a few weeks ago, my gf predicted that on nov. 12th, the big one (to end all big ones) would hit cali. half of the state will be under water, untold millions will perish. unfortunately, both corey feldman AND corey haim will survive. that was the horrifying part.
An absence of government interference and bailouts could be bearish for the stockmarket. The ban on shorting and the $700 billion bailout were not the only announcements made over the last week. There was also a money market insurance fund announcement. There might have also been other announcements, but to be honest there were so many bailout announcements on Thursday and Friday that I just lost count of them all. Following on from the above, congress could vote against the $700b bailout, or they could substantially modify it. Housing prices could fall much further, which would be bearish for financials and homebuilders. The big three auto companies could fail. Peak oil could further reduce consumer spending. Peak oil could result in additional airline bankruptcies. And generally the recession could get much worse, resulting in a steeper drop in consumer spending.
I'm curious to see when that chick diana olick will start delivering consistently positive housing numbers.