but youre right, if you take a long term view, as you have done, then yes i’m sure things will turn around in a couple of decades. oddly enough “time” is the only thing on an investor’s side, and yet so many choose to ignore it cos they’ve already spent the imaginary profits in their head.

assuming things will get worse, and stock prices on average will halve over the next 5 years, you know, worst case senario,….

the next 5 years would be a great time to pick up stocks at bargain prices. because the silver lining is that the lower a stock goes, the higher your dividend yield, or if there are no dividends, then atleast the upside potential goes up. provided you didnt pick a company that goes broke like an enron. enrons are rare, but they do happen.

i think i’ll post something on investing in markets like these next.

stay tuned

I tell myself, “Right? RIGHT?” But bank takeovers are disconcerting, and when some bank stock prices are less than the cost of a postage stamp… Faith is a tenuous thing. I’d forgotten about Japan’s bubble.

Will you be opening the Bank of Skunk anytime soon?

as for whats next, my dad keeps refering back to japan’s bubble bursting 15 years ago. it was different, but similar, over lending, defaulting companies etc,… and their economy has stagnated for 15 years,…. only back then, everyone in the world wasnt in japan. not like a few years ago when even nbk was trying to sell us mortgage funds.

this time around, what with globalisation of the markets, and funds jumping borders at the click of a mouse, it might just be much much worse.

i hope i’m wrong, but i think its too early to tell how bad or how not so bad it might be.

ansam: thank you, thank you, thank you