I'm going to post this in the lounge.

For those of you who do not monitor the economy everyday...

For those of you who do not read economic forums everyday...

For those of you who have some money in stocks in an IRA... no matter what the amount...

In my opinion, now is the time to start paying some serious attention to your holdings...

There is some nasty nasty shit on the horizon...

Pay attention to your stock holdings.

Make your own informed opinions and take the action that is right for you. I sold a full 20% of my holdings yesterday, and then put some back into gold. Next week, if the market has a temporary rally, I will sell another 30%.

My point is...do not be passive...the economy is in for some hard times. The fed cannot save it.

Be careful, and protect what you worked hard to save.

If you and I are wrong, I will be happy to have them laugh at us a year from now. In the meantime, people need to plan for the worst. Now.

I am not an alarmist by nature, but this is scaring the crap out of me.

No one has a true handle on this sub-prime crisis. No one. Personally, I think it is a beast that will take years to rectify, and only with the right policies.

In other words, this country is potentially well and truly fucked economically.

2 weeks ago I couldn't get anyone to listen to me about the economy. Bush and the talking heads were all saying that everything was fine. Now everyone is talking about it, layoffs have been dramatically increasing, and Bush has proposed a disasterous stimulus package that he wouldn't have admitted to needing 2 weeks ago. I think everyone is terrified.

$800 for a single person, $1600 for a family. That's maybe one mortgage payment.

At the same time, the fed is lowering rates, which encourages more borrowing.

The Government needs to bankrupt the lenders, and then bail them out with just enough cash to keep them in business. Then, massive regulations need to be put in place in regard to predatory lending practices.

Then, it should be made ILLEGAL to outsource ANY jobs overseas.

Then, we need to get out of Iraq and not spend one more dime on occupation.

Jobs need to be created here. Then, taxes need to be RAISED, not lowered.

And I think there's about a 0% chance that any of that's going to happen. At least not until it's too late.

This is a problem that Fed monetary policy cannot fix.

I'm really worried for regular Joes like myself who have managed to save a bit of money.

And you are right about the speed of this thing.

I think some people will not be able to get out of the market fast enough.

:sarcasm: :rofl:

and I have never seen anything quite like this.

It's really kinda scary.

Really. You can ask my wife. I've been positively obnoxious about it.

The signs have all been there, but as Americans we only saw what we wanted to see.

Sarasota for $389 a few years back. How did they not know back then that this was going to happen? How??? We knew when fuckwit Bush decided to go into Iraq that eventually, the economy would collapse. Do people not read what is going on around them? I say it's greed that motivates people to fall into this shit. And I'm talking about people involved in real estate for m oney. My SIL buys land and builds houses. She also bought an expensive condo, re-mortgages it and lives off that money. Those are the people I don't feel any mercy for.

Plus, anyone who voted for Bush this second time around---I hope they lose their shirts. They're the ones who caused this. Fuck republicans.

Waiting to be transferred from temp to perm at my job, I have my 401K from my old job that I really can't do anything with right now. *Sigh*. I expect since I had chosen a lot of high risk stocks,its going to be worth a lot less very soon..
:-(

in your 401(k)?

between certain options that my old company allows us. But I can't really get rid of them, unless I want a HUGE tax penalty.

into whatever option has the least exposure to stocks, and the most exposure to money market types of vehicles. Just my opinion. Do your own due diligence.

You are correct in not selling out. When I use the term "sell" in regard to an IRA, I am really saying "move" to a less risky option.

A major hedge fund manager - so big that he has personal lunches with Hillary and Bill Clinton.....


"I do not think XXXXX, our son-in-law at this point has any good tips either. When I talked to my daughter the other night she told me how worried he was about not only our economy but also how it is effected by the world economy. Evidently there are alot of things that are happening that are unprecedented in past history. I am about to ask him for his suggestions on how to find a good financial advisosr myself because I have not been happy with the one that is handling my dad's portfolio at this time. If I find out anything I will pass it on. XXXXX and his company handle the endowments of many of the major universities like Stanford, and Harvard etc.not individual investors. I do know that he invests his own money quite conservatively, index funds and the like, in proportions that most investment firms recommend, that grow gradually over the long term riding out the bond and stock market's highs and lows. In the past when we have asked him for advice he recommended a balanced portfolio and told us of a few mutual funds that he knows the people that run them and likes the philosophy they use. His hedge fund bases their investments on a conservative philosophy based on the long term and is not one that does investments involved with alot of risk like many others. That is all I know, but it is my impression that we are in for a bumpy ride and alot of people are worried."

all three went up as the markets tanked friday.

Yes, I've been paying attention, since last february.