If anyone's interested - absolute carnage on stock exchanges today.

[larus]

Very grim.

This is rapidly spiralling out of control.
Major European markets down by 8 - 9 %.

US markets by 5 - 6 % so far.

This is after the $700bln package was agreed last Friday and the injection of liquidity into the financial markets.

For those of you that think these events are limited to the city and the banks, then I'm afraid you're in for a serious shock. This has the potential to have major knock-on effects to many companies.

Lots of companies rely upon a level of borrowing to keep trading. If they can't borrow, they may fold.

 

[cjd]

Very grim.

This is rapidly spiralling out of control.
Major European markets down by 8 - 9 %.

US markets by 5 - 6 % so far.

This is after the $700bln package was agreed last Friday and the injection of liquidity into the financial markets.

For those of you that think these events are limited to the city and the banks, then I'm afraid you're in for a serious shock. This has the potential to have major knock-on effects to many companies.

Lots of companies rely upon a level of borrowing to keep trading. If they can't borrow, they may fold.

Seems nobody is...LOL..!


Worrying thing about all of this, is that no "experts" seem to know when it will end..........or where it will leave us.

 

[Munkfish]

What if the Goverment back all banks "guranteed" surley then confidence would grow and banks would not have to hoard as much money as they have been and lending would slowly pick up again? or am i way off?

 

[Dandyman]

Very grim.

This is rapidly spiralling out of control.
Major European markets down by 8 - 9 %.

US markets by 5 - 6 % so far.

This is after the $700bln package was agreed last Friday and the injection of liquidity into the financial markets.

For those of you that think these events are limited to the city and the banks, then I'm afraid you're in for a serious shock. This has the potential to have major knock-on effects to many companies.

Lots of companies rely upon a level of borrowing to keep trading. If they can't borrow, they may fold.

Very grim indeed. Capitalism f*cks up and the state/tax payer pays for it.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Very grim indeed. Capitalism f*cks up and the state/tax payer pays for it.

Exactly. Why on earth did they lend all those redneck chavs all that money in the first place?

 

[bigc]

Exactly. Why on earth did they lend all those redneck chavs all that money in the first place?

They hoped they'd be able to repossess their houses...

Only now they are worth even less than a pension from Maxwell now..

 

[larus]

What if the Goverment back all banks "guranteed" surley then confidence would grow and banks would not have to hoard as much money as they have been and lending would slowly pick up again? or am i way off?

The problem is that the potential liabilities are greater than the GDP of any individual country.

There's a graphic which tries to give a scale of the figures being used.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7644238.stm

 

[The Cardinal]

BBC NEWS | Business | Darling pledges to support banks

Darling pledges to support banks

The chancellor on maintaining the stability of the financial system
Chancellor Alistair Darling says the government will do whatever necessary to ensure the stability of the financial system.

He said that would include action to support the banking system as a whole as well as supporting individual banks.

The chancellor told MPs that European countries needed to work more closely together on responding to the crisis.

His statement came as stock markets worldwide plunged on concerns about the health of the banking sector.

Despite pledges being given by some European Union countries, Mr Darling stopped short of guaranteeing all bank savings and called on EU members to co-ordinate action.

"When member states take unilateral action, it does have a knock-on effect," he said.

World stock markets fell sharply during trading on Monday.

The FTSE 100 fell 7.36% to 4,613.80 points, while in New York the Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.73% to 9,836.83 - sinking below the key 10,000 point level for the first time in four years.

The falls follow a series of events including:

The German government was forced to salvage a 50bn euro ($69bn; £39bn) rescue package for mortgage provider Hypo Real Estate
Denmark, Sweden and Iceland both increased the amount of protection depositors in their banks receive
Iceland said its banks had agreed to sell some of their overseas assets and the government was also trying to persuade trade union pension funds to repatriate some of their funds
Central banks across Europe - including the European Central Bank and Bank of England - offered more than $74bn to banks in short-term loans in separate efforts aimed at trying to making cash available for the banking sector
EU leaders issued a joint statement saying they would take the necessary measures to protect both the system and individual depositors.
Shares in Fortis were suspended, a day after France's BNP Paribas said it would take a 75% stake in the Benelux bank.

Emergency meeting

Mr Darling told the Commons that an emergency meeting would be held in Luxembourg on Tuesday, where he hoped that all member states would agree to act together to avoid confusion.

The chancellor said that 98% of UK bank accounts will be covered by deposit protection once the increase in the amount of bank deposits guaranteed by the government takes effect on Tuesday.

The threshold has gone up from £35,000 to £50,000 and Mr Darling said that the Financial Services Authority was looking at whether to increase this further.

 

[The Cardinal]

Exactly. Why on earth did they lend all those redneck chavs all that money in the first place?

To be fair, it's very hard to buy a new 911 without a good bonus payment.

 

[larus]

I also think it's very easy to blame the bankers for lending the money.

There have been failures at all levels of society.

Governments have not imposed strict enough criteria on the liquidity rules for financial institutions.
Banks/bankers have been greedy.
People have got caught up in the 'get rich' idea of property.
People have been living a life on credit - no proper planning.
The media have said/implied that owning houses is a no-lose investment.

 

[strings]

I had all of my shares taken off of me due to a compulsory buyout in December last year (I didn't own a huge amount, but it still annoyed me). With the benefit of hindsight, I am very glad this happened.

 

[Les Biehn]

I don't really get all of this but would I be right in saying that some arseholes have profited out of this balls up and now the tax payer is paying the price?

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

I don't really get all of this but would I be right in saying that some arseholes have profited out of this balls up and now the tax payer is paying the price?

Basically that is how it works yes.

For ever person who is "losing" a fortune there will be those "gaining" as we speak.

And its us (as in tax payers) who lose out.

 

[aftershavedave]

I don't really get all of this but would I be right in saying that some arseholes have profited out of this balls up and now the tax payer is paying the price?

not really, no. but that's what the media would have us believe.....

 

[Les Biehn]

not really, no. but that's what the media would have us believe.....

Please explain.

 

[Mellotron]

Some people will be profiting. As the money does not disappear, it still exists and one man's misery is another opportunity.

After a slump it's the smartest/greediest that can then get rich in what will again become a buyers market.

Plus great for people like me, looking to buy a house first time in about 1/2 years, prices will be a lot lower than if I had tried to buy in last 1/2 years.

 

[Dandyman]

I don't really get all of this but would I be right in saying that some arseholes have profited out of this balls up and now the tax payer is paying the price?

Probably fair to say some people did very well out of lending silly amounts of money to people who could not afford it and the rest of us are now having to pay for it.

 

[Les Biehn]

The thing I don't get is what is this 700bn for? To help the people that are defaulting on their mortgages? To pay the bankers who could be out of a job? To buy the bad debt from the banks to keep them afloat?

 

[Brovion]

Very grim indeed. Capitalism f*cks up and the state/tax payer pays for it.

"Whatever the problem the answer is less State intervention and more Competition. Let lame ducks go bust and let the Market decide."

Got to look on the bright side. Whatever the outcome it's finally been conclusively proved, even to the thickest Thatcherite, that the philosphy of Market Forces always being the answer is the load of crap we always knew it to be.

 

[Mellotron]

The thing I don't get is what is this 700bn for? To help the people that are defaulting on their mortgages? To pay the bankers who could be out of a job? To buy the bad debt from the banks to keep them afloat?

The last one. Which will in turn positively affect the first two.