Quote from enforcer99:
also,it begs the question. will a rate cut even help? could we be in a predictament where the economy slowed so much that lower rates will be ineffective? look at 2000 when the ded started to lower rates.
Answers: 1. temporarliy, yes. ; 2. Yes.
The downturn due to real estate collapse will be much worse then the mainstream press, the Fed, The Treasury, and of course Wall Street, will admit to. They always downplay these things because they don't want panic. Fact is, this will become, and we are just getting started, the worse such collapse in our lifetimes. And most of us, my self included, did not realize the depth and extent of the associated CDO crisis.
The evidence for how bad things are below the surface is right their in front of our eyes in the form of all the emergency actions taken almost daily by the Fed to fight the fires. They just get one put out and another springs up. Further evidence is found in the fact that "Easy Al" is going around predicting recession and once again remarking on our "irrational exuberance." And who would know better then the man who created this mess?
But that said, we all know how resilient and irrational the stock market can be. As in Barcelona, Bulls die hard, suffering a long and bloody demise until that final thrust of the rapier. Our ET crowd of "zero risk" bulls will certainly die the cruelest deaths of all, as they stagger bleeding toward ignominity.
In the meantime, with an election coming up and all of that freshly printed money out there ready to be channeled to whichever side is most pro-Israel, we could sure use some more of that economic "growth" thing. So let'er rip Ben. Turn those presses loose.
It would not surprise me to see new highs before we make new lows. Eventually though, the piper must be paid, be it in 2007, 2008, or 2009?
I love being flat at the end of the day, but seeing your buying power evaporate overnight takes some of the thrill out of it..
