Stocks Close Lower as the Bailout Waiting Game Continues

The stock market fell over 161 points today, as the market waited for the government to make a decision about the $700 billion bailout plan. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke both testified before the Senate Banking Committee; the NY Times reported, "While senators agreed that they needed to act quickly, they also said they wanted to take a close look at the legislation." Which made investors anxious: BPU Investment Management managing director of investments Nadav Baum told CNBC, "I think everybody thought [the bailout] was a done deal. And all of a sudden Congress and everybody is talking about it for two days. Markets hate uncertainty — especially now."

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By Jen Chung in News on September 23, 2008 4:42 PM

Comments [rss]

Future Taliban

These bailouts are like giving a pint-size transfusion to a patient bleeding uncontrollably from a double amputation. He ain't gonna make it.

Why TF don't they just let house values DROP to REAL values (aka SALARY'S) and let all the SVCKERS take the losses AS IT SHOULD BE AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN. What's next: government subsidized casinos in Vegas?.

S.D.

Congress is FINALLY doing it's job...

Outter Burrougher

while markets might not like uncertainty, good sir, i think the problem is more that the more scrutiny, the less the money is free.

drewo

"I think everybody thought [the bailout] was a done deal. And all of a sudden Congress and everybody is talking about it for two days."

Two whole days?!!! Americans want answers NOW, NOW, NOW!

Remember the good old days when stock prices weren't analyzed daily like baseball box scores? Remember when companies cared more about building a solid business model than the minute-by-minute movements of the company stock? Remember when management looked beyond quarterly results?

No? Neither do I.

babyhitler

good. it's got to hit 10,000 to stabilize.

sinisterteashop

Not what I saw. I saw a market stabilizing on the fact that the US Congress was applying scrutiny to one trillion dollar bailout. Even capitalists like sanity.