[Last_Laff]

Nov 5 is the end of the world. Election complete. No more bailouts. No more money. Paulson & Bernanke catch the last flight to antarctica. McCain & Ubacka take the escape pods to Canadia. Congress hides in the WV bunker. Dubya wanders around looking for a beer.

Wow, that's sharp! Did you just jab your needle directly in your brain instead of the usual places? That sure give you an enhance thought dude.

[Zardoz]

This guy probably knows what he's talking about. That's not good, because you can't like what he's saying:

Is this the start of another Great Depression?

Every time the economy and stock market turn down, financial historians get predictable calls from reporters.

Could this be the start of another Great Depression? Could "it" possibly happen again? My stock answer has always been no.

The Great Depression resulted from a series of economic and financial shocks -- the end of a housing bubble in 1926 and the end of a high-tech bubble in 1929 -- but also from truly breathtaking neglect and incompetence on the part of policymakers.

It couldn't happen again precisely because policymakers know this history. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is a student of the Great Depression. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson remembers the mistakes of Andrew Mellon, Herbert Hoover's treasury secretary.

We can be confident, I always answered, that there will not be another Great Depression because policymakers have read financial histories like mine. At least that was my line until recently. Now I have stopped taking reporters' calls.

[Olaf]

I believe I've just watched the house I was planning to build next year disappear in a puff of smoke. Folks that jest about this can go Fark themsleves. This is not a game.

There's no sense getting all freaked out about it. What's gonna happen is gonna happen. Any psychologist will tell you that people laugh as a way of relieving tension. It's the reason that soldiers and medical people are always telling morbid jokes. If people around here can't joke about this stuff, they're gonna have a stroke or go postal or something. I seriously doubt anyone fails to understand how serious this is. Well...maybe Lorenzo. He's pretty clueless, but the rest of us get it.

You are right. I'm having a very bad day.

[Farmboy]

The only thing is this doesn't seem to have anything to do with peak oil. The guys at housingbubbleblog have been predicting this for years just like people on this site and they aren't peak oilers. Do you really believe 4.50 gasoline brought down the financial system? I don't think so.

[heroineworshipper]

It's like fiction. Are the banks going to foreclose on everyone because their property is worth 10% of their loan? Are we going to wake up bald? Are cats & dogs going to live together?

[smallpoxgirl]

{Ad Hominem attack removed from thread by SPG}

[Lumpy]

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose ...
A good line from a good old song -- click the link to hear the original.

We sunk everything we had from husband's 401K into working on this little farm. (It wasn't a lot ... but it was what we had.) In fact we have poured all our $$ into it ... everything, really ... over the past 3 years. No vacations, no extravagances, nothing. I just work to make money which we have spent so my husband can work to build up the farm place. (I help on days off.)

So we are sad for people who have lost so much ... Olaf ... my brother who was about ready to retire, and now really can't and may never be able to ... and so many more. I used to be a little embarrassed because we had no money stashed aside for retirement. Now I am thankful that we have fruit trees that are producing, hogs ready to slaughter, etc.
Like the song says ....

Lumpy

[ColossalContrarian]

The only thing is this doesn't seem to have anything to do with peak oil. The guys at housingbubbleblog have been predicting this for years just like people on this site and they aren't peak oilers. Do you really believe 4.50 gasoline brought down the financial system? I don't think so.

It certainly didn't help!!!

[Eli]

Osaka Futures halted, circuit breaker kicked in, Dow Futes collapsing.

Got bunker?

[Gebari]

Holy crap, Nikkei has crashed +10%. Market shut down then? Australia and South Korea down 7-8%.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27106905

[RonMN]

Olaf Wrote:
You are right. I'm having a very bad day.

If anybody understands, Olaf...We do. Pour yourself a strong drink, pull up a chair and join us. We're going to be telling morbid zombie jokes soon.
(notice the lack of a smiley face in this post).

[Forney2008]

Just think the faster we get to a 90% reduction in dow(similar percentage drop during peak to trough in Great Depression) the better, because we can only go up from there. The stock markets absolute bottom is 0 and cannot go any lower. Problem is 1/4 this board will, at the very least be unemployed. I figure if it is going to happen anyway, lets get it over with already and speed up a potential recovery. Yes, I know oil prices will rise again, however, I do not think as quickly since most of the Asian economic boom resulted from cheap imports via very easy to come by consumer credit. When a economic recovery arrives a couple years from now, the very easy credit will be a thing of the past. I would not be suprised if lending standards only allow for people with the top tier credit scores to take out any significant loans. This would act to keep world economic growth rate down, thus reduce energy demand. The only fly in this ointment is whether oil depletion accelerates fast enough to prevent even a modest economic recovery after this current economic crash.

[Jotapay]

Olaf Wrote: You are right. I'm having a very bad day. If anybody understands, Olaf...We do. Pour yourself a strong drink, pull up a chair and join us. We're going to be telling morbid zombie jokes soon. (notice the lack of a smiley face in this post).

Ahem, did someone say lame jokes??

Q: What's the best thing about your neighbors turning into hunger-zombies?
A: It doesn't take a head shot to get 'em down like they do in the movies!

Person: Jesus I'm hungry, I haven't eaten a good meal in 2 weeks and I have no job.
Person 2: But you look like a supermodel! You could wear anything!

[smallpoxgirl]

Q: What's the best thing about your neighbors turning into hunger-zombies?
A: It doesn't take a head shot to get 'em down like they do in the movies!

Person: Jesus I'm hungry, I haven't eaten a good meal in 2 weeks and I have no job.
Person 2: But you look like a supermodel! You could wear anything!

In case the financial news wasn't painful enough.

[RonMN]

Jotapay Wrote:
Ahem, did someone say lame jokes??

Prisoner To Guard: "please my friend...I have not tasted food in five days".

Guard to Prisoner(while muching on a HUGE sammich): "Do not worry...it still tastes the same"

I just kill me!

[DrBang]

My lame joke contribution:

Time for a dirty joke: A man fell down in the mud

Ok so that was out of line.

Time for a clean joke: He went and had a bath!!!!

Thankyou thankyou I'm here all week.

No back to that crappy financials I was reading...

[mlukew]

The only thing is this doesn't seem to have anything to do with peak oil. The guys at housingbubbleblog have been predicting this for years just like people on this site and they aren't peak oilers. Do you really believe 4.50 gasoline brought down the financial system? I don't think so.

You do realize the price of oil effects more than just "gasoline"?

[drgoodword]

Maybe it is time for a joke or two...

Little Timmy's father asked him what he wanted for his upcoming seventh birthday, and Timmy said he'd really like a new bike. His father shook his head sadly and replied, "son, your mother just lost her job so it's only me working, and we've still got a $200,000 mortgage on this house. We just can't afford a new bike right now. You'll have to pick something less expensive. Think about it and let me know."

The next morning, Timmy walked into the kitchen with a suitcase, shoved some snacks into his pockets, and walked towards the front door. His father gave him a puzzled look and asked him where he was going. Little Timmy replied, "last night I got up to pee and walked by your bedroom door, and I heard you say you were pulling out, and then Mom told you to wait because she was coming too. Listen, if you think I'm going to stay by myself in a house with a $200,000 mortgage and no bike, you're crazy."

[jasonraymondson]

Maybe it is time for a joke or two...
Little Timmy's father asked him what he wanted for his upcoming seventh birthday, and Timmy said he'd really like a new bike. His father shook his head sadly and replied, "son, your mother just lost her job so it's only me working, and we've still got a $200,000 mortgage on this house. We just can't afford a new bike right now. You'll have to pick something less expensive. Think about it and let me know."
The next morning, Timmy walked into the kitchen with a suitcase, shoved some snacks into his pockets, and walked towards the front door. His father gave him a puzzled look and asked him where he was going. Little Timmy replied, "last night I got up to pee and walked by your bedroom door, and I heard you say you were pulling out, and then Mom told you to wait because she was coming too. Listen, if you think I'm going to stay by myself in a house with a $200,000 mortgage and no bike, you're crazy."

I needed that LMAO..

[RonMN]

Q: What do you get when you put a zombie into a warm bath?

A: Soup