Stock market tanking

[smeagol]

Looks like the stock market will open in negative territory. Europe is down 2%. The GM news is not helping.

[CosmicCowboy]

Already down 3%

This is gonna get very ugly.

[MannyIsGod]

I don't know mookie, manny is a lifelong college student, and we know how productive they are.

Manny's produtivity > Johnsmith's productivity

Just saying

[MannyIsGod]

I could not agree with you more.





It was my field. I'm another casualty of the recession and the downsizing in the banking industry.

In any case, my field of expertise was lending money to big corporations, mainly in Lat Am. I had nothing to do with derivatives or mortgage backed securities.





Big banks and regulators share the blame equally (just because bankers cried for less regulation, regualtoars automatically had to give it to them?).

And Banks are just one part of the financial industry. Regulators lost oversight of many other players (insurance companies, hedge funds, etc), not just banks.

You also have other industries, which have been mismanaged for some time now (the Big Three in Detroit come to mind), who are at the verge of dissapearing and leaving millions without a job. Their problems cannot be blamed solely on the banking insudtry.

The drop in commodity prices has also affected many businesses.

As I said before, it is not that simple.

Ok, I agree with most of this post so I think we're just mainly disagreeing on semantics Sorry to hear about your situation btw. I hope you found something to cushion the blow and are putting your expertise to use.

[AlamoSpursFan]

How rational of you.

Obama's not gonna be POTUS forever. Just sayin'...

[BacktoBasics]

I meant to add consumer to the credit. Sure, the defaults are what kicked it off, but what really compounded this was how poorly leveraged wall street was. The financial sector is a mess and they're a mess because they ed up. Yes, Americans took bad loans but had the banks properly covered their asses we woudln't be in this situation.

No doubt that some Americans have made poor decisions, but the real reason we're in this mess is because the people who's job it was to make sure like this didn't happen LET IT HAPPEN.

Wall Street is shares about 97% of the blame. , if you want to know where the blame lies follow the ing stimulus money trail.

I couldn't agree more.

[clambake]

cowboy disappears yesterday, like clockwork.

cowboy reappears today, like clockwork.

listen cowboy, what matters is unemployment figures. not the daily moves on the market.

i know, i know, you'll swear to god that unemployment is directly tied to the daily rollercoaster, and i'm telling you it isn't.

i just thought it was funny that you wait to show up when it's down.

[CosmicCowboy]

cowboy disappears yesterday, like clockwork.

cowboy reappears today, like clockwork.

listen cowboy, what matters is unemployment figures. not the daily moves on the market.

i know, i know, you'll swear to god that unemployment is directly tied to the daily rollercoaster, and i'm telling you it isn't.

i just thought it was funny that you wait to show up when it's down.

You are such a ing asshole. It would be nice if you would actually bring meaningful and substantive posts instead of just weak personal attacks, but if trying to be an internet tough guy gets you wood then keep it up wimp.

FYI. I was out of the office and at the ranch yesterday.

[clambake]

You are such a ing asshole.

thats some pretty thin skin you got there, pardner.

FYI. I was out of the office and at the ranch yesterday.

gee, didn't see that one coming.

by the way, i told you the most important factor to monitor. you just don't like that. you have to tie it up with your butt hurt.

[smeagol]

Ok, I agree with most of this post so I think we're just mainly disagreeing on semantics

I think this whole mess has been brewing for a long time. Glass-Steagall began to crumble over 10 years ago and was repealed in 1999. People all around the world starting abusing credit also right around that time. And right around that time the housing market and the stock market bubbles began.

Hedge funds started poping like mushrooms in the last 5 to 7 years. Finally, commodity prices started going crazy after 2000/2001. Some bottomed before (oil in 1998), some right at that time (copper and other metals in 2001) and some a little later (soft commodities in 2002/2003). The issue is that they all came crashing when this whole mess started (July/August of last year).

Bottom line is that the explosion of all these events have produced the perfect storm. Maybe some of the issues (repealing Glass-Steagall) caused some of the other events. I don't know.

What I do know is that this whole mess is complicated and the easy explanation is to pin it down on banks. I don't agree with that explanation, although it is ST's posters preferred explanation.

Sorry to hear about your situation btw. I hope you found something to cushion the blow and are putting your expertise to use.

It is not as bad as it seems. Leaving the banking industry today could be a blessing in disguise for me. Work volume is going to come down dramatically, and so will salaries.

Volatility and change means new opportunities, and these days, the world is full of them. From battered small companies to real estate, to opportunities in the agro-business (especially here in Argentina).

With valuations coming down dramatically, I will keep my eyes and ears open for such opportunities.

[CosmicCowboy]

What a dumb . Unemployment is just one piece of the puzzle and is typically a RESULT, and not the CAUSE of a recession.

It's like saying vomiting causes the flu. ing idiot.

[clambake]

What a dumb . Unemployment is just one piece of the puzzle and is typically a RESULT, and not the CAUSE of a recession.

never said it was, roy, but you do like to change the subject.

It's like saying vomiting causes the flu. ing idiot.

you might as well believe in that too.

[CosmicCowboy]

cowboy disappears yesterday, like clockwork.

cowboy reappears today, like clockwork.

listen cowboy, what matters is unemployment figures. not the daily moves on the market.

i know, i know, you'll swear to god that unemployment is directly tied to the daily rollercoaster, and i'm telling you it isn't.

i just thought it was funny that you wait to show up when it's down.

by the way, i told you the most important factor to monitor. you just don't like that. you have to tie it up with your butt hurt.

Who's changing the subject?

[smeagol]

Dow and S&P at 12 year lows.

I hope this is not like Japan in 90s . . .

[clambake]

Who's changing the subject?

would it be a fair guess to suggest that you don't have many employees?

[BacktoBasics]

I'm still laughing at vomiting causing the flu.

[CosmicCowboy]

would it be a fair guess to suggest that you don't have many employees?

I suspect that I have 11 more than you do.

[clambake]

I'm still laughing at vomiting causing the flu.

you mean it doesn't?

[CavsSuperFan]

I was watching the history channel & they did a segment on fire fighter hats…I never knew how much work goes into making a real fire fighters hat…I would really like to have one to wear around the house when I am watching TV & stuff…(seriously)…

Does anyone know where I can purchase one?

[clambake]

I suspect that I have 11 more than you do.

just as i thought.

[RandomGuy]

Well, the Chinese have to do something with the money we are sending them...

Morning Edition, February 27, 2009 · Cash-rich tourists from mainland China are coming to the United States to cruise neighborhoods with a lot of foreclosures or unsold developments. They are looking for bargain-basement buys. These recent home-buying tours to the U.S. have become one of the most popular tour group packages in China.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=101234145

Not sure how that is relevant, but I would guess that we will see this trend continue, and probably accelerate, as housing prices here continue to tank, and it becomes a better and better bargain for those living in massively crowded Chinese cities.

Some are buying for homes to live in some are buying rental properties.

Either way it would have the effect of increasing demand for homes in the US and helping the market find a bottom sooner than it might otherwise.

[RandomGuy]

I was watching the history channel & they did a segment on fire fighter hats…I never knew how much work goes into making a real fire fighters hat…I would really like to have one to wear around the house when I am watching TV & stuff…(seriously)…

Does anyone know where I can purchase one?

Google is your friend. "firefighter helmets", enter,

http://www.thefirestore.com/

http://www.thefirestore.com/store/ca...s_accessories/

Gotta admit, they are pretty f***ing cool.

[CavsSuperFan]

Awesome…Thanks Random Guy…

[CosmicCowboy]

I was watching the history channel & they did a segment on fire fighter hats…I never knew how much work goes into making a real fire fighters hat…I would really like to have one to wear around the house when I am watching TV & stuff…(seriously)…

Does anyone know where I can purchase one?

LOL

JimBob, I just got this scary vision of you bringing a date home, leaving her in the living room to "get comfortable" and then busting back into the room in your white socks, tightey whiteys, and fire helmet...

[CavsSuperFan]

Would that be weird or something?