{"id":8546,"date":"2012-01-03T00:15:29","date_gmt":"2012-01-03T08:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=8546"},"modified":"2013-01-15T15:54:21","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T23:54:21","slug":"the-end-of-the-world-other-magic-8-ball-predictions-for-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id8546-the-end-of-the-world-other-magic-8-ball-predictions-for-2012.html","title":{"rendered":"The End of the World &#038; Other Magic 8-Ball Predictions for 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/End-of-the-World.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-8581\" title=\"End of the World\" src=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/End-of-the-World.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/End-of-the-World.jpg 500w, https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/End-of-the-World-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a>Happy new year, readers!<\/p>\n<p>Like last year, I&#8217;m kicking off the start of 2012 with more fearless predictions from my old friend, the Magic 8-Ball.<\/p>\n<p>In case you missed it, the Magic 8-Ball ended 2010 with <a href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id1461-8-ball.html\">an astounding 70 percent success rate<\/a>, and I&#8217;m happy to say the <a href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id8225-a-look-back-at-my-magic-8-balls-predictions-for-2011.html\">predictions for 2011<\/a> were almost as good, as the 8-ball was accurate 66 percent of the time.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this year the 8-ball was pelted with questions from readers and fellow bloggers looking to get a leg up regarding what&#8217;s in store for 2012. (I know. I can&#8217;t believe it either.)<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, let&#8217;s get right to them. Tradition dictates that the <a href=\"http:\/\/financialsamurai.com\">Financial Samurai<\/a> always gets to ask the first question, and here it is:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will real estate continue to rebound in major cities such as San Francisco and New York?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Ask again later.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m asking you now.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Outlook not so good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I have to agree with you on this one, 8-Ball. The market is clearly being artificially propped up by government subsidized mortgages, ridiculously low interest rates and banks that are still withholding <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/11\/29\/real_estate\/home_prices\/index.htm\">large backlogs of foreclosed properties<\/a> from entering the market.<\/p>\n<p>On a related note, I see Jennifer from <a href=\"http:\/\/littlehouseinthevalley.com\">Little House in the Valley<\/a> has a follow-up question:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the housing market continue its spiraling descent in 2012?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Outlook good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Okay, but obviously &#8220;good&#8221; is a poor choice of words.<\/p>\n<p>The next set of questions come from Maggie at <a href=\"http:\/\/squarepennies.blogspot.com\">Square Pennies<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Ron Paul win the presidency?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Better not tell you now.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Okay. Thankfully, Maggie also asked the question from a different angle. Let&#8217;s see if that will get you to open up.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Newt Gingrich win the Republican nomination?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Cannot predict now.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Well, this is embarrassing. I guess even my 8-ball can suffer from a little performance anxiety every now and then. I&#8217;ll take some pressure off by getting a bit less specific:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will a Republican be elected president in 2012?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Cannot predict now.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Oh, really? Get this: I suggest you try again, 8-Ball, or I&#8217;ll outsource the rest of these predictions to a tarot card reader while you find yourself sitting on a flimsy card table at our next garage sale. So let&#8217;s try it again:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will a Republican be elected president in 2012?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: It is certain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Thank you. Meanwhile, Nelson from <a href=\"http:\/\/financialuproar.com\/\">Financial Uproar<\/a> wants to know:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the European Union break up?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: You may rely on it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Agreed. I suspect the EU will stay together in <em>some<\/em> form, although it will probably be <a href=\"http:\/\/spectator.org\/archives\/2011\/11\/14\/the-euro-was-always-a-bad-bet\/print\">sans many entitlement-heavy nations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On a related note comes this question from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefreefinancialadvisor.com\/average-joes-money-blog\/\">Average Joe<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Italy and Greece finally default on their debt?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Very doubtful.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Time will tell. I believe a default by Greece is inevitable &#8212; the only question is when. My bet is that Greece defaults in 2012 and that will then precipitate a partial breakup of the EU.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s lighten things up a bit. My friend Paula from <a href=\"http:\/\/afford-anything.com\">Afford Anything<\/a> asks:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Prince William and Kate Middleton announce a pregnancy?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Without a doubt.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I just hope the pregnancy they&#8217;ll be announcing is their own.<\/p>\n<p>Switching to the world of sports, Erin is dying to know:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl in 2012? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: My reply is no.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m with you, 8-Ball. Although I&#8217;m no football expert, I suspect the Pack won&#8217;t even make it to the big game this year.<\/p>\n<p>Jacob has another sports-related question, but this one is on golf:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Tiger Woods win a major in 2012?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Most likely.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I think the 8-ball is wrong here. Tiger&#8217;s fortunes have sunk so low that, even <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2011\/12\/04\/tiger-woods-wins-chevron-world-challenge\/#.TwIM-Urm4io\">TMZ found it newsworthy<\/a> when he finally broke a two-year victory drought in December 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Next up are two questions from folks concerned about Apple stock. First up is Bill, who wants to know:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Apples stock price end 2012 higher than its closing price on the day Steve Jobs died?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: You may rely on it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll see. The day Job&#8217;s death was announced, Apple&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052970203388804576614662746728314.html\">closing share price<\/a> was $377.37; it&#8217;s starting 2012 at $405.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Hank from <a href=\"http:\/\/moneyqanda.com\">Money Q&amp;A<\/a> wonders:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Apple finally begin issuing a dividend in 2012?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Outlook good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The 8-Ball&#8217;s response <a href=\"http:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2011\/12\/19\/apple-preparing-to-offer-significant-dividend-for-investors-early-next-year\/\">confirms rampant rumors<\/a> that Apple, which is currently sitting on billions of dollars in cash, will indeed reward stockholders by reintroducing stock dividends this year, after originally dropping them during leaner times in 1995.<\/p>\n<p>Becky asks:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will savings account interest rates rise in 2012?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: My sources say no.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>That isn&#8217;t good news for senior citizens and others who are living on fixed incomes &#8212; especially, if <a href=\"http:\/\/www.financialsense.com\/contributors\/chris-martenson\/inflation-is-so-much-worse-than-we-are-told\">inflation continues to be worse<\/a> than the government keeps telling us.<\/p>\n<p>My good friend, Dr. Dean from the <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.themillionairenurse.com\/\">Millionaire Nurse Blog<\/a> was kind enough to play straight-man today by offering this follow-up:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will inflation hit 4 percent in 2012?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Very doubtful.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If we&#8217;re going to use the official government statistics &#8212; and we are &#8212; I think the 8-ball is correct.<\/p>\n<p>The next two questions take us back to the stock market. First up is my friend, Crystal from <a href=\"http:\/\/budgetinginthefunstuff.com\">Budgeting in the Fun Stuff<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the Dow break 13,500?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: My reply is no.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I think the 8-ball is right on this one. In fact, I suspect the Dow will finish 2012 in the red, although it will experience a sharp rebound in the latter half of the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>And it looks like Dr. Dean is hoping the 8-ball will be kind enough to give him a hot tip for the new year:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Microsoft hit 30 bucks in 2012?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: As I see it, yes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>With this stock starting the new year at $25.96, that would represent a hefty return for 2012. I think the 8-ball is all wet.<\/p>\n<p>Switching to the unemployment picture, Kay Lynn from <a href=\"http:\/\/bucksomeboomer.com\">Bucksome Boomer<\/a> asks:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the unemployment rate fall to 7 percent?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Yes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I think the only way this is going to happen, 8-Ball, is if the number of people actively looking for work continues dropping, since the government <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/8301-505123_162-57335654\/unemployment-falls-but-is-it-good-news\/\">doesn&#8217;t count them as unemployed<\/a>. But we&#8217;ll see.<\/p>\n<p>I see Jacob is back and this time he has precious metals on his mind:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will gold top $2000?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Signs point to yes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s good news for the gold bugs. If you ask me, though, I think silver will be the biggest mover of the two in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Geoff, better known as the <a href=\"http:\/\/carnegotiationcoach.com\">Car Negotiation Coach<\/a>, had an interesting query:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will online poker become legalized in the U.S. in 2012 (and make the government billions in taxes)?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: It is certain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Somehow, I doubt that.<\/p>\n<p>For the second year in a row, Pamela wants some insight into Jennifer Aniston&#8217;s love life:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will Jennifer Aniston get engaged in 2012?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Outlook good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Fascinating. Who needs <em>People<\/em> when we&#8217;ve got the Magic 8-Ball?<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, my friend Greg from <a href=\"http:\/\/controlyourcash.com\">Control Your Cash<\/a> wants to know:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the components of the Dow stay unchanged in 2012? (Bank of America is in, while Google and Apple are on the outside?)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Outlook not so good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I should note that, last year, Greg correctly predicted here that student loans would be the focus of a government bail out in 2011. It&#8217;ll be interesting to see if he&#8217;s similarly prescient in 2012 with respect to the Dow.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Chris wraps up our annual prediction party with a question that is, for many people, perhaps the biggest concern of the new year:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: Will the world end in 2012?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Don&#8217;t count on it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Uh huh. I don&#8217;t believe in all that hokey Mayan prophecy either, 8-Ball. Hopefully your comforting prediction will be good enough to finally put such an absurdly unfounded fear to rest for good.<\/p>\n<p>Oops. I guess I spoke too soon. Jennifer from Little House is back and she still wants to know:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Q: When the world finally <em>does<\/em> end, will zombies make a comeback?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A: Reply hazy, try again.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Heh. I don&#8217;t think so.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-size: smaller;\">Photo Credit: Andrew Malone<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy new year, readers! Like last year, I&#8217;m kicking off the start of 2012 with more fearless predictions from my old friend, the Magic 8-Ball. In case you missed it, the Magic 8-Ball ended 2010 with an astounding 70 percent success rate, and I&#8217;m happy to say the predictions for 2011 were almost as good, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[472],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-commentary","7":"pmpro-has-access","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The End of the World &amp; Other Magic 8-Ball Predictions for 2012<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id8546-the-end-of-the-world-other-magic-8-ball-predictions-for-2012.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The End of the World &amp; Other Magic 8-Ball Predictions for 2012\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Happy new year, readers! Like last year, I&#8217;m kicking off the start of 2012 with more fearless predictions from my old friend, the Magic 8-Ball. In case you missed it, the Magic 8-Ball ended 2010 with an astounding 70 percent success rate, and I&#8217;m happy to say the predictions for 2011 were almost as good, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id8546-the-end-of-the-world-other-magic-8-ball-predictions-for-2012.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Len Penzo dot Com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LenPenzo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-03T08:15:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-15T23:54:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/End-of-the-World.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Len Penzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LenPenzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LenPenzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Len Penzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id8546-the-end-of-the-world-other-magic-8-ball-predictions-for-2012.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id8546-the-end-of-the-world-other-magic-8-ball-predictions-for-2012.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Len Penzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3968bb46693d14b2ae2ab4958aa41dfd\"},\"headline\":\"The End of the World &#038; 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