The Financial Crisis: I have no clue what is happening.

not in the least

Just call me clueless in Seattle

Now this just pisses me off... I've donated to the Obama campaign in recent months and just got this email...



And what do they want me to do?

GIVE MORE MONEY!!!!!

Sorry, kicky -- I know you didn't intend for this thread to be politicized but it was at the top of the queue and I'm too angry to go searching for a more appropriate thread.

The biggest problem is that those pushing for this $700 billion do not know what they are doing for the long-term effect. There's no end game or how this money will "save" anything except the incompetence of the managers and CEOs of banks, finance companies and investors.

They're now saying that this money is needed to provide credit to our economy, because nobody will be able to buy homes, cars, and the goods and services on credit when most consumers are already over their heads in debt.

These are supposed to be the brightest and the best, but they are now in a panic mode with fear and no real solution except pump more money into our economy.

What is most satisfying thing for me is to see both republicans and democrats questioning the Secretary of Treasure and Bernanke questions about oversight, how, when, compensation, and what the average joe will get out of all this. The first time congress has worked together on something since Bush took over the white house.

However, I'm afraid politics will again raise its ugly head by Friday when they approve this money without really knowing how it'll impact our country.

ok --- deep breaths....

no request for more money from Obama. The sign on and join us wasn't looking for cash (yet). I'll hold my venom for now.

C I
"However, I'm afraid politics will again raise its ugly head by Friday when they approve this money without really knowing how it'll impact our country.

I am afraid you are making a hasty assement about the American Government.

USA is famous and notorious to ruin the culture, economy, and other banal virtues to impose the American dreams-
Don't worry others will rescue your government but not the poor innocent toiling citizens of USA

Basically, they let the pigs run wild in the cornfield. Has the world ever seen the greedy place effective controls on themselves?

Well, if I wanted to apply myself for a few years, I would probably come away with some understanding. Still, Kicky, you are not alone.

Actually, you (and I) are in good company, Kicky. If the experts had known what was happening, they would have done something.

And even if we DID understand it, that doesn't mean we'd know what to DO about it. (Neither does anybody else, it seems.)

Don't feel like you are alone in this confusion; even the so-called experts are not sure how to "cure" this problem. There were warning signs when those sub-prime mortgages were being sold to folks who couldn't afford to manage the payments, but our government continued to tell Mae and Mac to expand the sub-prime program so more Americans can own their own homes.

It was only a matter of time before the piker had to be paid, and most people knew it - betting that the value of homes will continue to rise. (The ultimate Gamble.)

This is what happened in Japan about two decades ago, so there were lessons for financial managers, but as usual ignored all the warning signs.

TRUISM: What goes up will usually come down - it's only a matter of time.

It's almost impossible to fight gravity.

I recall briefly shopping for a house several years ago, and was keeping track of mortgage interest. Now, it happened that rates were at their lowest in quite some time, yet they were offering adjustable rates of one kind or another. I could not understand why buyers didn't want to lock in the lowest rates in years.

I watched the rebroadcast of yesterday's hearings on CSPAN and I must say that I'm less than confident that tweedle dum and tweedle dee have any concept of how to move forward with this $700 BILLION they want.

I don't think Paulson knows what's going on. This is why their trying to rush it through by Friday is ridiculous.

Here's some persective for you-- just think of yourself at your work or organization and consider how those in authority make their unilateral decisions. Does that put it into perpective?

Even with low interest, the vast bulk of a mortgage payment is interest.

So people bought a bigger house than they could afford, by chopping the interest for the first few years. I don't know what they expected to happen when the rate went up, though.

When we bought our current house, the realtor and mortgage broker were eager to up-sell us; fortunately we were careful enough not to make ourselves "house poor."

Yup. Folks started talking doom and gloom about the mortgage crisis months ago and I was baffled that they were so worried.

Here's a short but interesting clip about the importance of deregulation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ycPJr7YWmQ&feature=bz302

McCain: "Deregulation was helpful to our economy."

ROFLMAO and crying at the same time.

Warren Buffett, the real genius of the stock market, is putting $5 billion into Golden Sachs which means he has some confidence in those finance companies to overcome this debacle.

My earlier opinions will need a review to see what Buffett sees, because I respect him on finance more than any other human on this planet.

He has more or less given our government the go-ahead on this bailout, and I'm sure he knows why.

Stay tuned.

well, I don't think it's a gift, ci. Although he's known for his altruism as well as his investment wizardry I think he stands to see a very pretty return on this "investment". He knows as well as you and I do that the bailout WILL happen in some form. As the first one in he gets the best price and the best overall return on capital. The man is definitely shrewd.