My husband was watching the news all day today about all the stuff that is happening with the big banks...and he thinks we are absolutely headed for a Depression....is anyone else scared about the shape of our economy? I know I have lots of friends who are telling me that their businesses are really in bad shape because nobody is spending any money anywhere...even doctors are hurting and dentists...because people feel that going to those things are actually luxury things....and people neglect their health when they are worried about saving money.
Alot of businesses are laying people off, are going bankrupt, and are closing up.
I just don't understand it....my son says it is exactly what happened in the 20's...that we had a ton of money then...and then all of a sudden there were all these problems with the government and paying farmers...and all that stuff...and nobody had any money.
Posted by jdocster (Member # 5752) on :
My advise?
Don't be so worried about it. It's nowhere close to the great crash in 1929. We had another one in 1981 and later in 1987 as well, then we had one in the early 1990s (really kind of a residual effect in some ways from 1987). Anyway, in 1987 the market dropped around 600 points. Worse than the 540 on Monday. In reality you look at the total percentage. In 1987 it dropped close to 20%, YES 20%. Counting today it has dropped about 4%. We are a long way away from a "depression" but, we are, and, have been, almost certainly in a "recession" for a year now (depending on who you believe). This is being felt around the world, Europe, Asia, etc. Japan is having it's share of fallout because the Yen is tied so closely to the dollar. Even China is feeling it. At least oil has gone down. $92.00 a barrel,oops, it's back up to $96 - $97... There's not much you can do either way. Try to stay employed and don't pull out your 401K because you will certainly lose a lot. Just ride it out... Just my opinion...
[ 17. September 2008, 13:54: Message edited by: jdocster ]
Posted by ISIS (Member # 1780) on :
I never worry about money...not ever...I figure there are way more things to worry about than money...if I had to sell everything I owed...I could live for a long time....I wouldn't care if I ever went back to living in an apartment some where. I like having a nice house and a nice car...but none of it really means anything to me...all I care about are my family...and being alive and healthy. The rest of it...doesn't matter....I just was sick and tired of hearing about it...my husband panics about everything...I tell him to knock it off...because that does drive me crazy. There isn't anything I can do to stop anything that's going to happen from happening.
But...thanks jdoc for a little more info on what is going on.
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
I know that in my little part of the world people freaked out this past weekend. I was at Walmart Saturday and the cashier was talking about people coming in Friday night and buying all this food and crap. She said one of the bank employees stated that people were cleaning out their checking and savings accounts. Also, a lot of our gas stations are out of gas. My dad got some Saturday and he got the last at the Exxon station he was at. I'm like jdoc, I'm not too worried right now. There is such a thing as overreacting, and that's what some of these fine folks around these parts did last weekend.
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
I would agree not to panic; it'll be somewhat bad and probably won't start leveling off till next year, but at least we should maintain our structural integrity. But essentially, recessions are healthy in that they weed out the underperformers and streamline the market. (and you can't argue with the fact it'll keep suppressing gas demand and push prices much lower) And now the next president knows what he'd have to do to prevent this type of crisis from happening again by making money harder to get(and he'll have no choice but to take strong action or he'll be a very quick one termer).
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
I've really tried to avoid talking about what's happening, but it's impossible now. The Dow plunges 700 points? Yikes, guess the bailout plan is being rejected? Holy moly.
Posted by cindymancini (Member # 679) on :
Where's FDR when you need him??? That man rocked!
Posted by EleanorJune (Member # 7024) on :
A friend o fmine works for a bank and she was telling me over dinner last night, that many of their older customers are coming in and cleaning out their accounts. She said that not many younger customers have but there have been a few. We were also discussing with our waitress if she had noticed anything different. She said she keeps a daily log of her tips and her percentages she makes on her sales. I am pretty sure her service has not gotten terrible but she only averages 12% now compared to her 19% last year. Also her average sales have decreased but 21%.
I used to do the same thing when I waitressed back in the day, so she isnt crazy!! I have not witnessed anything firsthand changing, opther than gas prices and food prices, but I do wonder how long this is going to take. I am one of those people who has to have a plan. Though I rarely follow my plan, I like to have one!
Posted by MotleyRulz (Member # 3598) on :
The main thing is not to panic as panicking was one of the big reasons gas spiked upwards the way it did in my part of the states a couple weeks back. My plan is that: not to panic......
Posted by jdocster (Member # 5752) on :
Motley is right...
So, the market is down about 7% overall. Nowhere near the 20% it dropped to in 1987. The Republicans vetoed the buyout plan because they are trying to pass a plan with more "safeguards" for us the consumers. We want to "insure" the loans that prospective banks would buy. NOT assume the default loans/mortgages at our expense. There is no way to ever be compensated for this. So, if several big banks, both foreign and domestic, will step-up and purchase these notes/loans, our government will both facilitate this as well as insure each loan against failure. Think of it like this; if 10% of all loans bought in this deal go belly-up we will have to eat 70 billion dollars. If we outright assume all of the loans then we have to service the loans, shop them around where possible and insure them for the next 30 years on average we will spend far more than 700 billion. Isn't the better plan to simply insure the loans to make them attractive to the blood-sucking banks that cased this? A plan will be passed because it has to happen. Just be patient and relax. Never forget that the parasitic banks and their greed was the "root" cause of this mess. Never trust the banks. Quite simply put, banks are corrupt greedy money stealing institutions.
Have a nice day! Heheee... Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
If things get really bad, alls people need is a hand cranked mini disc player to watch all their favorite 80's movies...you know...in case you have no gas or power. I'm from Canada, so I don't really know how all this will trickle down...I try not to worry too much as well. The media also now plays a more prominant role in shaping people's opinions. I remember me and my wife were "scared" to have kids, due to all the crazy things happening in the world...war, murders, sex offenders, etc, etc. My friend made a good point that helped us process things a bit better.....all this worry about money and people being scared about the state of the world...some of these things were always happening years ago....people just didn't hear about it as much....you can't worry about what you don't know. I like to keep myself informed, but try not to watch the news everyday....if something comes up that is really important...someone will tell you about it. Be thankful for family and friends and ride the waves.....we'll all be OK.
Posted by journey (Member # 7316) on :
quote:Originally posted by cindymancini: Where's FDR when you need him??? That man rocked!
FDR's socialist policies didn't get us out of the Great Depression - that's a myth. WWII actually saved our economy.
Posted by MotleyRulz (Member # 3598) on :
You hit the nail right on the head with the media comment kev. Sure things are bad for the economy, but when it's drilled into people's heads everytime they turn the tv on and everytime they open a newspaper guess what, the panic starts. I hope these CEOs and CFOs are made to account for the ****storms they start eventually. But they probably won't be. How can a company justify paying a retiring CEO $60 million dollars in retirement benefits when they can't even pay their own bills and sometimes even delve into the common workers' pensions?
[ 29. September 2008, 17:28: Message edited by: MotleyRulz ]
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
That's why if the bailout does eventually pass down the line, it'll have strict limits on what CEOs can get from now on; both parties know they can get at least a reasonable constituent applause if they add that and will go for it. Unfortunately, it would be officially unconstitutional to force those executives who left office with the gross national product of Eritrea to give anything back, but if things get noticeably worse, I wouldn't be surprised at all if several of them are shot at in the streets. As noted earlier in the thread, I think we'll start seeing notable progress back upwards by about this time next year if all goes well; clearly it'll take some time for whatever measures are put into effect to take hold, but at least now most of the offending companies have collapsed or been bought up, eliminating the weaker people from the market. I personally can rest relatively easy knowing my position as master control operator at the nearest TV station is largely recession-proof (particularly given the wonderful automated programming computer that was supposed to make everything easier breaks down every other week, necessitating human oversight), and hopefully yours are as well. We'll all get through it if we just have patience and calmness as many here have noted.
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
777 points was a record loss for a day on the markets. I'm trying not to panic but with people losing their homes, gas prices and driving about to become a rich man's hobby what are we headed for? Start stockpiling canned goods? Actually I'd much prefer hoarding 80's DVD's but I'm just a bit concerned. Anyone have stocks that have dropped or feeling the pinch somewhat. I'm canadian, but our countries have always been linked as far as economic prosperity. Were there ulterior motives for the rejection of the bailout plan? Was it to put some sting into a future democrat administration?
Posted by Stitch Groover (Member # 2895) on :
Whatever is happening to the American economy is all good for us here in Australia. Our dollar becomes stronger, inflation goes down, interest rates are dropping for the first time in 7 years...
Posted by journey (Member # 7316) on :
We have to bring our inflation under control too.
Posted by cindymancini (Member # 679) on :
quote:Originally posted by journey: </font><blockquote><font size="1" face=""Century Gothic", Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face=""Century Gothic", Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by cindymancini: Where's FDR when you need him??? That man rocked! </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face=""Century Gothic", Verdana, Arial">FDR's socialist policies didn't get us out of the Great Depression - that's a myth. WWII actually saved our economy.
Well, Hoover certainly wasn't doing anything effective to turn the economy around prior to FDR coming on board. That guy was whipped. Say what you will about FDR's policies, but when WWII was looming, his strategy to make more planes, more weapons, more ships than we ever had before created more jobs and for the first time in a long while, many of those unemployed went back to work. Additionally, let us not forget he was elected into office for four terms!! To me, that's impressive. I'm not arguing with you by any means journey. It all comes down to opinion and I have no problem hearing yours ! It's all good!
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
Yikes, the markets took another hefty loss today. Some CEO's need to be arrested.
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