Take a look at how companies that produce supermarket goods have done the last week or so. A credit crisis can cause them operating problems, but won't decrease their sales that significantly (unless the operating problems are severe enough that they can't produce enough to meet demand, in which case grocery prices are going to go up).

Same thing with utility companies, etc; the things people have to buy no matter what.

Take a look at how companies that produce supermarket goods have done the last week or so.

Like Campbell Soups:



Chicken soup for the financial crisis.

Investing in necessity goods is safe but I don't think that will bring any big profits or will it?

GM was at $43.20 on Oct 12, 2007. They're at $4.89 this week.
Ford was at $26.40 on Nov 18, 2005. They're at $2.17 this week.

I heard that the market value of the dinky toy-car manufacturer Mattel is now greater than that of General Motors.

And buying bankruptcy protection is cheaper on McDonalds than the US govt.

Some strange dislocations out there.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC - News), whose planned purchase of Wachovia Corp (NYSE:WB - News) will create the largest U.S. retail branch banking network, said on Wednesday third-quarter profit fell 25 percent, hurt by higher credit losses and investment write-downs.

Net income dropped to $1.64 billion, or 49 cents per share, from $2.17 billion, or 64 cents, a year earlier, the fourth straight quarterly decline. Revenue rose 5 percent to $10.38 billion, while expenses fell 3 percent.
. . . .
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo was able to wrest Wachovia from the arms of Citigroup Inc with a $15.1 billion all-stock takeover, largely because it never dove deeply into the risky mortgages and exotic debt that strangled Wachovia and rivals such as Washington Mutual Inc, Countrywide Financial Corp and IndyMac Bancorp Inc. . . . .

You should have gone for it. GM was up 30% and Ford up 22% in just one day. If you were an employee at one of those companies and took advantage of their company savings plan, you'd be drunk right now.

Investing in necessity goods is safe but I don't think that will bring any big profits or will it?

If you want big profits, you have to take big risks .... in which case the auto companies are good buys. They can't go any lower .... unless they declare bankruptcy.

GM was at $43.20 on Oct 12, 2007. They're at $4.89 this week.
Ford was at $26.40 on Nov 18, 2005. They're at $2.17 this week.

If you were an employee at one of those companies and took advantage of their company savings plan (similar to a 401k, except you get GM stock or Ford stock instead of diversified investments), you'd be drunk right now.

Who do they interview on the financial news programs, Rich people or poor people ?

I'm thinking about dealing drugs. Pretty good return on investment.

If you're rich, you have people that manage your money for you. I know people who invest and they're certainly not illiterate in what they're doing.

My tip is pheasants, the rich guys love them, but i think may be you are to late.

I also find it strange advice. When they're honest I think a lot of the rich people will say that they got their money by being in the right place at the right time. Being rich doesn't mean you have all the knowledge.

I think Ivan's point was that a wealthy person is more likely to have sound financial advice because he has wealth to invest, and because the more weatlth you have, the more likely you'll have access to investment opportunities that the poor and middle class do not. That of course doesn't make him a financial genius- Just someone with access to better resources than the average joe.

If you want investment advice, ask a rich person.

There is nothing more comical than watching poor people give financial advice.

I also find it strange advice. When they're honest I think a lot of the rich people will say that they got their money by being in the right place at the right time. Being rich doesn't mean you have all the knowledge.

If you want investment advice, ask a rich person.

There is nothing more comical than watching poor people give financial advice.

What if the whole country goes bankrupt?

Well I figure since the market is going to hell and a lot of stock are dropping in price across the board, this would probably be a good time to invest. But i am a noob concerning the stock market and was wondering if anyone would care to share their knowledge/tips on how to take advantage of this situation.

The only idea Ive had so far is that I'm thinking about buying some Google stocks if they drop a little bit lower.

My advice would be to diversify so that the risk of bankrupcy is essentially nonexistent.

For a low risk, good (but not outstanding) return and no effort, you can't beat an S&P index fund.

Consider the companies in which Warren Buffett invests.

And consider opening an IRA.

If you were an employee at one of those companies and took advantage of their company savings plan (similar to a 401k, except you get GM stock or Ford stock instead of diversified investments), you'd be drunk right now.

One tip is to only invest money that you can really miss. That way you can just sit out the ride, or in the unfortunate event of bankruptcy you can say you tried but at least didn't loose all you got.