September 16, 2008
Wall Street Reels, Braces More for Tumult
After the Dow Jones industrial average fell 504 points--the most since September 17, 2001--yesterday upon news of Lehman Brothers's bankruptcy, the sale of Merrill Lynch, and A.I.G.'s troubles, Wall Street is in for another difficult day. Asian stock markets were down sharply: Tokyo's Nikkei was down 5%, Seoul's Kospi was down 6.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 5.9%.
The Wall Street Journal reported, "Steps unveiled by the Federal Reserve to expand its emergency lending arsenal did little to snap the sense of gloom." Indeed, the NY Times called out how Bush's remarks did little to soothe nerves in its front page headline.
Wachovia's chief market strategist Alfred E. Goldman said, "We have a very, very nervous market, and folks hate uncertainty. They've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and two of them dropped on Sunday." City Comptroller William Thompson said, "Today is a sad and stunning day. Thousands are losing their jobs; many are unsure about their future."
However, Mayor Bloomberg tried to remain upbeat, reminding, "New Yorkers have gotten through the ups and downs of Wall Street before, and we will get through this." Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson added, "What we are going through in the short term doesn't make anything easier. But in the longer term, it's going to make things better, because we've got excesses we need to work through," and noted the "soundness and resilience of the American financial system."
Right now, Barclays may be in a deal to buy parts of Lehman Brothers, according to a statement from the British bank, but the statement also says, "there can be no assurance that the discussions will result in an agreement." The WSJ says Lehman executives hope jobs and operations can be preserved in New York.
AIG shares fell 40% before the market opened this morning. Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded AIG's credit, and CNBC reports that the Federal Reserve "has hired...Morgan Stanley to review options for AIG."
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"Wall Street Reels, Braces More Tumult"
How about a "For" in there?
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John McCain was on CNBC this morning and was asked some fairly direct questions about how he would handle this mess as President. Between stammering about "transparency" and blaming Congress, he couldn't even respond in any meaningful, much less detailed way. But when asked if A.I.G. was "too big to fail" and whether he would find a way to rescue the firm, his chilly reply was that he would "let it fail". At his worst, most disengaged moments, even Herbert Hoover could elicit some kind of empathy. If elected President, McCain would update the "1930's regulatory structure" just in time for there to be nothing left to regulate.
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Amazing how these guys can control our well being. If McCain gets elected and continues the hands off big business policies of the current administration, we'll see the economy tank even worse. They have no plans to straighten out this mess and we'll still be pouring money into the war.
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New Rule: if you have no idea how free markets work, educate yourself before you comment on them.
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I saw McCain on Today, and the things he kept repeating were "the workers are the fundamentals of our economy" (to cover for his gaffe) and "I spoke out about this two years ago".
Oh, he also claimed to be a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. That was good for a laugh.
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Cue in 3, 2, 1.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ARbKvUyUM
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heckuva job, paulie.
yes market corrections need to take place, but it's not a totally free market. and even if it were, we can still have a little compassion for the 20,000 people who are losing their jobs (based on an estimate I saw on CNN this morning) because of the Lehman collapse.
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Exactly how sympathetic do we have to be for the bankers? I feel bad for secretaries and custodial staff but c'mon, the bankers did this to themselves. All of those young people leaving Lehman with boxes of their stuff Sunday night chose to go into banking presumably for the money and the lifestyle. If these people are as smart as they want us to think they are then they shouldn't have levered up 30+ to 1.
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it's time to take your money out of the bank!!
george bailey is not going to give you his vacation money.
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Great Depression II: Electric Boogaloo.
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new rule take econ 101 as fiction not science.
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Quick: someone explain to the English major with no investments and little savings how this will affect her!
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can't explain, if the experts can't explain it.
it's voodoo, smoke and mirrors, polished turd in a tiffany box. the glengarry leads and you can't have them.
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Econ 101 is sound. Financial engineering is fiction.
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The smoke and mirrors is created by accountants, lawyers and bankers. And lets not forget that its often approved of by politicians and bureaucrats as long as its bringing in tax revenue and campaigns are fully funded.
You don't hear either Obama or McCain complaining too much do ya? Nope. How many campaign dollars have come from Wall Street????
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the glengarry leads are for closers.
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"First Prize is a new Cadillac; Second Prize is a set of steak knives; Third Prize is you work for A.I.G."
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just took out 80 g's from Wamu. The Clerk was telling me everything was OK and it was going to be fine, I was like "GIVE ME MY MONEY BITCH!"
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Im glad I didnt waste my time with all those fast track to sucess subway adds. I knew those fuckers were lying.
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How about a "For" in there?Now reads: Wall Street Reels, Braces More for Tumult
Umm, that's not really where the "for" was supposed to go.
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#8: There are plenty of bankers whose work has nothing to do with the mortgage mess, but will lose their jobs anyway because of the misdeeds of other parts of their company. I think we can feel bad for them.
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^ They might not be tied to mortgages but everything is connected to the loose monetary policy that Greenspan started in the 90s. Hedgefunds, private equity aka leveraged buyouts, M&A etc. are all dependent on easy money.
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Sarah Palin on CNN today briefly speaking out about Wall Street..
....sorry, still rolling on the floor.