Bear Sterns collapsed

The # 5 investment bank has been taken over by JP MOrgan Chase at $2 a share. It was $90 just 3 weeks ago, $130 last October.

It's impossible to guess how many banks will follow. The Fed creates new liquidity out of thin air, and the dollar is being crushed because of that. We are facing  hyperinflation of unprecedented proportions.

Printing money in a contracting economy is like pouring water into wine - you get more of it but it tastes like sh*t. That's probably what we'll get in the long run.

Bernanke is a student of the Great Depression and is trying to apply what he learned of it to his current decisions - namely, the Fed making very aggressive moves to stop the bleeding.  Only time will tell if his philosophy has merit.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/3-reasons-why-this-credit-bubble-is-worse-than-1929-precursors-to-a-recession-complicit-fed-population-involved-and-greater-dependence-on-credit/

NaturalScience wrote: Bernanke is a student of the Great Depression and is trying to apply what he learned of it to his current decisions - namely, the Fed making very aggressive moves to stop the bleeding.  Only time will tell if his philosophy has merit.

Each and every aggressive move creates a bubble which the Fed fights with a new aggressive move. Meanwhile prices are moving up and you are told that inflation is under control. In addition to his studies of the Great Depression Bernanke should have taken a few classes on the Weimar Republic.

What gets me is how no one will say that there is a recession. Face it, it's true. I have watched the value of my investment portfolio go down since last sumer. I think we've passed that six month downturn marker. Economies go through cycles. We've been through recessions before. We just have to ride it out.

bhikkhu wrote: What gets me is how no one will say that there is a recession. Face it, it's true. I have watched the value of my investment portfolio go down since last sumer. I think we've passed that six month downturn marker. Economies go through cycles. We've been through recessions before. We just have to ride it out.

I think the main reason no one says we are in a recession is because we're waiting for the National Bureau of Economic Research to announce it. They are the so-called official source on when and if we are in one. Their president Martin Feldstein has already made statements that we could be "facing a severe recession." According to NBER's web site it could take from 6 to 18 months to determine if we are "statistically" in a recession. I'm afraid I don't know why this takes as long as it does, but yes, from where I live and what I hear about other locations, it sure does feel like a recession. That's not to say that other parts of the country aren't doing well. I have my doubts that that is so, but I honestly don't know. I could be wrong.

A recent CNN poll says that 3/4 of the people polled thought we were in one. Whether that means anything is arguable, but it does mean a good number of people are concerned and the economy is strongly affecting them in negative ways.

bhikkhu wrote: What gets me is how no one will say that there is a recession. Face it, it's true. I have watched the value of my investment portfolio go down since last sumer. I think we've passed that six month downturn marker. Economies go through cycles. We've been through recessions before. We just have to ride it out.

The problem is that the Fed (and other central banks) has interferred with the natural process of economic cycles. Recessions are normal in a healthy economy as they take care of the excesses of over-production of the boom times. Trying to avoid one at all costs only makes it worse, and after years of creatin bubble after bubble in an attempt to stave it off, the critical mass has been accumulated. It seems that a recession may turn into a severe downturn. THey fight it by inflating assets and theoretically they may succeed, but your savings will be wiped out.

If I knew I'd be out there digging with my shovel 

Kidding aside, some of the younger folks moving assets out of stocks are either moving to lower paying but stable money market/CD investments, or simply using it to pay down their mortgage which gives a tangible return. 
The people I know who are actually removing cash from the bank....I have no idea where they're putting it.  Hopefully they have a safe or something.