Critical Brain Candy

This is stupidity by the Conservative government: 65% of Canada’s ‘Clean Energy’ Fund Goes to Tar Sands Greenwashing

Most people would expect a clean energy fund to be used for truly clean types of energy production, like solar, wind and geothermal.  Yet another reason to hope for a removal of this government in the near future.

Good: Canada Min Says Govt Won’t Bail Out GM Pension Plan

But, the protests continue: Retired workers to rally outside politicians’ offices to protest benefits

This doesn’t mean I don’t think there should be a safety net for people whose pensions completely disappear, but Canada already has such a safety net.  The articles mention the GM pension has a $6B shortfall and I’m curious what percentage of the fund that is.  Assuming there is no government bailout and benefits had to be reduced to a sustainable level, would that mean a 25% reduction, 50%, etc?

My continuing point is that the government has never set the precedent of maintaining a private pensions standard of living.  If we want to do that now, fine, but then we better do it for everyone.

The 3-month index charts are starting to look decent.  It may be time to start getting back into equities with my retirement savings.

For my retirement savings I’m not trying to time the market at all, just trying to get back in when prices are still relatively low and most importantly avoid another 50%+ drop.  I feel pretty safe we won’t see another huge drop given some of the economic data we’ve seen recently indicating shrinkage has slowed.

What do other people think?  Feeling safe to get back into equities?