This week President Obama made mention that the stock market was more like a “poll” used by politcal analysts.  In other words, you can’t put that much value in it.  Then he said that Americans should “invest” in the stock market.  Now the paralyzed markets continue their downward spiral.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 281.40 points, or 4.09%, to 6594.44, the S&P 500 lost 30.32 points, or 4.25%, to 682.55 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 54.15 points, or 4.00%, to 1299.59.  Consumers are now wondering when the so-called “Stimulus Package” that was passed with actually stimulate the economy.  So far we have learned about what the first project will be, a bridge, but yet to see how that will actually stimulate the economy.

We disagree with the Obama administration that the markets are like a political poll.  Unlike the poll, the markets contain real people’s money, perhaps even their life savings.  Or it did, anyway.  A poll is strictly opinion that can change day to day.  Money is real, and with people losing it, it would be wise for the President to take notice.  His spending spree in Washington is the largest ever, and is doing nothing but making the economy worst.  Our advice is to invest smart at this time, hord your money if you have too.  Don’t spend it on anything.  After all, default on a few mortgage payments and the president will pay your mortgage also.  Perhaps he will fill my gas tank for my gas-guzzling, pollution creating, V8 SUV.  We only hope not.

Despite the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States, the stock markets took a deep plunge on Wednesday.  While the economy was the focus of many voters, it seems that investors are now worried about their portfolios and how they will be affected by a rising tax rate.  Wednesday’s plunge goes to show that a single person (in this case Obama) cannot have an overnight influence on the markets.  Look for the markets to continue the roller coaster for the next few months until banks, mortgage companies, and investors start to turn things around.  We predict this turn around will not happen before June 2009.  In the mean time, go buy yourself some stock.  After all, it is a 2-for-1 sale right now!!

The recent market rollercoaster over the past months has affected our ability to write new posts.  We hope to be back on board with this soon.  Our apologies, and thanks to our many loyal readers.

On a side note, if you are young….start investing!!!  With the markets this low, you can buy cheap, and when (not if) they go up, cash out and retire!  That is our opinion!

The bears continued a sell off today, as the mortgage woes of the housing industry started to creep into credit card debt and other areas of the loan industry.  After a huge sell off on Friday of last week, the US markets are once again looking toward a negative week on Wall Street.  However, talk of a recession is still skeptical.  Usually when the housing market sees a slump, a recession has followed according to history.  However, with world markets strong, and a continual adding of jobs in the US, the problem right now is more with a week dollar and outstanding debt.  The recent rise of tensions in the middle east has also driven the price of oil up to above $90, but it has slowly been creeping back down to below $88.  Over the next two weeks, consumers in the US could see a rise of about $.20 in the price at the pump due to this recent rise. Look for the markets today to be a good example of what the week will be like.  This could start being a good time to look into investing in some stocks that might rebound later.

The Dow has defied the slumping housing market and mortgage crises to once again reach a new high!  The surge is primarily fueled by hopes that a rate cut is in store when the Federal Reserve meets at the end of the month.  This is the first time in two and a half months that the Dow has crossed the 14k mark, and did so by setting another all time high.  Citi Bank, one of the nation’s largest, had said that 3Q profits would be down almost 60% due to mortgage’s gone bad.  However, their stock, along with failing Countrywide Financial Corp., were actually up slightly.  The housing jitters have caused chaos for the last two months, but a cut in the interest rate by the Fed could serve to give the economy back the push it was seeing 3 months ago.

Recently, the US markets have been slowly making a comeback from the huge losses seen just weeks ago.  The Dow has be creeping back up toward the 14k mark since that huge lost, hovering near 13,800 for about a week now.  Recent reports about the slowing housing markets, consumer confidence, and news in the private sector have helped keep the Dow and the Nasdaq from making really significant gains.  However, as the holiday season approaches, this could all change.  If the US economy sees a break from gas prices while companies profit from holiday sales, the economy could be back on track to be above 14k real soon.  Look for October to be the month where consumer confidence gets a more accurate prediction of the upcoming holiday season.

The US markets are still doing the ups and the downs, fueled by everything from oil to housing to the fact that tomorrow is 9/11.  While the markets have their good and their bads days, it is safe to say that at least they are staying fairly consistent.  The markets have been in the habit of gaining and losing about the same for the last two weeks.  While liberal members of the government continually call for Bush to help the mortgage woes, conservatives seem to wonder if that is really the right thing to do.  Is it always the job of the government to bail out people who have poor financial skills, or to bail out the corporations that feed on this area of the markets?  Most Americans will probably tell you “no” as that would be using tax payers money to bail out those that made poor decisions.  If that was the case, I could come up with a few bad decisions that I wish the government could bail me out of.  However, like the average investor, I can absorb my losses and change so that I can make good decisions in the future….for the mean time, I am enjoying the roller coasters, trying to buy up the valleys and selling in the peaks!

With all the recent decline in house sales, the US markets are starting to suffer.  The Dow Jones has lost close to 1000 points in the last 45 days, and the world markets are not fairing much better.  Despite the recent surge of monetary input by the Fed, the investors are still not seeing a rise in the daily markets.  Instead, the Dow had another huge 3 digit sell off today.  These sell offs are all stemming from the extreme risky sub-prime mortgage area, in which lenders lent out to much money and owners started foreclosing, leaving nothing but debt for the lenders.  As the Fed looks to correct some of these problems, look for either a cut in interest rates or more money being pumped into the markets real soon.

The Dow slid almost 400 points today after a scare went through the World Markets.  The French markets started the slide, by freezing assets of mortgage companies that are about to go bankrupt.  After a quick morning slide, the US markets seemed to be gaining some of that slide back.  However, as more of the world markets and the European markets reacted, it caused a major sell off throughout the world.  Besides being fueled by the mortgage crises in the sub-prime area, recent recalls of goods made in China have lowered the confidence level of traders.  Look for tomorrow to be a big day for the markets, either continuing to slide, or making a slight gain.  Anything big could come near closing.

Although many investors wanted to see a decline in interest rates, the Fed voted yesterday to keep them at the current level.  This marks another vote to keep them at a steady pace, showing that the economy is maintaining itself, keeping inflation in check.  Some investors were hoping for a decline, to help steady out the weak mortgage area of the economy.  The extremely risky sub-prime mortgage area has been under a lot of fire lately, with companies going bankrupt after having to deal with to many foreclosures.  But despite the rocky mortgage area, the markets are responding appropriately, with rises both yesterday and today.  Look for the markets to continue to slowly move back up, regaining much of what was lost two weeks ago.