Dow Goes Below 10,000!

This has been coming for quite some time. The focus was on "talking the markets up" and the problems were allowed to escalate to a crisis before the government and economists paid attention to them.

The bailout was passed - but it won't take effect immediately. In fact, there seems to be some confusion on exactly how to implement it now that it's available. We've thrown money at a problem - but we haven't any real idea of how large the problem is.

The biggest crisis in the US is the tanking job market and a frozen credit market. The unemployment numbers are worsening at a record pace.

As it looks likely the US will be electing a President who is set on adding more social programs at large costs - I don't see where improvement is possible. Obama's tax reduction plan includes sending tax rebate checks to people who don't pay taxes and he insists this plan must go forward. At some point the bill must be paid and we are digging the debt hole deeper each day.

Wall Street analysts on CNBC sound like they are in a panic - that's never a good sign.

kay

I hope it is near capitulation, London is now down 7.85%. t has been highly disturbing for anybody with stocks and mutual funds these past few weeks. But it just seems that Europeans have cooler heads than Americans, they may not draw up a bailout plan even if their stockmarkets collapes.

The atmosphere is just really scary right now in Hong Kong. You got Lehman investors protesting everyday. Attendance at high-end restaurants have collapsed by 20-30%. Sales of luxury and other cars have plummetted. Property prices have started crashing as well, it seems by as much as 10% within a month!

I think it probably feels just as bad around the world.

-Derek

Unfortunately, a financial crisis often eads to an economic crisis followed by a political crisis. This is what happend in a lot of countries in 1997-1998.

It is worth noting that even your Nasdaq is less than half its all-time high achieved several years ago. God knows when it will return to its all time high.

At least tomorrow is a holiday here. If the markets recover in the US and Europe, we may be spared a lashing.

Sal is right. Nothing will suffice except for severe punitive action and seizure of the ill-gotten gains. Maybe we could redistribute that to people who lost their homes, jobs, etc. due to the policies inflicted on us by our so-called government.

I have had the first backlash on my credit. Amex trying to mitigate their exposure.

I have a perfect record with them - never late, etc. Now they have reduced my credit line to what I owe because I have 'too many obligations'.

Mind you I don't have a single new card since I opened theirs a year ago and have not made any major purchases on any other card, pay all my bills on time, etc.

I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop now. I'll tell you it makes me want to go and take care of car maintenance, etc that I could put off longer - just in case I end up with no credit line.

When banks change the annual percentage rate they usually give you the option of not using the card anymore if you want to keep the existing rate. That works for me. No telling how dirty they are going to deal in this crisis - I wonder if they can demand you pay your whole bill right now or anything like that...

Yes it's true all the fear mongering is one thing that drives the market down even on a good day. We all know we are in a precarious situation, and sliding down the slippery slope, so we need to chill and not dig the fricking knife deeper.

This is a global crisis obviously - we all got in the mess together and hopefully we will all get out of it together.

Somebody made big bucks by shorting the market! I bet these are the very same greedy bankers on Wall Street who brought us this crisis in the first place! I say let's shoot the traitors!

The Dow is going down again, the shorters are having a great time again!

It is not only rate cuts they are looking at. They are also looking at bailing out commercial paper as well as unsecuritized debts. The spate of printing money is just so mind-boggling and inflationary.

If millions of people make millions through day trades at this moment, I say good luck to them. I suppose millions of people got in when the DOW plunged 600 points yesterday and then made tons of moneyas they got out before the DOW closed just down 500 points.

Well I have found a big salad bowl to go beggin with to myob's house lol Of course with gas prices, it will still be a huge loss. I'm too impatient to drive all the way to Cali, I'll have to hop on a plane. Myob better fill it with hundreds or that will be an expensive beggin' bowl, surfin' trip.

How old is your son?

Over 21? We all know you had him when you were 12 so you can state his specific age and not be considered old. :p If he's younger than 28, he's too young for me :p

The markets are terrifying right now, but I still hold out hope that things are going to get better there in the long run. I am pretty heavily invested in bonds in my portfolio, but all of my other investments are tanking so badly taht I am still down almost 25%. This is miniscule in comparison to some of my friends who have invested in higher risk portfolios than I have.

I'm still gonna bring a beggin' bowl, cause airplane flights are expensive. And if nothing gets put in it, I'll just fill it up with soup

If it gets to 7500 or below, our economy and business would probably be dead. As far as begging is concerned, you can count me in. But instead of money, gold, diamonds or whatever for my begging bowl, I would like a lorryload of food and clean water instead, as well as guns and amnunition to defend myself!

Right now it is pretty near impossible to predicte when the stock market will stop plummeting and bottom out. I am expecting theat somewhere in the mid 7000's is a fairly safe guess, and at this point I am actually hoping that you are right that it only goes that low.