A case made for NO BAIL OUT by Time....

"Rescuing financial institutions is not the best solution. Yes, banks are needed to provide capital to businesses. But it is not necessary to spend $1 trillion to maintain liquidity. If the government is to intervene, it should pick and choose which claims to purchase; claims that are directly tied to mortgages would be a good start. "


http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...0.html?cnn=yes

Bucco, Taxpayers will foot the bill for this fiasco with or without the bailout.
The bloodletting on Wall Street yesterday was chilling. Think about all those pension funds that states guarantee. If a fund loses half it's value, taxpayers have to make up the difference.
This is an unprecedented assault on our Treasury and IMHO, the security of our nation. Where will it end? The powers that Paulsen and Co would have been given with this bailout would have been.. a license to steal.
I am furious. Americans should all be furious. We should be demonstrating in the streets across America.
I was terrified about what would happen without the bailout. I'm not terrifed now. Blood has spilled on Wall Street. None of us know everything that was in the bailout bill. That's scary. I no longer trust anyone running this country.
I think for the most part they are charlatans and whores.
OK Tony, before you go banning me for profanity, if the word is good enough for a fifty year old Webster's Dictionary, it should be good enough to use here..and it certainly fits.

Sam, those are the only words that describe the government of our country accurately, how could they be banned?

Like it or not, bailout intervention is (or was) needed to provide liquidity to the credit markets. Frankly, it is already bordering on too late. Not only has anyone with equities in their IRA's or investment portfolios lost a whole lot of money, but the credit markets have all but shut down.

We won't see the effect of the credit markets decline for days or weeks, but here's what to expect...

-- We will experience even greater losses in the stock market. Some think the Dow will decline to between 8,000-8,500.

--Your credit limit on your credit cards will be reduced to the amount outstanding. Those that pay their card balance every month will still have their typically large credit limits dramatically reduced. The days of charging big ticket items on a credit card are over, probably for a long while.

--It will be virtually impossible to get a new home mortgage loan. If you were planning on selling your house or buying a new one, you will almost certainly be impacted. If you'll need to refinance soon, look for an increased interest rate. Car loans will be tough to get. If the car company finance subsidiaries can't get credit--almost impossible.

--We will begin to read of companies not being able to make payroll. That will begin to happen this week and next.

-- In the slightly longer term, many companies will begin reporting large losses. Begin to look for the explanation, "insufficient corporate credit to purchase inventories or make capital expenditures".

-- Several big and well-known former blue chip banks and companies will sell themselves to avoid declaring bankruptcy or to avoid liquidation. Look for such events among some of the weaker big non-financial companies as well--the auto companies come to mind. If any of the three remaining "big" banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America or Citi) are so effected, then we will be looking at another Great Depression.

--Many, many companies will go out of business and their employees will be laid off. Many of the retailers, fast food chains and big box stores aren't going to make it as they are currently organized. Watch for the unemployment numbers to increase in coming months and more empty storefronts.

-- Closer to home, I'd be amazed if the construction and sales of new homes in The Villages doesn't decline to a trickle. For those with cash who want to buy a home here, I'm predicting some of the greatest deals ever known here in a few months. If Citizens First has enough deposits to continue to make mortgage loans, look for the required downpayments to be much larger and the interest rates to be much higher. But all that is predicated on CF having enough local deposits to continue mortgage lending.

-- A last and more difficult to discern result will be the severe damage that has been done to the reputation of the U.S. and our ability to effect world affairs, both financial and political. On one broadcast on a foreign financial market cable channel last night, one of the foreign news services referred to the U.S. and the inability of our political leaders to reach agreement as "like a banana republic". I was saddened by the reference, but I can't argue with its accuracy.

The Congress had a shot at avoiding much of this over the weekend. When they didn't act on Monday and many went home to campaign for re-election or celebrate the holidays, the damage to the financial system began and may be largely irreversible. Whether it's a bad recession or another "great depression" what we're experiencing will effect all of us for years to come.

Am I angry? Absolutely! Even moreso after checking my retirement portfolio this morning. But was some sort of government intervention needed to avoid or temper all this? Yes it was. And now that it hasn't happened, those who embrace the free market solution will endure the results with everyone else.

I didn't draft this reply to say "I told you so" or to suggest a dire and threatening scenario. I truly hope that I'm wrong. But my training and experience tells me that what's done has been done. I'm just suggesting what I beleive can be expected as the result of the damage to the world financial system as the result of the unwillingness of our political representatives to come together and reach agreement on some response to the emergency.

By the way, I just happened to notice the "signature" I've used on e-mails for years. I made it up after spending some very pleasant weeks on a Caribbean island. I hope it doesn't become too appropriate in coming years...

"Give me a place where my biggest problem each day will be...Is there a goat in the road"

1.4 trillion dollars of wealth evaporated yesterday: pension funds, college education funds, money that people live on from anuities, etc.

Originally Posted by TomW

1.4 trillion dollars of wealth evaporated yesterday: pension funds, college education funds, money that people live on from anuities, etc.

Yep, and what did Congress do in response... THEY WENT ON VACATION!!!! What ???????????? Can anyone anywhere explain how or why our legislature would go on vacation in the midst of this crisis? They had ALMOST no credibility... now they've got NONE.

Originally Posted by Bucco

A case made for NO BAIL OUT by Time....

"Rescuing financial institutions is not the best solution. Yes, banks are needed to provide capital to businesses. But it is not necessary to spend $1 trillion to maintain liquidity. If the government is to intervene, it should pick and choose which claims to purchase; claims that are directly tied to mortgages would be a good start. "


http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...0.html?cnn=yes

This position will likely be easier to swallow by those on fixed pensions (like military or other gov't pensions with built in COLA's) than the poor shleps who's retirement is tied up in a 401-K. The later group is really sweatin-it-out right now.

Originally Posted by rshoffer

Yep, and what did Congress do in response... THEY WENT ON VACATION!!!! What ???????????? Can anyone anywhere explain how or why our legislature would go on vacation in the midst of this crisis? They had ALMOST no credibility... now they've got NONE.

THEY DID NOT GO ON VACATION...IT IS THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS.

You would be screaming if they worked on Christmas Day.

Have some respect.

As a Christian... I had to reply. I would NOT be screaming if Congress worked on Christmas Day if the country is in the predicament we are in today! We are in BIG trouble and every second counts to sort out the mess we are in. Time is of the essence. I am scared.

I was in corporate America and there was a crisis of staggering proportions, there were no breaks....we did not ask who could stay...we did not care what their religion, party affiliation was or if the had anything else to do. They stayed until the task was done....I remember some when cots were brought in.

When the rank and file of this country wakes up and understands the me first attitude of the law makers and total absence of making we the people the priority, then maybe something will change. Until then the same old cronies, the same good old boys and gals, the same ancient-been there too long will continue to do NOTHING.

Because of the me first the party leaders will not step up to the bar and tell the lawmakers they are not to leave...the Senate and Congress and the President of the USA all have the power to keep them at their desks......
Oooooopsss lost my head for a minute....that would take leadership.....that would take the consequences, just do what's right.
Sorry I forgot I was talking about the elite in DC......

BTK

Originally Posted by rshoffer

This position will likely be easier to swallow by those on fixed pensions (like military or other gov't pensions with built in COLA's) than the poor shleps who's retirement is tied up in a 401-K. The later group is really sweatin-it-out right now.

It's 3PM and the DJIA has recovered about half of yesterday's drop.

What part of "market manipulation" is hard to comprehend? ? ?

Originally Posted by cologal

THEY DID NOT GO ON VACATION...IT IS THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS.

You would be screaming if they worked on Christmas Day.

Have some respect.

Like heck I would... are the Fire Companies in DC open today?... are the hospitals and emergency rooms open today?... this is a national crisis and emergency... if it occurred at Christmas I would expect Congress to do their jobs and rise to the occassion. Remember... we've seperated "church and state".

Originally Posted by SteveZ

It's 3PM and the DJIA has recovered about half of yesterday's drop.

What part of "market manipulation" is hard to comprehend? ? ?

So, we've seen the bottom?

The more I think about this the hotter I get... Do you think the IED's stop exploding on holidays? Our servicemen and women don't get a few days off in Iraq .. they understand their mission and carry it out when and where the situation demands. The current situation demands that our legislature be present in Washington to address this crisis.

Originally Posted by rshoffer

So, we've seen the bottom?

Time will tell...but it does seem strange that the economic world did not end today as the fearmongers wailed...