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Monday, September 29, 2008

Worst Day Ever

posted by on September 29 at 14:52 PM

The Dow’s biggest single-day point drop—losing 778 points.

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1

Hey! We broke the record! USA! USA! USA! USA!

Posted by Matt Fuckin' Hickey | September 29, 2008 2:56 PM
2

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Drinks on me! (I'll just leave the tab like America would.)

Posted by Mr. Poe | September 29, 2008 3:07 PM
3

So I am still trying to figure it out. Did we want the bail out bill to pass? Or not? And was this a direct result of the rejection?

Posted by inquiring mind | September 29, 2008 3:09 PM
4

Meh, wasn't even 7%.

If the Great Depression era bad days were happening now, it'd have flopped north of 2200 points.

Posted by brent | September 29, 2008 3:10 PM
5

Single day POINT drop, only 6.98%. Black Monday, October 19 of 1987 is still the worst single day in DJIA history, 22.6% drop.

Posted by pragmatic | September 29, 2008 3:11 PM
6

@4 is right: To do an honest, non-hysterical comparison you have to use percentages.

Posted by rjh | September 29, 2008 3:11 PM
7

I knew it was getting bad last week when the checkout lady at Target didn't ask me if I wanted to save x% by getting one of their lousy cards. I guess that's one silver lining.

Posted by Mike in Renton | September 29, 2008 3:13 PM
8

@5

Beat me to it.

Posted by Sir Learnsalot | September 29, 2008 3:14 PM
9

Mr. Poe, have all the drinks you want! The USA is coming to bail you out! Word on the street is that you're too big to fail!

Posted by Gurldoggie | September 29, 2008 3:16 PM
10

But I want to be hysterical! If only so Poe will ply me with free drinks...

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | September 29, 2008 3:16 PM
11

@3 In order, no, and yes. That is a qualified no though. We want them to pass some serious legislation because it is necessary, but what was presented won't fix our problems.

What the Dems should be holding out for is in reach (I hope), but it's a little confusing as to where the actual bargaining power is. On the one hand polling (and common sense)shows that Republicans are getting blamed for this. On the other hand more republicans voted against it than dems.

The legislation that needs to pass will allow bankruptcy courts to rework home mortgage terms (not in the failed proposal, and not popular with GOP) tighten regulation/provide oversight, and give a big FU to any executive that might get rich off of this.

Posted by J | September 29, 2008 3:17 PM
12

Am I the only one who has noticed that the solution the Fed's are doing for failing banks is to allow them to be merged into other banks, making those banks bigger and bigger? Maybe if we just had one SUPER HUGE bank THAT would fail!!

Wouldn't that be SWELL??

Posted by Andrew | September 29, 2008 3:22 PM
13

Yes, but did you see the drop in oil prices.
That didn't happen in a vacuum.

Posted by Vince | September 29, 2008 3:28 PM
14

thanks, #11!

Posted by inquiring minds | September 29, 2008 3:32 PM
15

Goodbye, retirement funds!

Posted by Greg | September 29, 2008 3:35 PM
16

@12 Which is why we need some balling action on the part of government to break up these banks after the dust settles.

If something is too big to fail, it needs to be broken up into smaller, equal parts. That is good government.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | September 29, 2008 3:36 PM
17

I'm going to tell Slog a dirty secret. In my dark, withered little heart, I am hoping that the whole economy goes tits up. I want the beast to come crashing down, hard. Yup, this nation deserves whatever shit storm we have coming. When the Wall Street executives are leaping out windows because their golden parachutes are worth more as toilet paper, that will be a fair day.

Fuck this whole damn mess.

Posted by chaosbound | September 29, 2008 3:46 PM
18

The problem, Mr. Chaosbound, is that it's not just Wall Street executives who rely on the market. Virtually every pension fund in America is indexed to the market. Those people leaping out of windows? They're not traders, they're your grandparents.

Posted by Fnarf | September 29, 2008 4:07 PM
19

fnarf, our grandparents should have moved their money out of index funds long before they retired to preserve the gains they made. my grandparents retirement plan; white castle coffee.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | September 29, 2008 4:12 PM
20

Then, I'll have to hope that the greedy jerks who made this fantastic disaster possible, will have a moment of remorse, and think of my grandparents on the way down.

I'm just having a crabby day today. I think part of the reason, is that I didn't get in on the money making while the making was good, so I feel doubly screwed now.

The word for how I feel is "disenfranchised," though I'm sure someone will come along, and tell me that I actually feel differently.

Posted by Mr. Chaosbound | September 29, 2008 4:15 PM
21

Mr. Chaosbound;

Short ETFs. Know them, love them, protect your future.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | September 29, 2008 4:17 PM
22

@19, do you know what a pension fund is, BA? You don't get to "move them into" anything. Most people are not stock trading whizbang geniuses like yourself; most people work for a living, and afterwards expect the promises that were made to them to be kept.

Posted by Fnarf | September 29, 2008 4:40 PM
23

I didn't see the word pension. Mostly because the concept is foreign and old, like my grandparents.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | September 29, 2008 5:02 PM
24

Well, old people deserve to die, anyways. Survival of the fittest, eh, BA? If grandma can't survive on what she finds on the bottom of my boot sole, she's not worth saving.

I think, if you take a minute to actually learn what goes on, that you will find that indexed investing of various kinds accounts for by far the greatest share of EVERYONE'S retirement portfolio, whether they are active fund watchers or trusting old fools. You may be thrilled that you are clever enough to manipulate the pain of others to your own benefit, but that doesn't make that pain any less, or less widespread. Your sympathy for people who have, or had until today, faith in their country's economy is noted.

Posted by Fnarf | September 29, 2008 5:25 PM
25

Fnarf, you know that I believe sympathy and human emotion is for suckas. Only the strong and people like me whom value self above all survive. I disdain the little guy and the poor, they are idiots and deserve what they get.

Posted by blah blah Ave | September 29, 2008 6:04 PM
26

oops, forgot about those poor people with pensions and big 401k's that temporarily lost 8% of their value. screw the fatcats on social security only and people without health care - we need a bailout to get that 8% extra income back for well-off retirees, or else grandma might only afford 3 weeks on her princess cruise this year.

Posted by jrrrl | September 29, 2008 6:13 PM
27

I know this thread is dead, but...when did it become true that only supporters of today's failed bailout bill care about my grandparents? Or that my grandparents' financial security would have been helped and not hurt by the specific terms of the bailout bill that failed today? Was it this bill's excision of the "mark-to-market" accounting rule that showed its drafters' care and concern for my grandparents' ability to evaluate the safety of their investments? I'm unconvinced this dead bill's love for them was sincere.

Posted by tomasyalba | September 29, 2008 6:40 PM
28

Alright! Finally the fuckin' rich scumbags can feel the pain we've been feeling for years! Topple over, Babylon!

Posted by TheClassWarIsReal | September 29, 2008 8:17 PM
29

Point values are irrelevant due to inflation. On a percentage basis, this was a big, but not earth-shattering drop. The Dow has dropped 20% and more on truly calamitous days.

Posted by Ben W. | September 29, 2008 9:20 PM
30

again fnarf, you're taking shit way too seriously. pretend you're 24 again and that the thing you care most about is your girlfriend, not your retirement portfolio. welcome to my world.

I mean really, you can't spot a joke now? what are you, will in seattle?

Posted by Bellevue Ave | September 29, 2008 10:18 PM

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