

Dow futures fall as much as technically possible pre-trade. Crash today? - thomasmallen
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLD.lHY14Fm8&refer=home

======
krschultz
I have to laugh. I'm just getting into investing and I put 50% of my net worth
in over the last few weeks. Half about a week ago and half yesterday because I
figured "Hmm, looks like it is starting to bottom out".

FAIL - I guess this is why they say don't try to call bottoms.

My plan - keep putting money in. I'm young and holding for the long term, this
is a great buying opportunity no matter what happens today, or monday, or 6
months from now.

For me specifically, I'm socking a lot of money away in a retirement account
to make up for the fact that when I start my company, I won't be making many
contributions until I start making money.

Having money working for you even when you are not working helps reduce the
risk of starting a company.

~~~
pxlpshr
I doubt the bottom will come till next year my friend, so buy incrementally.
And I feel the Christmas season will be a fluke of optimism, however the news
media may spin in into a the Nightmare Before Christmas... markets are random,
probably better off investing in yourself at this point.

~~~
steveplace
I don't think there will be any positives coming out of Christmas. Everyone
will look at Q4 retail numbers and get the wind knocked out of them.

Historically, equities do well in Nov and Dec. Markets may be random, but they
do have tendencies.

------
nazgulnarsil
I am sick and god damn tired of ignorant poor people believing there is some
leviathan force of rich people out there keeping everyone else down.

I am sick of all these huge numbers being quoted without acknowledging that
most of it is tied up in the _working capital_ of major companies.

Sure socialists, tax the hell out the rich in the erroneous belief that they
have enough money to support everyone. Watch society fall apart. I'm sure you
have a 5 year plan to fix everything.

------
fallentimes
Time to buy dividend issuing stocks at massive discounts (compared to
historical averages).

~~~
steveplace
Don't do divvies in financials at least. Look at KO, PFE, JNJ, VZ (7% yield!)
and any oil companies with no debt (they're sitting on a ton of cash).

I've got a couple strategies here:
[http://investingwithoptions.com/2008/10/iwocom-video-long-
te...](http://investingwithoptions.com/2008/10/iwocom-video-long-term-covered-
calls/)

~~~
fallentimes
Already bought JNJ before I even posted this :). I'm liking FO as well.

------
thomasmallen
Oh, and so did NASDAQ and S&P 500 futures. The guy on CNBC just made an
earnest "we who are about to die" _Gladiator_ salute (not making this up).

~~~
biohacker42
Youtube?

------
steveplace
Not true. It hit the pre-market circuit breakers. There are lower levels than
that and will only trigger before certain times of the day (12pm 2pm).

And we've been in a crash for nearly the entire month of October.

And I do video commentary about stuff like this that I have to plug:
www.investingwithoptions.com

------
hugh
Well, that seems to have been a big deal about nothing (as of just before
noon, New York time). It opened about 4% down, but crept back up and is now
3.5% down, at 8,387.

~~~
hugh
...and then they closed at 8,378, just 3.6% down over the day.

Well, that was pretty anticlimactic, wasn't it?

------
andr
Fix it, fix it, fix it! (apologies to SNL)

------
albertcardona
I would like to share with you some comments from a friend of mine, living in
the so-called second world:

(I've edited out quite a lot, mostly offensive words)

 _I am unable to comprehend what is happening at the moment. Some argue that
the neoliberal capitalist system is collapsing, others that is another way to
turn public funds into private funds. I am very confused._

 _You know that 400 americans own 1.7 trillon USD? (the GDP of Argentina is
250 Billon USD). You know that 50% of the world population has 1% of the GDP._

 _And then they want me to believe that there is a financial crisis. There is
a crisis, one that nobody mentions, people are starving and dying, and nobody
gives a shit, they only care about themselves. Well I would love to believe
that they are really losing money in the big casino ..._

~~~
Eliezer
Well, poor people starving as usual is _all part of the plan_ , so no one
notices. This stuff isn't in the plan.

~~~
albertcardona
It's not _poor_ people, it's people without equality of opportunities, tied by
family weights, unable to become enterpreneurs even if they really want to
because society around them has collapsed.

Emigration is, so far, the only solution (even if painful), but despite being
college-educated and very capable, the western world doesn't _want_ them--not
easy to get visas of any kind.

And 50+ year old people don't feel like moving at all, because their country
used to be fine and is now, very deep in, their home. One can always pretend
that nothing has changed--we humans have perfected the art of self deception.

Was it their fault that it collapsed? That's a slippery slope. I have no
answer. But the current situation of Argentina may serve as a comparison
reference to any over-hyped news of "collapse" or "martial law required to fix
the economy in the USA": the USA is doing fine, thank you, as can be seen in
this very forum of enterpreneurs.

~~~
Tichy
Did those people bring it about themselves: without really knowing the story
of Argentina (except dictator, brutal torturing and stuff), I would wager to
say YES. Probably it was another case of communism gone wild. And that is why
an attitude like the one from the "second world" you quoted annoys me a bit,
frankly. It annoys me if people don't even try to understand the "financial
crisis" or what is causing it, and instead simply scapegoat some imagined rich
people whom they blame for everything. Because that is exactly the attitude
that then makes the real shit happen, communism, fascism, civil war and the
likes. I am not saying that I don't feel sorry for the poor, complex systems
are hard to understand, and I can not paint you a complete picture of the
financial crisis, either. It is important to try to understand it to avoid
making the same systems as in the past.

~~~
albertcardona
I agree with you. Yet my friends' imagined "rich people" are _everyone_ living
in a developed country. I.e. "rich people" means something entirely different
to him.

Some people was born _after_ the collapse, or were children at the time. Yet
the first world handles them just the same way as their perhaps accountable
parents. And exactly how is their fault in any way? So from their perspective,
the whole situation is just unfair, and the cries of self-pity of large
financial institutions very much out of place.

Also: here is an account of how life is currently in a country that used to be
just fine, and now is totally broken down:

[http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-
bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ub...](http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-
bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=044387;p=1)

Search for "We understood it the same way a kid understands photosynthesis"
for a description of how it feels to have the process explained of how a large
middle class falls down to a low class, and when that means your own class in
your own country. I found it heart-shattering.

