With the way the auto industry stocks are going, pretty soon I’m going to buy a 10% stake in GM. How much of that government bailout money would I get then?

tsa gonna be a Blue Christmas for all of us , ain’t it?

John The Baptist on November 20, 2008 at 12:03 PM

Ya know, John, I’m a Christian. A good person. But I want these folks who are responsible for this hanged. In public. There is no excuse for this happening on the watch and with the sanction of our Congress. And they fiddled on, and postured, and preened. and lied, and spent money we don’t have, and allowed their criminal friends to get off scott free,.

Hanged.

What’s the story here?

This is getting ridiculous. Things aren’t that bad for the average Joe. If anything gas prices and other prices falling are making things easier – as long as you are still employed, that is.

Now for a ‘conspiracy theory’ brainstorming question:

Does anyone think there might be a little behind the scenes economic warfare in play here?

The US is actually doing pretty well vs. foreign markets from what I’ve read. I’ve always suspected the dollar was allowed to slide vs. the Euro to drive up exports and put inflation pressure on the Euro. Countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela whose economies are tied to oil appear to be in major trouble going forward.

Or perhaps this is all some orchestrated event to force us all into a single world currency?

I suppose you could expand further and apply the ‘anti-christ’ angle here as well (mark of the beast and all that nonsense).

Anybody else have any ‘out there’ economic suspicions lurking in the back of you mind?

justincase on November 20, 2008 at 9:57 AM

It’s not like the very old days, where the runner up was vice president, so it might be relatively easy to say, “since he is disqualified, we can go with the VP.”

In this case the VP is on the same ticket, so John McCain gets it (I assume since there is no precedent for this) or maybe it goes to the house(?). But….what if they’re both declared to not be natural-born? Who was the candidate lagging in third? Wouldn’t that be fun.

Anyway, I doubt this will happen, so enjoy the next four years.

Biden has never been nominated to be president. If Obama is disqualified from the Electoral College ballot, Joe Biden goes with him.

Terrye on November 20, 2008 at 4:08 AM

You get the same level of reaction whether times are good or bad. Those times will never end, they’ll just keep heading up up up/down down down.

The stock market is just a glorified betters market. I suppose you can value a corporation’s worth that way, since the bets are made in light of disclosed financial numbers, but, to reiterate Terrye’s point, unless you invest, you should worry less about the Dow index and take a look at your job situation.

The unemployment rate was at 6.5% in October, and will perhaps rise, but remember from economics that an unemployment rate of around 5% was normal, and we lived well under that for a long time. I’m not saying don’t worry, but just be rational. Oh, and housing will eventually stabilize. Money will be available. Now what about the autos?

CRA was their Reichstag but is has burned out of their control

And Chuck Schumer was the trigger man. Indy Mac. Some people smarter than Chuck (okay, okay) convinced him to send the Indy Mac letter to the world, ostensibly just to knock the price down for a quick swoop. Hey, what are Senate Banking Committee friends for?

But Chuck found out the fard way that the little can of gasoline they gave him was actually filled with nitroglycerine. Good thing you had two Senate buddies of your own running in the election, Chuck, or you would be swinging from a lampost right now, like you deserve.

As far as surviving another round of Clintons, eh, I guess there were surviors even in Jaws 2, but not everyone came out alive and look at the mess there was afterwards. Hillary won’t stop just yet. She was almost in a win/win but Obama winning gave her a better shot at what she’s doing now. Now her and Bill are pulling his strings and so are the others who funded getting him in there. Fact. The truth will unfold, and it already is.

Really people. I grew up in Oklahoma hearing stories about the Dust Bowl. I was on the farm during the Carter and Reagan years. I can remember when people were just thrilled to get a job, forget the 401K and the dental plan. This too shall pass.

But I do think that people are spooked, both by the change in administrations and by the global nature of the current credit crunch. I read that the industrialized country expected to be the hit the worst is not the US, it is Britain. And small industrialized countries like Iceland have been smacked really hard really fast.

We survived Carter… we survived Clinton… this, too shall pass.

Texas Rainmaker on November 19, 2008 at 9:54 PM
You’re right, but dammnfu*kit, this too hasn’t even started yet…..

Fortunata on November 19, 2008 at 10:53 PM

I tend to agree with Fortuna here. Let’s put it in Eyore terms.. We survived the knife to the arm and the .22 to the thigh but now they have a shotgun with 00 pointed at our guts.

Hopey Changey y’all

People always want to feel good and look good.

Or both.

(Or each other. After all.)

If money is worthless, commerce at anything other than the barter level cannot continue.

This is going to get worse than most of you can imagine.

A Pres. Obama would really have to mess up by the numbers for it not to go up from the start of his term.

StargazerA5

We survived Carter… we survived Clinton… this, too shall pass.

Texas Rainmaker on November 19, 2008 at 9:54 PM

You’re right, but dammnfu*kit, this too hasn’t even started yet…..

2) Losses of 40 to 60% in retirement assets will postpone the retirement of the “bulge” of the baby boomers for 5 to 7 year, keeping Social Security from insolvency (thus postponing the fed’s need to “fix” it).

3) Less economic activity means less energy demand and less carbon footprint for America as a whole, thus postponing nay, perhaps even reversing, the rising of the oceans.

4) Less economic activity, less tax revenue, therefore less spent on the military, making us less capable and less likely to attack another innocent country, ergo we regain our moral stature in old Europe and the muslim countries.

SEE?? HE’S NOT EVEN IN OFFICE YET AND THE ONE HAS SOLVED ALL OUR PROBLEMS.
ALL BOW TO THE ONE!!!!
ELEVENTY!!!!
/sarc

In the (in my opinion) unlikely event the Republicans take over Congress in 2010 and do a creditable job, Obama will run on their record in 2012 like Clinton did in ‘96. Maybe it’s best to let the Democrats do their damage throughout, terrible as that sounds. Let the public get its fill since this is what they wanted.

ddrintn on November 19, 2008 at 10:03 PM

Look to ’78, not ’96. What happened in the Carter midterm?

justincase on November 19, 2008 at 9:26 PM

I still think the result is Biden becomes president.

If they do nothing, the economy stays bad through 2010 midterms and they lose, if they intervene they way they want to, the economy gets even worse. The only way the economy improves is to cut taxes, regulation and the size of government and let the recession run its course – how likely is that?

Vashta.Nerada on November 19, 2008 at 5:43 PM

In the (in my opinion) unlikely event the Republicans take over Congress in 2010 and do a creditable job, Obama will run on their record in 2012 like Clinton did in ’96. Maybe it’s best to let the Democrats do their damage throughout, terrible as that sounds. Let the public get its fill since this is what they wanted.

My portfolio is down about 20% the past two months.

F U Barack.

Wall Street got better when McCain was closing in. Obama won and the markets tanked.

How the HELL does Obama score points with voters over the economy? Sure, this is still Bush’ watch, but Obama is responsible for the current market demise.

The only winners are gun shops, ammo manufacturers and gun range owners.

Dow reaches 6000 before Christmas.