What are your predictions for 2009?

Just because they cut BofA people doesn't mean they'll keep them here. Charlotte is much cheaper and with the demise of Wachovia getting cheaper still, and retail banking is a commodity business.

What's amazing to me is that BofA, which employs several hundred thousand people, is cutting tens of thousands of jobs, and Citi and Goldman and others, which employ several hundred thousand people, are cutting tens of thousands of jobs. And the State of NY, which employs several hundred thousand people? Cutting only 521 people but raising your taxes out the wazoo.

We should hang the silly bastards.

Steve, a standard bear market trough is -35% to -60%. -20% is just the definitional threshold.

inflation/deflation?
mostly irrelevant as semantic. the dollar crisis has begun (the acute phase, the devaluation started 5 years ago). If u have money to protect that is the key.a currency collapse is coming no matter what. the rest is details.

The year hasn't end yet and one of 09 the predictions is already happening:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122991429181825709.html

When are homeowners on the brink of foreclosure getting bailout?

I think the Giants are going to win the super bowl again.

stevejhx
about 16 hours ago
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We're moving Manhattan to Charlotte.

Thanks for the moronic addition last night Steve.

inflation/deflation?
mostly irrelevant as semantic. the dollar crisis has begun (the acute phase, the devaluation started 5 years ago). If u have money to protect that is the key.a currency collapse is coming no matter what. the rest is details.

9 Trillion dollar debt plus 2 trillion out the Fed back window with no transparency and add the
1 trillion dollar which includes the the 700 billion bailout and the AIG, Fannie Mae etc....bailouts
Yep we couldn't finance a lemonade stand yet the FED borrows and the treasury prints and the rest of the world will keep on financing us............

> Steve, a standard bear market trough is -35% to -60%. -20% is just the definitional threshold.

Besides the great depression, we've never crossed 50% down... so not sure about "standard".

87 was a 34% peak to trough.

Since the 50s, we've also had declines of 21%, 28%, 22%, 27%, and 20%, which actually outnumber the greated than 30% declines...

The other thing to remember, NYC, is that in the bear markets since WWII, the market has comeback within the year typically...not 100%, but significantly. So a 28% peak-to-trough loss might only be a 15% annual loss. This time, however, may be different.

absolutely.... 87 ended up for the year.

But, this year... we'll be ending at best a bit off the bottom.

That is not a good sign...