Here's something you might be interested in.
The U.S. stock market shot up more than 11 percent today -- a historic one-day bounce. Of course, it was coming off Wall Street's biggest one-week plunge last week, and stocks are nowhere near where they peaked before this bear market began. The big question: were investors today (Oct. 13) applauding the de facto nationalization of the world's banks arranged this weekend? Governments in many countries, particularly Europe, pledged to guarantee interbank loans and take ownership positions in ailing banks, among many things. The U.S. is certain to do the same, lest money flow out of U.S. institutions and go overseas for more security. However, today's bounce may have been an automatic, technical reaction as short sellers (those betting the market will go down), covered their shorts, or bought stocks to take their profits. Probably, both factors affected the market today. But consider the long run: do we want governments running financial institutions? A statement was racing around the Internet today: "Back in 1990, the government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nitwits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze? Whew!!"
The U.S. stock market shot up more than 11 percent today -- a historic one-day bounce. Of course, it was coming off Wall Street's biggest one-week plunge last week, and stocks are nowhere near where they peaked before this bear market began. The big question: were investors today (Oct. 13) applauding the de facto nationalization of the world's banks arranged this weekend? Governments in many countries, particularly Europe, pledged to guarantee interbank loans and take ownership positions in ailing banks, among many things. The U.S. is certain to do the same, lest money flow out of U.S. institutions and go overseas for more security. However, today's bounce may have been an automatic, technical reaction as short sellers (those betting the market will go down), covered their shorts, or bought stocks to take their profits. Probably, both factors affected the market today. But consider the long run: do we want governments running financial institutions? A statement was racing around the Internet today: "Back in 1990, the government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nitwits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze? Whew!!"