Reader comments
Stocks tumble for second day; Treasurys surge

Not over yet | 2:48 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

The way I look at it is we will have a terrible 4th quarter that will carry into quarter 1. The bottom will then be hit and we will start going up slowly.

(Keep in mind I have no Crystal Ball)

Fear Factor | 2:49 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

How many times a year do we have "The Storm of the Century"? The media knows that fear and hype sell. I'm not saying that we don't have problems, but the overwhelming majority of Americans work hard, pay taxes, and didn't get into all of this "house flipping" and speculative running up of home prices that we keep hearing led to this. It was a very small percentage that engaged in this.

And yet the media has been ranting "the economic sky is falling" for over 18 months now. If this is all just to make Obama suddenly look like a hero when he gets into office, that's a sick, treasonous ploy.

If you want war, keep pushing us toward a depression because that's the only way we got out of it last time. Keep scaring everyone, keep feeding the fear. Just so long as your ratings don't go down, heaven forbid!

The Economic Sky Has Fallen | 3:06 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

Re: Fear Factor

My experience has been quite the opposite of yours, Fear Factor. Almost everybody I know has been severely affected by the current bad economy. Businesses are cutting spending and making layoffs. Anybody in the real estate or building industry is seeing big downturns. In the computer industry a great many freelancers are seeing work dry up. Whole neighborhoods of my demographic (early 30's with young families and homes built in the last ten years) are finding themselves deeply upside down in their home values despite not trying to speculate or 'house flip'. Finally, my 401K has almost halved in value.

I'm not sure I see any treasonous ploy here. I think it's a legitimate story.

Comments continue below

C.w. | 3:30 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

The stock market lacks confidence, and the people lack confidence in the market. My opinion is that those people who aren't in debt to their eyeballs WOULD start spending money as soon as they saw Wall Street start to take responsibility for its mistakes.
All these constant bailouts are just another reason why the Am. public (and by extension pension fund managers) have no confidence in Wall Street. I think the public would like to see a modicum of "fairness" when it comes to the business world. Its not "fair" to make the taxpayers foot the bill for corporate mistakes, and its especially not "fair" when the co's take expensive trips and joyrides in jets while asking for welfare!

Ralph | 4:09 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

I must not have been easy, but some how Bush has succeeded in pushing the nation into collapse and there will never be an impeachment or investigation to learn how he did it. Like other evil rulers he has brought suffering to a whole nation.

Earl | 4:28 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

Fear Factor touches on something inadvertently, and that is that confidence is the only thing holding the dollar up. Think about that. The dollar has no value unless we have confidence in it. Other that that, it's just paper. People would have much more confidence if they knew they could exchange their dollars for something of worth at any time from the issuer. As it stands, it's like clapping our hands to bring Tinkerbell back to life. If we just hope real hard, the dollar will increase in value. Is this any way to run an economy?

Earl | 4:43 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

@not over yet: if you believe things will bottom out in the first quarter of next year,I've got some great stocks I'd like to sell you. This thing is just getting started. We've got at least a year or two of this, and it could go on for the next decade. The Fed and Treasury are pouring gasoline on the fire, so there's still a lot of paper money to burn. It won't stop until interest rates get into double digits and reserve requirements at banks are raised. Nobody wants to be president when that happens, but somebody's going to have to bite the bullet.

Not worried | 5:25 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

Hey, Ralph, you must believe all the misinformation put out by the left-wing media. Don't you realize that if there were a Republican, just one, to pin the blame on, Congress would have had them on the gallows by now. Congress has not even called for hearings on the melt down and who is to blame for it. Get real.

Obama's On His Way!! | 5:57 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

Don't worry. The Bama is "on his way" to rescue us and take us all to that bright and glorious promised land. Yes, We Can!! Repeat. Yes, We Can!! Hope. Hope is Bright. O. O, the "o" one. He'll save us!!!!

RE: Ralph | 6:26 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

If Bush is the evil leader, congress must be his goons. Ralph, have you ever heard of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd? The sooner poeople realize democrats and republicans are dividing the country and playing people off of each other, the sooner we can get rid of ALL of them and elect people who have some common sense.

Huh? | 7:19 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

How is this mess the fault of the president, or a politician? How about holding AIG responsible for taking a corporate executive weekend in Palm Springs in the middle of being bailed out? Or the Big 3 automakers asking for a bailout while refusing to sell their private jets and cut costs?

The problem here is that a number of people have gotten rich off the poor, and now they refuse to take ownership for their mistakes. Greed (and no regulation to keep greed it check) made Wall St do it. It's big business at its worst. Blaming the political party you don't agree with is the perfect red herring, allowing Wall St to escape guilt.

Re; Huh? | 7:50 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

If you owned stocks would you hold on to them knowing that Obama and the democrat congress is going to hammer anything you earn with a huge tax? I sold my stock the day after the election because I knew this was going to happen and I am glad I did. If you want to see the economy rebound, cut taxes..all of them. Oh but, you say, the rich will get richer! Look around you my friend, you are seeing what happens if no one is rich! "Rich" people, start companies, create jobs and makes the system work. If you want to live in a country where there are no "rich" people left, there are plenty of those, we call them "third world countries".

Anonymous | 9:00 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

You're stocks may have lost money but, you're what Bush called the ownership generation? The rock you own has become a grain of sand. You were able to invest in your future. You were told you were the equal of all on Wall Street by becoming an investor.

Re; Huh? | 7:50 p.m Look around you, if consumers don't have money to buy with and they fear for their futures, the economy dries up. It's when the wealth is spread to the middle class and they buy more goods and services that businesses grow to meet growing demand. Growing demand creates opportunities for investors. It's no growth in incomes, outsourcing and greedy wealthy people who don't want to earn money so they dream of investment scams that got us here.

It's like chipmunks giving up collecting nuts to get in on the nut futures market and living the high life with loans made against their paper nut earnings.

There are plenty of wealthy in Mexico and third world nations. The world's third wealthiest man in in Mexico. Have you heard of the Mordelo Family?

I've seen wealth in Costa Rica too. They live in gated communities, like in America,

Sam | 9:54 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008

REF: RAULF
dude, you think Bush is to blame, you just wait and see what obama does. You all have not seen nothing yet. Can't wait to see these blogs in 12 months. Gunna be a lot worse than now.

Re: Anonymous | 12:03 a.m. Nov. 21, 2008

So, you would support a country where no one has any incentive to improve his life? No one can expect to be rewarded for hard work and ingenuity? No one can have a hope for "getting rich". I wonder why your ancestors emigrated to America? Just so they could never ge "rich"? I know mine came here for freedom to prosper, not be punished by government if they did succeed. Your world is upside down! Just because a few people are wealthy doesn't mean other people were cheated somehow!

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