I cant help myself, I'm starting to get more than a little concerned with what is going on in New York at the moment.Without a doubt, things are going to get nasty overnight(NZ Time) on the DOW and European markets.
Over this weekend, Lehman Brothers, which is, significantly, 136 years old, and survived the Great Depression, has failed to be rescued by a consortium of banks or the US Fed.
Merrill Lynch, John Keys old stomping ground, has been acquired by Bank of America for a cut down price and the largest insurance company in the world , AIG, is in serious trouble, with a need for an injection of funds to keep it operating.
In my 12 odd years of investing in the stockmarket, which clearly isn't very long- I have never experienced anything like it-a sense of impending panic just seems to be around the next corner.
In my entire almost 43 years, there has been nothing as serious as this that has happened to financial markets, not since the Depression, where faith and trust in destroyed financial markets and more than a few bodies flew out windows, have things looked this dismal.
There are still more skeletons in the financial closet though.
However, the cards have been played and the market must keep plugging until the joker cards, both of them, turn up.
Hold on and lets hope there is an ace in the pack somewhere.
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I think NZ will be a bit sheltered, since Lehman and Merrill don't operate in NZ. I think they operate in Australia, so Australia will be affected by this more than we will be.
ReplyDeleteOf course, directly we wont be affected badly but it is indirectly that will have an effect.
ReplyDeleteA reasonably serious one I think.
Apparent bargains galore, for those who are happy taking the risk. What's your opinion on taking the plunge in this climate?
ReplyDeleteThe 64 billion dollar question.
ReplyDeleteI am not selling and I'm not buying.
Because of the uncertainty over how big losses in various financial sectors are, it is clear to me that stocks are going to get cheaper.
The trick is to buy at a price that you are happy with for the long-term.
I definitely have cash ready to go though-just not yet.