Comments on: Stocks Tank After Wall Street Shake-Up

Dow Drops 500 Points As Investors React To Demise Of Lehman Brothers, Buyout Of Merrill Lynch

[ncvoter2]

people want deregulation to encourage competition--yet now we want the government to regulate. i''m totally confused-- surely there''s got to be a median somewhere? reform maybe? personally, i think the people ougt to have more power into government decision. companys have lobbyist, why can''t we have lobbyist too! something to think about--what we need is a good old fashioned revolution

[apprxam]

wdh3007 says "The bottom line is if 9/11 would not have happened our economy would not have sank like it has the last 7 years."

Nothing about bad business practices or enforement of the laws on the books or "reasonable" regulation? Just 9/11 and "blame" Bushisms abound for RePugNaCons? Two building fallins, et al, is not excuse to the bad-fiath practices the banks and investment houses have enbarked on since well before 9/11.

And claiming the business as "risky" and making on distinction between that and out-and-out banditry is either willful blindness or lobbying on your behalf. Risk are acceptable, but dishonest and treasonous economic activity by those banks and the political runway given them by Democrats and Republican alike will prove debilitating for years to come. Well beyond your 9/11 creed and Cheney/Bush protectionist stance.

[wdh3007]

Everyone can sit back and blame Bush all they want it''s not going to do any good the guy has two months left in office and most likely won''t be able to do anything. Fianacial markets are risks it''s the nature of the business you win and you loose. The bottom line is if 9/11 would not have happened our economy would not have sank like it has the last 7 years. Blame the terrorists and the do nothing Democratic Congress.

[apprxam]

Alan Greenspan is sickening. "Once-in-a-Century event". Really, Alan, nothing to do with your Friedman posture as Fed Chief? You know, this goes beyond simple greed. And I used to think it was abject stupidity.

There appears to be a plan afoot to destroy not only the middle-class but the entire platform of American economic well-being. There seems to be an attempt the equalize the level of American wages with that of the rest of the globe. I''d be okay with that if it wasn''t for the fact that big oil, big banks and big business still insist on making their record level of profits. RePugNaCOns and Bill Clinton DLCers have betrayed this country for over 28 years. Enough of the Reaganomic Tract-to-failure.

[brianbwb-2009]

"...Even Bush admits, "Wall Street got drunk." While Bernanke prefers a more elevated description of moral collapse, the lack of any federal oversight calls Bernanke, as an intelligent, moral entity, into serious doubt." Posted by alphaa10

I wonder if you meant "morale" collapse, and I wonder because those of us who were denied business investment, and steered to unfair mortgages, even when we were more than qualified for standard treatment, have known for decades of the lack of "morals".

Those of us who have watched as CEOs and upper management ran companies into the ground, while taking their "golden parachutes", know full well of the lack of morals, but an arrogant abundance of morale.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Just the psychological impact of this kind of failure is going to be significant. It will color people''s feelings about their well-being and the integrity of the financial system." Samuel Hayes, Harvard Business School

No, it will actually remove the false color, and let people see, in stark reality, that the financial system has no integrity, and their well-being, based on trust in a crooked corporation in a proven crooked industry, has always been nothing more than an illusion.

[alphaa10-2009]

Tuckerndfw said, "... the US is only a few months away from total financial collapse and the next GOP instigated "Great Depression."
---

This "disaster" was a predictable result of GOP lessez faire banking policy. The housing bubble which sustained Bush, Jr''s Voodoo economy and its speculative frenzy of investments made the dot.com bubble look restrained and proper by any comparison.

Even Bush admits, "Wall Street got drunk." While Bernanke prefers a more elevated description of moral collapse, the lack of any federal oversight calls Bernanke, as an intelligent, moral entity, into serious dbout.

Speculative risk, per se, is not to blame, but the lack of any rules for the newer investment markets, any bounds by which to determine when an asset is truly valued, and when it is not. There is no other way to put it-- speculating banks took their customers and their assets on a wild ride, and knew they did. Now they blink their eyes soulfully and claim, "Dunno what happened, ossifer!"

The most galling aspect of Bernanke''s tenure is his insistence taxpayers are the ultiamte guarantee to make the world safe for bankers.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Observers pressed up against a police barricade drew the ire of one man who emerged from the building and shouted: "Are you enjoying watching this? You think this is funny?"

Yes we are, and yes we do. It is past time we saw an arrogant and corrupt corporation get what they deserve for their malfeasance. It is also interesting to note that "Mr. Bailout the Rich" Bush won''t touch this, for fear of having his puppet McSame further confirmed as an advocate of welfare only for the rich.

It is also probable that someone in the tax bracket of the shouter has, on other occasions and in other conversations, derided assistance to the poor as "welfare", and if my suspicion is accurate, let us hope now that he will come to understand the position of walking in the other person''s shoes.

[missingamerica]

"The central bank announced late Sunday that it was broadening the types of collateral that financial institutions can use to obtain loans from the Fed"

They are probably offering up the notes on half of America''s mortgages as collateral.

That will give Bush one last chance to eliminate the middle class before he leaves office by calling those notes and foreclosing.

lolll...I figure its either that, or Bush will cluster bomb suburbia.

[andor3]

"something like this happen on Reagan''s watch? There seems to be a pattern here. "

yep, a crisis created that results in transfer of wealth to the wealthy. It is a pattern.

[andor3]

hmmm.. this is a failure for whom?

all those executives who collected multi-million dollar salaries and walk away with equity?

or the middle class who gets screwed once again?

follow the money...

[yongamerica]

And its the one who can least afford it that has to pay for this financial calamity.

Didn''t something like this happen on Regan''s watch? There seems to be a pattern here.