Remember back in 1999, when people wanted 24-hour, 7-day a week trading? Stock trading was fun back then! And who didn't like Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in the first Matrix movie?
Planning for Next
- With a new President coming in January, check out how both sides are preparing. It is widely reported that former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta is working with Obama, while former Reagan Navy Secretary John Lehman Jr. is guiding McCain's team.
- Insurance companies want some of the bailout pie, too. Shares of these insurance companies (MetLife and Aflac) surged after the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal both reported that the Treasury Department was considering extending funds from the $700 billion bank bailout, or Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), to the battered insurance group.
- Throwing the bathroom sink at the economy. (Isn't it "kitchen" sink?) Will interest rates go to 0%?
Is the Bathroom Sink Half Full?
- Investors terrified, but also optimistic. Dan Silverman, a management consultant based in Washington, D.C., said that people are "terrified" about losing their money, but he's optimistic that investors will "calm down" after the presidential election is resolved in November. He said he's continuing to invest in his 401K because he's "buying at bargain rates," on the assumption that the markets will recover.
- You know, I remain invested and riding this thing down. I remember the big panic in 1998 and went down with that one. I was only partially allocated to equities for most of the 2000-2 bear market, but what I owned took a beating. Looking back, it was that steady addition to savings every month that ended up producing great returns.
- Those returns have since been whack-a-moled. But I digress. I think it's the way to go. Stay the course, as former President George HW Bush used to say before he lost the election for his second term. Bah.