Here are some of the worst predictions that were made about 2008. Savor them -- a crop like this doesn't come along every year.
5 q( z' l: a9 u 1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" -- Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008
# @5 a- V+ `$ U6 B5 d/ s" P At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.
9 y# z% u3 c% Y# K2 M- |' I( h# ^ 2. AIG (NYSE:AIG) "could have huge gains in the second quarter." -- Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008
& d3 [( g" q- H" E \ AIG wound up losing $5 billion in that quarter and $25 billion in the next. It was taken over in September by the U.S. government, which will spend or lend $150 billion to keep it afloat.
- l3 e( b% a5 K1 _+ D 3. "I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under I think they are in good shape going forward." -- Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008) q3 l! `$ l* i8 e" G
Two months later, the government forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships and pledged to invest up to $100 billion in each./ c% J% L" ], x. G5 i( o
4. "The market is in the process of correcting itself." -- President George W. Bush, in a Mar. 14, 2008 speech Q( ^' Q* U" p8 x. v. {
For the rest of the year, the market kept correcting and correcting and correcting.( T* G; G: K; a/ B' w
5. "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." -- Jim Cramer, CNBC, Mar. 11, 20080 w! m1 A. `! ^" x
Five days later, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) took over Bear Stearns with government help, nearly wiping out shareholders.
1 u( {9 ?& s5 ?. w7 {3 X, F 6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" -- Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007
* |* d, {( B6 |6 g# m x# V1 t9 z On Dec. 23, 2008, the group said November sales were running at an annual rate of 4.5 million -- down 11% from a year earlier -- in the worst housing slump since the Depression.; C1 F+ K6 k' |% [/ @
7. "I think you'll see (oil prices at) $150 a barrel by the end of the year" -- T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008
) E* W5 P: ~" M: u. G Oil was then around $135 a barrel. By late December it was below $40.8 g# |0 g% I9 E" V/ V" S: ^0 x
8. "I expect there will be some failures. I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system." -- Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Feb. 28, 2008
7 R0 [7 u' V( E In September, Washington Mutual became the largest financial institution in U.S. history to fail. Citigroup (NYSE:C) needed an even bigger rescue in November.: y. w- j6 \+ R3 n
9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." -- Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007. g) e. J! n" m- a+ j
About a year later, Madoff -- who once headed the Nasdaq Stock Market -- told investigators he had cost his investors $50 billion in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
: P0 `- J$ O; }. H! b0 `0 x0 R 10. A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win, the title of a book by conservative commentator Shelby Steele, published on Dec. 4, 2007.
7 o- s' g3 s1 b+ C& u Mr. Steele, meet President-elect Barack Obama. |
发表于 2012-8-16 08:12:37
