Slog - Comments on Worst Day Ever

Comment by Matt Fuckin' Hickey

Matt Fuckin' Hickey — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:56:13 -0800

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

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:07:58 -0800

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

Comment by inquiring mind

inquiring mind — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:09:04 -0800

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?

Comment by brent

brent — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:10:33 -0800

Meh, wasn't even 7%.

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

Comment by pragmatic

pragmatic — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:11:00 -0800

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.

Comment by rjh

rjh — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:11:48 -0800

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

Comment by Mike in Renton

Mike in Renton — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:13:51 -0800

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.

Comment by Sir Learnsalot

Sir Learnsalot — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:14:28 -0800

Beat me to it.

Comment by Gurldoggie

Gurldoggie — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:16:06 -0800

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!

Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball

Jubilation T. Cornball — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:16:09 -0800

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

Comment by J

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:17:43 -0800

@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.

Comment by Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:22:55 -0800

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??

Comment by Vince

Vince — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:28:25 -0800

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

Comment by inquiring minds

inquiring minds — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:32:02 -0800

thanks, #11!

Comment by Greg

Greg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:35:28 -0800

Goodbye, retirement funds!

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:36:57 -0800

@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.

Comment by chaosbound

chaosbound — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:46:30 -0800

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.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:07:12 -0800

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.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:12:46 -0800

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.

Comment by Mr. Chaosbound

Mr. Chaosbound — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:15:35 -0800

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.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:17:36 -0800

Mr. Chaosbound;

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

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:40:03 -0800

@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.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:02:27 -0800

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

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:25:08 -0800

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.

Comment by blah blah Ave

blah blah Ave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:04:46 -0800

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.

Comment by jrrrl

jrrrl — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:13:44 -0800

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.

Comment by tomasyalba

tomasyalba — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:40:45 -0800

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.

Comment by TheClassWarIsReal

TheClassWarIsReal — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:17:30 -0800

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

Comment by Ben W.

Ben W. — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:20:25 -0800

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.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:18:24 -0800

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?