The Big 3: Bill Gross, 6000 Points down, and Hank's Kinda Big Brother

If I am wrong on this I trust someone will correct me, but please no politics. Perhaps this is not the right place to discuss the cause and affect of various political agendas as they relate to energy costs and sub-prime loans, but being one that is in the middle to lower end of the of the middle class I feel this needs to be elevated to the stage of national debate. Regardless of who occupies in the White House, or Congress, we would have arrived at the sub-prime mess due to negative incentivizing that forced lenders to create loan products that help those with sub-prime credit. A miss guided effort that was supposed to help the poor. Until congress admits this was a mistake and changes the law, why would anyone believe things will get better? After all, it was never a question of would it happen, merely a question of when. Sustained high energy prices served as a catalyst. These high energy prices erased the concept of discretionary spending for many of us; it permeated into every facet of our economic lives. A little insult to injury is the fact that food and energy are not counted as part of the core economic indicators, yet those two items are a core part of every household budget. With an environmentally elitist congress I expect energy costs, including the associated impact on all we consume, to be a negative issue for a long time. I use the term "elitist" because they press ahead with alternative energy sources at the expense of legacy energy sources without any consideration as to the impact it has on the lower economic third. That has to represent a sizable chunk of change that will never make it into the economy. Also looking at the expense to take advantage of any alternatives seems to put it out of reach for many. Those of us in the lower third of the economic scale do not have the funds to spend in the economy and this is why, with regard to our economic future. I believe 'we ain't seen nothin yet".

Hey Sir im sure proud of you, wish I could have seen ya while here im in Roswell now The old Judge Jim

If Greenspan uses 'tsunami' ? I say, what is the tectonic shift we are looking for ? Where did the plates jump, slide or slip. If the global economy were to follow tectonic plate theory, we'd all probably agree mountains are a great feature !

As I mentioned in either this forum or Liz MacDonald's forum, questioning whether Abu Dhabi's losses on oil hedges for their own product will affect markets. Today I see on WSJ credit crisis hits Middle East, but MORE SO ? a small quote from the article on wsj front page. "High oil prices have allowed state and private investors across the Gulf to funnel billions of dollars into property markets, infrastructure projects and, more recently, foreign-exchange speculation." I do wonder. with oil at 1/2 ? markets are strangely - at 1/2... could we be simply too pegged to oil ? Has the subtle flow of US dollars into the middle east over the years, where they make 2 trillion so that US oil corproations can be happy with 500 billion ? Has the dollar been off-shored ? I do believe it has. Double whammy on petro. At least we got the lead out of it eh ? we moved the tombstones, but didn't move the cemetery ! (Poltergeist II). Doubly (spinal tap) whammy on petro is, is it ? responsible for the downfall here ? Was oil futures hedges out of control ? what brought down Bear Stearns ? Will we ever know what margins they got called on ? I just wonder to what degree petro and the dollar are married these days. Because it's peculiar oil AND the stock markets are at 1/2 empty tank, or is it 1/2 full ? I'd say we're ALL in trouble if Dubai Disney gets cancelled. Think about it, if they pull the plug on that ? you just KNOW they're in trouble. and since THEY have so many petro dollars ? And THEY go down ? Yikes. I'm all for getting off petro, sure power grid from coal or nuclear isn't a step up, but until helium 3 fusion implementations ? we're in transition. Might as well start weeding out the ole petro bush now. Our children will thank us for it in low pulmonary health care costs down the road ! See ? This could be a health plan too ! ALLOWING people to breath healthy air - wow - think it could improve health costs ?

CW: We like to see Happy Hour have a little more focus on Credit Derivatives and where our Country financials stand with them with their current and future effects on all of us. Any grip or handle on what we're looking at? That is, the size of the problem and who is the beneficiary of them? The vast amounts money placed is going someplace. Where, who? You've been the best at kicking problems in the nutsac and getting the truth and facts out on the table. We'd love to see you/Happy Hour dig more into the credit default swaps. After all, isn't this what is really biting us all on the ass?

Does anyone know if the rumor is true that Paulson, Pilosi, Barney Franks,and even Obama were seen at grocery stores this weekend with baskets full of 50# bags of rice, beans,oatmeal and the like? I think they are starting to spend the 700 billion.

Cody, I am not prepared to have the Democrats/Liberals get ahold of my money. They are starting the public discussions that they need to "fix the 401K" program, by eliminating the pre-tax elements of the 401K program, forcing people to convert their program into a Government funded, managed, guranteed fix benefit pension program. What this really is, is that the Democrats need to get their hands on these funds to be able to fund all their entitlement programs today, not worrying about the future retirees. Before they get my money, I will cash it out, pay the taxes and penalites, and deposit it in my personal savings account. I do not wish to give up my financial independence (no matter how small it is) to a overpowering Granny State.

BTW, I'm getting really sick of the lame cliches that I hear on FBN almost constantly. "Glass half full", etc. See if you can get your co-workers to avoid them. Cliches only make y'all seem more interested in filling the air with noise rather than passing along information.