I heard that. Rumor is that the Fed will start guaranteeing commercial paper.

Im no financial expert either..but this is what I was thinking too. Since I'm 35, it will be a while before I retire. For the first 8 months of this year, I was dumping 20% into my 401K. I dropped it back to 10% in August...but now I'm thinking of jacking it up back up to 20 maybe even 25%.

Why's that? Hasnt it always been lower than 70 until the past couple years?

Everyone keeps saying things will turn around. But what is going to happen if the unemployment numbers keep going higher. Banks/financial institutions going out of buisness puts alot of people out of work. Then there is the trickle down effect. These are the people that buy houses/real estate. That affects everyone in the consturction industry, which affects machinery and so on. Not to mention who will be buying the cars or going on vacation? Even going out to dinner is a stretch at this point. These industries will be affected in a big way. Many people will lose their jobs. Plus, the job market is tough now, what is going to happen when all these people who thought they were going to retire still have to work? It is a very bad situation we are in now, to say the least.
More important is where is this tax revenue that funds so many things in this country going to come from/be made up? Many programs woud be affected severly.
I know everyone wants to try to look on the bright side. Sure there is probably money to be made in the very long term. But to me everything looks extremley bleak at the moment.

I was going to buy 100 shares of Sirius XM this morning...but I decided to super size my value meal instead.

Not sure about that....understood it had to do with levels set by OPEC

http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm

Basically it wasnt till last year or '06 that it ever went above $70. Was close to 70 though for the Iran/Iraq war in the early 80's. It was $20something during the beginning of this decade.

Very thorough and interesting article! It appears as though consumers are again held hostage over gas prices....however the rest of the world pays much more(I don't think they drive as much)

Okay. I hear you. Do you realize that if you did this a week ago you would probably looking at about a 25% loss right now? And everyone was calling it a bottom THEN.

For there to be a bottom, you need capitulation. You need to scrape the abyss and there needs to be some type of resolution to get us out of there.

You are a good guy GPK. I dont know you but i can tell you are. Believe me when I tell you that there are more dominoes to fall.

Remember that this isnt a typical market. This is an unwinding of not only a speculative housing bubble but a 25 year credit bubble. Lots of parties that we are paying for.

Timmi i love you. You make this site infinitely more entertaining for me.

Thank you sincerely.:{>:

Thats why I am unsure when to bump it back up. :zz: :zz:

Thanks for the advice....and I guess I should be happy I dropped back to 10% back in August

And Scavs may tell you different...but I like to think Im a good guy:tro:

I am certainly no guru and there are a few on here that have forgotten more than i know.

What I do know something about are contingent liabilities and sweetheart those are worse in some ways than the actual losses.

Kev if you hear this from someone you are on a first date with - plan on pulling your own pud later :D

:eek:

:p ;) :p

Think of it this way. Would you bet on a baseball team that has lost 20 games in a row? Why bet into a streak? It's the same thig with the market. Dropping like a stone with no end in site. Wait for a sustained turn around and then slowly get on board. It might not be the bottom, but you will still get good value on big time names.

Fixed annuities are going to be extremely popular in the short-term.

okay, the market just rallied about 800 points in a half hour.

Okay, in the last five minutes it just dropped over 300 points.