Monday, October 6, 2008

Would you have bailed out Wall Street?

It was my opinion that by bailing out wall street we would only be giving the No-Conscience-Thieves more money to steal, and next year we would be just as bad off. Well from the looks of Darkly Shaded Monday, we may not have to wait for a year. The rest of the world has been doing what they can to shore up the American dollar, but if we can’t even solve our own crises, what chance do they have.

In psychology there is a theory that revenge is one of the sweetest of human emotions. That we would risk serious injury to ourselves just to get even. Stangely that is the way I feel right now. We all know that the little guy is going to be the one to get stuck in this crisis, and there is no avoiding it, so why not take down the people that caused it. I wouldn't have bailed them out!

They say this Presidential Election is the most important election in decades. So who among the lot of them do you feel is most supportive of the common person? Why do I feel that they have all “sold-out”?

Read and weep:

BBC News

Financial crisis pummels stocks
World stock markets have plunged after government bank bail-outs in the US and Europe failed to stem fears of slower global economic growth.
London's key UK share index lost 7.85% - its biggest percentage fall since 1987 and in Paris the Cac-40 suffered its largest fall on record.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones fell below 10,000 points for the first time since 2004.
Investors fear that official action might not be enough to stem the crisis.
This was despite a $700bn (£398bn) US bank bail-out being passed late last week, and efforts by several European countries including Germany and Denmark to boost confidence in their banks.
"The fact is people are scared and the only thing they're doing is selling," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
"Investors are cleaning out portfolios and getting rid of everything because nothing seems to be working."
Restoring confidence
Stock markets are falling... and it's the troubles of Europe's banks, and the messy response of the authorities, that's to blame
Robert Peston
BBC business editor

President George W Bush said on Monday that it would take some time for the rescue plan to restore confidence to the financial system.
He said it was important that the programme was implemented properly and to make sure it did not waste taxpayers' money.
"We don't want to rush into this situation and not have the programme be effective," he said.
"It's going to take a while to restore confidence in the financial system."
'Substantial force'
In an attempt to reassure investors, the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, said on Monday that it was moving quickly to exercise the new powers it had been given as part of the Wall Street rescue package.
The group, which was formed after the 1987 stock market crash, said it would move "with substantial force on a number of fronts".
As one of the first effects of the rescue plan, the Federal Reserve announced that it would start paying interest on the reserves that banks are forced to deposit at the central bank.
Analysts said that Germany's increased 50bn-euro ($68bn; £38.7bn) bail-out of Hypo Real Estate, the country's second-biggest commercial property lender, had alarmed investors.
Earlier, Germany had appeared to announce an unlimited guarantee for private savings - though it later said this was not the case and it had instead given only a "political commitment" that savers would not lose deposits.
However, Denmark had already moved to offer full protection, while Sweden massively increased the level of protection it offered.
'Collective action'
The Hypo RE rescue came amid other developments including:
Denmark, Sweden and Iceland increased the amount of protection depositors in their banks receive. Iceland also agreed measures for the country's banks to sell off some foreign assets in an attempt to shore up its entire financial system
EU leaders issued a joint statement saying they would take the necessary measures to protect both the system and individual depositors
Trading in shares of Benelux bank Fortis was suspended, on the day BNP Paribas took a controlling interest in the troubled finance group under an emergency deal with the Belgian and Luxembourg governments
Central banks across Europe - including the ECB and Bank of England - offered more than $74bn to banks in short-term loans in separate efforts aimed at trying to making cash available for the banking sector
International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Europe needed a collective response to the financial crisis and warned countries not to act alone
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and French President Nicolas Sarkozy arranged meetings with the heads of their respective country's main banks to discuss the global financial crisis - and said the two leaders would meet later this week.
Markets suspended
In London, the FTSE 100 index ended down 391.1 points, or 7.85%, at 4,589.2 - having lost 8.5% at one point.
Germany's Dax index lost 7.39%, while France's Cac-40 index dropped 9.04% - its biggest one-day fall since the index was created in 1988.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index pulled back some losses but was still 4.05% lower, down 418.39 points, at 9,906.99 points, while the Nasdaq lost 4.93%.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei index had closed down 4.3%, or 465 points, at 10,473.1 - its lowest close since February 2004. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 5%, while key Russian markets slumped by 15%.
Markets in India, China, Australia and Singapore also lost ground, while the main Indonesian market lost 10% - the biggest one-day fall on record.
Trading on key stock markets in Brazil and Russia was temporarily suspended after share prices plummeted by 10% and 15% respectively. Russia's RTS index ended 19.1% down.
The prospect of a slowdown denting energy demand saw oil prices fall further, dipping under $90 a barrel.
In London Brent crude dropped $3.38 to $86.87 a barrel, while US light, sweet crude fell $3.85 to $90.05 a barrel.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/7654025.stm

Published: 2008/10/06 17:01:19 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

16 comments:

USelaine said...

All we really would have needed to survive was abundant salmon. We even screwed that up. Time is short. Build your fruit dryers and meat smokers. Buy a couple of milking goats, and learn to love acorn meal.

Anonymous said...

Everyone knew the bailout wouldn't work, even the crooked politicians who decided to send every household an $18,000 tax bill even though economists told them it would not work.

Today's sell of is only a prelude to the real crash of over 20% that will come in the next week or so. Why? Just look at the history of the Great Crash of 29 and the crash of 87. Right now were only experience sell-offs before the real crash happens.

See my blog post here
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2008/10/dow-crashes-below-10000-another-20-stock-market-crash-looms-ahead.html

Anonymous said...

Hell no! I agree with the other 53% of America who disagree with the bailout.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Who knows, I probably won't make any difference what we do. Any chance that we had was probably passed years ago when we let all of our jobs go offshore. We should have stared choking the crap out of politicians then, but the slippery bastards are hard to catch!

Anonymous said...

The really scary thing is that the commodity markets are also falling in anticipation of less consumption. Now there is no safe place for money to go other than federally insured notes or bonds with miniscule return. Tis is very very bad and ?Washington is scrambling to shore up yhe market.

Ernie Branscomb said...

The guy on tv today said that inflation may cause money to be worth nothing. He suggested that you buy gold or silver. Failing that, buy food and clothes now while the prices are low.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Kim Sallaway sent this to me:

I found this news item disturbing.

Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. Rooms at this resort can cost over $1,000 a night.

AIG documents show the company paid more than $440,000 for the retreat, including nearly $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 in spa charges.

The American people are paying for their pedicures and manicures.

Kim

Anonymous said...

Lousy acorn crop this fall. Let's hope the price of booze stays down.

Anonymous said...

Well Ben, don't feel bad. It looks like 10 other states are having trouble with their ACORN crop too.

Oregon

Anonymous said...

If Obama is elected, this economic mess will look like a tea party in comparison.

spyrock said...

my dad and mom both lived through the depression. they got married out of town because they didn't want anyone to know they got married. but people found out anyway and my mom lost her teaching job. she wound up teaching kids with rhumatic fever and tuberculosis in a local hospital until world war 2 broke out. my dad went to burma and she wound up driving a school bus and eventually taught school again. my dad never did step out of the depression. he never sent out bills, but most people paid him something. but he was never afraid to ask other people for help. they call it the barter system. he always knew somebody who could fix anything we had for free. he always knew somebody who had whatever we needed. if we ever got into trouble, he always knew somebody that could get us out of trouble. they used to get free food all the time, and whatever somebody didn't want anymore he would bring it home and put it in his junk yard. the government came after my dad because he never did pay his taxes. they came after uncle delbert too. real cowboys don't do taxes. the depression ain't as bad as its cracked up to be. people help each other out. it's a whole new way of looking at life. instead of fear and greed. its love and sharing. who'd a thunk it. yeah, you guys scare me, what do we do now?, the depressions coming!. no more manicures, no more pedicures, no more 15 mpg suvs. i've lived in the depression my entire life. it's part of my dna, it's in my cells, it's ingrained in my subconsious. i never have paid for a manicure, pedicure, and all my cars and trucks get over 25mpg.
but i have had a manicure, pedicure, and many other nice things done to me for free. must be in my genes.

Robin Shelley said...

Spyrock, you are just too darned cute, you know it? I love your stories. Or, maybe I love the way you word them. You should write a book.

Robin Shelley said...

Nice pun, Oregon. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
Go to work.
(Really, it's clever. I like it!)
(-:

Anonymous said...

I gathered and shelled and ground up acorns in michigan in my college dorm one winter. After pulverizing or handgrinding the acorns, I put the mush into a panty hose and attached that to the faucet tp rinse out the tannins for a few days. You can check the meal for bitterness after a day. The meal that was left baked up to be dark, sweetly nutty cake/bread that was delicious. Thinner loaves, muffins, crackers of the meal cook better and faster.
Anyone know which of the local acorns were more valued by our predecessors in the area?

Anonymous said...

"faucet to rinse"

not faucet tp rinse!

spyrock said...

half the time i live at about 2800 feet elevation in the sierras. gold country. evergreens and oaks grow like crazy there. so we have plenty of acorns.
i have been working on a new pond in an old logging flume and did some digging to define the boundarys for the liner when i came across a pestle. a very beautiful one, flat on opposite sides, one end pointed and the other end rounded, very much symetrical. we had a psychic check the area out without telling her were i found it and she nailed the exact location. she then hooked up with an old indian spirit, an old woman who gave us permission to keep the pestle on our land and show it to others in ceremony. which we have already done. the psychic found some old miners hanging out at another location on the property and helped them pass into the light.
but with the economy the way its going, its nice to have lots of acorns and something that was made to smash them up and make them edible. thanks for all your acorn recipes. just as long as you aren't trying to get us registered to vote 79 times.