Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/companies/fannie_freddie_shares/index.htm?cnn=yes" target="_blank">http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/1...?cnn=yes</a> The economy is tanking folks. Hold onto your hats...
Originally Posted By RoadTrip So maybe the sky IS falling. No one has been more optimistic than me. But this week even I got scared. I sold all of my mutual funds as of the end of the end of the day on Tuesday 7/8. Sometime it's better to be lucky than good. (And no vbdad, I DON'T want to hear where the DJIA was at when you unloaded all of yours last year!!) LOL
Originally Posted By X-san RoadTrip, what you did is known as "locking in your loses", and it is usually a panic reaction. Not that you might not be right, but this week was kind of not a good week to sell in a panic. Wow, freddy and fannie both dipped INCREDIBLY low on Friday morning (Fannie still ended the day down 22%! dropped as much as 50% or so early on, looks like!). Guess I shouldn't have been so cautious with my short selling last year. Both of those companies are history, I'm calling that right now. Look at all the other companies that crashed exactly the same way and are now history (or, penny stocks if they're lucky). This is amazing, folks.
Originally Posted By X-san Wow, Friday results. Fannie Mae down 22% Freddie Mac down 6% Downey S&L down 18% First Federal down 12% Indy Mac down 10% (down to 28 CENTS a share!) Ugly stuff here. Recovery, even if it happened today, would still take years due to loss of investor confidence if nothing else! I think I'm gonna short sell tech. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, all those guys have a LONG way to fall when the reality sets in.
Originally Posted By X-san Lehman Bros down 17% MGIC Investments down 20% Wachovia down 12% List goes on... All those guys everyone says were nuts last year were 100% on ALL these banks, lenders, and homebuilders. 100 freakin % correct! Guess they're all rich now. Wow.
Originally Posted By MissCandice I guess I am glad I don't have any money to lose in stocks or mutual funds. One less thing to worry about!
Originally Posted By X-san lol. Things keep going the way they've been going, MC, and we'll ALL be in the same boat (except folks like you and I will be used to it already lol).
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<RoadTrip, what you did is known as "locking in your loses", and it is usually a panic reaction. Not that you might not be right, but this week was kind of not a good week to sell in a panic. >> The close of business Tuesday was the DJIA high point for the last two weeks. I could have done worse. If I had 5 years to go to retirement I would not have done it. I have 9 months. I needed that money. I don't really need more than what I had, but I needed what I had to continue my present lifestyle. Thankfully, going back two years (and most was purchased LONG before two years ago) I pretty much broke even. Sure, I lost some significant paper gains from what I would have had if I sold last October, but oh well. I still truly believe that once the idiot Bush is out of office consumer confidence will turn around and the economy will start to get better. I just wasn't sure that it was going to happen fast enough.
Originally Posted By X-san ***The close of business Tuesday was the DJIA high point for the last two weeks. I could have done worse. If I had 5 years to go to retirement I would not have done it. I have 9 months. I needed that money.*** Understandable.
Originally Posted By X-san Er, actually IndyMac was down 75% (missed the afterhours bloodbath). See related topic, they're gone as of Monday looks like. This is nasty...I'm getting nervous myself (happening faster than I'd have predicted).
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <(And no vbdad, I DON'T want to hear where the DJIA was at when you unloaded all of yours last year!!) LOL I wasn't going to bring it up - LOL ! However I explained why I did what I did,I could have lost a lot of money ifI had been wrong, and I definitely took a conservative approach - but man am I happy I did. I seriously believe if the Fed starts raising interest rates - 1/ more people will defaulton CC's 2/ those trying to pay penalties etc willdefaulton mortgages - and the DJIA will drop below 10,000 maybe 9500.
Originally Posted By X-san If it drops below 10, I don't think it'll stop at 9500. 10 is a HUGE support level for the Dow. The last 2 significant bear markets saw the dow drop into the 7's, fwiw.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 true - but it never dropped there from 13 -- the floor has been raised IMHO - although could it go to 9, sure.Much lower than that and there are going to be more serious issues like the ability for companies still paying pensions to meet those when they are invested in the same stocks and funds we all have folks. Remember when Disney stock really hit the skids - how pissed union pension plans were ....
Originally Posted By X-san Yeah, I know what you meant. But the chartists are saying 7's are inevitable now. In any case, if it cracks 10 things will get ugly I think. I'm hoping it doesn't (and as you say, it was a lot higher than before this time around, as usual...but that doesn't necessarily help matters since now we're back around the top level of 2000 which is scary).
Originally Posted By vbdad55 scary indeed - no argument there. The side effects of this will make even the most bullish re-evaluate that the sky may really be falling
Originally Posted By DVC_dad And how will Obama's increses in taxes across the board help exactly? I'm not sure I understand his "plan."
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Perhaps you don't. I don't think his proposals do raise taxes "across the board." They're supposed to restore rates for the wealthiest to where they were in the 90's (when both the economy and the wealthy did just fine, thank you), and even perhaps include a cut for the middle class and retirees making less than 50,000. Like Bill Clinton's promises of a middle class tax cut, I'm going to guess we end up getting something pretty modest. But at any rate it wouldn't be "across the board."
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^^^^^ the scary thing about anyones' tax increases is they all say they are going to take care of the middle class... the issue is when the increases come out I am willing to bet that their definition of middle class and mine will be quite different -- it's a large group and wil be nailed again IMHO if one is really rich they willfinda way around it , the poor will likely not be hit - but a lot of MC people will become slightly poorer. if he has a plan,release it with %'s and EXACTLY where those income levels fall - BEFORE the election. It WILL have an impact on my vote
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf If the middle class supports the war in Iraq, why not ask them to pay their fair share of taxes?
Originally Posted By dshyates This is the crux of Obama's tax plan. <a href="http://obama.3cdn.net/b7be3b7cd08e587dca_v852mv8ja.pdf" target="_blank">http://obama.3cdn.net/b7be3b7c...v8ja.pdf</a>
