Todays Stock Market Thread (DJIA 7784.58 (-234.68; -2.93%) NASDAQ 1282.55 (-36.60; -2.77%)

[newsperson999]

Dow 7,784.93 -234.33 (-2.92%)
Nasdaq 1,288.09 -31.06 (-2.35%)
S&P 500 819.51 -28.25 (-3.33%)

[Admin Moderator]

"After-hours reporting brought things up marginally"

Ok, thanks.

[hchutch]

Kinda hard to ignore it, and even then, if this goes where it might be headed, we could be seeing some very ugly headlines about Citigroup, and some smart Republicans could turn the Bush-Cheney attacks back on Rubin.

This Citigroup thing is NOT good for the Dems. It's the last thing they needed. Corzine's alleged sleaze is nowhere near as good (politically speaking) as this is.

[mwl1]

Yes, and they stupidly use big words so as to impress people with how intelligent they are. Instead, they just talk right over their heads.

[mwl1]

I agree with everything you said, provided that the GOP grows some cajones. It would be a first.

[hchutch]

Feel free.

And also feel free to refer to timid folks as being haunted by the ghost of Frank Jack Fletcher.

[hchutch]

They have to exorcise the ghost of Frank Jack Fletcher, true, but at the same time, I think they need to be patient. Remember the lesson taught by the parable of the old bull and the young bull?

I think that will be an important one to keep in mind.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Right Track-Wrong Track numbers, too, and they aren't good right now. Wrong track is now higher than right track.

[lds23]

I moved about 10% of my cash into an index fund Friday, and another 10% today. If you look at the long term DOW trajectory, without the late-90's bubble, it looks like it would have been around 6-7,000. So it's getting close to that, and I'm moving in slowly.

[hchutch]

There is still a bit of time, IMHO.

Keep an eye on the Rubin thing. THAT is a big wild card. I just hope that someone at the Washington Times has noticed this and begins looking around...

[wardaddy]

Today was bad but hardly the crash many were predicting. Some FReepers are correct...we could waffle in the 6500-8000 range for some time. Or folks could grow weary of debt investments that are paying nearly nothing and their panic could become a more distant memory and thus more money floods into the market. I do not give an emotional Bear the same legs I would give a fundamental Bear. I'm somewhat of an optimist I suppose. I do know that throughout my 25 years of "investing" in one form or another, the market has usually not gone as sour as I feared and has often beat my expectations. I expect a mini rally tommorow since the sky didn't fall today.

Good thing my wife forced me to quit trading isn't it? Now I just get to sit and watch and call my manager to bitch or laud him with attaboys....LOL

For the plethora of doomsayers on this thread....I will eat plenty of crow tommorow willingly if I'm wrong....after all...it's only money....ugh!

[steveegg]

Where the market goes day-to-day has surprisingly little to do with the political. Given that we now know the moneybags of Enron and HPL Technologies is the latest known case of Cooked Book Disease (both real late into the session), the stampede to the exits will continue unabated. If there is to be any rally tomorrow, it'll be to keep the Dow from closing below 7500.

[wardaddy]

You see any of those "negative interest" rates around...you let me know and I'll do the same for you. 30 year mortgages go to 6% with no points and I'm refinancing.

[steveegg]

I'll even buy the crow that I'll eat if there is a rally tomorrow. The conditions that are causing the emotional bear are continuing unabated (Citigroup has been found to be the moneybags to Enron, and HPL Technologies has admitted to the Cooked Book Disease).

[not-alone]

Advisors I respect have been telling me for over a year 6-6500 is good.

[hchutch]

Perhaps, but if you're the Dems, you CANNOT like seeing Bob Rubin personified as "Mr. Moneybags" for Enron and Worldcom. This is going to take a lot of the sting out of their "attack Big Business" strategy. Because the GOP will be able to point to Rubin, and say the pot is calling the kettle black.

The other thing is this, the rest of the economy is doing pretty well. That's going to arrest the bear trend to an extent. It's going to be wild, and 401(k)s and stuff will take a hit over the short term, but the Dems have lost a lot of the high ground they thought they had.

[LenS]

Railroad infrastructure is a good example -- who else but a railroad would have any use for a piece of real estate that is 500 miles long and 100 feet wide?

Here's a few others that would be interested:
1. Utilities etal. for the power transmission lines
2. Gas and oil companies for their pipelines
3. Water companies for a pipeline connecting far away water sources to their customers
4. Telephone and other electronic/digital transmission companies for their fiber optics
5. Federal or state govts. (or private toll companies) for building new highways or bypasses

There are probably some other uses or there will be future uses (fiber optic lines being a recent addition to the list).

[aristeides]

Welcome to deflation.