Posted on 09/13/2001 6:47:58 AM PDT by DebMcB
Like everyone else in America, I am devastated and wondering what I can do to help in this unprecedented times.
I have decided there is one small thing I can do to show my trust, faith and support in my country. That is to not panic and pull my personal investments out of the market.
If each of who have a portfolio, large or small, simply ride it out when Wall Street reopens we will be making a statement that we support and believe in America and her ability to survive.
I think it would be more patriotic to place at least a couple of buy orders -- especially oil/defense industries.
Let's try to start a grass roots rally in the market!
You might consider selling and placing your money in government bonds.
Someone just called in and said if people could afford it to buy stocks when the market opens, because we cannot let the terrorists wreck our financial market.
One other thing that could be done, is to buy a couple shares of the companies that are expressing support, and ignore those companies which are expressing non-patriotism (such as ABC NEWS).
Would you rather invest in Afghanistan?
And if Bush wants my tax cut back to spend on crushing terrorism worldwide, all he has to do is ask and my check will be on the way.
This market is gonna rally...I feel it
The disruption to the activities that normally occur in Manhattan are staggering. Profits will be down or non-existant for many firms.
The economy, which was teetering on the edge of recession, will fall into one, no matter what happens on Wall Street next week.
That's not to say that there will be a tremendous hit. Having the markets closed this week will help. Whoever suggested oil and defense stocks above is surely correct. I like mining stocks, too.
I don't think I'd put much faith into what the dollar is doing vs other currencies. The currency markets are routinely manipulated by the central banks of western nations. They admit it. Propping up the dollar is a good thing, but even the central banks can do it for so long and if market forces are strong enough they will ultimately prevail.
I think this is a time to be very cautious. It's not patriotic to go broke unnecessarily.
I feel it, too!
Great Minds Think Alike.
Consumer confidence is going to take a hit. I don't think there's any question about it. The malls are empty. People don't feel like buying that big-ticket item they were considering. It's a wait-and-see attitude.
You correctly identified the travel industry as taking a MAJOR hit. That affects the service industry, too.
I hope I'm wrong. I really do. But I just can't view what has happened as a positive for the economy.
Realtor.com has been showing 6.82 for several weeks. Yesterday it was down to 6.41 on a 30-year fixed! I called my mortgage lady and asked her about it, and she said nothing was moving now, and that I shouldn't pay too much attention to Realtor.com. She told me I am locked into 6.875, to close next week, and it is too late for me to make a change.
I know mortgage rates are associated with the bond market rather than stocks, so does that mean if bonds are up, that the interest rate will also go up instead of down on mortgages?
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No, it's just the opposite. If bonds go up, it means that bondholders are willing to pay more for a particular interest rate. It affects their effective rate of return.
For example, if someone is willing to pay $900 for a $1000 bond that pays a 5% interest, they are actually getting more than 5%, because the bondholder will be eventually paid the $1000, plus the interest. If the bonds go up, then perhaps that person is paying $950 for that same bond. The effective rate of return went down, and it's THAT rate that is used to calculate many mortgages.
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