How close are you following this financial crisis?

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105785/Worst-Crisis-Since-1930s-With-No-End-Yet-in-Sight

This is an excellent article (on Yahoo) about this constant, downward spiraling situation. We're all going to be affected by it and it's likely that my kids will end up dealing with some of this in the form of social security and other such taxes. Forget about whose fault it is because, honestly, that doesn't matter anymore. What does matter is how the hell we're going to fix this...

It's gonna get worse, I would not be surprised if America entered a depressionToriko42

We pretty much are in recession, whether we want to believe it or not. People have to start opening their eyes. They can be in denial all they went but it's happening. Just because the President won't admit it, doesnt mean it isnt. I deal with people's finances at work, first-hand and I've never seen anything like this, ever.

Bank of America just bought Merryl Lynch. ML is trying to survive so they merge. AIG is barely afloat and close to bankruptcy so they were forced to tap into their resources. Washington Mutual took a huge hit and they're barely surviving. Fanny Mae and Indy Mac already took the plunge but they were saved by the government. And you guys heard about our mortgage crisis. Countrywide took a HUGE hit. Debt is rising, savings is at an all-time low. And it's NOT getting better. Statistics show it getting worse and worse. It's a clear of sign of habitual spending. People aren't saving near enough and they spend more than they make. I work in the financial services industry so I know all this. I dont expect the average person to know so they'll probably sit here and argue with me all day and act like they know what's going on. But Americans are suffering, it's a fact.

All I need to know is this...what do I need to do to profit from this situation?

I don't have a good job, and I don't make much money. But let's just hypothetically suppose that I saved up a tiny bit of money over the last year. What stocks do I need to buy right now, and how much money do I need to invest in order to ensure a good profit?

All I need to know is this...what do I need to do to profit from this situation?

I don't have a good job, and I don't make much money. But let's just hypothetically suppose that I saved up a tiny bit of money over the last year. What stocks do I need to buy right now, and how much money do I need to invest in order to ensure a good profit?

MrGeezer

What people dont know is that this is the best time to "buy." It's the best time to buy homes, to buy stocks, while it's dirt cheap. The problem is, people that want to do that don't have money. And the rich people are capitalizing.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

All I need to know is this...what do I need to do to profit from this situation?

I don't have a good job, and I don't make much money. But let's just hypothetically suppose that I saved up a tiny bit of money over the last year. What stocks do I need to buy right now, and how much money do I need to invest in order to ensure a good profit?

Elann2008

What people dont know is that this is the best time to "buy." It's the best time to buy homes, to buy stocks, while it's dirt cheap. The problem is, people that want to do that don't have money. And the rich people are capitalizing.

I absolutely know that now is the time to buy. I'm not rich though, and I don't have anywhere near enough money to buy a house. However, I suppose I could probably afford to buy some shares in the stock market, so that's what I'm asking.

I'm not telling you guys how much money I have, or how much I make.

But let me give you a wide range. At miniumum, suppose I have $200 that I can afford to get rid of? How do I take advantage of the poor economy and turn that $200 into a profit? Also, suppose I have $10,000 that I can afford to lose. How can I take advantage of the poor economy and turn that $10,000 into a decent profit?

Enough to make pofit from it.loco145

I wish I had money to spare.

Oh and to the guy that two days ago told me that investing in gold would be a bad idea look at its price today! Static assets value always rise in times of crisis.

my girlfriends parents have been able to take a hueg advantage of this. Yesterday they bought a lake front propperty under 100k that should have been about 200k.

Well, i know about it from what I've heard on NPR. I'm not actively researching it, but I get the general idea about what is going on.Shad0ki11

Did you listen today? I feel like I am on the wrong end of socialism.

This has nothing to do with insane deficit spending by the federal government with, as Ron Paul worded it, what is effectively "counterfeit" money.

since i'm studying economics at uni its my job to know about it, so i've been following it very closelydth_dlr

So as an expert (at least compared to everyone else on OT) what do you think is going to happen in the next few weeks?

[QUOTE="Shad0ki11"]Well, i know about it from what I've heard on NPR. I'm not actively researching it, but I get the general idea about what is going on.laughingman42

Did you listen today? I feel like I am on the wrong end of socialism.

I actually listened to a playlist on my Ipod on the way home today (or yesterday rather because it's past 12am here lol). I'll have to catch up tomorrow(today).

Those that have filed for bankruptcy or gone under:

IndyMac

Fannie Mae

Freddie Mac

Lehman Brothers

Bear Stearns

many more but they are smaller

Those soon to be out of business:

Countrywide got bought by Bank of America

Merril Lynch bought by Bank of America effectively making them the strongest bank, investment, mortgage company in the world

Washington Mutual may be bought by Wells Fargo

Charles Schwab in talks with Wachovia

AIG got saved by the government with that 85 billion dollar loan, but follow this one closely.

Heres the deal. Because of the housing bubble burst, their are too many bad morgages defaulting and people losing their homes. Banks then have to declare these homes on their books and this causes them to lose money. Investment firms like Lehman and Merril invested significantly in bonds and funds related too these risky loans. They too had to declare losses. AIG is an insurer who insured these bad loans and when they went default they had to pay out billions. All these companies that have failed basically did risky business and failed and now we the taxpayers have to bail them out. Lucky us.

This has nothing to do with insane deficit spending by the federal government with, as Ron Paul worded it, what is effectively "counterfeit" money.

Well, Saddam bin Laden al-Zarqawi or whatever that guy's name was must be laughing his ass off.[/QUOTE]

Believe it or not, his country's/regime's well-being and econmoy is effected by the U.S's and the rest of the world's economy. How? One word: oil.

[QUOTE="dth_dlr"]since i'm studying economics at uni its my job to know about it, so i've been following it very closelylaughingman42

So as an expert (at least compared to everyone else on OT) what do you think is going to happen in the next few weeks?

so if i am to understand, banks kept loaning money to people who couldnt pay them back, so they lost money, then aig (who insured these loans) lost even more money, so now the government is gonna pay for all of it, and theyre using tax dollars to do it.

am i correct or wrong? please correct me if i am, im pretty stupid when it comes to stuff like this.

One of the reasons why I'be barely posted is because for the past 4 days in particular I've been reading and posting in news media sites on the crisis. I've been following the economic downturn for a while now, commenting on national debt rates, borrowing ludricrous sums of money, debt society etc, and was saying for a good while it will all come back to bite people on their asses. The financial collapse you're witnessing is all a part of that, part of the same faltering system. The crisis is systemic.

If it all collapses you can't say you and the governments weren't warned. The collapse everyone is witnessing is unparalled except for the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

I also saw that the guys on GS hardly posted on anything to do with the financial turmoil. No threads on Fannie and Freddie Mac nationalisations, or the slowly increasing nationalisation of the financial system. No posts on AIG buy outs or Lehman Brothers collapse. This is the stuff you need to get clued up about.

I guess now is a good time for me to invest. :)

I plan on starting my Roth IRA soon, within the next few weeks. And I was looking for a good mutual fund.(probably doing both through Fidelity) I wanted to put my savings in a money market account, instead of a regular savings account; but the minimum monthly balance is 5,000 and I don't have that much.

[QUOTE="SpaceMoose"]

This has nothing to do with insane deficit spending by the federal government with, as Ron Paul worded it, what is effectively "counterfeit" money.

Well, Saddam bin Laden al-Zarqawi or whatever that guy's name was must be laughing his ass off.

wslacker2

Believe it or not, his country's/regime's well-being and econmoy is effected by the U.S's and the rest of the world's economy. How? One word: oil.

Oil is a commodity, which is why it's increasing in price, it's the reason why the Arabian Gulf markets have been largely unaffected, same goes for the Chinese markets, they're insulated somewhat from the crisis.

When it all collapses it will affect some nations more than others. Demand for say Gold, oil, gas, timber, iron ore etc, real commodities will still exist. Demand for fiat currency and debt in terms of bonds and treasury debt won't.

I guess now is a good time for me to invest. :)

cool_baller

Are you being ironic.:| Now is the time when you should NOT be investing. Seriously for your own good, keep the cash and wait for 6-12 months at the least to see what happens. If you invest in a company that is affected by failing banks and financial institutions then you're going to lose out. And no the government won't bail you out like the big banks.

The only reason why people are saying it's a good time to buy now is simply because they expect the markets to rebound within a year. This is very unlikely. The reason why share prices are so cheap is because they're going down the toilet. It's a bear market that is heading downward, and don't expect a bull run (upwards) anytime soon. You may well pull off a great bargain, but much more likely you'll make losses at least in the short to medium term.

so if i am to understand, banks kept loaning money to people who couldnt pay them back, so they lost money, then aig (who insured these loans) lost even more money, so now the government is gonna pay for all of it, and theyre using tax dollars to do it.

am i correct or wrong? please correct me if i am, im pretty stupid when it comes to stuff like this.

Xeros606

cool_baller

Invest in property ,lol

cool_baller

Invest in property ,lol

terrytubbs

[QUOTE="cool_baller"]

I guess now is a good time for me to invest. :)

Hoobinator

Are you being ironic.:| Now is the time when you should NOT be investing. Seriously for your own good, keep the cash and wait for 6-12 months at the least to see what happens. If you invest in a company that is affected by failing banks and financial institutions then you're going to lose out. And no the government won't bail you out like the big banks.

The only reason why people are saying it's a good time to buy now is simply because they expect the markets to rebound within a year. This is very unlikely. The reason why share prices are so cheap is because they're going down the toilet. It's a bear market that is heading downward, and don't expect a bull run (upwards) anytime soon. You may well pull off a great bargain, but much more likely you'll make losses at least in the short to medium term.

Unless you're really lucky, you're just going to be exchanging your cash for toilet paper.

[QUOTE="Hoobinator"][QUOTE="cool_baller"]

I guess now is a good time for me to invest. :)

Ezgam3r

Are you being ironic.:| Now is the time when you should NOT be investing. Seriously for your own good, keep the cash and wait for 6-12 months at the least to see what happens. If you invest in a company that is affected by failing banks and financial institutions then you're going to lose out. And no the government won't bail you out like the big banks.

The only reason why people are saying it's a good time to buy now is simply because they expect the markets to rebound within a year. This is very unlikely. The reason why share prices are so cheap is because they're going down the toilet. It's a bear market that is heading downward, and don't expect a bull run (upwards) anytime soon. You may well pull off a great bargain, but much more likely you'll make losses at least in the short to medium term.

Unless you're really lucky, you're just going to be exchanging your cash for toilet paper.

MS is in merger talks i hear... they're next to go..

One of the reasons why I'be barely posted is because for the past 4 days in particular I've been reading and posting in news media sites on the crisis. I've been following the economic downturn for a while now, commenting on national debt rates, borrowing ludricrous sums of money, debt society etc, and was saying for a good while it will all come back to bite people on their asses. The financial collapse you're witnessing is all a part of that, part of the same faltering system. The crisis is systemic.

If it all collapses you can't say you and the governments weren't warned. The collapse everyone is witnessing is unparalled except for the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

I also saw that the guys on GS hardly posted on anything to do with the financial turmoil. No threads on Fannie and Freddie Mac nationalisations, or the slowly increasing nationalisation of the financial system. No posts on AIG buy outs or Lehman Brothers collapse. This is the stuff you need to get clued up about.

Hoobinator

you do realize for the most part you're talking to 12-17 year olds right?

[QUOTE="Xeros606"]

so if i am to understand, banks kept loaning money to people who couldnt pay them back, so they lost money, then aig (who insured these loans) lost even more money, so now the government is gonna pay for all of it, and theyre using tax dollars to do it.

am i correct or wrong? please correct me if i am, im pretty stupid when it comes to stuff like this.

Ezgam3r

but why does the govt have to pay for it?

you do realize for the most part you're talking to 12-17 year olds right?

comp_atkins

Yeah:lol: I know most of the guys here are 15-early 20's. I was gonna call them kids but then I feared I would get moderated.:(

But still 15-20 isn't exactly a child anymore. They should be clued up about it, because we're the next generation and this will directly affect all of us.

[QUOTE="Ezgam3r"][QUOTE="Xeros606"]

so if i am to understand, banks kept loaning money to people who couldnt pay them back, so they lost money, then aig (who insured these loans) lost even more money, so now the government is gonna pay for all of it, and theyre using tax dollars to do it.

am i correct or wrong? please correct me if i am, im pretty stupid when it comes to stuff like this.

Xeros606

but why does the govt have to pay for it?

who do you think pays the gov't??

[QUOTE="Ezgam3r"][QUOTE="Xeros606"]

so if i am to understand, banks kept loaning money to people who couldnt pay them back, so they lost money, then aig (who insured these loans) lost even more money, so now the government is gonna pay for all of it, and theyre using tax dollars to do it.

am i correct or wrong? please correct me if i am, im pretty stupid when it comes to stuff like this.

Xeros606

but why does the govt have to pay for it?

The safest thing to do would be to put your money in Bank of America. Just make sure its $100,000 or less because you're only guaranteed that much money back if the bank goes under(Not that anyone has that much money here). The reason I'd use Bank of America is because the only way that'll go under if the Federal Government goes under, and that doesn't look like it'll happen anytime soon.

I'm an accounting major, so I'm pretty much on top of it like a fly on ****.

I just read the Dow went up 410 pointscool_baller

yeah. gov't is mulling over idea to basically take a lot of the bad debt away from coorporations. i think they will hold onto it until it can find buyers for it.

I just read the Dow went up 410 pointscool_baller

[QUOTE="Xeros606"][QUOTE="Ezgam3r"][QUOTE="Xeros606"]

so if i am to understand, banks kept loaning money to people who couldnt pay them back, so they lost money, then aig (who insured these loans) lost even more money, so now the government is gonna pay for all of it, and theyre using tax dollars to do it.

am i correct or wrong? please correct me if i am, im pretty stupid when it comes to stuff like this.

comp_atkins

but why does the govt have to pay for it?

who do you think pays the gov't??

There was actually an article on the same page that I found the one in my first post. I suppose if you did a search then you'd find your answer.