Originally Posted By hopemax Damn! We actually have no debt, I better go out and buy a house real quick to get into this!
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I'm telling you... abandon Obama. Abandon McCain. Vote Libertarian. Don't fret that Barr is running. Vote the party. These $700B checks will never exist.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I'm telling you... abandon Obama. Abandon McCain. Vote Libertarian.<< Y'know ... there is a case that can be made ............
Originally Posted By fkurucz << I really hope there is strong pushpack on this. >> If there is we will see the mother of all stock market crashes. Whats the saying? If there's going to be a panic, its best to be one of the first to panic?
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ^^ All the bailouts do is put a finger in a leaky dike. Until they change some fundamental flaws in the financial system, the stock market is at risk. There is no path that does not involve financial pain at this point, whether it's asset devaluation (stock market crash), increased inflation, or higher tax rates. People just need to realize that the bills are coming due and they can't go unpaid.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***>>I'm telling you... abandon Obama. Abandon McCain. Vote Libertarian.<< Y'know ... there is a case that can be made ............*** There really is. The Dems are no better than the Republicans on this one. I can't even say with certainty which party is worse right now on this issue.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I can't even say with certainty which party is worse right now on this issue.<< I don't think we'll know until we find out whether the Dems (or for that matter, the fiscally conservative Republicans) are going to go along with this plan without some alterations. From what I saw on the talk shows this AM, this may not go as smoothly as was first predicted. We aren't the only ones who noticed those troublesome paragraphs. Libertarianism has its merits in theory, but the Libertarian Party is too well-stocked with kooks to ever get my vote.
Originally Posted By Mr X By the way, here's a little known fact. Paulson used to be chairman of Goldman Sachs. Shouldn't he have seen this coming a mile away? How is it that he and Bernanke neeeded to go to congress and insist we are days from a crash if you don't do something!"? And, is it really in the taxpayers' best interest to have a former chairmen of the biggest investment bank in the world deciding who "needs" the money?
Originally Posted By Mr X Now that blogger has a video up...pretty interesting if you can get over the Trumpesque doo. <a href="http://market-ticker.denninger.net/" target="_blank">http://market-ticker.denninger.net/</a>
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Paulson used to be chairman of Goldman Sachs. Shouldn't he have seen this coming a mile away? >> Do we honestly believe that the leaders of some of our biggest institutions/corporations have any real expertise or competency to run those enterprises? Paulson is a trust-fund kid just like Bush. He never had to demonstrate any real competency at anything -- he just used family money and influence to climb the ladder to success. I mean, the guy got his degree from college in English. An English major qualified to be running our entire financial system? The entire Bush cabinet is a complete joke of cronyism and incompetency -- filled with a population of trust-fund kids who never had to put in an honest day's work in their life. They are probably all resentful that this is hardest they have ever had to work, and they screw everything up when confronted with those tough circumstances of life.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Do we honestly believe that the leaders of some of our biggest institutions/corporations have any real expertise or competency to run those enterprises?*** Well that's a bit different than my comment that he should've seen this coming. I believe many CEO's did see the writing on the wall, just look at how many were shoving shares out the door for cash as fast as they could fill the wheelbarrows..since quite a long time before this all went public. As for competence, well just look at the industry now. In shambles, many venerable institutions destroyed...nope, on this one they were collectively incompetent to the extreme...or greedy to the extreme...or both.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy Remember the specters of 1929 -- those Wall Street bankers jumping out of windows in despair? In 2008, those same bankers float softly to the street below with their golden parachutes. No despair for the wealthy this time around.
Originally Posted By Mr X Almost 100 years of sophistocation behind us at the point, right? Look at how slick the candidates are for president these days (so long as they keep their stupid traps shut and let the machine do the work, I mean). How innocent were the political wars of the 1920's. Not that they didn't try...but things are more sophistocated these days. How else are they able to turn America into Nazi 2.0 without the entire world noticing. Slick, huh? And there will be no jumpers this time. Just more pain for the already destitute (who cares about them anyway?) and the reasonably "well-off" who soon won't be, but who will have sealed their own financial fate with their misguided and ill-considered vote. Slick, indeed.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^^^^^ the jumpers this time would the 401K holders - heard this morning the wheels were turning Friday for as much as a 3000 point drop without the bailout plan. Now , yes , they could have stopped trading - but it would have begun again Monday...
Originally Posted By Mr X You heard that from Paulson and Bernanke though, right? They scared you just as much as they scared congress... I think the markets would be better served by working themselves out properly. If 100's more crappy companies went under, so be it. They shouldn't have taken on such irresponsible practices in the first place. If the DOW took a 3000 point plunge, so be it (worked out okay in 1987...and most other times too). What happens now is a mystery, of course, but I wonder if they're not just prolonging the inevitable here. You can't repair the damage done with money alone. The key factors are still in place. Not to mention that bailing out the AMERICAN banks doesn't mean banks all around the world aren't still heavily exposed and in mortal peril. We shall see, I guess.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<the jumpers this time would the 401K holders - heard this morning the wheels were turning Friday for as much as a 3000 point drop without the bailout plan. Now , yes , they could have stopped trading - but it would have begun again Monday...>> I jumped a couple of months ago. My meager savings are currently invested in a government bond fund. The question for me will be to decide when to get back into stocks. Nobody wants to be a knifecatcher, but predicting the bottom can be challenging during these "interesting" times?
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << I jumped a couple of months ago. My meager savings are currently invested in a government bond fund. >> What do you do when the government goes bankrupt?
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<What do you do when the government goes bankrupt?>> As we approach that point it would probably be best to cash out the 401(k), pay the taxes and buy precious metals, perhaps stored in a safe deposit box on Switzerland.
Originally Posted By fkurucz And I suggest storing offshore because once the poopie hits the fan and Uncle Buck starts going down the toilet it is quite likely that (once again) it will be illegal to own gold coins or bars in the US. IIRC, during the Great Depression a US Marshall had to be present when you opened your safe deposit box. If it contained any gold you would be forced to sell it to Uncle Sam, at below market prices.
