GENERIC STOCK MARKET PRICE DISCUSSION!!!!

[slackmaster]

Jeez, can you believe the stock market today?

[Bluebear]

1. Yeah, that was wild, huh?

[Maven]

2. 8379

[TahitiNut]

3. It's so unfair that MY investments lost money!! Those people should work harder for LESS!

:evilgrin:

[NeedleCast]

4. Since Bush said not to Panic I'm thinking maybe Panicing is the right move

[EmeraldCityGrl]

5. I read a post on here yesterday

that said when you've hit the bottom, there's usually a couple fake rallies.
The market then retests the lows, then things slowly begin to improve.

Sorry if I don't have the terminology right, but you get the idea.

[Fuzz]

6. The volatility is INSANE!!!!

Fuzz says in his best Crazy Eddie voice.


Anyone in the NY area remember Crazy Eddie? ;)

[Turbineguy]

7. Good for Traders

Well, some anyway.

The thing about the direction of the market now (IMO) is that a lot of ordinary investors (myself included) will stay on the sidelines. The market is too volatile and scary. The problem with Traders and Brokers is they take money out of the market. Others have to put money in to offset that. As long as there is more money coming in than going out, the market goes up. Traders cannot play a zero sum game for that reason. Therefore, if you put money in, you have to expect a percentage to be gobbled up. With only a few people adding new money, all their money gets gobbled up.

[Marrah_G]

8. I now have whiplash

[ThomWV]

9. Do not let it get past you that for every frightened seller there was a willing buyer

And the people who were doing the buying this morning when the prices toppled are certainly toasting one another this evening.

[Spike89]

10. Not always a willing buyer

I'm no market expert, but I understand that there is a regulatory requirement for guaranteed buyers when the market tanks...essentially for a fee, this "insurance" entity agrees to buy when there are not enough willing buyers. When the market is stable, the fee is "free" money for this company, but when the market tanks, these guys can get stuck with lots of purchases they aren't truly willing to buy.

Anyway, I just got a notice from our HR department that our organization's planned switch over from one 403B (the nonprofit version of a 401K) to another has been delayed because the market is "too volitile" and it was risky to cash out today and buy back in on Tuesday. They say it takes 2 full business days for the transfer to be done...seems being out of the market for 2 days might be the safest thing that could happen, but I'm no expert.

[ThomWV]

11. Part of getting a seat on the exchange

As I recall, and I am no expert on this, one of the types of traders on the floor of the exchange is required to hold a certain amount of stock in specified companies so that at all time 'a market can be made' for any firm listed on the exchange. So you're right about that, but there is a limit to how much they either are required to by or even possibly could buy. When you see the market swing hundreds of points the changes in price of many individual shares and the number of them required to be traded would be way beyond the ability of any one floor trader.