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I've been reading more and more about a potential oil bust, especially right here in the Bakken. It's simple economics, the Bakken is very expensive to drill, costing $70-90 per barrel, doesn't leave much room when a barrel of oil is going for right below $82 right now. Some forecasters are saying that's just the beginning. If a barrel goes below $80 for several months, the drilling will subside significantly which in turn means the business associated with oil (which is heavily depended upon up in North Dakota) will slow and even go away. This could be reality in just a few years (some say significant impacts next year), not initial optimistic hopes of 30, 20, or 10, maybe not even 5. There may be a lot of huge cheap houses around here soon...

Do you understand the stock market? Had some discussion about this with a few guys yesterday and figured I'd do a bit of a straw poll. Does anyone here feel they understand the stock market to any degree? In recent years, the thing companies seem to do is just let their price climb. Historically the stocks never really got above $100 or if they did a stock split would occur. Do people really understand that a stock having value of $50 may not mean the company is any better off than another trading for $40? I by no means would say I understand the stock market. I can spot big things that may cause one to move up or down a bit, but in general the movement of the market or individual stocks and what makes it tick seems to just be smoke and mirrors a lot of times. And yes, yesterdays debate was the result of the fact that for a little bit MSFT surpassed Google in value, and the fact that we didn't figure most of the general public understood how a stock price of ~$32 would possibly be better than something near $800 a share....

This BBC documentary from 2009 takes a fresh view of the 'Crash of 1929' and the subsequent global Depression, comparing aspects of that event with the most recent turbulence in 2008.

Whose primary stock market index over the last year is up nearly SEVEN FOLD, from 11,700 last summer to a record 72,700 today.

Source

Neat read, but I am not surprised. http://www.livescience.com/culture/090826-stock-market.html The Capital Group Companies is one of the world’s largest investment management organizations with assets of around one trillion USD under management. It comprises a group of investment management companies, including Capital Research and Management, American Funds, Capital Bank and Trust, Capital Guardian, and Capital International. As measured by assets under management, Capital rivals Fidelity Investments, a figure the company will not confirm because it eschews publicity.[1] The firm was founded in 1931 by Jonathan Bell Lovelace. – CGC

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0622/judge-holding-drilling-firm-stocks-overturns-drilling-moratorium/