What is Digg?139 Comments
- linharesalex, on 09/29/2008, -2/+59I'm buying stocks of valium and of rope-producers!
- inactive, on 09/30/2008, -3/+46Let's get some perspective. It's not even close to the greatest single-day drop. -777 is a drop of 6.98%. In the 1987 crash, stocks dropped 22.6% in one day.
- sjbdallas, on 09/30/2008, -4/+34Panic is what makes these kind of things worse. WaMu account holders panicked and took 16billion out over 10 days which killed the bank. Wachovia account holders started yanking their money out last week and now they had to be rescued. So now a bunch of stockholders panic and we have a huge drop in the market. If you look at the list of stocks losing money today it was all across the board so there were obviously people out there just selling because they were afraid everyone else would sell.
Everyone just needs to relax. The news media is leading us around like lemmings with their doomsday scenarios and scaring the heck out of anyone with more than 100 bucks in the bank or a 401k. - kevinisms, on 09/30/2008, -1/+24We'll get through this. Yeah, it looks bad if you cashed in your stocks today, but you weren't planning on doing that anyway, right? Look at it as everything being on SALE!!!!
- chupavacas, on 09/30/2008, -2/+20"Remain calm! All is well!"
--Chip Diller
Animal House - sjbdallas, on 09/30/2008, -1/+17screw that, just buy all the stocks that dove today because they'll be back up in a month.
- JenniferInMO, on 09/30/2008, -0/+15definitely the largest point drop, but I agree that is misleading if we are to understand it in relative terms.
- deadbaby, on 09/30/2008, -3/+13I agree. Panic doesn't really help anyone. No matter what happens to the American economy, and perhaps capitalism itself, America has a ton of assets -- land, natural resources, labour, knowledge workers, inventors, etc, etc, etc. We'll be fine no matter what happens to the stock market or any other aspect of the economy. Things may get bad for a while but we'd pull out of it within a couple decades.
That being said... here's what you SHOULD panic about:
We have a huge social security crisis looming in this country. One day you're going to wake up and turn on CNBC and see that we have a whole new crisis to deal with and it's going to require an even bigger bailout.
We have an energy crisis. One day you're going to turn on CNBC and find out the world wide auto industry is in crisis. Shipping & transportation has halted. Gas pumps are empty. This is a whole new crisis to consider.
We have a huge health care crisis. Someday soon we're going to be talking about bailing out hospitals because people just can't pay their medical bills anymore and the insurance companies are going bankrupt in the process.
So the moral of the story is, this economic crisis should have taught everyone that we have to be more progressive in this country. We can't keep ignoring problems. We have to get over this abortion, gay marriage, prayer in schools non-sense. It's not important. If we just keep ignoring the real problems here's what's going to happen. We're going to have one huge crisis... and then a few years later another. And a few years after that, another. Then you need to panic. That's when the country can be weakened so much, over a long period of time, that we can no longer sustain ourselves as a federal system. States will start breaking off. Foreign countries will start showing up to buyout what is left of our country.
Vote, and vote progressive if you want to ensure the future of the country. It could be either party, or a third party. It doesn't matter. Just vote for the progressive candidates who actually want to change things because I think it's pretty clear we cannot sustain this country for more than a few more decades at best if we keep going down the road we've taken the last 20 or 30 years or so. - Jordan117, on 09/30/2008, -2/+11You what's really giving me the creeps? This NPR interview with Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall of California:
http://tinyurl.com/4pwu9l
Dude's facing a hard-fought re-election campaign in a conservative district, and yet he still voted for the bill, which has proven politically unpopular. But he admits in the course of the interview that he felt it was the right thing to do for the country, that he was even willing to risk his seat in Congress in order to help the bill get passed.
Think about that, now. A modern-day American politician openly admitting that they are risking their political career to do what's best for the country. That alone should give pause.
But most chilling about the interview was that, right after Marshall had finished explaining that this bill just *had* to get passed to avoid economic disaster, the NPR reporter broke the news that the bill had failed.
"Oh... my God," Marshall says.
Silence for several seconds.
He then hastily recovers and finishes his thoughts in a shaking voice and gets off the line within a minute.
This frightens me. - gambit2121, on 09/30/2008, -2/+11don't panic.
- Y0tsuya, on 09/30/2008, -0/+8Last week I heard on the radio Wachovia was proactively rewriting crap mortgages acquired through their purchase of Golden West, probably eating massive losses in the process. If I heard they're screwing around with my deposits I'd pull my money out too.
- Y0tsuya, on 09/30/2008, -1/+9Points are meaningless. When you're investing, only percentages count. Who cares if BRK.A gained 1000 pts? On any other stock it'll be big news.
- charm803, on 09/30/2008, -3/+10Perspective?
You are asking for too much here!
This is digg. We freak out over everything. - Disgod, on 09/30/2008, -1/+7The stock market has become the world's largest prisoners dilemma situation ever.
- covertbadger, on 09/30/2008, -0/+6And yet still down by over $100 since March, and still less than half its value from 1980 in adjusted dollars.
Gold is just about acceptable as a small (5%) part of a portfolio. As a place to keep the majority of your wealth, its a catastrophe. - ninjarabbits, on 09/30/2008, -3/+8Oh oh
Wee-ell-now!
Relax dont do it
When you want to go to it - Mpwns, on 09/30/2008, -0/+5its our right to want our OWN money. its a sad day when you can't pay rent because the bank you pay rent to lost the money they were also holding for you. people have the right to be scared those of us with almost nothing in the bank see just how bad it really is. so many empty houses out there. i bet you can think of at least 3 houses you know of right now that are for sale with no one in them. america is broke its just time to face it. it will be the best of times and the worst of times.
- SymbolicChaos, on 09/30/2008, -1/+6First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words Don't Panic inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover. But the story of this terrible, stupid Monday, the story of its extraordinary consequences, and the story of how these consequences are inextricably intertwined with this remarkable book begins very simply.
It begins with a stock market. - oldgal, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4Being retired, I'm cashing in on truck-loads of booze. The demand will be high and when the dollar doesn't work anymore I'll be able to barter.
- 808ethan, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4The energy crisis is NOT about you, and your special little car. If oil vanished tonight, you could walk to the bike store, buy a bike, and get your ass to the grocery store.
The problem isn't moving people, its moving things. Big, heavy things that cant move themselves.
Think about everything you ate and drank today. How much does all that weigh? How far did it come? You need that much cooled and shipped to you, every day of the week. - RaynOfDarkness, on 09/30/2008, -1/+5Most awesome thumbnail evar!
- Hillsfar, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4YTD, Dow down 21.5%, Nasdaq down 24.6%, S&P 500 down 24.1% as of Sept 29, 2008.
YTD, I'm down about 5% - I had figured there'd be something major so I got as much out of stock as I could back in January.
However, I do think there are some good stocks now. Seriously, look into dividend plays and value plays. This is when value stocks and dividend stocks are a great buy. Some solid companies with great balance sheets and low debt are worth looking at because their dividend pay-outs are now hovering from 7% to 10% - some even more! That's great inflation-fighting ROI just on the dividends alone! Plus, you will be able to ride the value when it's recognized, and you'll be able to ride the growth when a bull market comes again, too. - edstate, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4The tools on CNBC are making this ***** worse... and, ironically, this time it's not Cramer.
"Look at what you're doing to the markets! If you don't act now, we'll tank! See?" ....much of it's warranted, but much of it is some sort of hight tech thuggery. - Hillsfar, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4Wachovia sold most of itself to Citigroup.
Citigroup paid $2 billion in stock for the Wachovia holdings it is getting - more than quadrupling its bank branch offices nationwide from some 1,000 to 4,300 - then immediately wrote down $42 billion in mortgage losses as a result of taking on Wachovia, and is now seeking more financing and the sale of more stocks in order to shore up its reserves - somewhere around $10 billion is needed.
While the FDIC said this does not involve the FDIC nor FDIC depositors insurance money, the FDIC is guaranteeing that Citigroup's losses will not exceed $42 billion by granting the FDIC $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants.
Sounds to me like a bail-out, all right. - Memitim, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4He's trying to pump and dump nearly the entire stock market? You use the phrase "pump and dump" but I do not think it means what you think it means.
- cuoops, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3I bought more stocks. Already making a little money.
- EnnuiStudent, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3Why must we be a victim of your grammar?
- CarStan, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3They need to play this in banks, so people stop pulling their money out and kill the banks.
- inactive, on 09/30/2008, -2/+5Whilst you may be fine rooting around in the mud and eating berries, I've become rather accustomed to a daily hot shower and a my lights coming on at the flick of a switch.
Phillip. - mrn111, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3Or could it be that the bailout was a bad idea in the first?
- rrc7cz, on 09/30/2008, -1/+4That's some great financial advice there Lou...
- inactive, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3Whats with the graph chart line crashing into the woman's eye?
- covertbadger, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3"If there's another unexpected downturn after you've payed into them again you could be looking at waiting for a decade while DOW recovers 2.5k. Imo discretion is the better part of valor here but if you have money you don't mind tying up for 6 years min TYPICALLY you'll see a profit, your call."
I'd go so far as to say that if you aren't prepared to tie up your money for 6 years, you've got no business investing in the stock market. The money I invest now (and I've been putting about $800 monthly into the S&P 500 throughout this mess) is staying put for 20-30 years. If your horizon is 6 years, you might as well put it on a horse. - covertbadger, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3If he's investing in a 401K, it's likely the money is intended to be locked up until retirement. I know it's possible to withdraw funds for a house deposit, but I would not advocate that in the short term.
The other key thing is to rebalance risk as retirement age approaches. If the folks you know are nearing retirement and they are struggling, it's because they should have been reducing their exposure to the stock market over the years. Someone within 5 or 10 years of retirement should have the majority of their portfolio in bonds.
That doesn't change the fact, however, that the correct action for someone currently funding a 401K on a monthly basis is to continue doing so. Changing asset allocation in response to approaching retirement is fine; changing it because the market is volatile is very silly. Volatility shouldn't scare a young investor because they have time; and it shouldn't scare an old investor because they shouldn't be badly exposed to it. - tomega, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3Dugg for gore pic.
- covertbadger, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3"But should you keep paying into them?"
Yes, absolutely. You can't predict the bottom of the market, and if you miss it you potentially miss out some of the initial rebound which is when some of the biggest gains can be achieved. If you have monthly payments, keep them.
Do not, repeat, do not listen to people who tell you to time the market. Work out your asset allocation based on age (or years to retirement), NOT on current asset performance, and stick to it. People who tell you to get out of the market and into bonds are advocating the same panicky sheeplike behaviour that causes so many people to get their fingers burnt. - poxonyou, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3This is basically an anti-panic article, but not by an economist.
I don't buy it. I think the last people to trust right now are those with a special interest in seeing Wall Street succeed. If everything is tanking and you really are best off getting your money out or put somewhere safer, they aren't going to tell you to do that. - sjbdallas, on 09/30/2008, -1/+3Yes, it's your own money but by putting your money into a bank you're buying into the nation's economy and the benefits it provides you (buying a car, buying a house, etc). Your money supports the whole credit market because banks can lend 10x their deposits. So if you have 10,000 bucks in WaMu, they can loan you or someone else $100,000, that's why they pay you interest on your deposit -- because they're paying you back for using your money. When you panic and take that money out, they lose the ability to loan that money. So sure, everyone can take their money out and stick it in a mattress but don't plan on buying anything on credit because that market won't exist.
- BoneStamp, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2But the market has more value now, the percentage just shows overall market change... it doesn't describe how much was lost.
- Memitim, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2WaMu and Wachovia were both dead men walking. The only surprise is just how long they lasted once the shell games ended. The only people who have been caught by surprise by any of the failures and/or buyouts that have occurred so far are the people who haven't been paying attention to their business models of the past few years. I don't know ***** about anything and yet I saw every one of these failures coming long ago. Well, except for Citibank; I'm still trying to figure out how in the ***** they picked up Wachovia's banking ops when they should be up for fire sale themselves.
- Jordan117, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2Sorry, that should be "Democratic Rep. John Marshall of Georgia". I guess I confused the D-GA with D-CA.
- hoist0that0rag, on 09/30/2008, -3/+5it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.
- dieboldcracy, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2and while we are all talking about a 7billion bailout which is actually closer to 3 trillion according to Bloomberg Financial, in the last week alone the banks borrowed 930 BILLION from the Fed. and next week the Fed will print biliions more out of thin air to fund another b.s. war and neither the dems or repubs will do a thing about it, regardless of their constituency's mandate, because they are both bought and paid..
PEOPLE! if you've stocked up on Food, have invested in a precious metal, get paid in Swiss Francs, and work in a recession/depression proof economy (i.e. hollywood) then don't Panic. But if you are anything else, you still don't have to panic but everything you worked for along with the notion of this great nation being a free and open society, will be wiped off the planet and replaced by a one world cannibalistic govt intent on killing off %80 of the human race to save the planet from certain peril.....................and that thought usually makes you Panic - Mpwns, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2they become part owners (controling stake). everyone they bailed out before this is at least 80% owned by the goverment. its a fire sale all wall street all right, and the white house saw they can buy the housing sector really cheap right now.kiss our last bit of privacy good bye. if you do not think im right maybe you should read the bills. i for one did we are letting them get away with it. if the next bail out bill fails as well they will try again before the market crashes. if it passes 2nd time around watch how quick banks start falling for big paydays. hell the banks said they need 1.2 trillion bucks to get out. kinda odd how that number came out after the pesident said 700 billion. and get this the 1st bailout said bush had control over the bailout money even after he was out of the white house.i don't wear a tin foil hat, i just know how to read.
- getbusyliving, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2Have fun standing in a line up of hundreds of men trying to get a ditch digging job while you are doing "anything".
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2For the media, FEAR drives ad dollars.
For the politicians, FEAR gives them power over us. And power = graft.
Everyone is making money on this but us because, like the Iraq War, no one is checking the politicians anymore. - richmomz, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2The talking heads on CNBC are a waste of oxygen - they're the Fox News of the financial world. Anyone who has been getting their financial and investment advice from them is probably broke by now (and screaming for a bailout along with the idiots that got us into this mess).
- Jake54321, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2Thank God I bought Pfizer..Zoloft sales should be through the roof!
- inactive, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2Fire sale? Everything must go?
Yeah sure, don't panic, and carry start carrying a towel. - Ebacherville, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2No reason to panic here, got months worth of food and water and ammo.. and a place that rural that can self sustain ...bring it on !!!
if it all come crashing down, this will thin the heard and get rid of some of the dead weight... I'd recommend being repaired for the worst.. its like having cash in savings, its just a smart thing to have available in bad situations. I live where snow storms can kill power for over a week and block you in your home for that long, if that were the case would you survive.. I would and id be dang comfortable doing it to.
Be prepared its just the smart thing to do. -
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