Buckle up, folks...it's going to be a bumpy ride...

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...