Current State of the Markets

I hope the days of getting 10%-15% CD rates come back.

Oh course, don’t expect those 10%+ CDs until mortgage rates go to 18-20%. Given the current state of the real estate market I wouldn’t hold my breadth.

Nice scaremongering article! Interest rates are low, the dollar is rising and even with the panic on Monday gold could not make new highs on the year. Let me guess …you are trying to hawk silver coins or some other scam product to the public you are trying to frighten. I love you doomsday guys that pontificate about how bad it is but seem to rely on the ostrich trade of head in the sand as a solution to the problems.

Four more years of the delusional right? Can 45 million Americans be wrong? What has happened to the country? Ungovernable, hopelessly corrupt, brainwashed and bankrupt. To paraphrase a joke: watching American politics is like watching them re-arange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Wow, all currency pairs with the USD are in freefall today except the Yen which is up 0.5%

If the rates of 10-15% for CD’s come back, that will be phenomenal!

Thing is if 10%-15% CD rates come back then that means we will be having 10% – 15% inflation. Currently we have 5% CDs with about 5% inflation. Problem is with 10/15% CDs all prices are going up at the rate of 10/15%.

Zircon-212 is right. The dollar is in an upswing now and oil prices are falling because of it. Gold prices, while they’ve been up significantly over the last 18 months, have leveled and fallen from their high. Now is not a good time to invest in gold but it’s a great time to invest in the market. Buy while it’s still cheap.

ooh i dont know about that nicholas, from a momentum standpoint, the equities are looking VERY weak right now. rule of thumb #1, NEVER TRY TO CALL THE BOTTOM

The Congress has just thrown $700 billion into a black hole.
God bless America!

Sounds like Wu is full of shit. He says unemployment rate went to 13% in 1977-1981. Bullshit. Also, look at his post regarding LaJolla Bank-pure b.s.

As the saying goes, “Cash is trash.” With the Fed printing money out of thin air, like it’s going out of style, the dollar will continue to lose value. It’s lost like what, 90% of its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, with 37% of that happening in just the last 7 years (just going on memory here).

The Fed creates these bubbles, and they always burst, leaving taxpayers to bail out investors who were misled by foolish government interference in the market. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to end.

Lets try counting our blessings:
We are all in the fortunate situation of being able to control our individual circumstances – pull up your pants and appreciate all you have!!!!!

I have transfered all my money out of the US stock market, but I still have money market funds and bond funds in my 401k.
How about you guys?

Unless we all turn Buddhist greed will ensure that this cycle happens over and over again, it’s just life I’m afraid.

Larry– Wrong! Unemployment was at 13%, not 8%. Go check. Anyone remember Reagan’s “Misery Index” in his campaign against Jimmy Carter? Inflation rate + Unemployment rate = 26%. Lot’s of the comments above refer to 3-4 day swings in the dollar, etc. This isn’t about 3-4 days moves, it’s about mega-trends. This is why we have investment advisors and politicos “rearranging chairs on the titanic” mentality. Try reading the whole article– JPM won’t need to be bailed out? Because they’re so big? Because they’re the largest shareholder in the Fed? Maybe not, but JPM’s credit strength rating has fallen, same as Fannie and Freddie did. Why do people put their trust in institutions, instead of timeless principles? Some things are just as sure as the sun rising in the morning.

Hank: On FactCheck.org they said the misery rate reached 20.6 under Carter-not 26%. I remember inflation running up to 12% -so, add that to 8% unemployment.

These are tough times to come indeed. It’s very hard around my area to get a job with everyone being laid off.

My father lost his job, and he can’t even get another security officer job even though he has years of experience in the field.

Hi,

As always will be the same to pay the price.
For most top rich people more zillion less zillion is about the same.
What is necessary for people to remember is that all this situation was caused (in my opinion) by the banks and they should be the ones to pay the price.
They can complain about financial dificulties, but what about the huge profits that they gathered throughout the years ?
Greed was the moblie of all this and instead of hedging properly, the so called managers only think about profits leverage, forgeting that for them to win, others have to lose. But the others also like to win.
But all this money is virtual and the worst thing in my opinion are not the stock markets and the oil price which has finally came down.
What is bad is that economies are based on services and huge profits are in the hands of a few. Lets not forget that the biggest economies were built upon industry, construction, agriculture and automotive.
What we have now is a giant with clay feet.
And a final word must go for the eventual and quite probable (namely with biodiesel) rise of cereals’ price. And poor of those who depend mostly on cereals to survive.

Kind regards,

José

There is a lot of talk lately about how we are headed towards another Depression. Below are some key differences to share with you.
• In the the Great Depression 1300 Banks failed – only 13 banks have been taken over by the FDIC this year.
• Unemployment was 24% back then and is currently around 6%.
• From mid 1929 to 1932 the Dow dropped 90% – lately is been down roughly 30%
• In 1933 when FDR took over 44% of mortgages were in default. In the 2nd quarter this year only 6% of all mortgages were delinquent.
Heads up people:)

The U.S. financial situation IS really scary! And as far as you saying “Europe is ever more screwed”… well, read a newspaper some time..

The ONLY reason Europe has financial woes right now (and small ones compared) is because of the U.S. and your damned derivate muppets! Well be fine, the U.S. wont.

Give me a call when the dollar is 20% of the Euro. Have fun!