January 30, 2009

Does today feel like September 12, 2001? Or is it even worse?

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Business as usual in sacramento.Bars and stores are packed.Indian casinos ares till screwing clients.Some depression.

consultant said...

No, it doesn't feel like that, but it is worse.

However, the tragic crash of those 2 towers IS very much like what is now happening to our economy.

Since no one in power seems to want to prosecute the people responsible for this criminal Ponzi scheme, our economy will continue to crash.

Anonymous said...

Much, Much Worse:

Sharpen up your pitchforks. Bushco and Cheneyburton First:

Economy in Turmoil
Economy shrank at fastest clip since '82
The country logged its worst economic performance in a quarter-century during the final three months of last year as battered consumers and businesses throttled back spending.

Obama: Here's your mandate. These two must be brought to justice and punished. Period.

Prosecute Bush and Cheney. There is No Other Way.

DIE U PIGS

Anonymous said...

Worse

Anonymous said...

Yes. You're god damn right it does. How many people are dumb-founded about whatever it is that's keeping these markets going? Both sides of this international debate are talking out of their collective asses and eventually people will give up trying to figure out the details. One could argue they already are. That brings us back to the horrifying concept of "zero."

Circle the wagons. Be prepared. You'll be thankful you did.

Unknown said...

9-11 was the catalyst for this entire thing. We were united as a country and Bush could have lead us into an amazing time. Alternate energy and infrastructure repair could have been the 'national securuty' we needed. Drop bombs on the terror camps, improve the border and airline security....no Iraq.

Instead Bush, Cheney, and the huge corporations used 9-11 as an excuse to tee off on the middle class, democracy, and America.

We had a chance to turn the 9-11 disaster into a huge force to strengthen America....instead we allowed it to be used to destroy middle class America.

People like Limbaugh, who led the charge, should be hated and scorned by all. To see him emerging as the 'leader' of the opposition is beyong sickening.

Anonymous said...

I was there both days. The answer is no. Know why?

There was more anger, horror, and outrage then. Everyone KNEW what happened and how bad it was: hell, what's there to figure out about 2 planes hitting the WTC, and you're watching people jump out the 90th story windows? Obvious to understand, horrible for everyone unless you're a bizarre psychopath, a common enemy to hate for it.

But this? Idol watching folks still don't get it. Here, they still think their homes are worth 6 times what they paid for it 5 years ago. Their ARM hasn't reset yet, their school district hasn't doubled the number of kids per class yet, their retired parents aren't eating cat food and have their heat shut off yet. They don't know- aw hell, they don't even have the curiosity to learn what this crisis means to them. Telling them their kids have a huge debt to pay off means nothing... how is that shadowy idea supposed to impact someone with 40 grand on the credit cards and 3 HELOCS? Huh, what??... OMG did you see Dancing with the Stars?

The other thing - there was a hate spewing, turban wearing, shifty eyed enemy to blame on 9/12/01. Not so here: this time the ones responsible are our own. White, smiling politicians who 'work for you' and kiss your baby, the finance guy in the Hamptons who you see in society magazines attending an exclusive party of charity event, the people that run the corporations running ads that make you feel you're rich, make you feel good/pretty. Much harder to get the rage up to 9/12 levels.

Aw hell, they'll need a tape of Perry feasting on a baby for dinner and a puppy for dessert before the fury matches.

Anonymous said...

I just used Nancy Pelosi's web site. I asked her what was up with her lips and sent her a picture of Mickey Rourke.
Ha Ha

Anonymous said...

Look at the ratings. Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, et al are making huge bucks off this change in administration. They are secretly thrilled Obama won. They are spewing hatred and division like throwing old bones to rabid mongrel dogs. It's disgusting, but hey, as long as Hannity can eat at Ruth's Criss every day and Limbaugh can afford his cases of Viagra, it's all good. Obama won the election, but these fat-ass loudmouths won the lottery.

Anonymous said...

"Not so here: this time the ones responsible are our own."

Yep, in essence, there were no lessons learned from Nasdaq 5K. There simply wasn't enough multi-generational time for people to have forgotten the biggest stock market bubble, to have fomented another one in RE.

This is entirely a by product of the ostrich syndrome which encompasses the average person.

Anonymous said...

Bad Bank.

I will begrudgingly accept a bad bank if for every bank that wants to unload its non-performing debt (love that term) to the bad bank they:

1) take control of the bank
2) replace the entire board
3) replace all upper management
4) wipe out all shareholders
5) recapitalize the bank and take it back private



DEC 2008

Anonymous said...

If Obama is going to prosecute the guilty, he'll have to include a member of his cabient--Hilalry Clinton. Both Bill and Hillary sold out the country to the Chinese in exchange for big donations. In addition, Billary played a significant role in instituting "Free Trade" where America exported its jobs, wealth and future in exchange for ....in exchange for....Hmmmmm. Now just what did the USA get out of free trade again?

By the way, I agree that Bush and Cheney should be prosecuted. All I am saying is that both democrats and republicians cheerfully engineered this train wreck and there's enuff blame to go aound.

Anonymous said...

9/11 felt like getting stabbed in the back with an HIV-soaked butcher knife.

This is like dying of full blown AIDS.

Anonymous said...

Stimulus after stimulus after stimulus! When you stimulate a carcass, that's what you get: a nauseating smell!

I am sorry to say that of all the stimuli we faced so far, the one that stinks miles away is the current one.

Obama knows that, and that’s why he lobbied so hard to get the Repubs’ backing. Obama also knows that the Repubs know that no stimuli, no matter how big, can resuscitate this corpse left behind by the Bush crime gang.

Obama is almost certain he’ll be blamed for his failure in jumpstarting the economy. The Repubs don’t want to share that blame, and that’s why they all voted against Obama’s plan. Even some of the Democrats in Congress have distanced themselves from the horrible smell of Obama’s package.

If you think the situation now is bleak, wait a few more months! We may not even have the “luxury” of having an exchange like this over the internet! But just for the record, all I see in the not-so-distant future is businesses closing down in droves; massive layoffs; riots; bloody confrontations and civil strife; bread lines; looting; arson; governments defaulting and falling right and left; states breaking away or breaking apart; corrupt officials hiding in underground holes to avoid the masses’ wrath… AND MORE!

Anonymous said...

Interesting. Absolutely nothing on this blog about the big Mish - Schiff fight? (Mish is right, by the way.)

Mark in San Diego said...

When events happen slowly, people don't notice as much. My grandmother told me people didn't really understand in 1929 that they were wiped-out until about 1931 or so. . .they all thought the stock market would come back, etc. The first Depression did not reach bottom until 1932 . . .this one will grind on for many more years, because of failed government attempts at bailouts.

I would guess the US will be in "better shape" relative to China, and other developing countries - we have a LOT of fat (in both senses of the word) to see us through a long hard economic winter. . .think of all those "spare bedrooms" in McMansions that can and are being rented out. . .we have enough housing, enough cheap food ($1 meals at McDonalds), and enough Walmart Junk circulating through flea-markets to last 10 years. . .

Anonymous said...

Are you guys on mushrooms?

Anonymous said...

Not even close. Those were peoples friends and family members. That was REAL tragedy, REAL loss. This is just money lost. Big difference there.

If tommorow, all the possessions and money I have was gone but I had my health and my family, I would be shook up for sure, but I could cope. If I lost one of my daughters, my wife or another immediate family member or a close friend, WOW. That might break me.

Not even in the same ballpark.

Anonymous said...

Are you f'in shitin me? What the hell we talking about here.

Good God the folks that rebuilt Europe after WWI and II would just bitch slap the shit out of you pansies.

Anonymous said...

Worse. 9-11 was a surprise. This is more like watching a wreck in very slow motion. You know it's coming, it could be avoided if someone were to swerve away and you're screaming your head off but no one is listening.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't 9/11 intended to forestall our current predicament?

ApleAnee said...

Freddie Mac is on its way to Dean Baker's "Own to Rent" solution for foreclosure. We could be on our way to becoming a Nation of Renters. Oh the irony of it all.

Occam's Razor
The simplest solution is usually the right one.

http://tinyurl.com/c4ny5n

By extending leases to borrowers in addition to tenants, Freddie Mac's plan may go further toward easing the impact of foreclosures on homeowners and communities, where a rising numbers of empty homes is depressing home values. When home prices fall, foreclosures follow as stressed borrowers find themselves owing more than the house is worth and unable to obtain financing....

Anonymous said...

To people who have not experienced a lay-off it seems business as usuall. If you have a sensible non-bubble house then ditto on the non-emergency.

However if you are looking for a job, you KNOW it real bad.

I just spoke with HR at a small tire service company and he said he is getting 100 applications per day. I bet the whole company has only 250-300 employees.

So if you work in an HR dept. then you know its really bad too.

If you have a mortgage in a bubble area you KNOW its bad. Even if you can pay your mortgage your neighbor ain't paying his and living FREE in the same house you pay $2500 for. You know in your heart its only a metter of time you need to decide if you are going to keep feeding the $200k underwater beast.

As I see it there are two USAs right now, those who have not been effected YET (they are the ones still at the mall and Sushi bars) and the ones smack dab in the shitstorm.

GT Charlie

Anonymous said...

.




YOU MEAN, PEOPLE WITH FUNCTIONING BRAINS REALIZED THAT BOTH SITUATIONS ARE INSIDE JOBS?



.

consultant said...

True, true,..enough blame to go around.

Let's have bipartisan prosecution of the tens of thousands of people who engaged in wire fraud and racketeering.

That also means a lot of real estate agents, brokers, appraisers and mortgage execs will have to go to jail.

Man, I sure hope so. That would be better than tickets to the Super Bowl, and I'm a huge football fan.

But it just shows you how doomed we all are because I think that is just wishful thinking.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...nope, no depression here. We're still living la vida loca:

www.miami.com/voyeur/seen-by-seth-01-30#0

Freaking cold, though. Some global warming...

Lost Cause said...

I am glad that Rush Limbaugh is the new leader for the crafty opposition. He is a clown who does not have to wear make-up, because he is on the radio. I would like to see a coherent strategy emerge from this drug-addled pederast. Obama will be shadow boxing, but what harm can come from shadows, really?

Anonymous said...

Now just what did the USA get out of free trade again?

A fasely high value for the currency and boatloads of cheap plastic shee-it to fill up their garages ?

Anonymous said...

Pissed in New York has it right. Most people don't get it yet. My own family is sick of my rants...they are all well-employed and working hard. My husband never trusted the Wall Street bound guys he went to b-school with. He thought they were arrogant before they even got started.

I think Obama needs to do a lot more than simply tell the bankers what they did was "shameful." I think the govt. has convened some sort of group to look into it. They need to crack down fast on the banker swill. These are the most arrogant bunch of guys you will ever meet.

Glass-Steagull should never have been repealed. Bush was too busy with terrorism and the war; and...when he did try to do something, like go after Freddie, Fannie and Barney, nothing happened. Yeah, the government is to blame over several administrations, but what these guys on Wall Street did is nothing short of thievery. They sold a usurious bill of goods, shrouded in doublespeak to those who could least undertand it and then gambled the proceeds like a bunch of drunks at the horsetrack.

I do not blame the people in France for demonstrating...they've got it right, we should not be allowing those who got us into trouble, the banks, lead us out of trouble. Is everybody on Xanax?

Dr. Huxtable said...

It really feels like the US GOVT is PROPPING UP THE STOCK MARKET!!!


DOW 8,000 has been the magic number to use the plunge protection team. What did the Dow close at today, 8,000.86? Hmmm, interesting.

ApleAnee said...

image009 said...

Interesting. Absolutely nothing on this blog about the big Mish - Schiff fight? (Mish is right, by the way.)

He has been right all along.

Anonymous said...

Hey Keith,

Lets have a post/comments on the Stock Market again. It's been a while.

Dow 8000? It only broke below for a few minutes before you know who stepped in...

What's up with that? Very fishy.

Why would anyone buy the financials and reits in this economic collapse?

Will the market finally breakthrough 8000 next week?
Predictions?

Anonymous said...

Hey what's the chance California defaults on some of its bonds?

Anonymous said...

I don't know about you guys. But I sure as hell don't feel like we are in a recession let alone a depression. The stores are full, restaurants have waiting lines, and as far as I can tell Keith there are no riots breaking out in my city. So much for spreading fear and panic Sashers. Perhaps you folks live in another dimension?

Anonymous said...

Three more banks on FDIC Failed Bank List today.

That makes six banks that made the failed bank list in January 2009

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

Ocala National Bank, Ocala, FL

Suburban Federal Savings Bank, Crofton, MD

MagnetBank, Salt Lake City, UT

Anonymous said...

it's so much worse now. People at least came together after 9/11. Every week some client is letting people go...it's just a slow bleed. They don't do it all at once anymore so you never know when or where the axe is going to fall next. It's not a good way to live - it's not good for morale - not for the people that get canned or those left trying to hold down the fort. It would almost be better for the gov't to let everything collapse so we can start to rebuild rather than trying to keep patching the dam with bandaids.

Anonymous said...

Actually what happened in Sept 2001 completely foreshadowed where we are today.

The mastermind of 9/11 was OSAMA BIN LADEN. So subtract out the letters "LS NA" - (long search, never arrested) and add the letter B - (Bailouts) and you wind up with:

OBAMA / BIDEN

It was right there all along. Once could say it was foretold.

-Mike H.

Anonymous said...

"...their retired parents aren't eating cat food and have their heat shut off yet. They don't know- aw hell, they don't even have the curiosity to learn what this crisis means to them."

Wow, cat food and no heat. Such drama. You write plays or something?

Talking about a crisis - you soft-hands are whining about pathetic and material money. Meanwhile there is a caldera in Yellowstone that is just itching to blow. Do you know what this financial "crisis" will mean to you when the sun is blocked out for years and rocks the size of cars are thrown 1,000 miles? Or are you not curious enough to inform yourself about a possible real crisis?

I hope you never have a real problem in life. If you do, my advice is to run. You can't handle it.

Anonymous said...

The Fed is propping the stock market.

The Fed has loaned over 4 trillion dollars (to unknown recipients) in the past five months. My guess is that they have "loaned" this money to Goldman Sachs to prop up the stock market.

The Fed is a private bank whose ownership is kept secret. But, Goldman Sachs is reputed to be the largest shareholder. Pretty convenient relationship if you ask me.

Anonymous said...

"Does today feel like September 12, 2001? Or is it even worse?"
===================================
It feels worse. The American Oligarchy and their Libertarian New World Order have staged the biggest bank robbery in the history of the world.

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