globalinvestor: Downers and Uppers

"Everyone has an opinion on the economy these days, with some of the most trenchant, irreverent, outrageous (and occasionally profane) opinions found in business blogs on the web.
Reportonbusiness.com browsed through the blogosphere recently to discover five of the most gloomy bloggers out there and five of the more upbeat optimistic – optimistic in the relative sense, that is.
Here's what we found:
THE MOST BEARISH:
Former MP and author Garth Turner is among the most pessimistic of the bunch. The author of two books – After the Crash and Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate – Mr. Turner's worst-case-scenario advice to readers includes downsizing the house, renting out the basement, planting a garden and – for those who have moved to the country – raising chickens.
Still feeling foolishly optimistic? Check out this Baltimore-based blog, created by Bill Bonner, founder of publishing firm Algora Inc.
“Here at The Daily Reckoning we give the devil his due; if the feds want to really want to destroy the dollar, we believe they'll be able to pull it off. Just give them time. To that end, we are still rolling on the floor over the proposal to create a ‘bad bank' that will buy up bad investments. We thought the banks already had plenty of bad investments of their own…”
Or log on to the related Rude Awakening, which declared 2008 the “year of the jackass.”
Still game for more? Take a look at Dollar Collapse, - your ringside seat to the global financial crisis.
“Americans hoping to protect their wealth from a soon-to-be-bankrupt and panicked government are finding that their options are few, and growing fewer by the day,” DollarCollapse said in a recent posting.
Former Wall Street analyst and author John Rubino is a key contributor.
To round out the doom and gloom list, take a look at this excerpt from a Thank-God-It's-Friday posting on the upsidetrader blog, created by a former hedge fund manager.
“The financials are catching a bit of a bump as Bank America shamelessly sucks more blood from us taxpayers with little remorse. Citibank reported and as expected the number was dismal. Their CFO also announced above average losses from first tier mortgages for the next several quarters. Just swell.”
AND THE BULLISH (WELL, LESS BEARISH AT LEAST)
Howard Lindzon, a Canadian portfolio manager at Lindzon Capital Partners in Phoenix, counts himself among the more optimistic bloggers.
In a recent posting, Mr. Lindzon wrote that the pain is not over “as pension funds and retirement funds have been gutted and the trust stolen from American investors.”
The good news?
“Things are going to change. It is almost impossible for government policies or elected officials to remain as dumb as they have been.”
Some more good news, sort of, can be found on themoneygardner personal finance blog. A recent posting included the news that if you buy a new Hyundai in the United States, and then lose your job, you can walk away from your new car and your new car payments.
“But do they give you a ride home after?” the moneygardener asks.
Anyone looking for a bright spot can usually count on the gold bugs, including Beverley Hills financial adviser Howard Katz, whose most recent posting is a poem, which concludes:
“Things are much worse than I foresaw.
So turn the page and learn some more.
A sad, sad story does unfold.
So get your assets into gold.”
Global investor Jim Rogers is still bullish on China, oil and other commodities, although he is shorting U.S. government bonds.
Finally, Jim Letourneau, a Calgary-based geologist, newsletter writer and blogger, notes: “There's always a bull market in something.”
Mr. Letourneau prides himself on finding “under the radar” opportunities.
Feeling better now? Browse on …