Here are some of the worst predictions that were made about 2008. Savor them -- a crop like this doesn't come along every year.
* @, f' J/ I/ T; ]8 d$ s) Q 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, 20086 b5 G* X/ I1 s$ B9 Z
At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.) O/ j% ?$ m8 [# X5 R
2. AIG (NYSE:AIG) "could have huge gains in the second quarter." -- Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008
8 I s; Z! F4 v8 h6 v' _ 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.
) d! t, P3 K1 y A, @ 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
( D# s# o+ c& R7 n/ K5 e+ U4 ? Two months later, the government forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships and pledged to invest up to $100 billion in each.
8 d( `- l, T9 a, q 4. "The market is in the process of correcting itself." -- President George W. Bush, in a Mar. 14, 2008 speech' u$ F0 Q2 @3 Z
For the rest of the year, the market kept correcting and correcting and correcting.
. @1 C+ x. u$ L1 L' a 5. "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." -- Jim Cramer, CNBC, Mar. 11, 2008
8 n. y: f) X7 v. k" }* f \* e Five days later, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) took over Bear Stearns with government help, nearly wiping out shareholders.
* w" b1 b- w& m7 u0 F2 w 6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" -- Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007: A: Q- f, S+ k& n2 P! ~+ [) j
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.
: u" O6 i( F! U! A 7. "I think you'll see (oil prices at) $150 a barrel by the end of the year" -- T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008* s/ N) g4 \- O% W- j) M
Oil was then around $135 a barrel. By late December it was below $40.
7 n; n2 D8 \/ |5 x8 ^0 E: t5 t 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. }4 {4 a* Z# D; v7 T/ x
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.- F( V, t+ a1 G ?7 A( D( w# S% z# O
9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." -- Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007
3 Y/ W. v8 g2 Q4 |/ Q/ \ 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.
( l. P( [% ]: ^, D- S. g, F* d 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 H. Y8 h; a* R0 s* Y" ?: O; o Mr. Steele, meet President-elect Barack Obama. |
发表于 2012-8-16 08:12:37
