Um ... anyone watching the Dow?

Is it time to buy buy buy yet?

Wait till it hits 8000. that should be in about three days.

Richard

I'm waiting for 8500.

MM

Sure wish it would all work out for those with investments in the stock market. Mr. Susie and I don't have that worry...

I'm with Maryn, depressed. Day-to-day is hard enough, but they're burnin' up Ol' Boy's and my retirement faster than we can replace it.

I used to worry that hubby and I hadn't really seriously started saving for retirement, because he's been in school so long. Today...it seems like a moot point.

Mela said:

I heard on TV that all the fabulously rich are investing in hard gold, as in keeping blocks of gold in the bank instead of cash, because gold is up.

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How lovely for them to have that option. <gag>

I won't be opening my 401(k) or IRA statements this quarter. I can't stomach the results.

If this keeps up, we'll be back to using beads for money. Of course, then I'd be fabulously wealthy...

ETA: And I'm not even looking at my 401k, either. I'm pretty sure it's in negative numbers right now.

looks like -369.88 on the Dow. 9955.50

Not nearly as bad as the -700 expected and recovered from the -800 it hit earlier today.


Still not good, but better than it could have been.

Stew21 said:

looks like -369.88 on the Dow. 9955.50

Not nearly as bad as the -700 expected and recovered from the -800 it hit earlier today.


Still not good, but better than it could have been.

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Hey, 45 points and it's up over 10,000. It could be a whole awful lot worse.

I had some stocks from a job back in 2000 that were doing well. Never took anything, just let it reinvest. When the statement came in I was down to 40 cent.

40 freaking cent.

There goes the ace in the hole I'd been hiding from myself.

That's why we should diversify.

This has just been a very erratic market lately. Remember, the Dow is only made up of a handful of blue chip big companies. Even the NASDAQ (tech stocks)... there really is no immediate bad news or direct issues in those markets. So it's basically investors getting scared and jumpy... it doesn't mean it won't get worse -- fear and panic beget more fear and panic. Sell, sell, sell. The smart investors would use this time to research and buy at basement prices. For those who are investing for the long haul (IRAs, etc.) they will take a hit, but in 20 years it wouldn't make that much of a different. The sad part is for those who need to cash in soon (or near retirement). I feel really bad for them.

My 401(k), IRAs, etc. and investments took a few hits in the past (1999-2002, for example), but over time they're all doing very well. But remember, the DOW went from 8000 to 14000 (granted, there was a lot of irrational exuberance as well) in just a number of years. Fix the economy, and the rest will rebound.

Now, the talk of a depression... I'm no economist so I don't know, but the worries are there.... it's a broader issue than the stock market itself: jobs, housing, inflation, etc. When companies start closing shops and people start losing jobs in record numbers, then we really have something to worry about.

Maryn said:

It's pretty freakin' scary for people like us, nearing retirement. Our nest egg has shrunk dramatically, and it's no longer a sure thing that it will be enough to see us both through a financially comfortable retirement. We were well-diversified, but when every type of investment takes a hit...

Maryn, depressed

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Thank god we still have social security!

Right?

Hello?

If it means that I get to pay less than $3 a gallon for gas (and dropping daily), I say let it keep falling. Eventually, all the fear-mongering in the world will come to an end...

It's about time over-inflated stock prices were brought back into check anyway...

And maybe another thing will be that people will be able to afford houses when this is all over with. At any rate, something good will come of all this. This old world has weathered some pretty tough times before. We will get through this one, too.

And I will make back the $6,000 I lost on my old 401k in the three days it took me to get it rolled over. Don't know when, but I will.

I wonder if they can get back the severance packages the CEOs got when they left Lehman Brothers and reinvest those...

BenPanced said:

I wonder if they can get back the severance packages the CEOs got when they left Lehman Brothers and reinvest those...

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I'm sure we could make better use of that money than they can.

Mela said:

I heard on TV that all the fabulously rich are investing in hard gold, as in keeping blocks of gold in the bank instead of cash, because gold is up.

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Remember - money only has the value that people assign to it. What can you really do with gold besides fill teeth, make jewelry, or put it in electronic components?

If gold is worthless to me - it's still a bad investment. YMMV

Well, according to MSNBC, European markets and the Nikki are up and stable today. They're thinking the Dow will regain at least some lost ground.

And I know what I could do with gold - make really pretty stuff.

Mela said:

Stick your money in your mattresses - .

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This is where most of the problems are coming from.