Posted on 02/29/2008 3:21:52 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Stocks slide as investors scramble for safety
By Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes in New York
Published: February 29 2008 19:08 | Last updated: February 29 2008 21:10
Stock prices and bond yields tumbled on Friday as fears about the stability of the financial system sent investors scrambling for the safety of government debt.
The yield on the two-year Treasury note dropped to its lowest level in nearly four years, while the S&P 500 stock index fell 2.7 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.5 per cent.
Traders said sharp falls in the prices of mortgage bonds and municipal bonds this week led to margin calls for some investors, exacerbating volatility as traders closed their books for the month and several leading investment banks marked the end of their fiscal first quarter.
“No question, margin calls are driving prices lower and there is more to come,” said Tom di Galoma, head of Treasury trading at Jefferies & Co.
Investors also reacted to dismal US economic data, continuing worries about credit insurers, a UBS report predicting that losses from the credit squeeze could reach $600bn and $15bn in writedowns from insurer AIG after the close of trading on Thursday.
“We are in the middle of a financial crisis,” said Larry Kantor, head of research at Barclays Capital.
The search for safety sent the yield on the two-year Treasury from 2.12 per cent on Monday to 1.64 per cent on Friday – its lowest level since April 2004.
The difference between the yield on the three-month Treasury bill and three-month Libor, the rate banks charge each other, was about 1.2 percentage points. That is about five times its normal spread.
Investors cut “carry” trades that involve borrowing in lower-yielding currencies to invest in higher-yielding currencies, sending the dollar to less than Y104, a four-year low against the Japanese currency. Gold rose to nearly $1,000 an ounce.
“The credit markets do appear to be in the throes of another leg down into the abyss,” said Bill O’Donnell, UBS strategist.
There was good news for one credit insurer as Wilbur Ross, the distressed situations specialist, said he would invest as much as $1bn into Assured Guaranty.
“No place left to invest but the stock market”
Select the cash option on your 401k. Poor risk/reward. Today was nothing. More to come.
Things have changed since the days of Reagan....unfortunately
Absolutely, because pretending the elephant isn’t in the room will SURELY make it go away.....lolol!
So is trying to observe reality now called “bitching”?
This is a “Bear” market and the pundits are slowly awakening to that “Reality”.
Others have seen this coming for months.
The Bulls can keep buying the “dips” but will soon run out of money and motivation.
Free markets survived even through the horrendous Carter years. Sounds like you missed out on that Microsoft IPO.
“The Bulls can keep buying the “dips” but will soon run out of money and motivation”
LOL, they’ve been like trained seals for the last 5 years buying dips and making nice money. (me included) These Bear rallies suck them in and them choke them out on days like today.
But the mass of novices will double down....all the way down. It’s going to get ugly.
Investing in smart market moves will produce. Just sit back and watch - as if you really needed any coaxing. Couch potatoes will continue to fry.
Investing is not “producing” anything, except paper and numbers and buying and selling...and winners and losers.
Actual production “produces”. And this country doesn’t do that any longer....the manufacturing companies, along with the jobs, have been shipped out.
But go ahead and proclaim your “wisdom” concerning the obvious signs.....you sound just like these smart fellows (who intent was likely to only ensure that the elitists got their money out before the serfs saw what was coming):
“I cannot help but raise a dissenting voice to statements that we are living in a fool’s paradise, and that prosperity in this country must necessarily diminish and recede in the near future.” ~~E. H. H. Simmons, President, New York Stock Exchange, January 12, 1928
“Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. I do not feel there will be soon if ever a 50 or 60 point break from present levels, such as (bears) have predicted. I expect to see the stock market a good deal higher within a few months.”~~Irving Fisher PhD, leading U.S. economist , New York Times, October 17, 1929
“If recession should threaten serious consequences for business (as is not indicated at present) there is little doubt that the Federal Reserve System would take steps to ease the money market and so check the movement.”~~Harvard Economic Society, October 19, 1929
“This is the time to buy stocks. This is the time to recall the words of the late J. P. Morgan... that any man who is bearish on America will go broke. Within a few days there is likely to be a bear panic rather than a bull panic. Many of the low prices as a result of this hysterical selling are not likely to be reached again in many years.” ~~R. W. McNeel, market analyst, as quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, October 30, 1929
The bulls just don’t know what time it is.
So, they’re invited to stay awhile.
They’ll all get in line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy0MLU5asxs&feature=related
I'm a serf smart enough to buy low and sell high. You make reference from 1929? We're FAR from the great depression despite your pessimism.
Again, good for you.
Pessimism doesn’t a crash make.....not when the crash will occur because of the underlying reasons which are real, and way beyond “subjective” feeeeelings.
I bought Gold at $287
It's got nothing to do with feeeeelings. Buy a dollar stock. Watch it go to $2. This isn't hard. That's how the system works. The water's warm - jump in! (No Speedos allowed.)
Not thanks; I don’t jump into water filled with toxic waste.
Yesterday? (Psssssst - I know where you can sell it for $500)
There are winners and losers. I win again.
As I said, there are winners and losers. However, this will play out to there being a great many more of the latter than the former.
As far as the real production involved at this point...it’s now mostly the production of propaganda.
Those that can't see what has happened in the past? Those that don't know what is on the horizon?
My stuff is going up. Sounds like your stuff is going down. With your outlook, why would anyone invest at all? It just isn't worth it.
Sorry......I don't buy your used-car salesman hype. There's too much REAL information out there that is based on the grave reality of the situation. The elephant's still in the room, no matter how much you wish to pretend it isn't there.
Again, my stuff is going up. Sounds like your stuff is going down. I win - you lose. Blame the market. Blame the system. Or you can just blame yourself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.