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The Independent Investor: Time's upBy Bill Schmick
iBerkshires Columnist
08:48PM / Thursday, October 02, 2008
 | | Bill Schmick |
Well, readers, we are down to the wire. Friday morning the House votes on this much-debated (and hated) rescue plan.
At least 50 percent of Americans do not want it to pass. They believe adamantly that this is a bail-out for fat cats on Wall Street. The fact that it will hurt all of us dramatically doesn't faze them.
"Show me," they say.
Unfortunately, that is already happening.
Take the price tag of the first rescue plan, $700 billion, which it was argued would cost each taxpayer $2,300. Too much money, you say? Monday morning after the bill's defeat, the stock market lost $1 trillion. Given that Americans over 60 own half the nation's stocks that meant that in one day, those who depend most on their retirement accounts to live lost far more than the cost of the proposed rescue plan.
"So what, you say, I don't have any money in the markets. Let stocks and bonds go to zero, for all I care."
Fine, how do you feel about not getting your paycheck in a month? That's right; employers are having a tough time making their payrolls because they can't borrow enough money in the short-term credit markets to cut their checks. If you're a teacher in one of the 1,000 schools that invested money in a Wachovia Corp. trust fund you might be concerned today about whether your college can make the payroll or pay other bills like electricity and heat. The fund closed and school finance managers aren't sure when or how much of their short-term money will be available to them.
What is happening in the stock market is simply a sideshow to the real problem, the credit markets. Unfortunately, the squeeze in those markets has continued unabated over the last week. Every hour that Congress fails to act hundreds if not thousands of applicants for credit to buy a home, a car, a credit card, a snow blower, a piece of furniture or any other imaginable good or service are being denied. It is even worse for our largest corporation.
In Detroit, U.S. auto sales declined 27 percent in September, a new low, despite the fall in gasoline prices as credit conditions tightened. Even buyers with top credit ratings were denied auto loans. AT&T's chief executive said they were having trouble getting overnight credit which was hurting their business.
The same thing is happening in every sector and every region of the United States. None of these companies are on Wall Street or had anything to do with mortgage-backed securities, but they do employ millions of Americans just like you and I. The great misconception is that somehow this plan is a bail-out for the banks and brokers of Wall Street. Most of the culprits responsible for this debacle have already gone bankrupt, lost their jobs or simply slinked away hiding between the cracks.
What we are dealing with is the aftermath of their greed and duplicity. No, most of us didn't contribute to it and it's not fair that we have to foot the bill. But that doesn't mean we should go down with the ship just to prove a point. If a hurricane destroys the Northeast coast do we refuse to rebuild simply because it isn't fair or it wasn't our fault?
Some say it is already too late. That the procrastination by Congress (because of the taxpayer's refusal to back the plan) has already sealed our fate. The downward spiral has taken on a life of its own. That whatever we do, the economy has been injured to such an extent that a deep recession is certain and inevitable, hopefully the doomsayers will be proven wrong.
However, if this plan isn't approved, I suspect they will be right.
Bill Schmick is a licensed investment adviser representative and portfolio strategist with Berkshire-based Dion Money Management, managing over $650 million for middle-class Americans from coast to coast. Direct your inquiries to Bill at 1-877-850-7942, Ext. 146 (toll free) or wschmick@dionmm.com. You can also visit www.afewdollarsmore.com for more of Bill’s insight. |
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