Many thanks to "Rational Expectations" who sent us the following image and explanation:
The mood on Wall Street seems akin to that on the USS Abraham Lincoln soon after the invasion of Iraq. My abilities with graphics packages are not very good, but perhaps you will see the irony. Mission accomplished!!
I hope Doomers enjoy this one as much as I did. We’ll see how long the euphoria lasts.
In the meantime, we always welcome your finds, links comments and ideas. If it’s related to housing or economics, you won’t be off-topic here.
I am still somehow shocked at what I see. What I see should no longer shock me as it does but perhaps a large part of this shock is the continued fantasy that we are somehow okay–or that we are somehow now PAST the challenges. The continued shock that people still don’t get it.
In November 2004 I posted a comment as part of an online economic debate. The comment I made was in response to the dot-com bust and was as follows; “the dot-com bust will be viewed almost as a positive time in history when we see the blood in the streets as a result of the certain housing collapse brought about by the over-inflated home values…these home values impact a far greater portion of the population..” and so on.
I can’t even convey how many times I have been called out and discounted frequently for my opinion on this subject. However, I stand firm on my opinion–we are in trouble.
Here’s something kind of funny.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ex-countrywide-execs-form-firm-invest/story.aspx?guid=%7BE712A645%2DA840%2D4B80%2D98AB%2DECF52453BA37%7D
On Reddit, there was a link to RawStory.com for an article that roughly stated that 97% of the casualties happened AFTER our “MISSION” was “ACCOMPLISHED” according to the banner on the vessel Bush was at.
Kind of fitting here as well I suppose
People are looking for a return to business as usual. I talk to Realtors all the time who are sitting on their butts and going broke. They are waiting for the peak days to return.
The trust has been broken in our economy. Liquidity won’t return using the same, highly leveraged vehicles. New ways of financing will have to evolve in order to restore investor confidence, i.e. trust. While citizens’ incomes are shrinking and home equity is dropping, people will no longer be able to live off of their home equities. In fact, they can no longer afford current home prices. After enough people are upside down in home values, homes may be more viewed as shelter rather than investments. People may have to live in cheaper homes and save money. Thinking things will return to the old ways may be faulty thinking. In terms of liquidity, we are coming into a new world order.
I think the title should read “Mission Accomplished…Dollar Destroyed”