HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tony@cactus.org (Tony J. Hurson)
Subject: Another Voice on U.S. National Debt
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 13:16:57 GMT


Here is another opinion on the U.S. government's deficit and debt. It
comes from a October 3rd 1992 editorial in "The Economist":

------------------------------------------------------------------------
...No responsible politician would ignore what the deficit is doing to
America's economic health. In the 1970s, national savings averaged 
almost 20% of GDP; now they are below 15%, the lowest proportion of 
any OECD country bar Greece. America has a public debt of $4 trillion,
with an annual interest bill running at $200 billion. Whereas the
administration would once have got the economy out of recession by
raising spending and cutting taxes, that is no longer an option. Those
handicaps are chiefly the legacy of Ronald Reagan, who wanted to have
his cake, eat it, and not pay for it later; but creeping entitlements
have kept the deficits growing. 

Three fifths of federal spending goes on entitlements: social security
(pensions), Medicare, farm subsidies, food stamps. As the population 
ages and grows frailer, payroll and income taxes cannot keep pace with
the headlong expansion of these programmes. They are growing at three
times the rate of inflation. By one estimate the gap between what 
Americans pay in taxes now and what they expect to reap in future 
benefits is a cool $14 trillion. Their children will be paying. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The article then goes on to fault both the Bush and Clinton campaigns
for ignoring the dangers of the deficit/debt problem, or for proposing
superficial solutions to it. Ross Perot, for all his faults, is credited
with a credible plan.


+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Disclaimer: Any opinions above have nothing to do with Ross Technology |
+------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Tony Hurson                        | Email: tony@ross.com   (work)     |
|                                    |        tony@cactus.org (home)     |
+------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Ross Technology Inc.,                Voice: 1-512-892-7802x257         |
| 5316 Hwy 290 West Suite 500,         Fax:   1-512-892-3036             |
| Austin, Texas 78735, USA.                                              |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: dwang@ADS.COM (David Wang)
Subject: Re: Income & Wealth (Was: Effects...Debt)
Organization: Advanced Decision Systems, Mtn. View, CA (415)960-7300
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 20:53:01 GMT

In article <1992Oct12.130729.4428@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> cthorne@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Charles E Thorne) writes:
>When the U.S. increased protection for steel and autos in the 70's, instead of
>becoming more competitive, the steel and auto companies increased their prices
>(and profitability) rather than becoming competitive with imports.  If this 
>isn't "big" money or the "wealthy" being helped, I'm not sure what is.
>

seems like more "big corporation" as oppose to individuals

----------------------------

Another point is : talk about government subsidies -- we ought to
count all the entitlement programs to individuals also.  Seems like 
the government spend a lot more on entitlement programs than subsidies
to big businesses.  And most of these entitlement programs' benefits
go to the middle class, not the "wealthy".  

My contention is that we are in this mess because average ordinary
folks have gotten addicted to more and more government services and
counted on Uncle Sam to bail us out of own follies, not to mention
irrepsonsible consumption.  

Until the majority of the population come to grip with reality, 
finger pointing the "other" guys will only enable the politicians
to exploit the situation further and worsen the problem.  "Soaking
the rich" becomes real popular in the current environment, because
it is so much easier to create envy and point to a scapegoat.

Of course, it won't be long before Congress "redefined" the "rich"
to be the middle class, since that isn't enough people in the "rich"
category to satisfy the insatiable appetite of Congress to spend 
more and more $$.

Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Agencies that Reduce C-Card debt
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 92 19:18:31 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

tsp@controls.ccd.harris.com (Timothy S. Pillsbury) writes:

> 
> I ran across some ads in a local paper for companies who claim to be
> "not for profit" that say they can help me consolidate my credit card debt
> to a lower interest rate (I currently pay about 16% on the average).
> 
> I have several thousand dollars of debt with various bank credit
> cards, which makes this deal attractive. They say that my 15.8% Citibank
> card can be consolidated to 8%, with similar deals for most of my other cards
> The only catch (if you'd call it one) is that I can no longer use the card(s)
> which is fine with me.
> 
> They say that they work directly with the financial institutions, and that
> this costs me nothing. I think it's reasonable to believe that the banks don'
> to lose the money I owe them (for instance, if I went bankrupt) but I'm 
> definitely suspicious of something for nothing. Are these companies frauds?
> Do the banks pay them?
> 
> Does anyone know if this would hurt my credit rating (currently VERY good) or
> any other bad side-effects? I don't want to do anything that'll sour my
> financial picture once this debt is paid off.

I've never heard of anyone offering anything like this, particularly
where you'd be prohibited from using your cards. (At the very least,
they should be available for emergencies.)

My "Scam Alert" is sounding.

If you have a house with any equity that hasn't been wiped out by
the market, or perhaps a paid-off car, that you can use as security
for a lower-interest loan, use that to pay off your high-interest
debts. Then take all your credit cards, put them in a bowl, fill with
water (weight cards if needed), and freeze it. Cuts down on impulse
buying, but they're there if you need them.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: thompson@atlas.socsci.umn.edu (T. Scott Thompson)
Subject: Re: Federal Reserve: 'monetizing' debt
Keywords: monetization of debt, open market operations
Reply-To: thompson@atlas.socsci.umn.edu
Organization: Economics Department, University of Minnesota
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 22:12:18 GMT

mccabe@gdls.CSCTMD.COM (Harold McCabe) writes:

>I recently read one economist who said that the US Federal Reserve was
>getting ready to monetize the US debt, to the tune of about $30 billion, in
>1993.  Forgetting whether this prediction is true or not, I would like to
>know just *how* the Fed monetizes debt.  The result of my initial investigation
>into this, is that the Fed purchases Treasury bills, and credits the seller
>of the bills with dollars; this is how the debt is monetized (and how money
>is created).  When the Fed sells bills, the money supply is decreased.  But,
>the Fed also buys/sells normally (when the debt is not being monetizes)
>to adjust the money supply for seasonal variations.  How can one determine the
>difference between normal Fed operations on the open market, and when the
>Fed is 'monetizing the debt?'

You can't.  Although the motivation behind various kinds of open
market operations might differ, the net effect is the same.  If the
Fed buys Treasury debt from the general public then

(a)  the indebtedness of the Treasury to the general public falls
(b)  the money supply grows.

The problem is a little bit like asking "Is the hot summer this year
due to normal variation or due to global warming?"  To answer the
question you must pin down an empirically verifiable definition of
what constitutes "normal variation".
--
T. Scott Thompson              email:  thompson@atlas.socsci.umn.edu
Department of Economics        phone:  (612) 625-0119
University of Minnesota        fax:    (612) 624-0209
From: zaphod@lamar.ColoState.EDU
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Decora Industries Inc.
Date: 14 Oct 92 14:03:33 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523


I've done all the library work I could on this company, but still need more
info if there is any.  Anyone ever hear of this company or know anything
about it???  What I have is a company that is not in great shape concerning
capital but with a great product.  Wallpaper that is almost indestructable.
Currently they are negotiating with Disney, I believe.  
It's sold OTC @$1.18.  Jack Reybold Inc. says a target of $10.00 in one year
is possible.

Any help out there??

Thanks,
Mike Kennedy
From: ky04@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (KUN YU)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: MMS forecast?
Date: 16 Oct 92 03:09:43 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

I got a piece of MMS forecast from DJNR, which predicts a market down turn
from November. How can I get the forecast over last year? How good has been
the forecast in history? 
-- 



                                                          _                  
ky04@lehigh.edu                                         / _ \
KYu, BioProcessing Institute                          /\ _|_ /\
111 Lehigh University                                    /|\
From: mcaldon@igc.apc.org (McAldon International Inc.)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Kemper Funds in trouble???
Date: 10 Oct 92 06:57:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #R:Bvvq4L.Hvw@news.cso.uiuc.edu:-1372883030:cdp:1426500280:000:469
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!mcaldon    Oct  9 23:57:00 1992


|I heard a rumor that the Kemper Funds were in trouble.  Is this true?  Can
|a mutual fund go bankrupt?  Are investments in Mutual Funds insured?

I know nothing about Kemper Funds but it seems manifestly impossible
for a fund to go bankrupt.  They are not insured, although some funds
invest only in insured bonds.  DMcKenzie.

|    mcaldon@igc.org     | Opinions dispensed herein not guaranteed |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: greg@cherokee.b23b.ingr.com (Greg Moritz)
Subject: Re: Cost-Benefit analysis of Renting VS. Buying
Reply-To: greg@cherokee.b23b.ingr.com (Greg Moritz)
Organization: Dazix, An Intergraph Company
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 17:27:54 GMT

> lott@uklira.informatik.uni-kl.de (Christopher Lott AG Rombach) writes:
> >The point I'm trying to make is that a house is not an investment.
> >Don't let anyone kid you that it is - and I don't think you have
> >the view that it is, based on your (impressively analytical) approach
> >to this decision.  A house is a lifestyle choice.  You live the way
> >you want to, and you pay for the privilege.

mincy@think.com (Jeffrey Mincy) responded:
> Of course a house is an investment.  After 30 years of renting you have
> nothing.  After 30 years of paying a mortgage you own a tangible asset,
> that has value and that can be converted to cash.  

Well, you can say the same thing about financing and purchasing
a car or a house.  They are also 'investments' albeit poor ones.
Perhaps Mr. Rombach meant that a house is not a 'good' investment.

There are a lot of arguments (and individuals) that can attest to this
point of view.  In the past, one could practically buy any house and
expect to make money on it.  Now, one must take the time to be very
well informed and sophisticated to do so.  For most people, the 
house they buy today (or bought in the past ten years) isn't going
to be as good of an investment as, say, a passbook savings account.

Of course, for most people the intangible benifits of home ownership
make a home purchase a sensible thing.  You can't tear down a wall
or put an addition on your average apartment.
From: rhh@alice.att.com (r hardin)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Use of Statistical Techniques in Stock Selection
Date: 13 Oct 92 23:51:06 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.23882
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ


m.ramesh writes:
>Has anyone ever used statistical analysis such as regression, correlation,
>forecasting, ectc on stock for investment puposes.  Is there any book which
>talks about this.

People used to find cycles by weighting price histories with secret
weights, I think in the '50s.  Somebody spoiled a lot of the fun
by analyzing the spectrum of the weighting functions.

``A Random Walk Down Wall Street'' is still a the best book, if you're
inclined to think statistical techniques might help.  It ought to
dissuade you.
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: "Mansoor Ahmed" <mansoor@orion.ssdc.honeywell.com>
Subject:   Mother of all short squeezes
To: misc.invest
Posted-Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 11: 23:31 CDT
Cc: srini@u.washington.edu
Organization: Honeywell Systems & Research Center
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 16:23:31 GMT
Received-Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 11: 22:21 CDT


Yesterday in CNBC they had a Dan DOrfman report on
Conseco. THey made several good points about it....
1) Expected to acquire Bankers Life soon
2) Accounting cloud has lifted...some comittee cleared it
of accounting procedure problesm.....
3) Very good 3rd quarter earnings..
4) & 5) & 6) etc etc...

All these factors claims Dan set the stage for Conseco
shares to take offfffff......
Since conseco is so strung between longs and shorts this
is going to be the mother of all short squeezes........

Does anybody know any more about this piece of news....
Should I buy more Conseco today.....? How do
I find the cost of a 6 month option?????


-mansoor

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: dhesi@cirrus.com (Rahul Dhesi)
Subject: Re: Getting a merchant visa account
Organization: Cirrus Logic Inc.
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 19:53:55 GMT

In <1992Oct12.150420.29711@odi.com> ed@odi.com (Ed Schwalenberg) writes:

     One of the all-time easiest paths to fraud is to set up a
     mail-order (or 800-number) business, take zillions of orders...
     Half of the zillions of customers will just lose, while the other
     half will ask that the charge be reversed, leaving the bank
     holding the bag.

Why is this easy?  This can only happen if the bank is unwise enough to
credit a new merchant's account immediately, without waiting for credit
card holders to be billed and allowing some time to verify the
correctness of the charge.  Do banks really do this?  Why?  It seems
pretty dumb.

It would make more sense if during the first 6 months (or 12 months) of
operation the merchant got credited only after enough of a delay to
weed out any bad charges.  Only a well-established merchant should get
immediate credit.
-- 
Rahul Dhesi <dhesi@cirrus.com>
also: dhesi@rahul.net
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Agencies that Reduce C-Card debt
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 92 19:04:24 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

greg@cherokee.b23b.ingr.com (Greg Moritz) writes:

  [ credit counseling discussion deleted ]

Ok, so what you'd seen is for people in *serious* financial trouble.
Not the sort of thing you'd want to use for simple bill consolidation
or organizing. 

I still like the idea of freezing the credit cards in a block of
ice, to cut down on impulse buying.

> An unrelated note to gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
> Finally, -- Gary -- how does one email you?  I tried regarding the 103%
> error you noted in an earlier post, but cdthq.UUCP is inadequate to get
> to you.  You're also in HSV aren't you?

Well, I'm in the uucp maps, and get long-range mail daily. Yes, I'm
in Huntsville (Al, for those wondering). You should be able to get
to me via sci34hub!cdthq!gary, as there is a link between ingr and
sci34hub (where I work). If all else fails, the bastardized path of
uunet!gary@cdthq.uucp seems to work, too.

Tell Billy to update his pathalias database....  :-)

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: dhb@ksr.com (Don Barstow)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: What is your favorite emerging Asia fund?
Date: 14 Oct 92 13:28:09 EDT
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Kendall Square Research Corp.


I am interested in investing in a fund that specializes in emerging
growth areas in Asia (like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc.). I
don't care whether it is closed or open-ended, although I would tend
to shy away from closed end funds at premiums over 5% or so.

I have checked into Scudder's New Asia, but it seems too heavily
weighted in Japan for my tastes.

So what do people like? 

Don Barstow
dhb@ksr.com
From: davida@bonnie.ics.uci.edu (David A. Andersen)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: Incentives offered for using credit card - Summary
Date: 15 Oct 92 17:15:40 GMT
Reply-To: davida@ics.uci.edu (David A. Andersen)
Organization: Univ. of Calif., Irvine, Info. & Computer Sci. Dept.

In article <1992Oct15.031650.159303@watson.ibm.com> yozzo@watson.ibm.com (Ralph Yozzo) writes:
>Just for the record, a friend of mine has a Citibank card that
>gets one American Airline Frequent Flyer mile for each dollar spent.
>It usually has a $50 annual fee.  But, one year he told them he didn't
>want to pay the fee and they waived it.  (I don't know how
>long this will go on.)
>
>And they would not do it for me.  (Oh, well...(sigh))
>

I've never gotten my AA Citibank MasterCard to waive the annual fee, but
I have gotten my Marriott FirstCard MasterCard fee waived ($30) for
several years now....


David Andersen
UC Irvine
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: jhc@iris.uucp (James H. Coombs)
Subject: Re: hi-tech growth funds in software
Reply-To: jhc@iris.UUCP (James H. Coombs)
Organization: IRIS - Brown University
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 05:00:10 GMT

In article <24143@sybase.sybase.com> coop@sybase.com (John Cooper) writes:

>Does anyone know of any hi-tech growth funds that target computer software
>companies while actively avoiding those that manufacture hardware?

Well, there is Fidelity Select Software.  13.2% in 1992, 22.2% for 52
weeks, 75.8% for three years, 55.3% for five years (must have had a
couple of bad years at the beginning).  They also have a Technology and
a Computers fund.  --Jim
jhc@iris.brown.edu -- don't trust reply-to fields
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: yoon@meaddata.com (Yoonho Ha)
Subject: Re: Janus Worldwide Fund 
Keywords: Janus, global, fund       
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 19:09:42 GMT

In article <1992Oct12.164851.11649@ncar.ucar.edu>, stimmel@virga.ucar.edu (carol lee stimmel) writes:
|> 
|> I am seeking information and opinions regarding investing in a global
|> fund -- specifically the Janus Worldwide Fund.  What are the expert
|> opinions re: global investments at this point in time.  (especially,
|> considering the newly formed E.C)
|> 
|> email is fine.
|> 
|> Thanks in advance for any information.
|> 
|> Carol L. Stimmel
|> ----------------
|> stimmel@ncar.ucar.edu

Can you post any responses?  I am looking into worlwide funds, especially
the Janus Worldwide Fund.  Info on any other worldwide funds would be greatly
appreciated.


-- 
|Yoonho Ha                       (513) 865-1305| If at first you  |
|Mead Data Central            Data Enhancements| don't succeed,   |
|9555 Springboro Pike         yoon@meaddata.com| redefine success |
|Miamisburg, Ohio 45342 ...!uunet!meaddata!yoon|                  |
|______________________________________________|__________________|
From: jlin@hls.com (Chiung-Hsi Jonathan Lin)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Database containing HQ of Future's Options
Date: 9 Oct 92 22:27:04 GMT

Hi:

As you know, there is a future price database in both CompuServe and DJNS. And
it's only for future prices but not for options of the futures.  Do any of
you out there happen to know where I can find such a database that contains 
both historical and current option prices for the future contracts in commodity
?  Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Jon
 
+-------------------------------+
|                               |
|   Chiung-Hsi Jonathan Lin  /=============================================\
+----------------------------|   I have the simplest tastes.  I am always  |
|   Hughes LAN System, Inc.  |   satisfied with the best. --- Oscar Wilde  |
|   1225 Charleston Road     |                                             |
|   Mountain View, CA 94043  |   Don't get suckered in by the comments     |
|   (415) 966-7487           |   -- they can be terribly misleading.       |
|   jlin@msgate.hls.com      |   Debug only code.         --- Dave Storer  |
|   jlin@hls.com             \=============================================/
|                               |
+-------------------------------+
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: jay@ferrari.raleigh.ibm.com ()
Subject: Top 100, fastest growing compnies
Originator: jay@ferrari.raleigh.ibm.com
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1992 19:21:54 GMT
Distribution: y
Organization: IBM, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

 Today i read somewhere in WSJ that recent edition of Fortune magazine
 has a names of top 100 fastest growing compnies in USA.
 Could someone who has an access to that edition of magazine post those
 names on here. (i guess i am asking for too much here!) 

Thanks.....



-- 
Jay Patel, 
jpatel@ralvm29.vnet.ibm.com

Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: behm@ntmtv.UUCP (behm)
Subject: Re: 2oth Century
Reply-To: behm@ntmtv.UUCP (behm)
Organization: Northern Telecom, Mountain View, CA
Distribution: misc
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 20:44:56 GMT

In article <l7vz9yr@rpi.edu> sood@moon.ral.rpi.edu (Deepak Sood) writes:
>I had invested in 20th Century Ultra at the beginning of the year.
>The NAV was 18.40 and has dropped continuously since then. It was
>around 14.30 the other day. 
>
>The company has had a tremendous input in terms of investors since
>they showed profit last year. I am not sure if they can show a profit
>this year.
>
>

If you liked it at $18.40, you should love it at $14.30.  You're getting
at least a 20% discount!

Greg
Newsgroups: misc.invest
From: bkottmann@falcon.aamrl.wpafb.af.mil (Brett Kottmann)
Newsgroups: misc.invest
Subject: Re: GM to file for chapter 11 Bankruptcy (at least that's the rum
Date: 15 Oct 92 16:37:46 EST
Organization: Logicon Technical Services, Inc.

In article <1992Oct14.031743.139135@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu>, jm0i@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (JOSEPH ALOYSIUS MCVEIGH) writes:
> mikeq@freddy.CNA.TEK.COM (Mike Quigley) writes:
> 
>>The truth is, the BIG 3 are dinosaurs propped up by government intervention
>>and protection (i.e., Corporate Socialism).
>>GM may be too big for a debt-ridden government to cover forever.
>>Its bankruptcy may be tied to the ``December Surprise''
>>expected right after the election.
>>
>>Let's see what rises out of the ashes.
> 
> We hasten to add that the skids are being super-greased by the UAW's commando
> strikes against GM. Even though it's been two months, I still can't believe
> that "organized" labor would strike a parts facility - and halt production at
> the Saturn plant, the GM life preserver - and idle 6,000 workers in order to
> preserve 240 jobs.....for the next eighteen months, tops. Mind-boggling.

	Unfortunately, that seems to be the union mind-set.  Never mind that by
doing so they weaken the company--and put thousands of jobs at risk.

	If you notice, GM seems to be "caving in" to each strike.  That's
because they don't plan on owning the parts plants at this time next year, and
could care less how much the workers think they are going to be making....  The
new owner(s) will decide that :).

	In the meantime, look for Mexican parts plants to ramp up production.

Brett--------------------------------------------------------------------------
	"Why the courts don't tell a husband who has been living off his wife
to go out and get a job is beyond my comprehension."--Joan Lunden
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------