Let the Economic Meltdown Commence

As Fall comes closer and this year winds toward it's end, it has become increasingly apparent to me that 2008 has been a difficult year for many of us. Recent economic turmoil has quickly betrayed the public's trust in financial markets. After all, 24 hour news networks have been calling the economy 'Issue #1' for months now.

This week has been a wild ride on Wall Street. Lehman Brothers, a 158 year old Wall Street institution that had survived the Great Depression and other very significant market slumps, abruptly closed it's doors. Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America in a deal (one that would normally take months, even years, to be negotiated) that was signed in 48 hours. Investors are packing up their desks and heading home jobless to their families. Millions of Americans are foreclosing on their homes after defaulting on their subprime mortgage loans. In many cases, these folks were issued loans when they weren't financially qualified enough to originate them. The Fed has stepped in and spent billions of tax dollars on bailing out Wall Street's failing financial institutions. The Fed will treat bad mortgage loans as patients and quarantine them to Morgan Stanley and Wachovia are in talks to merge. Confidence is shaky. People are emptying out their once loved WaMu accounts, fearing theWashington Mutual. This is a genuinely scary time. Independence is the spirit that drives America's most successful investors.

The MTA has a $900 million deficit that will definitely raise fares in 2009.

If there was ever a need for a Wall Street rally, it was today.

What does today's development amount to? This is a repair that will be taxpayer financed. The U.S. taking up all this debt creates a danger. We are a fucking Banana Republic.

There are 47 days until the Presidential election. Have you registered locally or requested an absentee ballot if you are away from home? There are deadlines for this..get familiar and do what you have to do to cast your vote.