The Bailout Did Not Go Through

I'm not sure if anyone was following the proposed $700 billion bailout, but it was rejected in the house today. Treasury secretary Paulson tried to provide assurance to Investors that he and the treasury would do their part to provide support for the hurting market, but about 32 minutes before the close of the market, the DOW was down over 500 points. I intern with an investment company and I attended a conference about a week ago where they talked about playing it safe and sticking with mutual funds. This way, you are not as exposed to the market like stockholders are. All we can do now is hope this is just one of the cyclical contractions that are seen in the market from time to time; the market will eventually purge itself of the toxic waste and then recover. The average recession is about ten months; if this is what happens as a result of the bailout, at least we know what to expect.

Largest GOV'T bailout EVER!!!

WOW!!! I always watch the news; I don't have that much free time so whatever time I do have usually gets spent on watching news channels. I had been following the news on the GOV'T bailout, and had heard numbers being floated back and forth ranging from hundreds of billions to even slightly over $1 Trillion dollars. Finally, this morning the Los Angeles Times reported that the bailout would cost tax payers $700 Billion; apparently, according to most economists this unprecedented move was as necessary as it is outrageous. I guess we should just be happy that saved about $300 billion right? Now there's talks about bringing back a new version of the RTC (resolution trust corporation), or MFI if John McCain becomes president. This could be good if the bad debt the RTC/MFI/or whatever they decide to call it, appreciates in value and the government can later turn around and sell it for a profit. It is a bit of a gamble, but since it worked for the S & L (savings and loan) industry in the past there is hope that it may work again.
I understand that this bailout may have been necessary, but it sort of brings other issues into the light. How is it fair for thousands of workers to loose their 401 K's and stock options and jobs, but the CEO's get multi-million dollar severance packages? This is not the free market operating at its best. Government intervention of this magnitude should also not be necessary. I understand that the market is not actually 100% free; rules and regulations are needed to try and maintain a somewhat level playing field. I also don't think this is a time to let our emotions and fears takeover and begin to regulate everything; this would essentially lead to socialism. Many people were even drawing parallels between the US government takeover of AIG and the Venezuelan government takeover of the Shell Gas business. So what do we do? Try to stay calm, focus on long term investments, and ride this thing out. We've gotten out of these messes before. Oh, and don't panic; Money market accounts will be government insured at least for the next year and they may even raise the FDIC amount to prevent bank runs.

Week 1 &2 at CLU

I just transfered to CLU this semester from Moorpark College/Cal State Dominguez Hills and I love it. The campus is close to home, and very nice. The past two weeks have been very hectic because I work full-time and go to school full-time and was recently hired part-time by an investment company where I was interning for the summer. Since I transfered to CLU late (first week of school) I have a lot of catching up to do. Lucky for me, the professors have been very understanding and have been very willing to work with me so I can get caught up. Becuase I have such a busy schedule, there is not a whole lot of room for fluctuation from week to week for me. Mondays and Wedensdays are my longest days; Work in the morning at the investment company, then go to school from 1:00pm - 4:35pm, and finally go to my other job from 5pm to 1:30am. Tuesdays and thursdays I have school in the morning and work at night. The rest of the time is split between doing homework for all of my other classes so I don't fall behind; actually, I try to get a little ahead if possible. Although it seems like a ton of things to try to manage, I have learned to manage my time very well, which keeps me from ever feeling stressed or overwhelmed. This week nothing really changes; school and both jobs will be my priorities.. I'll let you know if anything new pops up..