Possibly a crass question considering the circumstances...

[WilliamPitt]

...but I'm wondering what the stock market is going to do today. It could be pretty bad.

The bell rings shortly.

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Are you kidding

they love this shit.

[lectrobyte]

2. I hear Blackwater is subcontracted to provide security, so you

have to figure that shit is floating up...

[swag]

3. Futures are up a bit.

There's happiness that the Fed may pause in rate increases due to all this. Lackluster jobs report reinforces that happiness.

[swag]

8. Oh, and energy futures are off their highs because EU is releasing

reserves.

[yvr girl]

4. Katrina is bound to hit the entire US economy hard

Billions spent on relief (that you don't have - thanks to Iraq). Soaring fuel costs which will impact the cost of just about everything. Thousands of people without jobs. It's not a pretty picture.

...Or are you just concerned about your 'portfolio?'

[JuniperLea]

5. All things touch all things

As the veneer of civilization is dissolved and the infrastructure of America comes under close scrutiny (I hope), we should be thinking about our finances for sure.

I wonder what "The Base" intend on spending their ill-gotten gains on when there are no "little people" to produce goods and services. "The Base" has nothing to lean on. The balance is gone and we are all teetering on the edge of economic disaster. New Orleans is the new paradigm, like it or not.

[Inland]

6. Broken Window effect.

When a window is broken, it's a short term plus as someone buys a window and pays someone to replace it.

Stock market will rise short term. The loss of wealth from depletion of savings and the destruction of a city, and the effect of a half million DPs will felt later.

[TygrBright]

7. Buy Lowes and Home Depot!

Oh, yes... don't worry, Will. There will be plenty of profiteers making big moola offa the misery.

It's the Amurikan Way, yanno...

cynically,
Bright

[Pallas180]

9. Buy coffee. Port gone where it's stored. Will, did you hear the mayor???

.

[punpirate]

10. Dollar's down a bit, jobs not as good as expected...

... probably a mixed day. Up a bit, down a bit.

Remember that disaster counts toward the GDP, too. Even bulldozing water-destroyed homes produces profits.... *sigh*

[greekspeak]

11. It is not crass...it is a valid question, however sick it be

There is suffering in NOLA now, but a sick stock market could cause widespread suffering quickly in more of the US. In the depression, people could still handle hard times. Today? I doubt most people could handle what a depression would do.