Wall Street Is Gone!

'Wall Street' No Longer Exists! That's right. It's gone!
All those investment banks and mortgage houses are either broke, bankrupt, bought out or going to be bought out!

All those greedy bastards that took out those 'special' mortgages on those overpriced properties with the hopes that their property would continue to increase in value each and every month, have caused all this!
They have killed the "golden goose"!

They went bust and they want the government to bail them out!

That's right... There's gonna be a huge bailout!
To the tune of $700 Billion!
It's mind boggling!

But something must be done, and quickly!
We just can't sit by and watch more and more of our institutions go under.
This is what IBD had to say about the crisis.

How could this have happened?

Well back in 1999, Congress passed something called the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, which passed the House by a vote of 362-57 and the Senate by 90-8, yanking the last brick out of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act's regulatory wall between commercial banks and investment banks.

What does that mean?
It means that was the beginning of the easy money.
It means that was the beginning of the end!

It means that the 'regulatory wall' built in 1933 was demolished, and with recent events, "all the giant financial conglomerates now face oversight and regulation by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."

There's even talk of creating an entity like The Resolution Trust Corporation, the oversight vehicle for the Savings and Loan crisis back in the 80s.

So what's next?
Well, for one thing, easy money is a thing of the past!
Everybody will need to tighten their belts and start to watch the bottom line with a magnifying glass!

Last night, The President laid out his plan for our survival.

The government will buy $700 Billion of bad loans at somewhere around 10% of Loan To Value. Then hold on to them for a while- maybe a year or two or three - then after the markets recover, they hope to sell them at 30% or 40% LTV and make a tidy sum. Not a bad idea if you really think about it.
Problem is, the government is in debt up to it's ears too!

But the Democrats want oversight from every corner, and the Republicans think it's socialism! And, they're not far wrong!
But it must be done, and quickly.

But, rest easy. We as taxpayers will not be getting a bill for this.
I know the media has been howling that each taxpayer's share would be something around $5700, but that's nonsense.
The government will just float a loan and make it happen the way they usually do - with smoke and mirrors!

And, after all, things can't bee too bad.
Warren Buffet just invested $5 Billion into Goldman Sachs!
He's a pretty savvy guy.
If he didn't believe that the markets would recover, I don't think he'd be investing in them.

We'll get through this.
It will take a few years, but we'll get through it.
And, if you have any 'mattress money' stashed away, now would be a good time to go shopping for investments.
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As an interesting side note to all this...
The 2 Presidential Candidates had a little tete-a-tete on Wednesday.
Obama called McCain to say they should put their heads together and publish a joint statement about the crisis.

I don't think McCain wanted any part of a 'joint' statement!

McCain went on the air and said he was suspending his campaign to go back to Washington to help deal with the crisis, and he hoped Obama would honor his decision and postpone their scheduled Friday debate.

Of course, Obama couldn't resist a quick jab.
He said that a President should be able to 'multi-task', and that he had hoped that both he and McCain could offer their input on the crisis and still prepare for their debate.
(In my opinion, I don't think Obama has a clue about this crisis)

But, it seems that McCain has a little more 'pull' than Obama expected. It was reported that McCain suggested to President Bush that The President call all the necessary members of Congress and invite them to a 'sit down' to discuss his plan.

It was reported that, at McCains request, The President would formally invite both of the candidates, so Obama had to turn tail and fly back to Washington for the meeting.
I guess the 'debate' has been decided?