Posted on 10/24/2008 4:32:57 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Stock futures freeze as tumble worsens Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:17am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures tumbled so sharply in European trade on Friday, they had to be frozen at several points in the morning.
By 6:27 a.m. EDT December Dow Jones futures were down 6.2 percent, Standard & Poor's 500 futures were off 6.6 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 6.6 percent.
All three contracts lost the maximum amount permissible before the start of futures trading in the United States.
"We are in a panic mode, I don't know how else to describe it and when you're in panic mode, all rational thought goes out of the window," said City Index chief market strategist Tom Hougaard.
"We've just got to let this thing rage. I think we'll see the Dow below 8,000 today."
According to Reuters data, December S&P futures hit a low of 855.20, while Dow Jones futures touched a low of 8,224 -- the lowest levels at which both contracts could trade in a session.
Jeremy Hughes, a spokesman for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in London, said both contracts were "limit down."
"The limit is calculated at roughly 5 percent down. At that point it can't go any further down but it is still accessible and can go up again," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
True, and that’s why I’ll be voting for him.
Yen, Swiss francs, and dollars in that order. The rise in Yen is at least partly due to carry trade unwinds. For a decade or so, people have been borrowing cheap yen to buy stuff elsewhere and needed to sell their yen to do that. It has driven down the yen artificially (with the willingness of the Japanese to prop up their exports). Now people are forced to buy those yen back.
To a lesser extent the dollar and SwFranc rallies are the same. The dollar is also effectively being short squeezed.
“rules are stacked”
Bingo! No more deal-hunting here. Now I’m just spooked. If we go down, I just hope the Goldman and Morgan do as well. This whole thing stinks of self-dealing and manipulation.
I’d guess that people have to have their run of pain until they get tired of it. Until their “fear” gets old and they decide to move on...
It seems to be something rooted deeply in human nature...
Bizarre..
Those don't happen for no reason or because everybody decides to panic at once. The biggest problem is deleveraging. Credit markets are still frozen where it counts (the 10:1 hedge funds, all buyers of ABS, etc). Those people drove the credit bubble and they are not going to keep driving it. The banks cannot do it themselves, it is too risky for them as we are just finding out.
Once a credit bubble is over, it will shrink based on how excessive it was and ours, Europe and Australia / New Zealand was pretty excessive.
As time goes on it is unmasking itself here and there working its way through our entire economy. It is going to likely take years before it settles down and reaches equilibrium...
I agree - I have been so frustrated listening to *analysts* who never mention this.... Its clear as glass to me.... everyone whose wealth is about to be "spread around" is scared to death to see the headlines on Nov. 5th!
And the commodity bubble burst has followed the credit bubble burst. So perhaps the lack of credit has destroyed the demand for commodities. I think the economists call it demand destruction. Wonder what this will do for the cash based small business models ? As a small business man, my costs have not dropped. I cannot drop my selling or service prices. As I posted earlier, UPS is raising its prices next year. So my costs are increasing. Taxes will also be higher.
“Where is all of the cash? Who is holding all of the money and where are they keeping it? Is all in bonds or cash accounts? When the investors are selling their stocks, funds and commodities, where are are they putting their money? In banks, only to fail there?”
Miraculously, I happen to be in cash now through the sale of a multi-family building in which I invested 12 years ago. Made a nice profit, which I intend to protect by doing a 1031 exchange - which defers the cap gains tax indefinitely.
That means I’ll be going back into real estate. I’m looking at a state leased office building in Midwest, as well as a single-tenant (FedEx) warehouse on the West Coast.
Decent returns on both, and the tenants appear to be secure.
That’s a good bet -
buy like crazy on Wednesday following God’s defeat of 0bama.
I agree - I have been so frustrated listening to *analysts* who never mention this.... Its clear as glass to me.... everyone whose wealth is about to be "spread around" is scared to death to see the headlines on Nov. 5th!
I disagree. This is what it looks like when the government seizes control of the markets.
The real demand for commodities is still strong. The paper (speculative) demand has fallen off a cliff. So because you are buying copper wire at Home Depot, and not copper futures by the ton and taking delivery, your costs will only slowly drop. Price deflation will ultimately be outweighed by central bank inflation this time around (last time they waited until 1933)
“This whole thing stinks of self-dealing and manipulation.
I disagree. This is what it looks like when the government seizes control of the markets.”
I agree with the reply. If this type of market lockup was allowed to happen a year or so ago, it might have been curable. Instead, we’ve been treated to relentless “interventions du jour” from the Fed and Tsy, who have overplayed their hands badly.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are in for some serious times.
If you wait till Wednesday, it will be too late. You need to buy before.
Wonder if UPS bought fuel on the futures market at year-ago
prices locked-in? Southwest airlines is taking that hit now.
National governments setting prices and owning corporations is much more anti-capitalist than raising taxes. At lease with high taxes, everybody knows where they stand and what things are really worth.
National governments setting prices and owning corporations is much more anti-capitalist than raising taxes. At lease with high taxes, everybody knows where they stand and what things are really worth.
“I’m with you. I’ve been buying all the way down. Look at the Palin rallies- they’re huge. We’re seeing a massive wave of support which is going on below the radar, and of course it is being unreported by the biased media. McCain wins 54-46.”
And I’m with BOTH of you (and a few others here.)
My gold & silver are dipping, but when things are settled, they’ll be back up again. All told, whatever I lost in the market has been made up for in gold & silver, even though they’re dropping, too. (I know that doesn’t make sense, but I’ve been doing this for a long time now.)
And you’re right...hunker down and throw every spare dime you have at two things right now:
Pay off debt (cc, car loan, student loans, your mortgage, etc.) and...
Buy, Baby! Buy!
This is how my Grandpa survived and excelled during The Great Depression. This is how my folks survived and excelled during The Carter Years.
Don’t let the saps get you down. Beat them at their own game. :)
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