Nikkei down 9.38%. The world's third largest economy. Trading was suspended in Jakarta, down 10%. Heng Seng down 5.5%. India's Sensex down 7.7%. Britain to inject 50 billion pounds into the British banking system today. So much for the "confidence" boost from our $700 billion giveaway.
http://biz.yahoo.com/...
I am hearing the terms "panic selling", "dread", and "fear of the unknown". The Asian markets usually follow the lead of the Dow, but this is severe. Waiting to see what happens in Europe. Tomorrow could be really, really ugly. Personally, I have seen my retirement account get a hatchet job of about 25% this year. I am relatively young so I'm not fretting too much, but I feel sorry for those on the verge of retirement who are not so lucky as to have more time to accumulate retirement savings.
I hate to repeat arguments that have already been made, but we were told that an "emergency" package was necessary to avoid catastrophe. Yet it looks like, as many predicted, that it will make no difference. We are now hearing that for this money to "work" will take many months, and the effects will be felt down the road. Why, then, did we rush into this decision? Why did we make the Secretary of the Treasury the most powerful man in the world? Why did we run like scared children into the open arms of those who do not have our interests in mind? Why did we choose to give our money away to those who already have plenty of it? Fear is the best motivator of all, that's why. (Think Iraq, Holocaust, etc.) Unfortunately, those in power have learned that lesson far better than the rest of us. Now we will be stuck with a recession/depression as well as a huge tax bill to pay off because of this giveaway. I am not writing to gloat or to bash. I just hope we all learn a lesson from this.
Update: Changed the title per rec. Thanks.