Will the stock market hold...or is the bubble ready to burst?

[Douglas]

Does that mean any and all money we have in our banking accounts will be lost? (Like the Great Depression?)

[Cortez The Killer]

We always think we are the big picture, but it's key to recognizing the past and understanding it to see what the future will be like.

AMericans today just expect the economy to grow indefinitely and when there is any hitch in that it's always "OH NO!!!"

Economies dont just go up and up all the time. Nothing in life works that way, nothing can grow without consequence, there will always be set backs.

I'd say what is happening now is a natural process and for those who have belief in the system will adhere to the old adage "buy low and sell high"

[pacfan]

We always think we are the big picture, but it's key to recognizing the past and understanding it to see what the future will be like.

AMericans today just expect the economy to grow indefinitely and when there is any hitch in that it's always "OH NO!!!"

Economies dont just go up and up all the time. Nothing in life works that way, nothing can grow without consequence, there will always be set backs.

I'd say what is happening now is a natural process and for those who have belief in the system will adhere to the old adage "buy low and sell high"

Very well said.

[Von Milash]

9-11 was a huge factor. greenspan cut the fed funds rate to about 1% making loans easy to come by. the lack of regulation in the housing market exacerbated the prblem which eventually precipitated the subprime crisis. but its also the variable rate loans that eventually rebalanced combined with offshorig of manufacturing jobs that have perpetuated the housing market woes and the overall economy

the market overall will be fine in the lung run. if you look at history, black monday is a blip, the tech bubble isn't really noticeable and there has never been a 10 year period where there wasn't a gain.

if a crash is on your mind, short index futures.

[Kirkland Laing]

There's a bubble in almost all capital markets right now. There's a vast amount of newly-printed money constantly being pumped into the financial system and that's a. causing the problem and b.going to keep the problem going till somebody gets a grip on monetary policy. Until then anything can happen. Long term, the stock market is a good investment. Short term, it all depends.