Dow 11,000: Déjà vu all over again?
April 12, 2010 by Pamela Yellen · 13 Comments
Bill Clinton was President, the world awaited the potentially disastrous consequences of the Y2K computer bug, and – oh, yeah – the Dow closed above 11,000 for the first time in history.
The date was May 3rd, 1999, and to quote Yogi Berra, nearly eleven years later,
The Wall Street spin-makers are pointing out what a “big accomplishment it is for a measure that was below 7,000 only a year ago” to recapture the 11,000 level.
Before we pop the cork on a bottle of champagne, here’s a few sobering questions to ask yourself…
Bank On Yourself: A financial plan you can count on
December 11, 2009 by Pamela Yellen · 24 Comments
Oh what a roller-coaster year this has been! Our entire financial system and economy almost fell off a cliff.
And while there are some hopeful signs of new life in the economy, this year has also brought us:
- Massive bailouts
- A tripling of an already-bloated federal deficit
- A falling dollar
- Rising foreclosures (and likely to spike as billions of dollars in ARM’s are now coming up for adjustment)
- Major banks and investment houses taking on three times (!) the risk they were before the collapse
So what do you think next year has in store for us?
No one really knows for sure. (Well, except maybe the folks at the Psychic Hotline.) So how do you prepare for a very uncertain future?
Here’s a quick quiz that may reveal an answer for you…
What’s the one financial asset that increased in value during the market crash of 2008? And in 1929? And in every period of economic boom and bust in between?
Answer: The product used for Bank On Yourself: Cash-value life insurance.
As I’ve mentioned, my husband Larry and I now have 18 Bank On Yourself policies. I’ve picked one of them to show you how a dividend-paying whole life policy like this can grow over time – even when the markets are plummeting. It’s a great example of how Bank On Yourself gives you the peace of mind that lets you sleep at night.
Here’s how much this plan has grown each year since the beginning of 2000, a period that includes not one, but TWO devastating market crashes. In four of these years, the S&P 500 was down for the year, as you can see in this side-by-side comparison:
If you had put $10,000 into an S&P 500 Index fund at the beginning of 2000, how much do you think it would be worth today?
Take a guess before you read on.
Dow 36,000? What were they smoking?
September 25, 2009 by Pamela Yellen · Leave a Comment
Ten years ago this week, the book, “Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market” was published.
It became a best-seller. And, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Lessons of a Bull Market That Never Happened” (9/20/09):
Back then, the only people subject to sustained derision on Wall Street were those who dissented. Anyone who warned that shares might disappoint was ignored. The few predicting a crash — let alone two — were considered cranks.
Yet, in spite of the current stock market rally – one of the steepest in history – the Dow is STILL below where it stood in September 1999!
How many times during those years were your hopes raised, only to be dashed again and again?
Wall Street has some “dirty little secrets” they don’t want you to know about, but I reveal them all here.
Interestingly, one of the authors of that book recently said he still believes the Dow will hit 36,000. Meanwhile, there’s some guy now predicting the Dow will go down to 1,000!
What do YOU think will happen… and why? You can voice your thoughts below…
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