What a week. Events are again conspiring to ruin Wall Street’s weekend, and stock futures are pointing down.
Where to begin? Well, the outcome of the $700 billion bank bailout has become as cloudy as the skies over Manhattan, and some say the uncertainty threatens to derail the financial system, not to mention tonight’s presidential debate.
And all the politicking and hand-wringing is taking place amid the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. The government shut down Washington Mutual and sold its assets to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion.
St. Louis Fed president James Bullard is speaking on the U.S. economy today, and you can bet he’s got a lot of interesting material to work with.
The dollar is down against an index of major currencies. U.S. Treasuries are mostly higher. Oil prices are lower.
Data on tap includes a final reading on second-quarter gross domestic product growth and a report on consumer sentiment.
In mergers and acquisitions, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China says it’s eager to expand in the Middle East - but it’s wary about the United States.
- Lisa Von Ahn
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We should stand strong and not pass this 700 Billion package. Save it for recovery when the market drops, banks close, and the dust settles. Our system can handle this and we need to let the leadership that got us into this mess take the fall. Free markets punish that bad guys by wiping them out.
- Posted by DavidOur 401ks will recover much faster if we hit bottom hard and fast.
I don’t seen any wall street jumpers yet. I bet they are all in the back rooms texting their buddies in Washington with their personal requests.
The sad thing is that the decision makers either came from the town they are trying to save or have been supported by that town (NYC).
Middle America doesn’t have anything to give anymore. I would rather have my 401k drop in half and my house lose 40% in value then fill the coffers of the NYC and Washington elite who got us into this mess in the first place.