Are we in the middle of a financial meltdown?

[Johnny English 3,071]

Kinda interesting that we don't actually have a thread on this subject. We have the Lehman brothers thread that ticks slowly along.

 

But last night congress failed to come to an agreement on the $700 Billion bailout. Even WITH the bailout it looks a bit possibly messy for the future. Without the bailout it looks...errrr...very messy.

 

I guess I am a little surprised that other TTers are not glued to the TV and newspapers like I am? I am not being Mr. Doom & Gloom as it really might not be that bad in the end, but right

now, we are in the middle of "interesting" financial times, and it looks like it could all go one way or the other.

 

Are we in the eye of the storm, has the storm already passed, or is it just gonna be a bit wet and rainy for a few weeks?

 

(or is the sun coming out for the super optimists out there!!!)

[mlovett 8,681]

support the economy and buy stocks! It's a good time to do it. ;)

[Eck Spatz 25]

Why the French (and similarly the Germans) are not as badly effected by the present events in the financial world as Britain and the US

[Renia 60]

I am trying not to think about it too much, even though it is directly impacting my life... I am definitely cutting down on discretionary expenditure. I worry for my own family situation, but also my brothers and sisters.

 

I think the "bail out" money should be spent on major infrastructure programs (job creation) however, not propping up the banks. Do the banks have to pay this money back- is it a loan, or a gift? I object on the basis if the banks receive the money for free so to say (to bail out their bad decisions), however all the debtors of the bank still have to pay their money back (ie the ordinary people who are losing their homes). It seems a win-win situation for financial institutions as usual.

[Johnny English 3,071]

Yeah, watching the News I saw a reporter in Paris saying the French banks had only lost about $20 Billion so far which is buttons of course. 75% of their banking is retail and hardly any of this other silliness. Personal debt is also much much lower than the UK.

 

I assume same pretty much applies here in Germany. I haven't seen any obvious signs of stress, and I suspect bums will be on seats at the Oktoberfest today.

 

Just I saw a UK reporter in New York last night, and he said you have to be there to believe it. He said it's like 100 times worse in the atmosphere over there, than when Northern Rock went bust in the UK.

 

Renia: Yeah, I think I am also "feeling" it because it is directly impacting my brother back in the UK, so kinda on my mind more. On a microeconomic scale I also watch my own sales on the internet for end-users in the UK, Germany and France and at this stage they appear largely unchanged.

[perdido 6,083]

I have been watching the Tele and admit I am nervous. I plied JJ with questions the other night during the Bears game (sorry dude) about this. A friend of mine works as a receptionist at an insurance company while she works on her masters and she says it is deadly quiet everyday with a sense of doom on peeps faces.

 

Sadly she is working on becoming a social worker and it looks llike she might be in greater need closer to home sooner than she thinks (her words).

 

Edit: In the US

[BattalionBoy 17]

People in Britain get loans to buy furniture and holidays. In Britain institutions lend money to people to buy furniture and holidays.

[pike 323]

Mortgage rates in the UK went up again overnight - expect more to come. With credit tightening more and more, I expect it is not a good time to invest in property or firms, especially in the US and UK. Pumping billions of taxpayers' money into the market will lead to even huger government debt medium-term which cannot be good for the economies especially of US and UK (who, let's admit it, have been living beyond their means for some time now).

Does anyone know if there are bank asset/risk ratios online?

[Johnny English 3,071]

I saw this on a comments section linked to a news article:

 

 

But do I have this right? The public who can't afford to pay their mortgages are going to have to pay more tax to buy the mortgages they can't pay in the first place. This will make the mortgages sound because they now will be able to pay their mortgages because they will now have the money to pay the extra taxes with some left over because the banks will now be able to lend them more money.

 

A financial device worthy of Wall Street itself. A perpetual motion machine. This is supposed to give everyone ‘confidence’?

[pike 323]

The public will not pay more tax (at least not in the short term).

[tin-hat-mode]

Instead, government debt will explode, and this debt will be serviced by those who have cash (resp. Chinese, Arabs). The danger is that the Chinese/Arabs will get bored of buying dollars - then it's game-over for the greenback.

[/tin-hat-mode]

[Dostoyevsky 21]

I've always felt that there is a lot of truth to the movie Understanding Money as Debt but I still wish it doesn't turn out that way...

[Renia 60]

The (cautious) Japanese banks are doing quite well out of this too...they have the cash ready to buy.

[Johnny English 3,071]

For sure the game is to convert a potentially very large terminal punch to the head, into lots of nasty slow jabs to the ribs for the public. Spread the pain over time.

[bluedave 2,499]

It's not helping me find a job that's for sure. :(

[DDBug 1,665]

I think theres truth to the title of this thread - and there is f'ck all we can do to stop it. Buckle down and enjoy the ride, cuz it ain't gonna be pretty.

[perdido 6,083]

Maybe I did find the right time to move back to germany.

[minga 733]

I am very skeptic about the 700bn bailout

Investing in a turbulent market can be very risky.

[pike 323]

 

Maybe I did find the right time to move back to germany.

I'm kinda happy I have no assets in the UK. With average household debt in the UK at ca. £50K (incl. mortgage), and credit getting more expensive/hard to obtain = falling house prices / lower investment / higher unemployment / more government debt / higher taxes ... .

[miwild 160]

Britain: The Economic Fallout

 

 

The economic crisis is rippling out to the sectors that service the financial elite—from child care to restaurants to travel agencies ...

[tom_a 459]

 

A friend of mine works as a receptionist at an insurance company while she works on her masters and she says it is deadly quiet everyday with a sense of doom on peeps faces.

Not really. At least I didn't notice any gloom and doom at Allianz. Or are you refering to an insurance company in the US? :unsure: