Will they halt trading today?

[mikejet]

Will trading be halted on Wall Street today? The key break points are 1100, 2200, and 3300.

As of right now selling is halted before the market opens.

[Bigdog]

46 minutes in and it's already down almost 500 points, thanks Barney Frank for ruining our economy!

[stockstar1138]

no, they won't, it won't be that bad.

[cravnsn]

I think the poll question should be should they halt trading

[mikejet]

I agree with all the previous discussions now that it simply boils down to people living outside their means.

The main problem with that though is this coountry is based on that philosophy.

If people do not take risks and live outside what they could afford this country would have no entrepenuers. Look at the small business owners who are in the red for 5 years. Or the people who worked out of their garages coding software and now own multimillion dollar companies.

I think the basic idea ingrained by The American Dream is what put us where we are now and that needs to be changed.

This isn't about politics or about who is to blame anymore. This is about solving a serious issue facing this nation. Japan has been going through this since 1997 and they are still in a recession.

In a few years there will be books out blaming people and detailing how all of this went down but right now, that's not important.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by mikejet

I agree with all the previous discussions now that it simply boils down to people living outside their means.

The main problem with that though is this coountry is based on that philosophy.

If people do not take risks and live outside what they could afford this country would have no entrepenuers. Look at the small business owners who are in the red for 5 years. Or the people who worked out of their garages coding software and now own multimillion dollar companies.

I think the basic idea ingrained by The American Dream is what put us where we are now and that needs to be changed.

This isn't about politics or about who is to blame anymore. This is about solving a serious issue facing this nation. Japan has been going through this since 1997 and they are still in a recession.

In a few years there will be books out blaming people and detailing how all of this went down but right now, that's not important.

exactly.

however, there is a big difference between an entrapuener investing money to start up a new business and a family that is making $60k a year buying a $400k house.

we should be able to handle this simply by keeping incentives open to people creating small businesses and cracking down on irresponsibal sub-prime mortgages.

we can fix this problem if we can all just sit back quit pointing the finger and think logically, dynamically, critically, and responsibly. however, i have my doubts if this country or world has the maturity level to do that.

[Bigdog]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

watch the politics

and george bush can't enact any budgets, economic policies or any other policies without it first coming to him from the congress more than just bush.

this was a failure on 3 seperate levels.

1. washington stupidity
2. wall street greed
3. the ameican's people stupidity and greed.

if any one of those would have acted responsibily, we wouldn't be having near this economic problem.

And the response from et72 is exactly why we will not fix this problem anytime soon. He has listened to way to many political commercials. People of this country are just to lazy to actually know what is going on around them and let biased news agencies with agendas and political propaganda cloud any judgement they have.

All i can say is people of this country please think for yourself, look around and see what is happening in congress and back door deals between political figures with these failing companies before pointing the finger at the wrong people.

If that is to political sorry, but i feel it is important because it's obvious how uneducated so many people are on these extremely important subjects. If someone on this site learns something then it's worth it to keep post like these up.

[Entertainment72]

I wouldn't worry too much.. this country will be back on its feet 4 years from now. 25%-27% approval rating.. what a laugher..

[Entertainment72]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

And the response from et72 is exactly why we will not fix this problem anytime soon. He has listened to way to many political commercials. People of this country are just to lazy to actually know what is going on around them and let biased news agencies with agendas and political propaganda cloud any judgement they have.

It is this same DENIAL over and over and over again which has kept this country from getting any better.

[mikejet]

Here's the discussion my brother and I have been having. It's the best interpretation of what is happening now that I have read.

Wall Street allowed firms to package these loans into mortgage backed securities (thereby dispersing accountability for the bad loans) and trade them on the open market, and it was lack of oversight which let hedge fund managers leverage their risk by assigning inaccurate credit ratings to these securities, then insure their losses with credit default swap contracts (which they also traded).

If these bonds and securities were properly insured (or if there were greater oversight over the ratings), the subprime and housing bubble would still have happened, BUT the credit crisis would NOT have happened (which is what is truly crippling our economy).

Insurance is a HIGHLY regulated industry and if all of this collateral for leverage were required to be insured, the banks would not be in the position they are now in. INSTEAD, the SEC and Fed allowed for the use of a credit default swaps to "insure" the initial debt obligation. This is why AIG needed to be bailed out. It is like this...

Collect bad loans and consolidate them into tradable securities, then rate them based on their underlying valuation RATHER than by the credibility of the loan recipient. (this should be illegal)

Use the securities and debt bonds as leverage for even riskier investments. (this is legal)

When the SEC and Fed check your books to see that your collateral and leverage is properly insured, point out the credit default swap contracts you purchased and the government counts it as adequate insurance. (this is legal)

When the Fed asks the SEC if credit default swaps should be regulated because it is part of the HIGHLY regulated insurance industry, shoot them down because the contracts are tradable and do not count as true insurance policies. (this should be illegal)

Then the dominoes all fall in succession. All the bad loans the democrats defended implode. Foreclosures cause home prices to plummet. Defaults cause the bid price for mortgage backed securities to fall to zero. The credit default contracts all trigger and overwhelm the industry. Hedge funds all capsize and the books go deep into the red. Banks struggle to maintain liquidity to cover their liabilities. People try to buy the homes at the discounted prices but banks refuse to lend... and the economy grinds to a halt.

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by mikejet

In a few years there will be books out blaming people and detailing how all of this went down but right now, that's not important.

That's because they are trying to make $$$ off of a crisis, no big surprise. Authors are probably already detailing everything so they can profit off it. Either way it doesn't bother me, people love reading about misery.

But yeah, I agree with your post. People should be more responsible with their purchases (big ticket) however, I do point some blame to the wizards who made home loans to risky buyers. I'm sorry, but not everyone can afford a home.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

And the response from et72 is exactly why we will not fix this problem anytime soon. He has listened to way to many political commercials. People of this country are just to lazy to actually know what is going on around them and let biased news agencies with agendas and political propaganda cloud any judgement they have.

All i can say is people of this country please think for yourself, look around and see what is happening in congress and back door deals between political figures with these failing companies before pointing the finger at the wrong people.

If that is to political sorry, but i feel it is important because it's obvious how uneducated so many people are on these extremely important subjects. If someone on this site learns something then it's worth it to keep post like these up.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the people in this country (and everywhere) are basically sheep, unable to think for themselves. Folks think it's bad now, wait until everyone's taxes are raised in order to pay for the New World Order of socialist programs coming down the road.



/rant. Sorry, I've had a frustrating past couple of days.

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the people in this country (and everywhere) are basically sheep, unable to think for themselves. Folks think it's bad now, wait until everyone's taxes are raised in order to pay for the New World Order of socialist programs coming down the road.



/rant. Sorry, I've had a frustrating past couple of days.

I'm waiting in line to see a doctor, should be available to comment more indepth on your post next month when I get to the front of the line

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Deads3t

I'm waiting in line to see a doctor, should be available to comment more indepth on your post next month when I get to the front of the line

LOL

In a couple years, who knows? I just need to make sure I stock-up on all of the firearms I've been wanting before mid-late next year. Unfortunately, with the economy the way it is, there's no way I can afford that kind of expense anytime soon.

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

LOL

In a couple years, who knows? I just need to make sure I stock-up on all of the firearms I've been wanting before mid-late next year. Unfortunately, with the economy the way it is, there's no way I can afford that kind of expense anytime soon.

Right. I'm pulling back myself, luckily I'm setup for arms, but I hear ya. This recession really hasn't hurt me too bad, the best thing is the price of gas has gone down. I'm no where near retirement, so I'm throwing more dry power at my 401k, get in on the ground floor, ala 2002.

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by Deads3t

Right. I'm pulling back myself, luckily I'm setup for arms, but I hear ya. This recession really hasn't hurt me too bad, the best thing is the price of gas has gone down. I'm no where near retirement, so I'm throwing more dry power at my 401k, get in on the ground floor, ala 2002.

That's the best thing everyone can do is, if they can afford to, increase their contributions while it's cheap. gas is nice to be lower but in Southern California it's not really consistent with the national average.

The nice thing though is that airline prices are starting to decline so it looks more likely I'll be going to Hawaii again next year. 2 years in a row so far. Third time will be a charm. Gonna try and plan it for my first wedding anniversary.

[m_tyson]

The US dollar and Yen are up.

[mikejet]

Hehe...

Roundtrip LAX - Oahu in Feb. 2009 is 363.50 per person. I may be booking this soon.

There are some crazy deals out there right now.

[jadedeath]

Yeah, you guys are getting pounded on the stock market.

Fortunately, even though people have a problem with your leaders, at least they're admitting there's a problem.

Ours are cluelessly telling the public that we should keep spending and that there's nothing to worry about.

Yeesh, and we just went through an election and voted these jokers back in. Sorry if this is a political post, it's not meant to be, just showing the differences between Canadian and American leaders.

Logan

[DrinkMore]

This thread is funny. :lol:

Please don't take it the wrong way - how many of you complain if your bd's don't match in color, size, style? Let alone, how many complained when someone started a thread about a greener packaging for bd's?

However, some here seem to have an answer as to the issues the US faces and how to resolve them?



No wonder political threads are a no no.