You know, so everybody wouldn't panic, and have the weekend to shake it off.
They have also apparently extended the bank holiday through Tuesday.
Anyone remember Obama’s ideas on 401k plans? He wanted to take them and convert them...
The Brits are none too happy, as they have quite a few people and quite a few accounts there.
FDR announced the 1933 Bank closure on a Sunday. Leaving it over a weekend, with no final plan in place, leaves time for tempers to erupt, which they are.
Hardly anyone knew.
I saw it sometime Saturday afternoon, after some visitors left. We were invited to a party and had to leave at 4:30. After dinner, we were talking with a Kool-Aid drinking 40-something mortgage broker who was just so full of himself for making money off the spread, that he and some friends were actually planning to start a hedge fund w/their own money to emulate the guys in some book who became millionaires/billionaires while still in college with a $100k nut.
So, 3 geezers are asking this kid what he does when the buffet is closed by the Fed. He goes wide-eyed and says,”We’ll still make money on our own accounts.” and segues back into “2% & 20%” fantasies. His audience was not naive and kept peppering him with questions about how he makes a killing in a market where trades are all automated by people who have real-time information ahead of time. He does not know what a prediction engine is. Lots of mentions of various bundled debt instruments, agency bonds, Fanny & Freddy and when someone mentions 2008, he shrugs and giggles. Finally, I mentioned Cyprus. He startled and asked “WHO bailed them out?” I gave what information I had and he proceeded to become even more drunk. Within a hour, he was wailing about “having a bad feeling” and going on about “my gut tells me....”.
A lot of people have learned absolutely nothing for the past 5+ years. This guy was all excited, in a positive manner, about zer0 in 2008 and by 2011, he was beginning to see how he was being screwed. But then, the mortgage game came back and his trades were doing even better than his business. I won’t see him again for several months, but I will be hearing via relatives, so we’ll see. But, this is a university-educated young professional who believes whatever stats and facts are fed him by the media and various *insiders* at the government agencies. He has become a hog.
Personally, I think this move ruined a lot of weekends.