Oh My 401k
Posted on January 21, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |
Global market news today is pretty grim, thankfully the U.S. markets were closed today but that small concession will be short lived.
From the reaction that the markets have offered it is clear that $150 billion in giveaways to taxpayers isn’t going to help this economy. Seriously we have one of biggest mortgage resets on the horizon and the President and Congress think that $800 per taxpayer is going to make a difference? If you mortgage has been going up by hundreds it is unlikely you will be running down to Best Buy or the local Ford dealer with you $800 check.
The other aspect that this is exposing is that Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke is not inspiring confidence in his measured response to this economic downturn. Often referred to as “academic” I think the problem with Bernanke is that he comes off as detached and cautious, but don’t confuse me for a Greenspan Groupie either as I was not entirely comfortable with his Jesus status in Washington and Wall St. But the President and Congress are both in a tough spot now because in order to have “moral authority” a Fed Chief has to be independent and the worst thing that could happen is that Bernanke gets pushed out of his post.
This meltdown also dispels the notion that somehow the U.S. and emerging markets are decoupled.
Lastly, I can’t quite express the sense of irony I felt while watching Bank of China shares plunge by a little over 6%… because of exposure to U.S. sub-prime debt. Who woulda predicted that just a few years ago?
UDPATE: The carnage got worse on Tuesday. All joking aside, this is getting scary… will be watching the U.S. markets opening but I don’t need a pricey analyst to tell me which way things will go.
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My name is Jeff Nolan and I write Venture Chronicles. These are my thoughts on technology, innovation, management, public policy and pretty much anything else that I find interesting.
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