The opening bell didnt ring today... a bad sign
Editor's Note: Susan Lisovicz is CNN's primary correspondent on financial news. She is most frequently seen from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) reporting on the latest market and business news. Today was a day on Wall Street unlike any other. Susan shares her view from the center of it all:
Susan Lisovicz |BIO
CNN Financial Correspondent
The opening bell didn't ring today. Its the first time I can recall an electronic malfunction. A bad sign.
The Market was selling off. I asked traders, wasn't everyone clamoring for a deal? There was one on the table. They were wary because it had not passed and there was more stress in the financial market: Wachovia, and three European financial companies on the brink.
Midway through today's session, the traders gathered around the TV monitor. The last time I saw that was for some televised car chase. There simply isn't a lot of serious stuff so riveting to them. They act on headlines.
I got in the crowd to see what they were watching. It was the vote, and it wasn't going to pass.
Someone was singing the REM song “It's the End of the World as We Know It.”
The Dow was nose-diving... I reached for my sheet to double-check the so-called 'circuit breakers' – The amount of digits the market has to fall before trading is halted. The number? 1200 points. We were more than halfway there.
Washington talking heads say they will do another vote soon... Not soon for this crowd... Every day there is more blood on the Street.
To go back to that REM song, it may not be the end of the world, but I don't feel fine.
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Filed under: Bailout Turmoil |
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I think it was appropriate that the "bailout" bill failed. While Congress touted its limits on executive pay, I read that part of the bill. There is virtually no limit on executive pay. The pay limitation only applies to executives hired during the time the Government owns mortgages of a given bank. So, an executive could ask for help, then resign before mortgages are bought, then still collect bonuses, golden parachutes and exorbitant salaries. This isn't protection of the taxpayer. This section is loaded with protections for executives.
There is little to nothing offered in the bill for people in mortgage trouble that curren tly isn't available already. This is for Wall Stree, not the taxpayer.
This is what gets me, the votes were in and time was up then more time to vote. Now, they are going to go back and try to settle on another
way to spend money we don't have to rescue the bank. A $700 billion bailout would have put us in a worse credit crunch. The stocks are going back up today. Another thing, houses that are worth 80,000 go for 300 to 400 thousand dollars in some areas and people buy them.
Congress-Listen Up! If you think for one minute, bailing out the hedge funds, investment brokers and security traders who did this, is going to be a win for this country, you are severely wrong!
Your "Revised" bill didn't really address Executive Compensation like you promised the American public. Your "Revised" bill did not address the Accountability standards, we need in this crisis, and it did not put any responsibility at all on the criminals that have committed this crime of the century.
This bill should never pass! Why should we help pay down these Hedge Funds gambling ways and then give them the cash to buy into a cheap US Market, after their bad balances have been wiped clean by the US Taxpayer? We would not buying bad mortgage debt people, we would be buying someone's gambling debt under this current proposed bill!
NO WAY!
Why are why talking about businesses needing to borrow money to make payroll? If a business is struggling to make payroll, then they should reduce their overhead. Look, we are in recession which means their will be unemployement. It's unavoidable!. Loaning more money to failing businesses will only prolong the inevitable and will make the fall that much harder.