... the debt downgrade is NOT news!! It's just one company's interpretation of existing news. No new data there, so I don't see why people/computers/brokers/banks are chimping out and screaming "OMG, SEEELLLL NOW." #masshysteria

Regardless of whether the debt rating ends with an A or a +, life will go on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSZKDkLgzhk

ORANGE JUICE!!!

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
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- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Not just one company. Others have doubts which is troubling. If it were one company it might be just that.

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04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
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It's still an interpretation of existing data. Nothing new to see essentially.

This is exactly why I cashed out as soon as I was old enough and my 403 was back above pre-bust levels. Nevermore. The rest of you feel free to go get rich. I've got enough to do me and the family long after I'm buried in the pasture, this foolishness can't hurt me, at least not directly. Like I said in the other thread, I'm buying guns. They are cheap and abundant, can I get a god bless america?

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
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1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Maybe its all the news coming together at once. Record high spending, slumping productivity, bad government. This could become a self-fulfilling prophecy: Erase stock market gains, further erode taxable income, US goes into budget crisis. If there was ever a coordinated plan to wreck the US financially, now would be the time to pull it off.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

Lack of confidence in the tea party.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

We dont' need a co-ordinated plan, we have the Tea Party and those morons will accomlish it for us. The OP is right. THere is nothign really new here, it's just a more public broadcast of what has long been known. The US has long been in trouble and the Washington cloowns are not intelligent enough to get us out of it. Coupled withe the reality of the global contraction, (not recession, nor depression - contraction) people reach a psychological tipping point and freak out.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Because forecasts for the economic growth have been reduced.
It does seem like an overreaction but that is how markets behave.

Remember, Wall Street is not the economy. If anything, it's Las Vegas and Atlantic City . . .

Agree some, but not completely.
The house doesn't have the edge on Wasll Street, there are things you can do to get the edge for yourself.

Funny downgrade our debt but treasury interest rates are Down, exactly the opposite of what should happen.

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KLK, MCSE

1990 500SL

I was always taught to respect my elders.
I don't have to respect too many people anymore.

So is everything else. However, if it were simply one agency, maybe however we have to face the fact that we also have been doing a lot of borrowing and other agencies, while they might not have downgraded us, are nervous. OTOH, you can wait till it collapses and then say "Oops".

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

and everyone else who is saying "The party is over" or so it seems. This isn't simply a Democrat or Republican game anymore. We have been heading towards this train wreck for a long time thru many congresses and administrations. When do we wake up and realize that the party is over and it is time to get serious? Hopefully before it is too late but based on human nature, it will be way AFTER it is too late.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Sure, now we have the Tea Party to blame. It is getting boring to blame just the Republicans and the Democrats but we are blessed with a 3rd group. Fact is, we told the representatives, be they Tea Party, Republican or Democrat what to do and now we want to hang them high. Sure, we gave them "Mission Impossible" but why quibble over that? Hang them and let the next group with the same instructions take over. And yet we will expect different results every time we do that. Isn't that the definition of insanity?

Sure, now we are in trouble and we agree to cuts in spending. That is a good first step. HOWEVER, the problem is that the devil is in the details. We are willing to make cuts in programs AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT our "Sacred Cows" or pet projects. Sure, cut every program. Just leave Medicare, SS, funding for project X, etc, etc alone. Nobody is willing to cut their program so no real cuts get done. Just more smoke in mirrors. You are willing to cut "The Other Guy's" program as is he willing to cut yours. Nobody wants to cut their own program. As soon as you do, howling will occur and the politician will have to pander to that group. So what we want done is to cut a program nobody will miss. Well, we might as well ask for a benevolent dictator who has no fear of offending anyone and will do the right thing. Before that, lets start with a smaller request. Winged horses and unicorns.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Not that I'm crying, mind you. I tend to think of it as the buying opportunity of a lifetime. Hopefully, stocks will go politely oscillating like they did in late 2008 - spring 2009 or in summer of 2010. Should be vetty vetty inderesting in the next few months.