Lehmans

WTF?_2

carolt wrote: »

I'd like to think you were right....

But don't expect that path to smooth, easy and strewn with flowers.

It was never going to be easy - it's been clear to me at least that the Western economies are fupped ever since I started to do some digging into the bizarrely high level of house prices a couple of years back.

There was never any easy way out of this - but propping up every big financial institution Japanese style was never going to work. At least there are signs that the process of 'correction' in the markets will go ahead now.

On the other hand, we have essentially seen the next domino in the chain, Merrill Lynch, receive a bailout at the same time that Lehmans was allowed to go down.

sabretoothtigger

Next question is what happens when asian markets open. The sp500 isnt even that badly affected at the moment which makes me nervous.

Its 10 pts higher then thursdays low..

nobblyned

Half the Lehman's office seemed to be in the All Bar One opposite earlier, busiest I'd ever seen it on a monday afternoon. A lot of shocked looking people drowning their sorrows.

WTF?_2

chucky wrote: »

but i thought that you had everything in Gold?

that's dropped a bit recently hasn't it?

Huh - until the other day I had nothing in gold, it was all in cash in the bank.

Bought some gold at the weekend but only to the value of around 5% of my total savings fund. 10% is the recommended level as a hedge so I may double my stake as gold isn't unreasonably priced.

Will likely now just cash in on the near-25% appreciation over the last year (in stg terms) of my foreign currency savings and shove it all into NS&I bonds with a 'six month fund' sitting in one of the 6% instant access accounts, most likely Northern Rock eSaver as the government has been generous enough to guarantee them with taxpayers' money.


The name of the game now is safety, not 'making your money work'. If we do head into a prolonged recession and I was to lose my job at least I'll be in the position of having decent reserves to fall back on.

If I don't lose my job then I'm looking good to buy a house with cash when the market bottoms. Although if the government is still running lunatic levels of low interest rates by that stage I would be tempted to go for a mortgage and get a long term fix instead.

mr.broderick

!!!!!!? wrote: »

Huh - until the other day I had nothing in gold, it was all in cash in the bank.

Bought some gold at the weekend but only to the value of around 5% of my total savings fund. 10% is the recommended level as a hedge so I may double my stake as gold isn't unreasonably priced.

Will likely now just cash in on the near-25% appreciation over the last year (in stg terms) of my foreign currency savings and shove it all into NS&I bonds with a 'six month fund' sitting in one of the 6% instant access accounts, most likely Northern Rock eSaver as the government has been generous enough to guarantee them with taxpayers' money.


The name of the game now is safety, not 'making your money work'. If we do head into a prolonged recession and I was to lose my job at least I'll be in the position of having decent reserves to fall back on.

If I don't lose my job then I'm looking good to buy a house with cash when the market bottoms. Although if the government is still running lunatic levels of low interest rates by that stage I would be tempted to go for a mortgage and get a long term fix instead.

It is what i said to the mrs last week, when we have 4% rates next year i'll be buying a couple of places with near 90% mortgages.

GDB2222

!!!!!!? wrote: »

with a 'six month fund' sitting in one of the 6% instant access accounts, most likely Northern Rock eSaver as the government has been generous enough to guarantee them with taxpayers' money.

Just been along today to open a Northern Rock account. I think that HBOS is too big to be allowed to fail, but I have too much concentrated there, and a government guarantee is a government guarantee, after all.

baby_boomer

mr.broderick wrote: »

It is what i said to the mrs last week, when we have 4% rates next year i'll be buying a couple of places with near 90% mortgages.

I might be joining you.

Although I hadn't thought you were advising others to hold off from property purchases for 12 months :rotfl: I thought that was a property bear's tactic :rotfl:

mr.broderick

baby_boomer wrote: »

I might be joining you.

Although I hadn't thought you were advising others to hold off from property purchases for 12 months :rotfl: I thought that was a property bear's tactic :rotfl:

It is not me that it is a bull it is the market that is bear.

baby_boomer

mr.broderick wrote: »

It is not me that it is a bull it is the market that is bear.

So glad we cleared that up, Mr. B .

mr_magoo_5

These guys were cooking the books for ages,same as all the other investment houses, praying for an upturn to save them.

Hope nobody is retiring soon, check out your pension fund, might give you a shock