I guess it depends on how many in the House are up for re-election huh?

I'm thinking it will. Too many were in shell shock I think, the first time around. I think there will be some opposed of course, but it will pass.

Then again, they thought it would pass the first time too.

TIS

The Dow is already down 184 points. Geez, Louise. When is it going to stop??

"Buy land AJ, cause God ain't making any more of it."

Who are you, Lex Luthor?

Nah, I thought I remembered Tony Soprano telling that to his son, but it's the truth. I realize that NOTHING is absolutely recession proof, but as a landlord you can pretty much always make a profitable living, as long as you're fair with your tenants.

In the long run, if you're not greedy, real estate will always make you money. But the truth is, too many people make a nice profit, then get greedy and start to leverage things they truly don't own in order to make even more money. If you buy something that you can afford to hold onto in lean times, then you are bound to make a profit, even if it's down the road. And if you are in some sort of position to buy anything right now, do it. I can't imagine, with the credit crunch the way it is, that the Prime is going anywhere.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't pass the house, but there are too many helmet-toting folks in the Senate last night for me to think the House has any less.

Aw fuck, I agreed with JJ on something. I'm doomed.

Better advice, you'll never get. Buy, baby, buy!

Grab my hand, we'll jump together!

The Bill passed. I guess time will tell if it's a good deal for America.

I'm so glad they raised the insured FDIC amount to 250K. That will really help me and my bank account that was -$500 a week ago.

Wait, no, it won't. Not a bad idea though if you have enough money for it to matter.

I lost about 20% so far on one mutual fund, but luckily I invested in "natural resources", and that fund paid about 30% last year. I still lost a little, but it should go back up again long before I plan on touching any of it.

Time to start stuffing our cash in a mattress. This is going to be a pretty fucked up ride.

The FDIC amount desperately needed to be raised to protect payroll accounts and the like. Even a small business, say a construction company that has highly skilled laborers who make big hourly wages, can have a 6 figure payroll.

Of course, with taxes now sure to rise, most of those companies will have to lay off those laborers. Should be fun.

Taxes are going to rise no matter who gets elected - and it's going to be at every level. When governments had a surplus a few years ago, they squandered them on "gifts" to their constituents. We had one local guy who put some statues in his backyard and got money from his local legislator for a "museum". Now that there are huge budget shortfalls, taxes are going to be raised. And just wait for this winter when energy costs are sky-high. The schools will threaten to either raise taxes or freeze your kids all winter.

Taxes aren't going to rise if Obama is elected.

Patrick told me so.

The DOW is down -500, under 10,000.

Wow. That's got to be the first time in YEARS. Just wow.

It's too frightening to turn on the TV or radio any more.

At this point, I just won't look at my balances until things go back up. Luckily I'm not relying on any of my investments for my retirement, etc. I'm pretty much in the market for the fun of it.

Well, like I said in an earlier post, if you happen to be young enough, then you really don't have a huge problem. It's all on paper anyway. But if you happen to be contemplating retirement, then you could very well be screwed.

I know, I spent the morning thumbing through news and blogs and it is all doom and gloom.

I should have either just stayed in bed or concentrated on my fun job, as long as I have one!

My coworkers and I were discussing the economy at lunch. Being in commercial real estate, we have not felt the same tremors as those in the residential market UNTIL now. The credit crunch has now hit us as well. And I don't think we're going to see the light at the end of the tunnel for some time.

One of the guys said, "I don't remember the economy being this bad EVER," and I said that I did because my husband and I both lost our jobs during the last recession, me in Februrary of 1991 and he in January of 1992. As long as you're employed, even if you have to stretch your dollars, at least you have dollars to stretch.

I remember! 1992 is the year I went to graduate school and lived on $450 a month while going to UC Berkeley (which was an expensive place even back then, $400 barely covered rent, scholarships covered tuition). The youngish can do that, but most families now don't have that option.

Down 780 and we still have more than an hour to go before the market closes.

On the bright side, it's probably a great time to buy property. I'm just wondering if that time is NOW or in a few months from now...?

Good luck getting a mortgage now, if your credit score is below 740.

I'm gonna make them an offer they can't refuse