Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog
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The global financial markets look like a NASCAR race at Bristol or Martinsville - crashes at every turn. I’ve seriously heard people talking about taking their money out of banks. It’s getting that bad and people are starting to panic. Or are they?
I worked in the media for most of my career and I know how much even the local media outlets likes to sensationalize news to boost readership/ratings. Fox is probably the biggest offender. But guess what I did this morning? I got up, got ready for work. Checked my e-mail. Drove my car to the store. Bought some cold medicine and a battery for my 35mm camera. Got a hot chocolate and orange juice at Starbucks. Drove to work. In other words, the world, contrary to what people seem to fear, has not stop turning. Stores are still selling things. People are still buying things. Life continues. Because it must.
Tough times happen, people. We’ve been through this before. There was the stock market crash on Oct. 19, 1987 - Black Monday. We survived. (1)Though no definitive reason was ever give for why the markets crashed and despite fears of a repeat of the 1930s Depression, the market rallied immediately after the crash, posting a record one-day gain of 102.27 the very next day and 186.64 points on Thursday Oct. 22. It took only two years for the Dow to recover completely; by Sept. 1989, the market had regained all of the value it had lost in the 1987 crash.
We also survived the non-recession recession (according to the Bush administration) that we endured following 9/11.
The stock markets go through this kind of crap. We rode the highs and now it’s time to ride the lows. If you have extra money, now is the time to invest. Yahoo stocks are below $13 but you know Yahoo will bounce back when the markets recover - and they WILL recover. I personally plan to invest in some of the stronger, blue chip stocks that are down because of the “crisis.” When said crisis is over, those stocks will come back and I’ll make some money.
This is not the end of the world, people. Just breathe and hang on and we’ll all make it through this together.
What really irritates me about the financial markets is that if left along, the fluctuations would be much much smaller. Instead, the governments get involved and raise and lower interest rates which only makes the fluctuation larger and more disruptive. That’s how we got in this mess to begin with. The government wanted to spur economic growth so they lowered interest rates to unheard of lows. that meant everyone and their third cousin was buying a house, including the people who used ARMS (adjustable rate mortgages) that would eventually see the interest rate rise. And that’s where we are today. Foreclosures are at record highs and banks are failing left and right because they gave loans to people who couldn’t pay them off. Now, we’re all paying - literally.
I’m not advocating anarchy or that the government should not get involved at all. I just wish it would be more discerning about when it should step in.
Lastly, I just want to make it clear that I don’t normally blog while I’m at work - I usually blog at night and then schedule my posts throughout the day so I don’t bombard my readers with three posts in the evening when I get home. Today is an exception. This financial crisis got me fired up and I just had to say something right now. Agree? Disagree? That’s the great thing about this country, even in an economic crisis, you can speak your mind. But if you’re going to disagree, be civil. I do not respond well rudeness. :)
