Anyone here affected by the collapsing financial firms?

I've been at a subsidiary of AIG for almost 8 years now, and our stock is down to less than $2.

On that note, do you know anyone in the Atlanta area hiring an experienced SysAdmin?

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LarryDaMan

I wonder if your 401k is negative over 100% do you have to pay them when you retire!? What kind of retirement package do you have? Well, yeah...um, I pay about $50 a month

Edit: Yes, I was joking.

vsmith3rd

I'd say that we all are, even if its in ways that aren't so obvious. This results in a weakened dollar, even tougher credit standards, probable interest rate reductions along with falling stock prices. Some consumers may get the jitters and face eroding confidence in banking solvency. That, along with possible rate drops (we'll have to wait and see what the Federal Reserve decides to do) could result in folks tying less capital in savings accounts, money markets, CDs and bonds. Not so savvy investors, at the same time, will run from stocks as share prices fall. Add that to the consumer and commercial real estate mess, and people will see no attractive investment options.

Keep in mind the financial sector is experiencing some significant job loss, which affects tax capital, retail profits and general consumer savings rates, which were very poor in times of extreme prosperity. I hate to say it, but this is the proverbial chickens coming home to roost. As a society, we constantly live above our means, stretching our credit to show the extent of greed and personal and professional financial mismanagement. Retirement accounts alone suffered over half a trillion in total losses.

This seems really bleak, to the unprepared and uninformed, which unfortunately, are the masses. To those in the know, they are licking their chops. They have lots of available capital, without a need to borrow heavily, because they've been able to save. They will take advantage of tumbling real estate and stock values, by buying up options at deep discounts. When the market rebounds in two years, guess who stands to make a very hefty profit. I'm no high roller, but when the market falls, I look at it as opportunity to find some really good investment bargains. I'm not informed enough to invest heavily in the financial sectors, as they are really shaky right now.

LarryDaMan

vsmith3rd wrote:

I'd say that we all are, even if its in ways that aren't so obvious. This results in a weakened dollar, even tougher credit standards, probable interest rate reductions along with falling stock prices. Some consumers may get the jitters and face eroding confidence in banking solvency. That, along with possible rate drops (we'll have to wait and see what the Federal Reserve decides to do) could result in folks tying less capital in savings accounts, money markets, CDs and bonds. Not so savvy investors, at the same time, will run from stocks as share prices fall. Add that to the consumer and commercial real estate mess, and people will see no attractive investment options.

Keep in mind the financial sector is experiencing some significant job loss, which affects tax capital, retail profits and general savings rates, which were very poor in times of extreme prosperity. I hate to say it, but this is the proverbial chickens coming home to roost. As a society, we constantly live above our means, stretching our credit to show the extent of greed and personal and professional financial mismanagement. Retirement accounts alone suffered over half a trillion in total losses.

This seems really bleak, to the unprepared and uninformed, which unfortunately, are the masses. To those in the know, they are licking their chops. They have lots of available capital, without a need to borrow heavily, because they've been able to save. They will take advantage of tumbling real estate and stock values, by buying up options at deep discounts. When the market rebounds in two years, guess who stands to make a very hefty profit. I'm no high roller, but when the market falls, I look at it as opportunity to find some really good investment bargains. I'm not informed enough to invest heavily in the financial sectors, as they are really shaky right now.

Decent analysis. Another problem is that A LOT of the captial coming in is foreign. Several major banks are surviving on capital out of Singapore, China, Japan and the like. We leveraged ourselves to the brink of disaster and foreign firms and governments are buying low.

You wait, the next major thing in about a year or two will be a consumer credit crisis. If you thought the mortage crisis was bad, just wait. So many people in America live above their means and pile up enormous debt.... the debt is coming due and it will be bad.

undomiel

LarryDaMan wrote:

So many people in America live above their means and pile up enormous debt.... the debt is coming due and it will be bad.

All the more reason to get rid of it ASAP and never touch the stuff again!

KGhaleon

I never used a credit card in my life, nor do I own one.

My bank is Wamu though, so things may turn bad for me soon. Luckily I've only been with them for 6-7 months, even though most of what I have is in there.

vsmith3rd

LarryDaMan wrote:

Decent analysis. Another problem is that A LOT of the captial coming in is foreign. Several major banks are surviving on capital out of Singapore, China, Japan and the like. We leveraged ourselves to the brink of disaster and foreign firms and governments are buying low.

You wait, the next major thing in about a year or two will be a consumer credit crisis. If you thought the mortage crisis was bad, just wait. So many people in America live above their means and pile up enormous debt.... the debt is coming due and it will be bad.

Man, you hit the nail right on the head. We can't think economy in a national sense anymore as it is very much globally integrated. I don't want to get too political here, but we as citizens have a duty to thoroughly research our elected leaders and their policies. Too often, our leaders have very little financial literacy, particularly on a global scale, and virtually no idea of how to run a business. That's why our government model is doomed to continue the growing debt, and deficit problem. Flawed policies have certainly contributed to this mess. Flawed on both sides of the aisle.

As for the foreign capital coming in, that's to be expected as anyone with the capital will take advantage of an opportunity. That's why I have 35-45% (low-high fluctuation) of my investments abroad. I've been considering raising my range to 45-55% abroad.

As for the consumer debt...that will be ugly. We have sky high student loan amounts, a huge number of boomers heading to retirement with underfunded retirement accounts, growing Medicare and Social Security solvency concerns, and growing medical expenses. More interest only and ARM loans that are coming due. Credit card interest rates aren't exactly dropping like hot potatoes and auto loans, which are horrible loans, floating in the background. I wonder if people know just how much the bankruptcy laws have changed. I don't want to sound like a doomsayer, but its time people faced the facts. I'm sure our government bailouts of Fannie/Freddie will ease the sting, but it will also come at a cost in taxes down the road.

That's it...I'm done.