How can the US be surprised?

[sooperphreek]

how can you be one of the biggest contributors to a world financial crisis and then be surprised when your credit takes a hit?
http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/sandp-credit-downgrade-blasted-by-us-officials-1

[averagejoe]

how can you be one of the biggest contributors to a world financial crisis and then be surprised when your credit takes a hit?
http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/sandp-credit-downgrade-blasted-by-us-officials-1

America has been like a drunken sailor. People have been warning America about it debt for decades. And why now to be surprised?

[GordonH]

The world economies is like house of cards instead of falling down they are crazy glueing it together. Will it work I guess we will just have to wait and see.

[averagejoe]

The world economies is like house of cards instead of falling down they are crazy glueing it together. Will it work I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Have a look at whats happening tomorrow already!

Tel Aviv exchange halts trade after 6% fall

JERUSALEM — Trading on Israel's Tel Aviv stock exchange was temporarily halted on Sunday after share prices fell six percent at the open on news of a US credit rating downgrade, public radio reported.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... dbd27aa.a1


Israel Exchange Halted After Following Saudi Stocks In Crashing Over 5% At Opening

The first two markets to open following news of the U.S. AAA credit rating cut, Saudi Arabia and Israel, both immediately crashed over 5% after the opening bell.

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/0 ... ing-50981/

Saudi stock market first to plunge on S&P downgrade

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... grade.html

[grammafreddy]

America has been like a drunken sailor. People have been warning America about it debt for decades. And why now to be surprised?

This statement could be rewritten like this:

Canada has been like a drunken sailor. People have been warning Canadians about their debt for decades. And why now to be surprised?

But people will still be surprised when (not if) Canada's economy hits the skids.

[averagejoe]

America has been like a drunken sailor. People have been warning America about it debt for decades. And why now to be surprised?

This statement could be rewritten like this:

Canada has been like a drunken sailor. People have been warning Canadians about their debt for decades. And why now to be surprised?

But people will still be surprised when (not if) Canada's economy hits the skids.

And your right on Gramma!

[grammafreddy]

Consider if you will ...

A lot of Canadians have invested their pensions in mutual funds and a lot of those mutual funds are invested in the US stock exchange fiasco taking place right now - when the smelly crap hits the fan on the opening of the exchange tomorrow morning.

Many Canadians will take a direct hit to what they have been planning to use for their retirement years. Some will lose it all. Many union pension funds (teachers, government employees, etc) could be devastated in the morning.

I mentioned this nearly a year ago - so I hope some people did some checking into where exactly their pensions were being invested.

And, as hard as it is to believe, some people don't even know their work pension money gets invested in the world market - they think it sits in a nice, cozy cubby hole with their name on it until they are ready to collect it.

Here's another scary thought .... do the governments of Canada and BC invest the money paid into the OAP, CPP and BC Supplement? I would bet they do. And I would also bet those funds will take a kicking tomorrow, too.

[averagejoe]

Consider if you will ...

A lot of Canadians have invested their pensions in mutual funds and a lot of those mutual funds are invested in the US stock exchange fiasco taking place right now - when the smelly crap hits the fan on the opening of the exchange tomorrow morning.

Many Canadians will take a direct hit to what they have been planning to use for their retirement years. Some will lose it all. Many union pension funds (teachers, government employees, etc) could be devastated in the morning.

I mentioned this nearly a year ago - so I hope some people did some checking into where exactly their pensions were being invested.

And, as hard as it is to believe, some people don't even know their work pension money gets invested in the world market - they think it sits in a nice, cozy cubby hole with their name on it until they are ready to collect it.

Here's another scary thought .... do the governments of Canada and BC invest the money paid into the OAP, CPP and BC Supplement? I would bet they do. And I would also bet those funds will take a kicking tomorrow, too.

All well said Gramma! I been warning those close to me for years now about the exact same thing. Lets see what unveils in the very near future!

[grammafreddy]

How about RRSPs?

We have been encouraged for years to invest in them ... where does that money get reinvested? How many people know where their pension/retirement money is invested? Very few, I'll bet.

The same applies to education funds.

[GordonH]

How about RRSPs?

We have been encouraged for years to invest in them ... where does that money get reinvested? How many people know where their pension/retirement money is invested? Very few, I'll bet.

The same applies to education funds.

Well GF I would suspect as long as those investments is showing gains, they really don't give a damn. It's only when they drop do you hear moans & crys as well I should have asked more questions.

Hey investors it's your money so pay attention what happening with it. If you can't afford to lose it, then don't invest it.

As to the house of cards may have to upgrade the glue being used to hold it together.

[Captain Awesome]

A lot of Canadians have invested their pensions in mutual funds and a lot of those mutual funds are invested in the US stock exchange fiasco taking place right now - when the smelly crap hits the fan on the opening of the exchange tomorrow morning.

Many Canadians will take a direct hit to what they have been planning to use for their retirement years. Some will lose it all. Many union pension funds (teachers, government employees, etc) could be devastated in the morning.

It's impossible to "lose it all" with mutual funds. You can take a hit, but in the long run they always recover and go up.

Smart thing to do would be do the complete opposite and buy at a discount price. I did so two years ago, and saw some good returns once hysteria died down and funds went back to where it made sense.

[Urbane]

Many Canadians will take a direct hit to what they have been planning to use for their retirement years. Some will lose it all. Many union pension funds (teachers, government employees, etc) could be devastated in the morning.

There is a lot to worry about in the current situation but as CA mentioned mutual funds are long term investments that go up and down. Also, the teachers' pension plan (and the other government pension plans as far as I know) are defined pension plans. In other words, the monthly/yearly payments are guaranteed. If the funds in which the BC Pension Corporation invests go down for a protracted period it could, theoretically, result in retired employees not receiving COL adjustments, for example, but the basic pension would still be paid. I realize these defined pensions are controversial but I would be lying if I said I was unhappy having a defined pension.

[grammafreddy]

It's impossible to "lose it all" with mutual funds. You can take a hit, but in the long run they always recover and go up.

Smart thing to do would be do the complete opposite and buy at a discount price. I did so two years ago, and saw some good returns once hysteria died down and funds went back to where it made sense.

What if you haven't got time left in ya to make it up? What if you need the money, say, in 3 or 6 months from now if that was the date you were planning to retire and they hadn't recovered yet?

[Captain Awesome]

What if you haven't got time left in ya to make it up? What if you need the money, say, in 3 or 6 months from now if that was the date you were planning to retire and they hadn't recovered yet?

I thought when you retire all you have is time

You don't need all of their money right there when you retire. If your portfolio took a hit it will go back up in value, but it's still producing income, it's still paying dividends. Just like your house, just because it went down in value doesn't mean the number of rooms is going down. You don't take the money out of the market when you retire, you keep it there and live off the proceeds.

The truth is market always goes back up with time. Sometimes it take 6 months, sometimes it takes a year. With 9/11 it took 7 months, I believe.

[xjeepguy]

It's impossible to "lose it all" with mutual funds. You can take a hit, but in the long run they always recover and go up.

Smart thing to do would be do the complete opposite and buy at a discount price. I did so two years ago, and saw some good returns once hysteria died down and funds went back to where it made sense.

This was true in the past but I'm not so confident about that being true for the future , the way things are and all. Buy GOLD folks ! I'm betting we'll see 2200 an ounce in the not to distant future