Trump IV (what did you expect?)

[Alan Klein]

Not to me, the owners of the website can do whatever they please, I won't lose one minute of sleep over it. I wasn't going back to reread anything in that thread anyway.

Well then can do anything they want.  That doesn't mean it's right or respectful.  They were perfectly willing to let it run for months and months adding to clicks for their web site for their advertising revenue.  But then, when it ran its course, they delete the whole thing.  Remember, we can do what we whatever we please too by just not clicking on the site at all.  Why would I spend my time posting when the site can just give me the middle finger?

[Alan Klein]

I wonder what Jeff thinks about it?

[Alan Klein]

Pick me up off the floor, I'm convulsing with laughter.  This is such a simplistic statement that I hope you are not an investor in individual stocks.  As Ben Graham once said, "Mr. Market gives and Mr. Market takes away."  The expectations about future returns are irrational as one can never predict the future.

Regarding the graph that I referenced earlier regarding the rise in stock prices under Obama and Trump, of course this is just silliness as are most all of the posts in this and the other Trump threads (some contributed by yours truly).  One can find statistics that will tell all kinds of stories.  This and the other thread on guns are not based on any truth but rather individual perceptions of the various participants.  As such, it's highly doubtful that anyone's mind will change.

Both Bush and Obama and the Congress starting in 2008 under Bush initiated bailouts of financial institutions and to stimulate the economy.  Also, the Federal Reserve printed money.  Their balance sheet went from about $800 billion to 4 1/2 trillion.  The US debt doubled from around $10 trillion to $20 trillion   Basically all this created a bubble in the stock market that continues under Trump.  Fake stimulation like we've had is an illusion.  Unless business and the economy starts growing the old-fashioned way through capital investments and expansion of business, the market's going to take another hit.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Pick me up off the floor, I'm convulsing with laughter.  This is such a simplistic statement that I hope you are not an investor in individual stocks.  As Ben Graham once said, "Mr. Market gives and Mr. Market takes away."  The expectations about future returns are irrational as one can never predict the future...

I would comment on the bold part, but the forum rules (and especially the recent implementation) would ban me

But to your serious point: "The expectations about future returns are irrational as one can never predict the future."

So?

The markets, irrational or not, have been a fixture of human existence for the last several thousand years.

And for the record, I am an investor in individual stocks and have done reasonably well so far. The "irrational" decision to marry the wrong person did more harm to me than the occasional wrong investment

[Rob C]

Marriage should never be based on a sense of investment; if it is, then it can't but fail. There are many reasons to consider it - carefully.

Again, there's a song for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPGevMAIjjc

[Chris Kern]

Trump II topic was deleted by the Administrators.  They can do that?

They also remove Topics: Uninformed Opinions About Guns and Boris Johnson.

According to the second amendment to the LuLa constitution:

A well-regulated forum, being necessary to the maintenance of even tempers, the right of the moderators to remove egregious submissions shall not be infringed.

I plead guilty to contributing posts to both the Trump II and Guns threads—I hope not overly tendentious ones—although not to the Boris Johnson, because one buffoonish politician with funny hair is my quota.  But I can empathize with Chris's attempt to keep these forums civil and, frankly, maybe it is time for everyone to get back to talking about photography.

[Alan Klein]

According to the second amendment to the LuLa constitution:

I plead guilty to contributing posts to both the Trump II and Guns threads—I hope not overly tendentious ones—although not to the Boris Johnson, because one buffoonish politician with funny hair is my quota.  But I can empathize with Chris's attempt to keep these forums civil and, frankly, maybe it is time for everyone to get back to talking about photography.

But why delete the whole thread?  If there's a need  because its gone off the trail, then shut it down, block the one or two posts, but leave the rest of the thread.  If I posted one offensive photo, would it be right to delete my entire portfolio?