First, Enron was a special situation. I wasn't part of it, but it sounds like they created a cult atmosphere. So people were drawn into betting all their money on Enron. Even though they didn't feel like it was betting at all.

If cults can get people to kill themselves, or others as easily as they appear to, it should be a piece of cake to get folks to give them all their money.

Small investors can make money in the market. I know several who became quite wealthy during the dotcom days. But once again, those are special circumstances.

Second, I do have a problem with your statements. And I think that reading what you write kind of put's somethings in focus for me.

I know on one hand those who support today's environment are the one's who are suckered in by such things as the anti-gay arguements. The type of people who are described iin the book about How the Dems lost Kansas, or whatever the title is. Basically describing how these type of people feel that what they profess to be "morals" are far more important then anything else. These people are willing to bet against their own pocketbook when they hear key phrases, like "pro-family".

Now I see from you, how the other part of the equation are those who are blind to any potential problems in the equation. You feel like you are doing well, you've said you know some who are doing extremely well. So obviously things must be moving in the right direction. The fact that there are so many without insurance today, that the poverty rate has gone up, means nothing to you.

You also feel the war is the right thing. And I think you have so little regard for human life, you don't care how many die in the name of the US of A. You are unwilling to analyze the arguements against the war. The lies, the deception.

Well Jake, I want to know. What will it take you to change your mind?

I was listening to a talk with a medic back from Iraq, describing his experience there from 2004 to 2005. How everyone in the group he was with going over was making fun of a guy who loaded up the crate he was given for his things with nothing but metal. But they stopped laughing when they got to Kuwait and found out they were going to have to take a 4 day trip in an unarmored Humvee to Iraq. Suddenly that metal was a real good idea.

The medic also talked about a day he spent in the hospital when 4 soldiers where brought in at the same time with head wounds. How when he lifted up one soldiers head to give him some water, he realized his hand was holding the guys brain through the hole in the back of his head.

Jake, do you wnat to see your friend's in Iraq brains splatterer all over? If they get severely injured are you going to support their families when they can no longer get a job on their return?

Do you even care that at least 10,000 Iraqi civilians have died since our occupation? How many have to die before you can't handle it anymore?
>>>Dragan, your socialist roots may be showing.
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>>Or a lack of knowledge of how it really works. From what I gathered, it's just putting your money in someone else's hand, and the popular wisdom (from back home) is that there's only one thing which grow's in someone else's hand, but that one is not printable.
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>>> Sure, the stock market and the way it operates are somewhat skewed for the fat cats. IPOs in particular should be overhauled. But the securities industry is heavily regulated and they do a pretty good job of it considering how much temptation there is to cheat when there is that much money flying around. The bottom line is ordinary Joes like you and me can expect to make good money in the market, too, and without any special knowledge. And without transaction fees, for that matter. There is no sounder investment than a mutual fund tied to the level of the market as a whole. Such index funds mimic the performance of the Fortune 500, or other standard stock group. Some years they go up, some years they go down, just like the stock market. Over time stocks outperform any other investment, including real estate.
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>>OK, so there are ways to play it safe. But if you want to buy something that'd yield more, how can you know whether you're betting your money on the next Enron?
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>You must do your homework. Look into the numbers and make sure you understand what they mean. In addition, keep yourself very diversified. The people who lost "everything" in the Enron debacle were not smart investors. They were too top heavy in Enron stock. I'll now wait for Perry to call me horrible person.