, I have to admit that if I had been lucky enough to be part of it, I wouldn't have complained. Greed is unfortunately a natural human trait.

As for the weather... I hope to see you and your beautiful GTS for a drive out in the new year. Now I'm enjoying my vacation skiing in Italy and Switzerland

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230312558428&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3ASS%3AUS%3A1123&viewitem=

Bought it for $40,000 even. 2006 S500 4matic. 18,500 miles. Like new. Original msrp (2006)was $89,000ish. It is MB certified. 1 1/2 year bumper to bumper warrenty left on it yet. They put on all new tires and all new brakes. A 4 wheel alignment and a complete (Mobil One) oil change plus new wiper blades. Flushed the brake fluid etc. I am happy at $40,000. Off and on I have been looking for the past year or so. I wanted a 2006 (last year for the S500) with low miles and the 4matic (AWD) and in silver with the dark gray interior. I was hoping for the heated steering wheel for my girlfriend and if not at least the wood steering wheel. Oh well. Car is flawless. I could not find a singe scratch etc. This one does not have the handling package. I wanted that. I want it for a luxury car. I want the best ride and comfort. S500's with AWD are rare without the optional handling package. Most 4matics have the handling package. They do not have as good of a ride because of that I would think. Would be hard to find a similar one had I passed on this one. Interesting that my 2000 Lexus LS400 rides and handles about the same at 93,000 miles compared to this 18,000 mile S500. I hate to see my LS400 go. What a great car! 4 years and no problems. I wonder if this MB will be the same.

Interesting that I have driven past this Chicago Mercedes Benz dealer for over 30 years now. Probably thousands of times. I would always look over at this MB dealer and somewhat wish one day for a nice MB. The other day was the first time I ever stopped in there. My first MB. Will be my girlfriend's daily driver when she moves in and I will only drive it occasionally. I have no need for 2 daily driver cars as I generally drive my truck every day. I'm making her suffer so when I drive it I drive a man's car. Not some girly car.


Rodney Dickman
1990 348 TS (Diablo some day soon?)

 

I respectfully disagree.

The problems on Wall treet wont end until equity markets sought themselves out, and that wont happen until the debt market neutralizes. That wont happen until the Feds allow poorly run corporations to go bankrupt. Which wont happen because they keep feeding pointless cash into badly structured firms. Capitalism is defined as an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.

Our government is privatizing profits and subsidizing losses. When your not allowed to fail, there are no winners.


joe

 

No disagreement on the economic theory in general.

However had the bailout not happened, a temporary total collapse of the economic system would have thrown the entire world into turmoil. More collateral damage would have been caused than necessary.

Also as you know markets live from expectations and pessimistic or optimistic scenarios become self fulfilling prophecies. Doing the bailout had a soothing effect on a market that was no longer acting rationally but was driven by hysteria. I called my broker and told him to not sell anything while everybody was selling their stuff. He is a rational guy, so that wasn't necessary, but still.

Finally part of the subprime crisis was caused by too much government interfering with the markets (the Democrats and their crazy idea of giving a house to every American) and not enough interfering/control with the markets (the Republicans not managing debt swaps accordingly). So just letting the market forces settle the issue is too rough of an approach. Keynes showed us that the role of government goes beyond just providing police and firemen.

Hopefully we'll meet in person one day. I'd love to continue this discussion.

But before we completely hijack this lovely thread into an economic debate, here something I got myself for X-mas (the F1 tickets still make a nice birthday present):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230309514686&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&viewitem=&salenotsupported

A very rare find on ebay, so I had to jump at the chance at getting this kit half the normal price.