I thought I would start a new line of thought from where we were in the smoke and mirrors thread ... It's obvious that Bin Laden & Co. have a severe hard-on for NYC. Their last efforts simply took out a few buildings ... yes it was terrible, but facts being facts, more people die in 3 weeks on american highways than lost their lives in 9-11. That being so, a major (successful) attack such as a strike on an east coast nuke facility might not even kill a lot of people but it would make wide areas of NYC and the surroundings uninhabitable ... So as people who make our living out of basically one industry headquartered in the main targetted city here are some basic questions ... After such an attack ... a ) how long before the markets reopen ? b) what backups are in place at brokerages / banks / exchanges etc ? c) what would be the opening price of the NAZ/Spoos/Dow after a one month shutdown of the markets ? d) where would they reopen ? (Chicago ?) e) what priority would Dubya give to reopening the markets ? f) what would be the response of foreign investors ? g) what can we do as small guys to protect our livelihood from such an event ?
This reminds me of a conversation Jean Chretien (the Canadian prime minister) had with a bunch of reporters who were really hasseling him with what if questions. He lost it and said: "If, if, IF !! If my grandmader had wheels, she'd be a bus!" (imagine this said in a Quebec French accent)
pretty funny but considering that everyone from dubya on down is crying 'WOLF' on this thing, I think it is relatively prudent to discuss a little more about the possible consequences ... you don't check your insurance AFTER the tornado wipes out your house ... (or your mobile home )
I understand what you are saying. When such an event happens, just think about where you would put 10% of your wealth. I can careless about the statis of individuals on this site. I know the smart ones have at least 5% if not 10% in gold right now. Not gold stock but 1 ounce gold bars....and not in a bank but in other areas. These are the wise, these are the ones who understand. You guys have insurance on your house, ur car ur health, so what why not have it on your wealth. It truly isnt a matter of if, its when. When could be next week or 10 years. The scum bag arabs waited almost 10 to attack the twin towers, remeber 1993, the bomb in the parking garage. Chicago is the back up. CME has contigent plans. Amex can take NYC order flow. It is not a joke or a "doomsday" freak from LA. This is serious business and for most of the traders on this site, your wealth depends on your abiltiy to keep it. Skerbitz is not being a freak, or an Alien follower. I almost laugh at the comments from people on this site. Most of You guys have about the same propaganda as CNN. This is not a joke, India is not playing games with Pakastain, Israel is not going to take much more suicide bombers and Iraq, syria, Iran, Egypt, and Saudis are out to destroy the USA and Israel. The stock market is the only way they will take us out. They dont have the manpower nor the weapons to destroy us, so, why not destroy our wealth, which will cause cahos and mass panic..... Keep thinking the CIA is crying Wolf, Israel stops 10 suicide bombers everyday. Do you truly think that there are no attempts as of yet. WAKE UP, Live life, trade, but wake the fuck up....and for all you bleeding heart liberals, I'am willing to fund your plane ticket to meet with your brothers and their leader ARAFAT.....in fact, i would bet that all my buddies I trade with would love to ship you over their to enjoy the great world Islam has to offer you in the middle east.
of course, one has to be careful, you have to understand who is arab and who is not. Many of my friends are Hindi, christians from Iran, etc. They have a middle eastern look, so do my friends from Israel. So, be informend, learn, read, and do not mistake what i am saying. I dont agree with some red neck running into a hindi temple thinking they are terrorist. However, there are terrorist living among us, they do have fronts and CIA has confirmend, Steve Emersons book will educate u on that. In fact right here in chicago, they arreasted a few arabs for being part of terrorist groups. Right in my own back yard.
ertrader : I agree completely with your idea of Wall Street being primary target for the enemies of the USA. Where else can you eliminate Trillions of dollars in a matter of days weeks or months ? And you are also right that there is no way 'they' can destroy the USA ... Even nukes, should they get there hands on them, are only going to hurt in small areas, and like I said, NYC has been hit twice by these guys already. Everyone goes on and on about what a great investor/prognosticator Buffett is, and here he is saying we're gonna get nuked for sure in the near future. Kind of unprecedented when guys of this conservative caliber are taking public stands on positions that belong on bad X-Files episodes, don't you think ? Warren Buffet as Fox Mulder ?
I hate the fact that my sister lives and works in Manhattan. I worry about her constantly, but as far as the stock market is concerned, they've got some pretty good safe guards. The NYSE has backup facilities that are not in NY. All the exchanges have back-up. So yes, another attack would certainly send waves into stocks , but just look what happened last fall. Exchanges were closed for a week or so...they opened...people sold everything for a few days then a nice upswing. So we can worry, or keep living and fighting. Just look at my Uncle. He was hurt pretty bad on Sept 11th. He's been a NYC fireman for over 20years. The easiest thing he could do is retire. Did he? No way! He's finally back on the job doing what he loves. And now his son is also a fireman. In all places, lower Manhattan.
it isnt the first initial shock of such an attack that would kill the market. Sure there are back up systems, etc. Its the overall psyc of the investor, the "johnny payck", the sheep who spend and keep this economy a float. They would sink this market, fear, the feeling of uncertainy, staying home, not going out....freaking out, pulling their money out of the market......long term psyc effects. That is what Warren Buffet, Soros, are talking about. Not the first week or first few weeks.....