Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Some Good News, Market-Wise


Finally… an up day in the markets! From the link:


Wall Street seemed to find its energy Tuesday afternoon as the major exchanges were all up about 10 percent on the day.

Much of rally, analysts said, came as investors began looking for bargains among beaten down stocks as well as expectations of that the Federal Reserve would cut its key rate after its meeting ends on Wednesday. Investors seemed to set aside a consumer confidence report that showed Americans were more pessimistic about the economy in October than at anytime in 41 years.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 889.35 points, or 10.8 percent, to 9,065.12, closing above 9,000 for the first time in a week.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was 10.79 percent higher, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq was up 9.53 percent.


Today’s surge doesn’t begin to make up for the losses sustained over the past month and may not even reflect the bottom in our latest bear market, however much we hope. And believe me, Gentle Reader… I’m hoping we’ve seen the bottom as much as anyone. It’s oh-so-painful to look at my 401(k) these days… when I’m brave enough to venture there. Which ain’t often. The last time I looked I was down a lil bit over 20%... which isn’t as bad as it could be, yanno?


The graphics for this post were obtained from the NYT article at the link.

4 comments:

  1. A nice healthy bounce, for sure, but my gut tells me there is more whipsawing volatility in our immediate future. The process of unf***ing the world financial markets is far from complete.

    Strap in and hang on; it's going to be a bumpy ride.

    I hear you loud and clear in re the 401(k). YTD "return" on mine was -32% last time I checked in, and the wife's is in similar shape.

    Good thing our retirement date is about 25 years out. 25... do I hear 30? 35? :-)

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  2. My 401(k) has tanked as well. But it's okay. I never can save up money, but since this is transferred from my pay directly into the 401(k), I consider it gone anyway! It makes me feel like I'm doing something GOOD with my money, even though I've lost a bit.

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  3. I checked by 401(k) about 2 weeks ago - it was down 25% then. I'm sure that's closer to 35% now. And yes, in it for the long haul - I keep telling myself that. The Oracle hasn't looked at his - which is a good thing. A financial planner told us to just file away any statements we get without looking at them until next year.

    This too shall pass but I agree with Barry's comment above: it's not over yet and it will get worse before it finally continues to get better.

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  4. Barry sez: Strap in and hang on; it's going to be a bumpy ride.

    I hear you loud and clear in re the 401(k). YTD "return" on mine was -32% last time I checked in, and the wife's is in similar shape.

    Good thing our retirement date is about 25 years out. 25... do I hear 30? 35? :-)


    I hear ya, Barry... on all counts. I've been through this krep before, in '87 and again in '01. 2001 was the worst, though. I'd pretty much made my plans to retire early at that point and there wasn't NEAR enough time to recover. That one REALLY hurt.

    Christina sez: ...but since this is transferred from my pay directly into the 401(k), I consider it gone anyway!

    That's the BEST sort of attitude, Christina!

    Kris sez: This too shall pass but I agree with Barry's comment above: it's not over yet and it will get worse before it finally continues to get better.

    I keep hoping we've seen the bottom, but ya never know. I DO expect lotsa volatility as you and Barry noted.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.