OK, I have to confess something...I am a CNBC addict. I'm talking I watch it when I get up in the mornings, when I run on the treadmill here at home, listen to it on the way into work (thank you, XM Radio!), and keep the site open in a web browser most of the day. Today of all days was a great time to be glued to the coverage. Because today, my good friends, was one of the more turbulent days in the history of our stock markets. Let's not forget this comes in a year in which the markets have had their worst January (to date) EVER. So as the airline pilots say as you're flying over into turbulent conditions: "Folks, please take your seats and buckle up - it's going to get bumpy..."
If you don't follow the economy, the Federal Reserve lowered their lending rates to banks by 75 basis points today (or .75%, but I guess "basis points" sounds cooler). This was very unexpected, and was the Fed's attempt to shore up the US economy in the face of downward economic indicators.
However, the Dow and NASDAQ seemed to have a "too little, too late" reaction. The Dow was down almost 500 points at one point today, but managed to end up down only 128 points. I don't know how NASDAQ ended up but it wasn't too good, either.
The economy, and the stock market, have been a virtual rollercoaster ride over the past several months--100+ points up one day, down over 100 the next. Markets are almost completely driven by fear at this point, and there's a lot of technical reasons as to why stock is being sold, even when sellers are taking a loss on it.
Suffice it to say, we ain't out of the woods yet, and this will trickle down even more to the "you and me" level. Most economic indicators are pointing to a mild recession that will hopefully end before the end of this year. Mild recession, OK. Anything more than 2 quarters, we could see companies cutting back and then everyone's wondering about their jobs.
Then again, I could be a complete panic monger and worrying about nothing. It's just that...well, I like the company I work for, I think it's a great place to be, and because of some life situations right now this ain't a good time to be looking for a job.
But hey, this is just my mad ramblings. What do y'all think is going to happen with the economy and the stock market?
More later...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Buckle up, folks...it's going to be a bumpy ride...
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7 Comments:
Hooo, buy, you do NOT want me to get started on my thoughts....I will not be able to stop. I could go on for hours and am talking to many people smarter than me regarding investments and the economy domestically and internationally. So I will keep my mouth shut and say that it could be worse. And it hopefully start getting better soon. I am finishing up a book by Robert Rubin and when I do, I may address this on my blog somewhat.
Oh, and the whole XM thing...II am addicted too, but probably much worse than you. Not to CNBC (which I was listening to earlier today) but to C-SPAN. Am I the only guy that thinks that if you crank your 400 Watt car stereo with C-SPAN, open the windows and cruise down the hot spot in your town on a Friday night, then young woman would FLOCK to you? C-SPAN is that cool!
thanks for stopping by my place and sharing a little on the dreams post and the LOL post. glad you enjoyed them. let me guess, run a marathon, perhaps?
i have to admit i am not knowledgeable enough to be able to predict what's going to go on with this threat of recession. i do think there's a similarity to when the weather guys predict horrible storms. the whole world panics and runs around like chickens with no heads, makes stuff worse than it has to be.
Daniel I like your writing style, and I know you're a smart guy...I'd be very interested in reading anything you write on this topic. Once you post something let me know, I'll give you some "linky love" (as my blog pal Sue calls it. Oh...and young women flocking to C-SPAN listeners...er, sure, yeah, happens all the time...
Lime I've stalked your blog (seems like "blogstalking" is OK nowadays!) for a while, so it's good to stop by each others' places in the daylight once in a while. Running a marathon...DINGDINGDING, give the lady a ceeegar! Gee howdja guess?
I think you're right that the panic of the underinformed (which would be a great book title, BTW) definitely makes things worse. Even those who are over-informed, though--the "talking heads"--still disagree on exactly what's going to happen. So I guess a 'plan for the worst, hope for the best' strategy is a good one...
Jim
panic of the uninformed, yeah it has a ring to it doesn't it....
as for guessing the marathon, when i clicked through your profile to get here and say thanks i noticed you were a runner. the hubby used to be one as well and i've known enough other runners that marathon seemed to be the most logical guess.
i prefer to call you a long-time lurker who has recently delurked. lol, in any event. glad you did. to answer your question about my 55, when i use a famous piece of artwork i've generally been inspired by that piece to write something. when i use images from my own photography or that i found on the net i generally wrote first and found a picture to go with it.
Thanks Jim on the kind works about my writing style, esp, considering these posts I wrote are a mess! Kind words indeed. I did write a little over the past few days on the economy, the Sun acquisition of MySQL (which I have been using non-stop recently...ah, MySQL, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. My-see-quil: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. My. See. Quil. -- apologies to Nobakov!), etc. and am afraid to go into more details in fear of embarrassing myself.
Anyhow, I have also just completed the meme idea that I gave you. Now I challenge you (and anyone else!) to try it out! All can be found at:
http://www.hypermean.com/blog
Have a great weekend,
DGC
Lime thanks for the answers re: your 55s (sorry it took so long to reply!). I've been pretty heads down with work but I'll have to stop by and see what's going on in the wonderful world of lime. (C:
Daniel you need to come up for air--your attachment to MySQL seems a bit...uh...unnatural at this point. (C: Thanks for the heads up on the meme, I'll cruise over to check it out!
Jim
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