Monday, September 29, 2008

777

points the Dow Jones fell today. Nearly 7% of it's value is gone. One Trillion dollars wiped off the market.

Wow.

Stock people were caught completely by surprise by the failed vote of their political leaders in America, and I too was very surprised that after all their work on this package, they promptly voted it down.

And now some are are running around in fear.

I've been listening to the BBC tonight and CNBC is on the TV now. It's just like watching an accident happening before your eyes, in slow motion. Words like recession and even depression are being used by people with microphones in front of them. One interviewer even asked if Capitalism had died. A lot of dramatic language being thrown about it seems. We are watching history unfold and people will talk of this day for years to come.

It seems its the financial guys that are hurting the most right now. Strange, questionable decisions made in the cause of serving the almighty dollar it seems. Now we reap what we've sown. Should we be surprised?

I know some people who will really be hurting tomorrow. They're just people who have been working hard in the market to earn some cash so they can retire. But like my father-in-law who lost a great deal in the BC market, likes to tell me from personal experience, only invest in the market what you are willing to lose.

Maybe it helps us remember where we place our trust. Perhaps it helps us value what is really important. Hopefully it doesn't cause us to give up and give in, and quit life.

Like it has in the past.

4 comments:

  1. This is going to hurt almost everyone in Europe - not necessarily now, but in the future. All our pensions will become valueless, endowment insurance covering mortgages reduced further and jobs lost.

    The interesting thing is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, we all considered it a *good thing* and that the West was strong. Maybe the West wasn't built on such secure foundations after all?

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  2. Ever since that amazing fall of the Soviet Empire I have watched and wondered too if or when it would be the Wests turn.

    I wonder if this is our Chernobyl

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  3. I was thinking how this really doesn't affect me. I'm not saying that with smugness, just glad our investments are in almost risk free places and that treasure really needs to not be measured in wealth.

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  4. Today the Dow Jones recovered 500 points.

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