Stock Market

Your editorial ("Doing better than 'fine,'" June 12) was correct in mildly chastising President Barack Obama for not being upbeat enough about the record of the private sector during his administration. You correctly cited the mess he inherited form the Republicans. You also pointed out Ronald Reagan as an example. The Republicans, including Mitt Romney, always say this president is doing a terrible job on the economy and long for the days of Ronald Reagan's performance in this area.

Graduating Randallstown High School senior Brian McNair was wary of the Facebook IPO hype. Though he saw his fellow students buying into it, he had a gut feeling the risk was too high. McNair, 17, steered clear of the social media giant's stock and avoided one of the biggest letdowns in stock market history. Some of his classmates weren't so lucky. Fortunately for them, their tradings were virtual, part of a classroom simulation intended to teach them about the stock market. Randallstown officially unveiled Friday its Academy of Finance Stock Exchange Classroom, a computer lab with 32 computers, two flat-screen televisions, a data board and a live NASDAQ stock ticker.

There will be investigations and already there are lawsuits over the rollout of Facebook's overhyped IPO last week, but no investigation is necessary into the reason for the outrage over the stock's rapid fall. It's called human nature. It is the same characteristic that causes people to believe against staggering odds that they can win the lottery, or score big in Atlantic City or discover a foolproof "system" for playing the stock market. It is the familiar get-rich-quick notion that somehow one can bypass hard work, sound financial planning and win The Big One, retiring to a life of ease.

The Baltimore Sun has been part of my family since my earliest memories. We eagerly awaited the paper's arrival on our doorstep -- The Sun in the morning and The Evening Sun in the afternoon. Growing up in the mayor's house, we would get the early "bulldog," then later editions; it was part of our routine. Getting the papers throughout the day gave my brothers and me an early experience in 24/7 news -- locally, nationally and globally. The news was certainly of interest, but I fondly remember also reading reports of ships coming into the port of Baltimore, the times of sunrise and sunset, the phases of the moon and, of course, the comics.

Eileen Ambrose 's article about "the reward of waiting" for Social Security benefits calls to mind a few observations about the system ("Here's what you should know about Social Security," March 11): With the stock market quite variable in total returns, and interest rates at historic lows, there is no advantage to taking Social Security benefits early - unless, of course, you don't plan on living very long. I take exception, however, to Ms. Ambrose's reference to the total value of the annuity that it would take to generate current Social Security benefits.

If you had slept Rip Van Winkle-style through 2011, you'd be awakening now to find that your stock portfolio was much the same as you left it. Presuming you stayed awake, you endured a volatile year for equities. Market swings were so violent that by the third quarter many investors threw in the towel for a loss. Had they stuck it out, they would have found that stocks — despite all those gyrations — ended flat for the year. That's past. The new year is a good time to poll market analysts on their outlook and to find out if there are moves small investors should take — or avoid — in 2012.

Investors had plenty to keep them jittery in 2011. There were the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, economic woes in Europe, and, here at home, politically tinged fiscal showdowns in Washington over deep government spending cuts. Still, the stock market will enter 2012 in a spot that wasn't too different from late 2010. Looking ahead, economic and stock market observers see uninspiring U.S. economic growth, financial problems in Europe, and the health of Far East markets looming large in investors' minds.

As expected, the stock market is down and the citizens of this country are financially poorer through no fault of their own. Members of Congress need to be reminded that they once took an oath of office - to the people, to God, and to their own souls. Many others have made such pledges. Physicians, firefighters, nurses, policeman, soldiers. They have promised that even the middle of the night, if they hear the cries of the people they pledged to serve, they would willingly relinquish their own sleep, their safety and even their lives to attend to the needs of others.

After a brutal third quarter in which the United States saw an unprecedented downgrade of its credit, many weary investors are staying on the sidelines. Despite encouraging signs about new unemployment claims in recent days, uncertainty remains as the continuing European debt crisis threatens to erode an already fragile economic recovery in the United States. Meanwhile, investors fear that failure by the congressional "supercommittee" to reach a deficit-reduction plan by this week's deadline could further hurt consumer confidence, especially as the crucial holiday shopping season begins.

First Mariner Bancorp, locked in a fight for survival, suffered another setback Wednesday when its stock was delisted from the Nasdaq stock market. Starting Thursday, First Mariner shares will be traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board. The latest development comes as the company is trying to raise desperately needed capital to close a deal that would keep regulators at bay and the bank in business. The deal requires the Baltimore company to raise nearly $124 million by Thursday or risk losing a cash infusion from a New York investment firm.