[dude66]

Originally Posted by jfkIII

Maybe the economy will be like a reset-switch for LV and many other places. It could not possibly have continued as it was going....there had to be an end...and possibly a reversal is now due. It's kind of like the natural occuring forest fires that burn down the dense forest. From the charred remains, new growth occurs.

Paulson's actions today almost guaranteed a reset of some form is coming. What he did -- changing the whole nature and purpose of the TARP bailout in mid-stride -- contradicting what he said a month ago in the process -- is a clear sign to the markets that he really doesn't know what he's doing.

Markets need stability, direction, transparency, and leadership to thrive.

As of today, we have none of those things. Paulson just vaporized any hope of intelligent leadership. He's now essentially showing his hand: he's making this up as he goes. He just sent a strong signal to the markets that you cannot trust what he says today, because two weeks from now he may change his mind and pull a 180 turn. That kind of thing crashes economies.

Not to mention Congress will never believe a thing this man says again, not after he told them a month ago that without TARP we faced "financial armageddon" -- and then today does a switcheroo and admits TARP was the wrong idea and won't be implemented as he himself had demanded be done.

It's amateur hour with nothing less than the entire global economy at risk.

[jfkIII]

No wonder they wanted free reign! They had no idea on how to use the $700B!!!!!

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by dude66

That's just ludicrous. But it's also a common refrain I've heard from realtors over the last year. It's all in our head! Isn't that what McCain's chief economic adviser said a couple months ago -- that America was a nation of whiners and that this was a "mental recession"?

Is that what you're saying Olecapt? We're imagining all this??!

Well here's something that I didn't imagine reading this morning:

Best Buy, the No. 1 electronics retailer, cut its full-year profit forecast Wednesday, citing continued weakness in consumer spending that it says has been exacerbated by the "recent turmoil in the financial markets."

"Since mid-September, rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we've ever seen," Brad Anderson, chief executive officer of Best Buy, said in a statement. "Best Buy simply can't adjust fast enough to maintain our earnings momentum for this year."

"In 42 years of retailing, we've never seen such difficult times for the consumer," Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy, said in a statement. "People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we're not immune from those forces."

YOu really think the whole world went to hell in the last 4 months? What has happened is the perception of a number of things have vastly shifted. Securities which likely have real value are unsalable at any price. A bunch of guys who should have known better gave insurance on risk free transactions which then blew up in their face. People wrote insurance without the reserves required to do so.

There are a whole set of transactions that went on trust. The trust went away. Boom.

Virtually none of this has anything to do with RE...I have absolutely no doubt what is driving the present RE price point. Has absolutely nothing to do with perception. The Lenders are dumping inventory at well below what it would bring in a competitive market. For whatever reason they have decided to get the properties off their books quickly.

May well turn out to be a good thing at least as far as the RE market is concerned. When the lenders run out of inventory we will find out where the RE market really is. And it will be all over in a third the time it would have taken by a normal slow leak bubble deflation.

And knock off all this silly Realtor says garbage. The Realtors who speak on this list have said no such thing.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by dude66

Paulson's actions today almost guaranteed a reset of some form is coming. What he did -- changing the whole nature and purpose of the TARP bailout in mid-stride -- contradicting what he said a month ago in the process -- is a clear sign to the markets that he really doesn't know what he's doing.

Markets need stability, direction, transparency, and leadership to thrive.

As of today, we have none of those things. Paulson just vaporized any hope of intelligent leadership. He's now essentially showing his hand: he's making this up as he goes. He just sent a strong signal to the markets that you cannot trust what he says today, because two weeks from now he may change his mind and pull a 180 turn. That kind of thing crashes economies.

Not to mention Congress will never believe a thing this man says again, not after he told them a month ago that without TARP we faced "financial armageddon" -- and then today does a switcheroo and admits TARP was the wrong idea and won't be implemented as he himself had demanded be done.

It's amateur hour with nothing less than the entire global economy at risk.

You actually get to be funny...

How many experts on dealing with a global meltdown do you think there are?

Of course it is amateur time. There is no one else.

Just hope they think quick and correctly.

[gulfer]

Some good reading folks. I think what scares me about this entire mess more then anything is that for some strange reason, the FED is affraid to let bad decisions go unpunished. Some of these companies deserve to go bankrupt. That will wipe out the investor and leave a lot of housing inventory to be sold at auctions to pay back who they can, when they can.
When all the short sales and foreclosures are gone, who will be left to buy houses? A lot of people lost a lot of thier savings with this severe downturn. What stringent lending requirements will be put on buyers?
Since the FED will lend money to banks at about 1%, since the FED is buying all these securities, why not just put an open sign on the FED WINDOW and allow people that can justify purchasing a home, get a loan from the FED for let's just say 3%? What would be wrong with that. Over the course of the loan, say 30 years, on a 250K home, they still may make 200K in interest or so. Be good for the home buyer, be better then giving the money away, and would be good for the economy.
I'm seriously waiting to see if these huge companies, that would have already went bankrupt without the help of Uncle Sam, get for year end bonuses. There might just be a mutiny by the American people on this one.
One more thing, for all of these Federal Employees that are changing who and where they give money to, I think they should have to provide a complete picture of thier portfollio. If these people have millions invested in Wall Street entities, I seriously see a conflict of interest. Am I the only one on this?

[airics]

i agree this whole bailout plan is a joke... look at aig, they got 85 bil, had a party and now are getting 40 more.. gm, chrysler, and ford want money too! i say screw'em...did you know the avg ford worker with benefits earns $70hr.... what a joke.. several thousand on each car go to the healthcare and pensions... i would work at ford for 25hr.

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by airics

i agree this whole bailout plan is a joke... look at aig, they got 85 bil, had a party and now are getting 40 more.. gm, chrysler, and ford want money too! i say screw'em...did you know the avg ford worker with benefits earns $70hr.... what a joke.. several thousand on each car go to the healthcare and pensions... i would work at ford for 25hr.

Is this true? If so that is ridiculous. I have seen some people with degrees in high demand, high skill jobs that make less than that. I can't disclose details, but let's just say that I bet they wish they could have made $70 an hour without the student loans!

[airics]

when ford takes the hourly wage then adds the cost of the health benefits and pension, its over 70.... It was all over the radio here today... its crazy...

[airics]

Global Insight // Same-Day Analysis

this shows the ford wage at least 52 per hour for the bottom workers.. add the pensions and there is the 70 plus... Incidentally this was a year ago.. they were SUPPOSED to lower the wages in 08 but the union got an extension till 2010.... So if you have any seniority at ford, you are getting the big bucks....

[jfkIII]

The unions don't budge. Perhaps soon, they'll have no one to union.