The Watering Hole

Mine and my wifes retirement are with this company. >:( Damn.

Searching for info on what to do after I decide how much we lost. :-/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/aig

Will the Fed bailout help you any in the short-term?

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/579-Tilt-Game-Over.html?ref=patrick.net

heres a good article on the BS.


Im just glad sketchy corporations with questionable accounting practices are getting bailed out by our government.

This finally proves it: deregulation is good for the economy.

Heck, if the Federal Government doesn't have enough money to bail everyone out they can always print more, right?  ::)

Dearthian: — Sep 17, 2008Will the Fed bailout help you any in the short-term?

Well, if it prevents me from actually losing all my money it does. I'm scared to look online to check my balance. I'm sure it's all but gone, very close to it.(my money)

If they continue to operate, at least in 10 plus years I'll have a chance to get my money back.

Their stock went from $70 a share to around $2 or less the last time I checked. That ain't good either. I was invested in some aig stock as well.

Charger......I agree. At least it prevents absolute failure.

Hook - you are ok, you are no more at risk than anyone else here who has a bank account with money in it.
Just so long as western governments are considered credit worthy worldwide.

This has been on the cards for a number of years now, I posted about the possibility of this shit going down at the WH many times.

If things really deteriorate  and the US government starts to wobble on it's credit rating it will have to capitulate and get the capital that is available and overflowing in the East and they will end up bargaining away some of the US in the process and power will switch East.
If the East decides not to play ball then ...
All hypothetical scenarios at the moment and hopefully not something that will happen.

But power has already shifted  but how much it shifts and how fast  - who knows now.

Bush has leveraged the US to execute his policies.

I think I can see that Fingers. He really has I guess. This should have never happened, or been allowed to happen.

It's ironic, and scary, and sad, all at the same time.

What is totally untenable to me is that we allowed our system to become so reliant on institutionalized gambling.  We wouldn't bail out a gambler who lost $40,000 by betting it all on red in a moment of stupidity, but we are perfectly happy to throw a hundred billion dollars to the rescue when a large company makes risky, stupid investments.  Those same assholes who are today putting together rescue packets that amount to almost the entire budget for the state of California for a year, were whining and bitching and vetoing bills that would have allowed regulation and oversight 5-10 years ago.  

The mortgage crisis was completely preventable.  That no one got in the least concerned when things started getting into a frenzy 5 years ago is a sign of the complete lack of competence that was running the country.  But that's--if not excusable, understandable.  They were slaves to their own political beliefs, and everyone with stupid political beliefs is entitled to be shown how stupid they are at a later date.  What is inexcusable is that they have no shame in turning 180 degrees around, and resorting to complete corporate welfare, to keep an economy that is essentially a house of cards standing, even under a hail of falling bricks.

sorry HB,

that is complete bull shit.  these crooks at the top get bailed out and keep their multi million dollar comp packages for running the company into the ground.  complete bullshit!!! >:(

its the top brass that have tanked this thing are the ones that hang out at the country clubs with all of the legislative folks.... get it, take care of each other.   I think we are all tax payers at the cave, aren't we?  except for Kev, I think he owns most of canada.

I don't remember voting to own a insurance company, do you all?

I always love how these companies pay out multi million dollar bonuses in december and file bankruptcy in january... sleaze balls,  this is beyond a dem or republican thing, its a washington thing.  

You haven't grasped what is going on.

There is a desperate attempt going on to to shore up the entire US financial system and avoid a total US collapse into bankruptcy and economic depression 1930's style.

It is not some esoteric happening on Wall street or Washington, it is an unimaginable shit storm if they fail.

fingers,, you got that right.  how does one get thier arms around this absolute quagmire.

How much more is china going to bail out ( i mean invest) the good old united states of america.

what is said about china, is that we have any major issues with china and the US govt will be a paper tiger..  

so, the US is really made in China.  ouch that hurts.  

tscholz — Sep 19, 2008fingers,, you got that right.  how does one get thier arms around this absolute quagmire.

How much more is china going to bail out ( i mean invest) the good old united states of america.

what is said about china, is that we have any major issues with china and the US govt will be a paper tiger..  

so, the US is really made in China.  ouch that hurts.  

Ands they are losing tons of cash, too.  They owned a lot of mortgage-based securities themselves.

This makes me wonder... how many people actually own homes now?  If these companies are losing hundreds of billions of dollars, how many Americans can have been foreclosed make that happen?  And aren't those houses worth something?  I mean, I can say a foreclosed house being worth 30-50% less than what the loan was for... but that's still not a total loss.  How many foreclosures equal $500 billion dollars?

If my houses foreclose they would lose at least 39% of their value.

A "revised" appraisal on one of them yesterday looks like it may save my sale and that gets me down to only one house where I FINALLY have other options available to me.

charger — Sep 19, 2008[quote author=tscholz link=1221624970/0#11 date=1221842479]fingers,, you got that right.  how does one get thier arms around this absolute quagmire.

How much more is china going to bail out ( i mean invest) the good old united states of america.

what is said about china, is that we have any major issues with china and the US govt will be a paper tiger..  

so, the US is really made in China.  ouch that hurts.  

Ands they are losing tons of cash, too.  They owned a lot of mortgage-based securities themselves.

This makes me wonder... how many people actually own homes now?  If these companies are losing hundreds of billions of dollars, how many Americans can have been foreclosed make that happen?  And aren't those houses worth something?  I mean, I can say a foreclosed house being worth 30-50% less than what the loan was for... but that's still not a total loss.  How many foreclosures equal $500 billion dollars?

No - it has a marginal effect on them -  they hold US Sovereign debt mostly - as do Arabs etc.

They don't want the Western finance system to collapse as their trillions in $ will be made zero and their exporting economic model will also collapse as well.

They are biding their time and will ride to the rescue and the biggest asset transfer in human history will transpire.

On the bright side - Stratman will be living in a gated community owned by China  :D

You have to laugh at the irony.

Nothing will materially change for Stratman - but it is soooo funnny. :)

CraigBert — Sep 19, 2008If my houses foreclose they would lose at least 39% of their value.

A "revised" appraisal on one of them yesterday looks like it may save my sale and that gets me down to only one house where I FINALLY have other options available to me.

And then I get a payoff amount that's $7,700 above what it's supposed to be...  Fuck.  :(

I am an owner in a small business.  big deal right?  but every quarter we publish a report including financials.  every year we host a shareholder meeting.  we have about 40+ shareholders and usually 15 people show up.  (7 of 15 are on the board)

If we were unsrupulous and pulled any of the shit the execs from aig or other companies, we would have been out on our buts instantly.

I am sick of all of the scummy, sleazy execs out in the marketplace who take care of themselves while screwing the shareholders.

Believe me, this has been a very difficult start up, toughest out of 4 I have ever done.  However, before we make any major decision, we ask one question out loud.   "How will this affect our shareholders."


respectfully submitted,

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

respectfully submitted,

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

;D ;D ;D

tscholz — Sep 22, 2008I am an owner in a small business.  big deal right?  but every quarter we publish a report including financials.  every year we host a shareholder meeting.  we have about 40+ shareholders and usually 15 people show up.  (7 of 15 are on the board)

If we were unsrupulous and pulled any of the shit the execs from aig or other companies, we would have been out on our buts instantly.

I am sick of all of the scummy, sleazy execs out in the marketplace who take care of themselves while screwing the shareholders.

Believe me, this has been a very difficult start up, toughest out of 4 I have ever done.  However, before we make any major decision, we ask one question out loud.   "How will this affect our shareholders."


respectfully submitted,

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

If the financial system collapses  -
Q. "How will this affect our shareholders."
A.  Turning out the lights and having  a bankruptcy party

in my business, if we filed Bankruptcy, I would feel like shit and have trouble sleeping at night... and of course walk away with bubkis.  

If I worked for AIB and they filed bankruptcy, I would walk away with 20 million and say... "oh well"

tscholz — Sep 23, 2008in my business, if we filed Bankruptcy, I would feel like shit and have trouble sleeping at night... and of course walk away with bubkis.  

If I worked for AIB and they filed bankruptcy, I would walk away with 20 million and say... "oh well"

I'll take option 2 for 20 million please.  ;) ;D

Did a little research on my retirement. Seems that AIG is basically a seperate entity of the AIG in trouble right now. The retirement part is seperate.

I'm down 24% this month alone, and overall. I was actually up $750 dollars at the end of last month, which ended the quarter. I was up about 6% last quarter.

So, dowm 24% is not nearly as bad as I imagined. That's as of this morning. The market is down 44% as of this morning. From it's high of 14,000 something. My advisor said to leave it alone and put as much money in it as I can. Now is the time to buy, not sell.

I guess I'm kinda lucky so far. :-/

Boy you ARE lucky!  Consider "poor" Bill Gates who is no longer considered the World's Richest Man any more...  ::)

http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/buffett-worlds-richest-cx_mm_0229buffetrichest.html

Yep.  My combined retirement accounts are down 42%.  I'm 35, so I guess it's not that big a deal, yet.