This is one excellent article...12 pages, by George Reisman. You forum readers probably understand all this just fine already, but this is top quality explaining of the basic principles for your relatives, friends, or teenagers. Print out a few for after the crash, so your bewildered, angry, broke contacts can at least understand why things went wrong. Probably the very best basic explanation of what inflation is and how it relates to stocks and the economy I've ever seen. [I'm saving one for my upset inlaws who found out my kids actually spent their meager wealth on a few numismatic and boullion coins, and promptly sent us an article on how to get your children to begin investing in stocks. ( mind you I have nothing against a classic P/E company, but we're talking Las Vegas here!)] Link: www.capitalism.net/stockmkt.htm

-- silver (forget@bubble.gum), January 18, 2000