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How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:17 am
by Little Raven
America is currently writhing in the grip of the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Congressmen are scrambling to figure out how to best spend staggering amounts of taxpayer money in an attempt to reverse the situation. The age of the investment bank has officially passed.

Have you noticed? I mean, has any of this noticeably affected your personal situation yet?

I ask because I think that if it weren't for my internet habits, I'd be completely unaware that anything at all was amiss.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:21 am
by noxiousdog
Little Raven wrote:America is currently writhing in the grip of the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
hardly. I'd call the 16% mortgages of the early 80's about a magnatude worse than this. Hell, the S&L crisis of the mid-late 80's was almost as bad without figuring in 20 years of inflation.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:24 am
by Isgrimnur
I'm doing much better than I was last year, but then that was just a recovery from the last collapse. As a computer programmer, I got out of school in May of 2000 and the job market collapsed shortly thereafter, leaving me to attempt to get a programming job through my call center experience. After 7 years of fits and starts, I finally gave up on the city (and relationship) that I was in and got an offer in November of last year to move to Dallas.

My current job is a programmer for a privately-held company that writes bank software for customer contact personnel at various levels. They've been around for 28 years, serve the largest consumer banks in the industry, and have never laid off a programmer. Assuming I don't find a way to screw it up, I should be sitting pretty through this one.

That being said, my rough estimate is that between my consumer debt and student loans, I'm in hock for 1.5 years' worth of my salary. It's going to be a long, slow climb out.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:34 am
by LordMortis
Little Raven wrote:America is currently writhing in the grip of the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Congressmen are scrambling to figure out how to best spend staggering amounts of taxpayer money in an attempt to reverse the situation. The age of the investment bank has officially passed.

Have you noticed? I mean, has any of this noticeably affected your personal situation yet?

I ask because I think that if it weren't for my internet habits, I'd be completely unaware that anything at all was amiss.
My house is worth less now not only than when I bought it but it worse less than what I owe on it after over six years of payments where I have consistantly been paying more than twice the montly principle.

Gas prices are nearly double what they were three years ago which has caused across the board inflation as it had to.

No raises this year.

Company sponsored pension has been cut.

I had to revoke the access of some 700 people we had to let go last month.

I still haven't bought the new car I was planning on buying almost two years ago.

My retirement investments have lost almost 20% in under a year.

Two of my sisters haven't had a job in almost a year another is surviving the economic desolation of Katrina as a housewife.

My dad is in danger of losing his pension while state/city refuse to cut the value of a propery he coudln't sell at half the their estimated tax value.

I am part of an industrial setting and we still want to sacrifice industry in the States. So I see it personally and I see it all around me every day. We never learn.

And I consider myself foruntate. We get buy. We still play. We stress. We fret. But we get by. Probably because we have never been wasteful material people.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:42 am
by LawBeefaroni
401K and pension are probably getting killed. I avoid looking at those. Personally managed portfolio below January levels so it's cost me 9 months at least.


However I'm not ignorant of the fact that I have a job, no debt (except a mortgage), flat to increasing home value, and if I lose 4 figures in a day it's because I chose to risk it and I'm fortunate enough to be able to. It still hurts but it has been a hell of a ride so far. Besides, I'm sure much of my losses went to those poor, poor investment banks and hedge funds. It's almost like charity. :x

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:46 am
by Kraken
Speaking strictly of the financial crisis that's going on right now...not much. We were watching our small Roth IRA annuities at AIG nervously for a few days. Otherwise, we don't really have any investments to worry about. Our 401ks are shrinking along with everybody else's. We have stopped even fantasizing about ever buying a bigger house or traveling. :cry:

The prolonged, ongoing recession-that-isn't is a different story. We've been losing purchasing power and security for years, and I can only see that continuing to erode in the near term. The credit crisis has not made that noticeably worse.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:49 am
by LordMortis
LawBeefaroni wrote: Besides, I'm sure much of my losses went to those poor, poor investment banks and hedge funds. It's almost like charity. :x
Aye. I was going to pull my pension and put it in a saving account last October. :x :doh: I was assured these are normal turns and that the continued best startegy is to consistantly put money in up turns and down turns becuase the market always makes money. It's not gamling. It's long term inversting and the peaks and valleys iron out in upward trend. Now I'm in for a penny. In for a pound. Not only is my social security not something I should count on for retirement, apparently neither is personal retirement.

...And I keep giving them money... :roll:

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:50 am
by Austin
My stocks are taking a pounding. This wouldn't bother me as much if I were still employed. I have sufficient cash to last for a good bit but I'd hate to touch anything in my stock portfolio in the state it's in now. But it's just money and I can make more right? :P I'm going to school and doing things I enjoy and find fulfilling. I'd be much more comfortable being able to move a little more into a more stable portfolio but as it is, we're good. (Still have to work on the budget though :doh:)

Edit: thanks for the reminder, I need to roll my 401k into an IRA or... something...

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:50 am
by Lee
Sure the 401s and IRAs are shrinking, but if you are not retired what's the big deal if the market goes back up by the time you retire? I am still putting money into them every month and just look at it as buying cheap. Am I missing something?

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:56 am
by LordMortis
Ironrod wrote:Speaking strictly of the financial crisis that's going on right now...not much. We were watching our small Roth IRA annuities at AIG nervously for a few days. Otherwise, we don't really have any investments to worry about. Our 401ks are shrinking along with everybody else's. We have stopped even fantasizing about ever buying a bigger house or traveling. :cry:

The prolonged, ongoing recession-that-isn't is a different story. We've been losing purchasing power and security for years, and I can only see that continuing to erode in the near term. The credit crisis has not made that noticeably worse.
It's not just investments. It's jobs. The stupid US economy if founded on growth. The stupid foundation of that growth is capital investment and loans, even for operating expenses. Everyone leverages themselves on borrowing. There is nothing to be borrowed right now. We've loaned out the same fiat money to seven or eight or more people and now we're refusing to let them keep it and they can't pay us back.

People didn't see it when it was just auto. They didn't see it when it was auto and housing. They didn't see it when it was auto, housing, and banking. I'm not sure they'll see it when it's auto, housing, banking, and investments...

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:17 pm
by The Meal
Related to the financial downturn was our ability to purchase a large house at a price that was significantly cheaper than the amounts spent by our friends for their large homes a few years earlier. So that was nice.

More recently, however, it hasn't been all that awesome. My 401k is down about 20% from its peak a few years ago. But I'm 20+ years out from really caring, so I console myself by saying that at least I'm paying cheap prices for picking up stocks with my current biweekly investments.

I've got nothing else (directly) in the market right now. So that's good.

The biggest thing that's affected me has been work-related. I chose to leave my job of six years when that company was purchased by one of its competitors. I left willingly to work for a very small "startup-esque" non-competitor, which I thought would provide work for 18-24 months. It lasted eleven. I then took advantage of nearly five months unemployment insurance, went about two months with no income, and finally managed to get hired on for a position where I'm "differently qualified" in an unrelated industry. I believe today is my 365-day anniversary at that company.

However, last February I got contacted by a direct competitor (and former employer) which was putting out feelers regarding opening an office locally (I was far from the only person who was unwillingly moved out of that industry that didn't want to move out of the area). They opened up a small office the next month, with plans to expand. By early summer they had decided to hire on a few mechanical engineers, and by mid-summer I interviewed with would-be coworkers out in their California office. The interview went good but not great, so while my would-be local coworkers were clamoring to bring me on board, the CA office dragged its feet with a series of roadblocks. The last roadblock tossed in front of me was to wait for a manager to be hired locally under which I'd work. That was taken care of in late August, and he was brought on board and trained during early September. During lunchtime on September 12th I received a phone message from the recruiter saying that they needed to put together a "justification" for bringing me on board, and get that passed through the main office in California. At the end of the day, she called back and said, "Good news! We don't need that justification afterall, we've got an open req with your name on it, and we should have something official for you, in writing, by the end of next week. Unofficially, I can tell you that we're going to make an offer in the same ballpark as your last job in this industry, and I should be able to share that number with you early next week." Over the course of that weekend, the financial markets hit the skids, and by the middle of the following week, she called me back to let me know they're on an indefinite hiring freeze, and doesn't know if they'll be able to bring me on board after all.

I could find out that they want me to fill a "must have" role, which'd mean that they could skirt the hiring freeze. But based on how long they dragged their feet after I had interviewed, I'm guessing that whatever resistance had built up in California would keep my name off that list. After going through all this, I'm much less enthused about the position, but even with a severe case of diminished enthusiasm, it's still very obvious that it'd be a pretty big step in the right direction for me, my family, and my career.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:23 pm
by tgb
Since my business is tied to the housing market, I've been hit really hard this year. Many of my clients have either a)pulled out of the Tucson market - Tucson is fourth in the nation in foreclosures, b)cut back on their marketing budgets or c)gone out of business completely. There isn't a Home Show in the country that hasn't shrunk this year, and one of my biggest clients, who used to sponsor the shows at $20,000 each, has cut their 2009 budget - they will still be participating with a couple of booths, but no more sponsorship. My personal income is about a third less than it has been for the previous five years.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:55 pm
by Bob
Not much yet. I'm stuck in a house too small for my family (we had planned to sell around now, but that's not an option in this market with our current debt structure.) And I've got a year to ride out on a 3-year ARM. Right now the interest is actually fairly low, but who knows what's coming.

I've got a job but zero savings. So I'm aware how quickly things could change.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:42 pm
by Scuzz
Other than the IRA dropping like a rock things aren't too bad.

We bought our house long enough ago so that it is still worth maybe double what we paid for it and the interest rate is good. Luckily commercial construction is doing better than residential. I would hate to be a residential contractor now.

The price of gas is hurting the budget, especially with my daughter just starting to drive. She will need a job.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:51 pm
by Davidbld
Well, me and the wife have a ton of money in CD's we were once upon a time gonna buy a house with. At one point in time we were making about 800 dollars a month in interest alone. Well all that money was in a bank called IndyMac, you know, the one that went belly up and the government siezed. Well thankfully all the money was insured and we pulled it and now its making half as much at Wells Fargo. Since we live in an apartment and dont have to worry about loans and interest rates on loans we want interest rates to go UP so CD rates will go up...but that doesnt look like its gonna happen. Our income hasnt gone up by much but food and gas has so we're saving a little less. No job losses or anything so I guess thats good.

Dave

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:03 pm
by Kraken
Davidbld wrote:we want interest rates to go UP so CD rates will go up...but that doesnt look like its gonna happen.
Actually, banks are starting to compete for deposits. ING Direct has an 18-month CD paying 4.5% with no minimum...but with rates rising you might be better off with 12 months at 4%. Various local banks have CDs at better than 4.5%, although with large minimum deposits.

Being highly risk-averse, I'm a big fan of CDs.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:06 pm
by LordMortis
Ironrod wrote:
Davidbld wrote:we want interest rates to go UP so CD rates will go up...but that doesnt look like its gonna happen.
Actually, banks are starting to compete for deposits. ING Direct has an 18-month CD paying 4.5% with no minimum...but with rates rising you might be better off with 12 months at 4%. Various local banks have CDs at better than 4.5%, although with large minimum deposits.

Being highly risk-averse, I'm a big fan of CDs.
I was going with CDs until fear my car would at any time took over, now all my money is in a basic less than 1%savings. After the car dies and I buy another we'll see how much is left and then I'll start putting money in CDs again or I'll dump it into my second mortgage. Not sure which. We'll see how vulnerable I feel the economy then.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:08 pm
by The Meal
I use the Money Market account for my savings, but GMAC Bank has some pretty decent CD rates as well:

ImageImage

http://www.gmacbank.com/todays-rates/cd-rates.html" target="_blank

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:19 pm
by Carpet_pissr
This latest move will be felt by everyone I can assure you. You can't feel it yet, and it won't be tomorrow, and it will probably roll out slowly, but there is a cost to this action, in the form of future higher (and probably MUCH higher) inflation, and likely prolonged given the amount of $$ they are bandying about.

I would ask the question again in 6-9 months. It's about to get much much worse. Damn fool intervention and worse, the terms, imo.

Here's a quote from the hastily formed article about the "rescue" operation:

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

No oversight of the action, no accountability. Just incredible the hubris and lack of respect for any kind of rule of law and specifically the constitution in the current administration.

So the people who fell asleep at the switch and let things get this bad before taking drastic and harmful action will be able to do what they want, without review, or oversight. Brilliant.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:28 pm
by Skinypupy
I refuse to look at my IRA or 401k (which were both meager to begin with), as I'm sure they'd make me cry. I'm 25+ years away from using them, so I'm not going to lose a ton of sleep fiddling with them, especially since I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Thankfully, my home is still worth about 1/3 more than I paid for it, and since it's a great home in an incredible area, I can't really see any situation where that would change. I recently got a new position with a pseudo-raise (switching from hourly to salary is great, but with no OT, I'll be making nearly the same), and am counting my lucky stars that I still have a job. We've run up a shitload of medical bills over the past year, but have been pretty diligent about trying to make consistent payments so they don't get too out of control. So I'm in a bit more debt than I'd like, but not enough to sink me.

I won't be buying a new flatscreen any time soon, but I'm doing OK all things considered.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:42 pm
by Bakhtosh
This is a problem more than 8 years in the making. This is a problem with more than enough blame to go around that no one in D.C. can point fingers at anyone else. That's why they're all more interested in passing the bail-out than in fixing the problem.

Personally, I haven't felt any effects of the financial problem. My investments haven't been in anything directly affected. Our local housing market is only slightly depressed. Actually, sub $100k houses like ours (1600 sq.ft., 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath) are more in demand. It's the large houses that are depressed. There are some real deals out there in that market.

Had my wife not quit her job to spend more time with the kiddos, we'd be in the market to build/buy a bigger house in the next 6 months or so.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:34 pm
by Davidbld
When Indymac failed my wife panicked...we could have gotten a better CD rate but she did a little research and found Wells Fargo didnt do much in the Sub-Prime fiasco, there a very conservative bank but of course there CD rates kinda suck. When the CD's come due I'm gonna take my half of the money and put it in a decent rate CD. The wife can do what she wants with her share. Shes afraid the FDIC is gonna run out of money and I tell her if that happens we're all screwed anyway. Its funny we have a small checking account at WAMU and now look whats happening to them.

Dave

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:39 pm
by Isgrimnur
The one thing I've heard to do with CDs is to set them up on a rotating basis. Split your money into thirds and run CDs staggered. That way, in the event that you need funds on the short term, you're never more than 1/3 of the selected term from the ability to make a withdrawal. Also, you can rate shop to maximize the return if your bank's rates are no longer competitive.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:29 pm
by Kraken
Isgrimnur wrote:The one thing I've heard to do with CDs is to set them up on a rotating basis. Split your money into thirds and run CDs staggered. That way, in the event that you need funds on the short term, you're never more than 1/3 of the selected term from the ability to make a withdrawal. Also, you can rate shop to maximize the return if your bank's rates are no longer competitive.
I invested my MIL's money in six CDs of equal size. One matures every two months, on average -- I play around with their terms to get the best interest deals and second-guess the market as each one comes up. This is all very easy to do online at ING Direct, which has better rates than most physical banks. It's actually kind of fun, and I've made several thousand bucks for her risk-free.

Of course my wife's brothers will be ripshit when she finally dies and her money is not instantly available. I will undoubtedly have to take some lumps and liquidate the CDs, rather than cash them out at maturity like a rational person would do.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:22 am
by noxiousdog
Lee wrote:Sure the 401s and IRAs are shrinking, but if you are not retired what's the big deal if the market goes back up by the time you retire? I am still putting money into them every month and just look at it as buying cheap. Am I missing something?
It simply depends on how much time you have. If you're under 45, this situation (assuming you stay employed, and don't incur a snowball financial loss like losing a house) there shouldn't have any long term impact.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:29 pm
by CGMark
I am doing OK with money. Just have to really budget. Gf i great for that. She is good with money, and how much we need to save each week, blah blah.

Work though. We all went from 40+ to about 32+ and no one over 40. Which sucks. Normally, I just half heartedly try and find a Holiday job, this year, i think I may really have to. not to mention. We found out, for sure, last month that Gf is pregnant, and due in March. 26th more than likely. So thats LOADS of cash.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:45 pm
by LawBeefaroni
CGMark wrote: So thats LOADS of cash.
You know, I was talking with a friend about this. She was worried about being pregnant, money-wise. She came up with a budget and decided it wasn't all that bad. When you actually think about it, it makes sense. From my purely academic, no-child-having perspective there is the OB care, ped visits after but beyond healthcare it's not as horrible as some make it out to be. They eat and poo. Food and diapers. Now of course at some point there's school. But initially if you don't go overboard and use a kid as an excuse to spend, I don't think it's LOADS of cash. More cash, yes. LOADS happens later.

Now we also know a couple with enough crap to open a ToysRUs in the garage, a toddler wardrobe that would put my entire closet to shame, a stroller collection to rival Leno's car collection, and upgraded houses twice in 2 years "for the kid." They have a 1-year-old. They complain that it's expensive. No shit.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 4:05 pm
by JonathanStrange
We can always fake our own deaths and start a forum in Buenos Aires.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 4:05 pm
by JonathanStrange
We can always fake our own deaths and start a forum in Buenos Aires.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:47 am
by Zarathud
Or we can fake our own deaths twice for double the profit!

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:14 am
by nasai
It hasn't. I prey on the weak.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:09 am
by Defiant
Nope. Well, I guess my retirement funds dropped further, but thats about it.
Ironrod wrote:
Davidbld wrote:we want interest rates to go UP so CD rates will go up...but that doesnt look like its gonna happen.
Actually, banks are starting to compete for deposits. ING Direct has an 18-month CD paying 4.5% with no minimum...but with rates rising you might be better off with 12 months at 4%. Various local banks have CDs at better than 4.5%, although with large minimum deposits.

Being highly risk-averse, I'm a big fan of CDs.
Same here. Citibank's offering a 6 month CD for 4.0%, but their rates for other CDs are lower (same thing with ING, with the 18 month CD having a higher rate than the other lengths).

From what I understand, longer term CDs generally have higher rates (since you're giving up your money for a longer period of time). There are a few reasons that I can think of for why they would have lower rates for shorter CDs:

1. They need money for the short term, so they offer added incentive to get people to deposit their money over that term.
2. The Banks expect inflation to drop in the future, and don't want to be stuck with long term CDs with high interest rates when the inflation drops. If they expect inflation to go higher, they would make longer term CDs more attractive, to get people to lock into their CDs now, rather than down the line.

That second reason, plus fears of deflation (though I take it the governments going to do what it can to prevent that), make me less sure rates are going to climb. Anyone have more insight?

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:49 am
by Kraken
Nade wrote: That second reason, plus fears of deflation (though I take it the governments going to do what it can to prevent that), make me less sure rates are going to climb. Anyone have more insight?
Some economist, when asked about the future direction of interest rates, famously said "They will fluctuate." Trying to outguess the market is the fun part of investing in CDs, which are otherwise pretty boring.

My personal trigger level is 5%. If I can get a rate higher than that, I lock it in for at least a year and often longer. A CD that matures next week was getting 5.15% for the past two years. I've set it to renew for 9 months at 3.85%. My crystal ball says that inflation will nudge rates up slightly by the middle of next year. But I'm obviously just guessing. Between the bailout package being discussed now and the upcoming election, this economy is less predictable than any in memory.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:59 am
by Exodor
Bakhtosh wrote:Our local housing market is only slightly depressed. Actually, sub $100k houses like ours (1600 sq.ft., 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath) are more in demand. It's the large houses that are depressed.
:shock:

Our house is 1900 sq foot, 3 BR 1.5 bath. We paid $214k for it in Dec 2005 and it's worth ~$250k now.

I think the reason our housing market is only slightly depressed is because it never really ballooned in value that way some markets did. The Portland market saw some crazy appreciation rates for a few years and prices are only now starting to come back to reality.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:57 pm
by Matrix
Been doing my graduate degree, and spoke yesterday to my professor (pretty famous speaker and been written up in NY times last week, etc) of international business his thoughts on financial market and stimulus package.
He said, that one, stimulus package is necessary as right now credit so tight that BoA didn't give MCdonalds franchises loans for renovation (we talking here 50-60,000 branches of most stable and economic resistant busines) (i think that happened yesterday) and when McDonalds doesnt get loans, you know the shit has hit the fan. Last week there was no money to be had, as banks clamped on any landing. So its not just financial market, its trickle down effect.

My own business have had best year so far, i am practically not coaching any more, have 7 coaches on call for clients. But it has little to do with recession, i think i just learned from previous years and started to run it more like a business, and not ad hoc shop. That said, if it wasn't for recession and financial collapses, i would be doing triple amount of business. But i am not complaining.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:53 pm
by Greggy_D
There is still credit money to be had.
LOS ANGELES, Sep 22, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Media Rights Capital, the leading independent film, television and digital studio has finalized a three-year, $350 million revolving credit facility that will position the company for continued growth, it was announced today by Media Rights Capital co-CEOs Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk. The financing was provided by the foremost entertainment lenders, led by JPMorgan Chase as administrative agent and issuing bank Comerica as collateral agent. The first closing was $295 million this past week with up to a year to close the remaining $55 million, which comes at the conclusion of the worst week in United States credit markets in more than 75 years. The new facility will be used to provide additional capital for expanded film, television and digital projects.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:09 pm
by Matrix
I think this will be really bad. "The amount of assets that disappeared are unprecedented since great depression" to quote my professor
Financial markets essentially imploded, main reason for the down fall is very complex derivatives that weren't reflecting the real risk of transaction.
Chain events followed.

Greg, that's one example, for each one of those, 10 wont be able to get money.

It is not 1 financial company collapse, it is whole financial industry that collapsed. There is no more investment banks, even Jp Morgan and Goldman Sachs are now privet banks.
Now, what are effects of whole industry collapse? i don't know, but we have seen nothing yet. The shit has hit the fan, now the question is, what follows.

PS: Here is a http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_ ... fi/economy at real estate this month, analysts expected drop of 1% in prices. Drop was 11.5% , bigest in 17 years.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:36 pm
by Dogstar
I'm watching my stocks that I own go down with considerable dismay. I don't exactly have a tremendous amount of confidence in my broker at Merrill Lynch. Any fun tips anyone wants to offer as to when it might be time to get out, or is the house already on fire with the door barricaded?

Two fun stories.
WaMu seized by the Feds, and then sold.
Chinese banks advised to stop lending to US banks to limit financial losses.

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:16 am
by Matrix
In my graduate business school (i am at Baruch in NYC), this has been a serious topic of discussion. A finance professor suggests, that we are far from bottom, in fact by his estimation, we will hit bottom next summer, and then will go into deep recession. Don't take my word for it Dogstar, but i would put as much as i can into liquid assets, and then convert them to Euros. Which seems to be be the most stable currency right now, and least affected economies. inflation of dollar will probably go through the rough, because where do they get 700 billion ? considering we already in large defect. btu they can always print money..


PS: just ran into this article, and WOW, 700 bail out is just a top of the icberg.See for yourself.http://www.reuters.com ... et="_blank

Re: How has the recent economic turmoil affected you?

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:59 am
by ImLawBoy
The most direct impact on me is that we haven't been able to sell my wife's condo (where she lived before we started shacking up). We've had it on the market for over a year-and-a-half now, with very few showings. It's definitely a "starter" home, since it's a one bedroom, one bath with no parking. (BTW, if anyone in the Chicago area is looking for something in the city with that description for $175K, PM me!) With the market completely dead (and I'm guessing first time buyers are waiting or unable to obtain financing), we're just dropping money every month into that mortgage when we'd much rather have it going into the bank.

Beyond that, we're OK. Our jobs seem safe (knock on wood), we pay off the credit card every month, and we've got some money in the bank (which all seem to be going to repairs on the house . . .). I'm still pretty nervous about everything, but that's just my nature.

I'm thinking of investing in Lotto tickets . . . .