When the markets take another dive as credit continues to dry up, the pain will continue to spread and increase on Main Street. Small businesses can't get loans. Students forced to drop out of college. Car loans disappear. 401k balances shrink. When the pain gets bad enough for Joe and Jane Smith, there will be a reversal in the tide: people will call their congresspersons and ask them to please vote yes on the bailout. It could be Dow 10,000 or 9,000 .... sooner or later a majority of us will cry "uncle" and Congress will pass the bailout. Which will be a good thing because economically it is the correct course of action.
You underestimate the anger of the American People. They do act on principle when they've absolutely had enough of the plain bullshit they endure year after year. And they can be very, very stubborn when that mood strikes.
margin call selling in the morning. track the slosh in the morning... if they drain, the fight over the bailout gets Fuglier.
The real irony is that this has the potential to create some amazing investment opportunities - we're not there yet. The savvy amongst us salivate at the prospect of breaking 1000 on the spooz. 900 would be fine.
I personally believe they played it out very strategically today, the main street has not been more pro republican than today in a while. Let the "Employment Situation" #'s come out on Friday, the main street is suddenly going to start believing in the bill and the whole bail out process even more, they are going to start requesting their leaders (the republicans of course - the tables turned today!!) to take the action and they will do exactly as the public requests (Or what they would have done anyways - But let the main street believe they helped! And Democracy prevails!!) Kind of reminds me of an ex-gf. She was highly innocent (actually politely saying trying to say illogical and dumb) and easy to play, just needed to make her feel as if she made the 'smart' decisions. For example (out of many others) there was a party I would have surely gone to regardless, which she could not make it to, so the gf asks me if I am going, and I act sad and say no, and like always it works like a charm, she feels happy, then guilty, then cautious (I would have gone anyways) and requests me to go! Actually I wasted quite a bit of energy there could have just said "A classic example of Reverse Psychology" and bitch-slapping the demogogues of course.
over rated bull shit fear mongering main street is immune to most of wall streets nonsense. The carnage only effects the excessive prices in NYC. Now maybe a hamburger will begin to price reasonably.