Is it just me, or should we all apply for a bailout?

Is it just me, or should we all apply for a bailout?

Every time I read, listen, or watch the news, the US government is bailing out someone and giving away more and more money.

When does it stop?

The U.S. Government is convinced it can spend its way out of this mess. This is same mess we spent our way into, so how could we possibly get out of it by spending even more money?  I can't see the logic in that.

Here we are again, giving more and more money to Citi (NYSE_C) and Bank of America (NYSE_BAC). Didn't BAC just buy Merril Lynch and Countrywide ... and now they need even more money just to keep going.

Here's my take: rather than spend all this money (and we're talking trillions of dollars at this point), why not give all the small-businesses in America a serious tax break. Small businesses produce 80% of all the jobs in this country. Small businesses do a far better job and have a vested interest in getting it right. I am not so sure the Government has the same vested interest. Does anyone know for sure what happened to the first 350 billion dollars of the TARP money?

So, if we cut taxes for small business they will have more capital to invest, increase employment numbers and can become competitive again. I would also do away with capital gains. If we cut corporate taxes for small businesses and eliminate the capital gains tax, we could certainly slow down and turn this freight train back to more confident times.

What's also amazing to me is that we have the same players in charge, just in different uniforms. With all this talk about change and the need for experienced people, it may be possible that this is not the answer. Just look at what experienced people have gotten us into in the first place. We need some new ideas from people who have common sense and know that two and two is four.

I would really like to get your views on what you think could be a solution for the US economy. If you want to leave a comment, you're more than welcome to do so. We ask only one thing, that comments are not obscene or threatening to anyone.

Many people have drawn a parallel between the current economy and to the crash of 1929. I have been doing some research and I found that the crash of '29 lasted a little over 34 months. When the stock market reached its high on September 3, 1929, it basically went straight down with some minor rallies, but eventually put in its ultimate low on July 8, of 1932. That was 34 months later. If you think of the recent high in the stock market being on September 9, 2007, and you look at a bear market period of 30 to 34 months then you are looking at an absolute bottom in the stock market some time in 2010 and not 2009.

Trust, confidence, hope for the future: these are all the elements that are needed to drive the stock markets of the world higher. I believe that President-elect, Obama's job is an impossible task. Expectations for this President are way beyond belief. He may (or may not) fall short on promised solutions for all the economic and other challenges we face in the future. Only time will tell.

I think that the stock market is going to remain in a decidedly negative tone and expect that short-term rallies will be met with selling pressure. All of the old ways of valuing stocks through earnings, dividends, sales and so forth can be thrown out of the window for the next year and a half. What we're trading now is simply fear, frustration, and the destruction of value.

Let me know your comments.

Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-creator, MarketClub

Fear is not an option for successful traders

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Thus spoke Franklin D. Roosevelt 75 years ago.

Looking back on Roosevelt's speech in 1933, 4 years after the infamous crash of '29, he was referring to the economic conditions of the time -- better known as The Great Depression. In essence he was saying that if we can't shake our pessimistic economic outlook, it will be tough to turn things around.

The question is... are things different this time?

The answer is yes and no. People are still fearful of what the future holds and they have very little confidence in the economy. The big difference between the crash of '08 and the crash of '29 is that we now have India and China on the world stage. Back in '29, both of these countries were not on the radar. In fact India was under British Rule.

Both India and China's economies will suffer with the turn down here in the US. They are now going to have to generate their own domestic consumption patterns for the goods and services they formerly sold to the US. This is going to be hard to do as so much of their economy is based on exports which are evaporating quickly.

The fact of the matter is that the markets are extraordinarily turbulent. We do not expect, even with the worldwide bailout, for things will be rosy again anytime soon. However, that does not rule out some extraordinary trading opportunities in the markets. This is a time for rational thinking. It is also a time to eliminate fear from trading.

There is no need for fear in one's trading plan if you're running with a diversified program that has proven to be successful over time. What I mean by over time is not just the last six months, or six years, but over a long period of time I mean as much as 30 years.

When you have a program that puts the odds on your side, you can trade with confidence knowing that you're going to lose some small skirmishes in the market, but overall you will make money based on your own trading decisions.

Many of you know that we trade using MarketClub's "Trade Triangle" technology. This approach has proven successful in all types of markets, including the ones we are in now.

I've put together a short 12 minute video to show you how we have fared in three different markets using this technology.

For a small percentage of you, this video will be an eye-opening experience. For another percentage of you, you are already fearless MarketClub members. There will also be some of you that are successful traders using your own system, and there is probably no need to watch this video.

Trading should be an unemotional experience. If you are trading for the excitement, odds are you're going to lose. If you are trading just to say that you trade, you're probably going to lose. If your trade for any other reason than to make money, you're probably going to lose.

The possibility of successfully trading any market is out there. This video will show you how our unemotional, time tested approach to the stock, future, forex, etf, and mutual fund market will put the odds in your favor that you are on the right side of these extraordinary trading times.

"The only limits to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Every success,

Adam Hewison

President, INO.com