What is going on? Dow down 300 points.....

[marmar]

Dow 10,840.39 -302.74
Nasdaq 2,103.16 -80.18
S&P 500 1,172.05 -41.22


www.marketwatch.com

[cali]

1. the street is putting major pressure on the house.

[Barack_America]

5. Yup.

And major pressure on House Republicans as well, I would think.

[n2doc]

2. I guess we didn't give them enough loot

Let it go down. Eventually when prices of stocks are historically cheap (they aren't, now) it will go back. Unless McInsane wins and we self-destruct.

[EV_Ares]

3. Its the bank and credit crisis hitting europe and the nationalization of the largest

bank in England and a German bank has gone under and you now have Citi buying Wachovia.

[cali]

8. And the Icelandic government just bought a 75% share of the 3rd largest

bank in that country to keep it from going on under.

[EV_Ares]

9. Hadn't heard that one. Thanks, the whole mess is sliding on through the

world banks right now.

[Subdivisions]

4. Ever had a gun held to your head? n/t

[thecrow]

6. Credit is freezing up... companies such as Caterpillar and GE

can't get loans

[fed_up_mother]

7. Well, look at what the Asian markets did overnight.

Not too good

http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=asia

[tama]

23. Yippeaiyee!

Look at Europe: Holland down 8,5%, Austria over 8%, Belgium close to 8%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=europe

[Fovea]

10. Let it bleed.

It must suffer to learn.
When it grows back, it will be smaller, more local, more efficient.
Since the days of Chrysler, our captains of industry have felt immortal.

Sure, it will hurt us, but this idea that something is too big to fail is a pathetic illusion
that requires us to re-animate economic cadavers.

LIke that 28Bn dollar bailout for the auto industry. I say let it die, and let America learn how to flog an older car, until it becomes possible to run a green auto, made by a company that can still innovate.

THat is how the capitalism they all deify is *supposed* to work. What we have now is frank fascism. Government and corporate integration.

[ima_sinnic]

15. yes, I agree, good analysis

I wish I could recommend your post.

[caledesi]

20. Well said! NT

[galileoreloaded]

11. TED spread through the roof. Bailout probably won't help now.....

just sayin'.

[magellan]

18. What's TED? n/t

[BelgianMadCow]

21. A measure for perceived credit risk in the general economy.

The TED spread is the difference between the interest rates on inter-bank loans and short-term U.S. government debt ("T-bills").

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_spread

If the banks charge one another way more than what T-bills yield, it means they do not trust each other because of perceived risk.

And it is this distrust that "freezes" interbank lending.

On edit: see the graph here

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=.TEDSP:IND

[magellan]

22. Oh, and there's that acronym LIBOR again

Now I understand these references better, thank you!

I don't know if it's the appropriate response but my gut reaction to the Bloomberg graph is Ewwww.....

[BelgianMadCow]

24. You bet Eww is the right reaction

the banks still are barely lending to one another - and the Fed just extended its' credit line with the ECB another 400 Billion (roughly).
Because someone has to do the lending...

[Redbear]

12. Negative economonic numbers

Whether the bill will avoid a financial meltdown is still unknown, but the negative economic numbers keep coming.

[On the Road]

13. Markets Always Surprise You

It seems almost perverse at times.

Personally, I think it's a setup for people who went long before the weekend expecting a bailout. Gaps are usually filled. It is likely close to a short-term bottom.

[spanone]

14. it's called squeezing the nuts of congress

[Eric J in MN]

16. When it goes up, the spin is that it's because...

...investors are optimistic that Congress will pass the bailout.

When it goes down, the spin is that shows Congress needs to pass the bailout.

No matter what the stock market does, that supposedly shows we need the bailout.

But we don't.

The stock market is supposed to go up and down. Good stocks rise, again.

[prayin4rain]

17. OMG ... it's anarchy :( n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

19. To me, from a graduate of the top business school in the country --

"No confidence in the administration;
No confidence in the Congress;
No confidence in corporate America’s leadership."

[kentuck]

25. Wachovia.

They are on the hook for about $300 billion with the FDIC.

Another domino in the Great Fall of China.

There is no escaping the pain, bailout or no bailout. We are going into a severe recession. Get used to it. There will be no soft landing this time.