Am I missing something??

[phlemboy]

This seems like a good forum for my ramblings!! I've watching the Big 3 getting raked over the coals for their bailout. I also watched the as Paulson & Bernanke asked for 700 Billion with little BS by comparison. Somehow Citigroup got 200Billion over a weekend without having to speak to congress at all . AIG comes with hat hand and gets a bailout. Then 6 weeks later they return to congress and say the interest rate is too high . Three letters keep running through my mind..WTF???? I'm just so pissed off right now. That what happens when you start paying attention I guess

[fdjake]

Here's how this all plays out.....

If the Nit Wits in Congress screw this bridge loan plan up.....GM will IMMEDIATELY FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY...They will have NO CHOICE.

That will IMMEDIATELY shift the burdon of all the RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS to the GOVERMENT.....Unemployment insurance claims from newly laid off workers will EXPLODE, and at that exact time....The nit wits will realize they have made a HUGE MISCALCULATION.  At that point....FORD...who DOES NOT need this money immediately, will get WHATEVER they request from Uncle Sam.

The other alternative?????

They get the money after the dog and pony show this week.

[phlemboy]

I think the biggest problem is unemployment. I agree with FDJake that its going to get worse. People aren't buying ANYTHING due to fear of job loss. I don't believe the 700 Billion for the banks are truly going to free up lending. They haven't so far. I realize that businesses need the money to start up and grow. But I have my doubts that the money will actually get to "Main St".

[justin0419]

I saw a pie graph on a news channel yesterday that broke down where the $700 Billion went.  There was a little sliver of it dedicated to consumer lending....a mere $20 Billion out of that huge amount.  Good thing those A-holes from AIG were out spending $400K at a "weekend retreat."

[phlemboy]

So I just saw that the auto-bailout bill died in the senate. Apparantly the UAW would rather have a high paying non existant job than a lower paying existing one. Now I suppose George W will have to act to save them?? This should make for an interesting Wall St. day tomorrow.... GM just may go to $0    . Ford should be O.K but if suppliers go out of business, that may make it tough for Ford to get supplies to build cars..

[fdjake]

What you just saw was the Republican Parties..... LAST DIEING GASP!!!

Watch what happens if DUBYA acts as usual and does NOTHING.....

In a very short period of time EVERY American will understand COMPLETELY what a bankruptcy for GM means to THEM....At THAT point, the Republicans that prevented this bridge loan will be the SYMBOLS for everything that has failed in the Republican party.

For anyone here that thinks DE-REGULATION is a GOOD THING......Look at the latest $50,000,000,000 PONZI SCHEME unraveling Wall St. this morning.

It's nice to see the Republicans going out on the same USELESS notes they came in on.....

Ford will easily survive,  it looks like they have a buyer for Volvo at $6 BILLION and if that's not enough SWEDEN'S GOVERMENT just approved a $5 BILLION loan to VOLVO.  (At least SOME Goverments GET IT!)
Either way......I'll be adding to my postion in Ford on any weaknes this fallout creates.

One last thing......

Here's last months Auto sales breakdown.....

Toyota Prius sales............ DOWN..............55%

Honda Fit sales...........DOWN..............40%

Toyota Yaris sales........Down............35%


FORD F-150 sales...........UP............59%

Ford Explorer sales........UP.............40%

Ford Edge sales.........UP.............38%

This is DIRECTLY related to the new lows we're seeing in GAS PRICES.....AMERICANS DO NOT LIKE SMALL CARS.......They'll drive them if Gas prices FORCE them to,,,But.....If they have a CHOICE..... they'll take BIGGER everytime!!!! 

With gas approaching $1.50/gallon TOYOTA dealers now have PRIUS's PILING UP on their lot's.....So much for the experts!!!!

[phlemboy]

That reminds me of a conversation I had with my wife. There was some "expert" on CNBC saying that the younger generation that are in their 20's will learn the lessons of credit/money management from this financial meltdown and recession. My wife thinks that's true. I told her that people tend to have VERY short memories. When the credit markets come back, people will go back to their same habits. This is true for gas prices. With gas prices so low, people just forgot how the high gas prices affected everything they do. There may be a few people that actually learned the lessons from this economic downturn. But most people will go back to the same behavior they did before. Right now, I'm becoming a student of how the market just has these wild swings on the slightest of rumor/news. I can definitely see how Dave Dreman's outlook on the psychology of investors. It's interesting to watch the "talking heads" making sense of all this. What I see is them blowing everything out of proportion. Perhaps that kind of hype is actually contributing to these wild swings..

[johnnyMB]

i'm amazed by the bailouts. I'm actually speechless! I'm not really sure what to say about it all.

I dont know if it is the right thing to do but at what point do the bailouts end?

I understand that the auto industry employees very large amounts of people, but what about all the small businesses suffering because of this? when do they get a bail out? or some assistance?

[phlemboy]

I think I'm more disgusted witht the banks who took the govt. bailout. It was supposed to get the credit markets moving, but the banks seem to be sitting on the money. What's worse is that the banks were raked over the coals nearly as much as the Big 3 . Also, there have been no consequences whatsoever for the banks. I'm past getting angry about it. I'm at a point where I'm looking to see how I can profit from the world around me instead of being in a reactive/angry mode.