One graph speaks volumes ... (3 years)


                                                                                      (You can see the source of this graph as Stockcharts.com.)

The week alone was quite crazy, eh?

                          

    CHANGE OVER PAST: 

INDEX	CLOSE	DAY	WEEK	YEAR
Dow Jones Industrials	8451.19	-1.50%	-18.20%	-40.00%
S & P 500	899.22	-1.20%	-18.20%	-42.40%
NASDAQ Composite	1649.51	0.30%	-15.30%	-41.30%

From the New York Times a few quick quotes:

“People are scared,” Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s, said. “Nobody believes what is coming out of the mouths of politicians, chief executives.” ...

We'll see what happens during the weekend.  Let's all hope the world leaders agree on something other than to disagree!!!

The bankers and ministers were meeting to discuss new measures, including the injection of government money into banks in return for ownership stakes. Mr. Bush was to meet with finance ministers from Britain, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Japan on Saturday.

So far, efforts and reassurances by the various governments to help restore confidence in the financial system have failed to open the credit markets, the short-term financing that businesses depend on to finance their daily operations.

“We are fighting really dire fundamentals,” said Gerhard Schwarz, an equity strategist at UniCredit in Munich. “It will require restoring trust and confidence before a sustained rebound will be possible.”

As Britain has pledged to inject money into banks, so must the rest, in my opinion.  Congress gave the Treasury Secretary the authority to "buy stock" in the banks, but Paulson has been reluctant to do so.  Now (as stated above) he must do so before the weekend is out, I believe (and hope).  We'll see what Paulson has to say later this evening.  Without such an infusion, ... well, we shall see.