Well, it's 10:30AM Central time and the stock market is down about 155 points. Not bad, not bad.
My dire prediction of a greater sell-off appears to have been short-circuited by the feds huge 3/4% reduction in interest rates. That is making the rest of the global markets assume a "wait and see" attitude about how America's economy will respond to that move.
Will a 3/4% reduction in prime prompt credit strapped Americans to go out and buy? Will bush's 100 billion "assistance" package convince Maxed-out Americans to stream into retail outlets to buy yet more shiny Chinese junk? Will the two strategies working in concert steer America away from it's recession bound course?
Neither strategy - alone or combined - addresses any of the serious problems that are feeding this downturn. No reduction our government's insane and out-of-control spending, no stopping of the overworked presses at the treasury in their endless printing of more and more less-valuable dollars, no attempts at all to stop the hemorrhaging of our national treasure in the Middle East and elsewhere, no assistance to those hundreds of thousands of home owners trapped by the sub-prime debacle, no plans to return many of our lost American jobs, so... after a possible short-term boost, it will be back to the rock-bound course the ship-of-state is on today.
So far, the stock market is down over 2,000 points from it's peak, and it's a real cliff-hanger waiting to see if and when it will finally stop it's nosedive.
How many more financial gimmicks will be found and used to prop up this failing economy? At what point does the dike finally break?
Are you on high ground? Or down in the floodplain?
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