ALMOST ARMAGEDDON: MARKETS WERE 500 TRADES FROM A MELTDOWN

[Duke Nukum]

Almost Armageddon
Markets were 500 trades from a Meltdown
By MICHAEL GRAY

The market was 500 trades away from Armageddon on Thursday, traders inside two large custodial banks tell The Post.

Had the Treasury and Fed not quickly stepped into the fray that morning with a quick $105 billion injection of liquidity, the Dow could have collapsed to the 8,300-level - a 22 percent decline! - while the clang of the opening bell was still echoing around the cavernous exchange floor.

According to traders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, money market funds were inundated with $500 billion in sell orders prior to the opening. The total money-market capitalization was roughly $4 trillion that morning.

The panicked selling was directly linked to the seizing up of the credit markets - including a $52 billion constriction in commercial paper - and the rumors of additional money market funds "breaking the buck," or dropping below $1 net asset value.

More at the link

[Chris_]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

[Duke Nukum]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

I think we would live through it a lot faster if the government would get out of the way.

[Chris_]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

I think we would live through it a lot faster if the government would get out of the way.

Against my skepticism, I support the firewall.  We are buying paper, but it is backed by tangible assets (beats the hell out of the real bailout we did of the S & Ls).

Damn, do we have such a short memory?  Everything is a freaking crisis.
 

[Duke Nukum]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

I think we would live through it a lot faster if the government would get out of the way.

Against my skepticism, I support the firewall.  We are buying paper, but it is backed by tangible assets (beats the hell out of the real bailout we did of the S & Ls).

Damn, do we have such a short memory?  Everything is a freaking crisis.
 

That's just the way it is.  Everything is a crisis and everybody is a special victim.

[Duke Nukum]

Hey, if it drops to 8300, I might start buying stocks again.

I was thinking if it dropped to 8300, that might be what it needs to recover from all the bubbles.

The Fed's stepping in and trying to stop the market from doing what it needs to do could cause it to drop even further.  Really, at 8300 I would think it would be really oversold and ready for a huge rebound.

[docstew]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

I think we would live through it a lot faster if the government would get out of the way.

Against my skepticism, I support the firewall.  We are buying paper, but it is backed by tangible assets (beats the hell out of the real bailout we did of the S & Ls).

Damn, do we have such a short memory?  Everything is a freaking crisis.
 

we may have tangible assets, but is the federal government going to foreclose on people who don't pay?  i doubt it.  and then are they going to be in the business of selling said assets to recover the funds put into purchasing the loan?  should the federal government even be in that business?

[Lauri]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

yeah, when an 8300 Dow is considered low, that is odd. i would consider the markets around 300-400 to be about ready to bottom out. Not 8300.

[Lauri]

We lived through Black Monday, we lived through 9/11, we can live through this.

No matter what the politicians dare say, our fundamentals are sound.  Bad Mortgagees continue to be 1/10 of 1% of all loans.

But the MSM continues to accentuate the negative and to purposely erode confidence (which is where this so-called "meltdown" is coming from), in the hopes of getting their dilettante elected.
 
Successfully, apparently.

I think we would live through it a lot faster if the government would get out of the way.

Against my skepticism, I support the firewall.  We are buying paper, but it is backed by tangible assets (beats the hell out of the real bailout we did of the S & Ls).

Damn, do we have such a short memory?  Everything is a freaking crisis.
 

its an election year.. a down economy always helps the Dems 

[Vagabond]

Hey, if it drops to 8300, I might start buying stocks again.

I was thinking if it dropped to 8300, that might be what it needs to recover from all the bubbles.

The Fed's stepping in and trying to stop the market from doing what it needs to do could cause it to drop even further.  Really, at 8300 I would think it would be really oversold and ready for a huge rebound.

Yep, the entire economy has been setup like a house of cards, and the risk has ben spread around the world.  This injection ultimately won't do a thing.

[Tnafbrat]

I have a question.  I heard last night, that an alternate option had been presented.  "Instead of the taxpayers paying out on the defaulted mortgages" that the banks/mortgage companies be required to foot that bill.

On the surface, that might sound real nice, but am I overlooking something by thinking that if they banks/mortgage companies are in so much trouble now .... how could they foot the bill for that part of the "bailout"?  Also, how could that come back to bite us (taxpayers) in the rear down the road or am I just being overly pessamistic to think that one way or another, "we'd" end up paying the price somehow.