Congratulations, rich people!

[MannyGoldstein]

Another Wall Street record targeting the 5% of Americans who own 62% of the stock market.

And for most Americans, who own no stock? This should serve as a lesson to you little people: always make sure you're rich.

[SomethingFishy]

1. Well now it can "trickle down"...

[Cleita]

3. The only thing that's going to trickle down is the sweat

you produce helping them to become even richer from your labor.

[SomethingFishy]

5. Don't I know it...

12 years without even a cost of living raise... My boss however just got a 2nd private jet (because everyone needs 2) and a 4th house.

[Cleita]

6. After the first house and jet, it seems there should be a high luxury tax

on the second jet and 2nd, 3rd and 4th house. But I dream and as a Soc Sec recipient I know about being cheated on COLA. I don't know how we get back what we actually earned and your case still earning.

[SomethingFishy]

7. I've pretty much given up on myself...

I'll survive making what I do, not well but I'll make it, as long as I don't get hurt or sick. However I would love for my kids to have a shot at a decent life. We need a strong populist movement.
At least we are seeing the beginnings of it with Warren and Sanders getting some press..

I agree about the luxury tax. You know the last time I asked for a raise I was told "sorry, there's no money"... Business is run just like the government... "there's no money for Social Security, but the army doesn't want these 200 new tanks so we are going to build them anyway."

[liberal_at_heart]

26. I agree with everything in your post. I too would like my kids to have a better shot than I have had

and right now the way things are going it is looking like they will have it worse than I have had it. And I totally agree. Businesses have plenty of money for CEO salary increases and bonuses and severance packages, but when it comes to average workers there is no money left. Same goes for government. Plenty of money for tax breaks for companies and the rich, but no money left over for social safety nets or tax breaks for average Americans.

[highmindedhavi]

2. Lobbying politicians works!

both parties.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

4. I like rightwing ideology, myself. I cant get enough of trickle down...

You do know that us rich wall street folk despise you working people.

We despise you and laugh at you all day long.

We especially laugh at rightwingers who support us, stupid motherfuckers.

[GummyBearz]

27. My father in law

is a rich wall street guy. He has also voted a strait democrat ticket for the last 30 something years. I don't think he laughs at non-wall street workers, but he was quite happy with the budget that Obama just signed off on. Maybe I will get an extra nice Christmas present to go along with his extra nice bonus in 2 days... that will be my form of trickle down. Thanks (3rd way) democrats!

[NewDeal_Dem]

39. a 'democrat' ticket? Democrat is a noun. Democratic is an adjective. 'ticket' is a noun.

adjectives modify nouns.

[GummyBearz]

45. Thanks

Thank you teacher.

In the name of wasting electrons, you are supposed to capitalize the first letter at the start of a sentence.

[NewDeal_Dem]

58. my choice not to capitalize to type faster is a little different from the republic party's choice

to call the democratic party the 'democrat party'.

fuck them.

[GummyBearz]

64. Uhuh...

My misuse of a word was an accident, not a choice. Your myopic pettiness may or may not be a choice. I can't figure that out yet.

Carry on though, someone on the internet somewhere must have made a recent grammar mistake that needs your immediate and snarky attention.

edit: type too fast

[NewDeal_Dem]

65. uhhuh

[kelly1mm]

8. It is GREAT for union run pensions as well. Some good at least. nt

[TBF]

18. Until Wall Street figures out

how to get their hands on them. Typically a venture firm will move in, buy the suckers and bankrupt them, and then - oops - no more pension.

So, I wouldn't get too comfortable about the pensions. Our unions USED to be strong enough to hold on to our compensation and even get raises, but not anymore.

[Bluenorthwest]

57. The Multi-Employer Plans that just got offered up for cuts are not accessable by any one company

nor by any 'venture firm' that might buy one of them. It is simply not the way it works. Those Plans are all of them invested in many ways, including the stock market. A strong market will in fact prevent Multiple Employer Pension Plans from veering into perilously low funding territory and if they remain funded they can not be cut even under this new provision.
I assume you are not a Union Member, not a participant in any Pension plan, single or multiple employer. If you were, you'd encourage any and all who are part of such plans to know the details and finances of their plans even years before they might be retiring. Some Unions are very strong today. Some Pension Plans are very healthy. Others are in great peril. No participating worker should assume anything about their own plan because of boilerplate language crafted to instill fear. They should instead know the facts and act accordingly.

[TBF]

66. Today's commercial from the Street -

you've got to keep building that pyramid or it collapses.

Believe me, most of us are not falling for your scheme anymore. It's a scam. It always has been.

[pampango]

9. He's still behind FDR and Clinton in stock market performance. n/t

[olddots]

10. remember if you are rich or poor

Its good to have money .

[Thespian2]

12. Thanks, Manny

Just got notified of the increase in my SS. Perhaps I can now swing a deal on my first private jet. Do you think that extra $30 a month will make the payments?

[liberal_at_heart]

30. How many years has it been stuck at 1.7% now? This is how they are defunding SS. They haven't cut it

yet but they have frozen the increase for cost of living.

[stillwaiting]

13. Yes. You too can turn your backs on your fellow Americans when you're rich!

Too many Americans are too self-centered, stupid, or both.

[TacoD]

14. Market gains benefit anyone with a retirement account, be it pension or 401k. (nt)

[liberal_at_heart]

15. The average American 401(k) has around $80,000 in it.

Far from the million or two it takes to retire comfortably and afford health care when you're older.

[TacoD]

16. Not sure how that rebuts what I said. (nt)

[liberal_at_heart]

17. Just that the fact that the DOW is at 18000 helps the rich people about a thousand times

more than the average American who from day to day is more worried about the fact that their paycheck doesn't keep up with inflation and who have to actually dip into their retirement from time to time just to pay bills while the millionaires and billionaires get to add tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and sometimes even millions of dollars to their assets when the stock market goes up. The stock market going up is really only helping the rich. That is the point. We need politicians to be protecting unions and pensions from being raided by Wall Street and we need politicians to be fighting for a living wage so that the average American can afford to save more for retirement.

[Skittles]

33. some people make out like bandits, others get bones tossed at them

[Orrex]

60. And then they get scolded for being insufficiently grateful

In every problem involving money, the first (and, really, only) solution offered is "simply have more money."

[Ineeda]

19. That's B.S.

I have no idea the "average" 401(k) balance, but your 'comfortable' retirement figure is way, way off. I know of which I speak, and as long as you live fairly conservatively (no round-the-world 1st class cruises, for example) people will be fine. I celebrate the growth of my modest 401(k), and am ever grateful for it. Resenting it when the market is up is hurtful to ordinary people who rely on, perhaps, the only asset they have. And it's not honest.

[liberal_at_heart]

21. Well you can be grateful all you want. I don't have to.

I have had to dip into my small 401(k) once already and may have to again just to pay bills. And no I don't know the official cost of retirement but I do know my father in law racked up about $100,000 in medical bills before he died this year. How was he supposed to pay for that if he had lived I wonder.

[Rex]

29. People will be fine? Or you will be fine?

Go tell that to the thousands of homeless families that Wall Street put out in the cold. Talk about not being honest.

[Ineeda]

31. I'm just as horrified and angry as most

at the heartless injustices visited on the vast number of victims of the Wall Street malfeasance. I'm not referencing them in my response above. I'm referencing people who have a small safety net 401(k) or pension who (like myself) are augmenting their meager SS income. I should want the market to fail? A failing stock market further damages 'little people' like me and millions like me. So go take your rude eyeroll and...well, never mind.

[Skittles]

34. see post #20

you can no longer view ANY of your assets as "safety nets"

[Ineeda]

49. True, but

why bash people who haven't experienced that yet? Why assume we are unconcerned about those that have? Why is there an attitude (here) of 'you're not destitute enough and/or living on the streets, so shame on you' ? The assumptions (here) are mind-blowing. BTW: my original response was to refute the claim that one needs a couple of million dollars to retire comfortably. That's what I said was B.S. -- based on MY OWN experience.

[Skittles]

68. you are completely misreading

the issue is FAIRNESS

[Ineeda]

69. Perhaps I am being misread.

I get it. I really do. A vast number of non-rich people were F'd by the banks and Wall Street. I was one of them, though admittedly I didn't have that much to lose and had no mortgage to steal. Should I have buried what little I had in a coffee can in the backyard? What I'm objecting to here is that many on this board can't separate the fact that it's not only the uber rich and moderately rich and modestly rich (in other words, rich) who have investment accounts like 401(k)s. For some (like me) it's their only actual money/savings. So when the market does well, people like me can feel a little relief that we might not be destitute any time soon. Yes, it's absolutely not FAIR that most of us got F'd and the rich got obscenely richer, and did it dishonestly. It's not fair. I get that. But those of us who have been breathing a little easier shouldn't be shamed that we're not living under an overpass or panhandling in the streets. Blaming survivors? Not very Democratic.

[Skittles]

71. they understand non-rich people benefit from the stock market

but it's an issue of FAIRNESS in that the super rich benefit WAY MORE - the playing field simply is not level - everything is TIPPED IN THEIR FAVOR - we can feel grateful when the stock market is up *AND* think it is absolute BULLSHIT how the game is rigged

[Ineeda]

77. Yes, I get that. n/t

[TBF]

20. Yup - house and pension (or now 401K)

used to be enough but for many people but those days are gone.

We noticed with my frugal in-laws (so frugal that she would take his old shirts and make blouses for herself!) that they did really well selling their main residence and were able to enjoy their retirement until the last few years. These were not rich people - he went to school w/the GI bill after serving and they truly were savers who lived within their means. Those last few years of illness with medical, prescriptions, home aids - that's when the money went. And they are what I would've called the prime of middle America benefiting from the Great Society programs. I don't think those in my generation will have it nearly as good.

[NewDeal_Dem]

40. and i'll bet the median 401k has even less.

[Cryptoad]

24. The Median annual income for wage earners is just above,,,

poverty level..... do yall really think that many those people making less than $26K/yr have a 401 retirement fund

[rhett o rick]

63. Only at the time of withdrawal. The "market" is made up of bubbles and bursts.

Lots of people lose when the "market" bursts. It's not the 1% that loses tho.

[dissentient]

22. Everything is great, don't you know, the stock market is the only thing that matters!

The lack of progress for the middle or lower classes in terms of wage growth and buying power over the last 50 years? Bah.

The continuing, ever growing gap between those at the top, what they receive and have, and the masses who make up the rest?
Bah!

Stop complaining! You suck if you aren't rich!

[Skittles]

35. careful

you will disturb the people all starry-eyed by the purty numbers

[L0oniX]

56. Please don't pet the Turd Way.

[Cryptoad]

23. Trickle , Trickle Trickle,,,,,,,

dont forget that the top 10% own 80% of all the stocks and Mfunds..... I can feel that trickle already!

[maced666]

25. Yep - they are dancing in the streets.

Well, gated, privately stone paved neighborhood streets - but streets nonetheless.

[colsohlibgal]

28. The Big Supply Side Lie

Not much trickles down, in reality a rising tide lifts all boats. Even Henry Ford of all people got that reality. If nobody had the money to buy his cars his car business would flounder.

[moondust]

32. Golf was particularly good today.

Broker called on the 14th fairway to let me know I'm up another 130 thou. That means I can swing the new yacht without any trouble at all!

Went on to birdie the 14th and finished with four pars!

Sleeping in tomorrow before brunch at the docks and maybe another 18 before supper at the club.

Noses to the grindstone, Chinamen!

[lonestarnot]

36. And keep believing you can work your way up to the level of "rich" all by your lonesome

too while you're at it and then run down to your nearest tat artist and have the word screwed tattooed on your forehead so we can see you coming from a distance.

[Township75]

37. They. Red to be thanking you, du, and democratic voters everywhere

They couldn't have done. Without your politicians. Imagine a president other than someone like Obama or Hillary that could go after bankers and go after reforms. We did our part to keep that from happening and they need us to do it again in 2016!

[onenote]

38. so when the market goes down, we should be happy?

Seems like a bunch of folks on this thread are displeased by the market increasing. It's not the be all and end all of economic recovery. But neither would be a market crash.

[eridani]

41. In the 50s, stocks were a lousy investment

Average family income in that decade doubled.

[onenote]

51. Lousy Investment? From 1950 to 1960 the Dow Jones increased by 250 percent.

Started at around 200 in 1950 and ended the decade at 680.

And median family income increased over the decade by around 70 percent.

Sorry.

[eridani]

67. From 1950-1970 investment return was 13%, but wage growth was 100%

So wages outpaced capital returns by quite a bit

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/market_cagr.htm

[onenote]

70. in other words you were wrong about stocks being a lousy investment

but can't bring yourself to admit it.

And you've changed the metric from average family income to hourly compensation.

[eridani]

72. Compared to having a good job, yes. No one working for wages can afford capital investment, unless

--they are in the top 10%.

[Nye Bevan]

42. Many DUers seem to be rooting for a 1929 style crash.

Yes, it might cause a depression, but it would really stick it to the despised 1%.

[Capt. Obvious]

50. Many DUers want it to happen so they can blame Obama

[progressoid]

53. Bullshit.

[L0oniX]

55. +1

[L0oniX]

54. LMFAO

[liberal_at_heart]

78. You think I'm happy I've had to dip into my 401(k)?

You think I'm happy I haven't been able to add anything to my 401(k) in 3 years? No. I am not happy, and no I am not rooting for another crash, but I will not pretend like all is rosy when it is not.

[raouldukelives]

47. The lower the DOW, the higher our chance of honest democracy.

All depends on what people value more. Money or creating a better world.
The only sure thing anyone in Wall St is saying with each investment is that they think it would be best if everyone were in it. That is the republican/corporate/third way answer they have for our problems, invest more in multinational corporations, that will fix it. Once everyone is a part of it, our ends will be its ends and its ends will be our ends. Just as it is now for the millions that blindly support the most heinous institutions and usurpers of the common good our world has ever seen.

[progressoid]

52. No one is saying we should be happy of the market goes down.

Democrats should know that most Americans are still hurting. And a market increase disproportionately benefits the already bloated wealthy. To repeatedly praise a market increase is a slap in the face of those of us daily struggling to get by.

Half of America have no investments in Wall Street. Three fourths of us are living paycheck to paycheck.

[brooklynite]

43. Screw the unions!

Don't they know that, by investing their members' pension funds in the market they're supporting evil capitalists?

[brooklynite]

44. Uh, Manny? One question...

The $500,000 my wife and I saved by deciding not to have children. Is it all right if we invest that?

Average cost of raising a child hits $245,000

New parents be warned: It could cost nearly a quarter of a million dollars to raise your child -- and that's not even including the cost of college.

To raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up $4,260, or almost 2%, from the year before.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/18/pf/child-cost/index.html

[Autumn]

74. Spend it on your dog. Or buy a politician.

[benz380]

75. Take it to the next salon meeting. Nt

[madokie]

46. I think I'll look first thing in the morning

last time I looked I still wasn't rich but maybe this time I will get lucky
I got lucky once when my wife said I do

[Jesus Malverde]

48. DOW 18000

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

[B Calm]

59. I'm still in the hole from where I was on December 1st. Thankful though it's

going back up!

Seems like every December the market goes down, then goes back up. Could the money changers be shuffling money to avoid taxes?

[Bluenorthwest]

61. And yet you have said you make a few hundred grand a year, you support a candidate who says

she cared only about the markets when asked why she was a Republican for so many long and highly profitable years.
It is odd when highly affluent members of the investor class pause in their promotion of a 1%er obsessed with the markets to tell Union members they should not be happy their Pension Plans are more secure today than they were a few years ago because the markets went up.
Let me know when you and Warren divest. I'll be waiting.

[MineralMan]

62. How did it affect you, Manny?

It didn't help me directly, although the improvement in the small business environment may lead to more work for me. I liquidated all of my retirement funds, thanks to GWB, so I have nothing in the market.

Did you benefit from the steady increase in the DOW? Just wondering whether you have any assets in the stock market. Many DUers do.

[adirondacker]

73. Give all the toys to the little rich boys...

[GOLGO 13]

76. Not rich but thanks for all your well wishes Manny!

My 401k has gone bananas this month. Go-go Obama Powah!

Next on to 20k!