The Global Financial Crisis

[H-kon]

.. Thats what they are calling it. Our stock exchange has fallen 50% in the past few months while media is having the time of their life right now. Friday was the worst day on our stock exchange in 17 years, and it is falling like a rock still according to news.

Luckilly, Norway has a pretty big surplus and we're also debt free as a country, and i do not fear the mortgage meltdown they are talking about as immigration will make sure that homes are still sold.  I do fear the credit bubble, people borrowing too much on their mastercards to pay for their McMansions. The interest rate on our home is 8% and rising while homes are being walked away from A few people are forced to sell their house while retaining the debt they incurred buying it. That has to suck.

It's probably a stupid thing to say, but except for losing my job, i did plan for this scenario when we bought this house in 2003. We've kept our expenses down to a comfortable minimum and we haven't used a credit card in 12 years, so except for two cars, we're really not spending any money at all.

I guess it is time to call around a bit more though to get a steady income. I fear that there are lots of people who will end up without a job the coming winter when Christmas sales tanks, and if it is going to be like the last depression, getting a job flipping burgers was hard.

How is it in your end of the world? Have you prepared?

[Elf]

Our stock exchange has fallen down 4% today. Not sure how much it has fallen in recent months.

Australia has a budget in surplus and a lot of the debt has been paid but I don't think Australia is debt free.

We don't have any credit cards and our mortgage is the only debt we have (I would love to get rid of it). The interest rate on our home is 9.3% and there is talk in the media that the official interest rate may go down next week. I am not holding my breath. The official rate was cut by .25% last month for the first time in 7 years. While it would be nice for the official rate to fall again, I am not in financial trouble.

I do fear the credit bubble, people borrowing too much on their mastercards to pay for their McMansions.

Yes people spending money they don't have and when they receive their credit card bill they wonder how they are going to pay it.

The interest rate on our home is 8% and rising while homes are being walked away from A few people are forced to sell their house while retaining the debt they incurred buying it. That has to suck.

Yes that has to suck, having a mortgage and no home.

[H-kon]

I didn't know interest rates was that high down under. Have you had a 7 year long boom?

How much did the housing down there rise in the 7 years?

We bought in 2003 at 6,3%, then it went down to 2,75% and now up to 8% (bank rate).

Our stock exchange actually went up again today, 2% after falling like a rock earlier today.

News today here told us that banks have started to repossession quite a lot of expensive cars from people buying into the crappy apartment loans (ARM?)  in the last few years Also, According to our news, GM and United Airlines is next in line for bankruptcy, but i am not sure how trustworthy our news is.

It''s going to be an interesting ride and i wonder where this will take us next. I have been trying to read up a bit, but i cannot say that i know much about the workings of the economy. They compare the coming crisis to the Great Depression. I read that the only stock to go up in the US on Monday was Campbell Soup.

I wonder if anyone will jump buildings this time around :-/   

[Elf]

I think our booming economy has lasted for 6 to 7 years.

The official rate was cut by .25% last month for the first time in 7 years.

I goofed.  It was 6.5years and the rate cut happened in early September not August.

We brought in 2006 after the housing boom. The rate was 7.15% then went up to 9.3% now down to 8.8% but I haven't received notification from my bank that 8.8% is what I am paying. Every time there was a rate rise the bank would send me a letter saying what the new rate was, minimum repayment etc. I haven't received that after the last rate cut. I should ring them and ask.

Since 2002 housing in my area have increased by ~300%. Most of that was from 2002 to 2005. From 2006 houses have continued to rise in price but at much a slower rate.

Our stock exchange went up by 4.2% today, almost wiping out yesterdays loss of 4.3%.

I wonder if the US bail out package will be passed this time?

[H-kon]

The package was passed by the Senate for 850 billion dollars with some new things, tax breaks and securing private investments up to 250K in US Banks.

Now, the question becomes if anyone is willing to buy more US debt. If anyone questions the US credit rating, this will get ugly.

[H-kon]

The package was officially passed last night our time, but the stock market kept falling even after the rescue package.

I wonder what Monday is going to bring. Will this package help?

[Elf]

It's monday down under and the stock market has fallen 2% in the first 30min of trade. It will be interesting how the rest of the day will go.

[H-kon]

Our stock exchange is down 9% in the two first hours of trade 

[Elf]

At the end of Monday's trade our stock exchange had fallen by 3.3%, close to a three year low.

[H-kon]

Doesn't look like its going to be over until every broker has sold his share.  :'(

Unemployment is skyrocketing here. Not a good time to search for a job :-/

[H-kon]

Down 12.17% today. The second worst day in history for our stock exchange.

Yikes!

[Elf]

Our stock exchange rose by 1.6% and we got a 1% cut in the official rate today.

I don't think our mortgage rate will reduce by that much.

[H-kon]

They are talking about cuts here as well (at 5,75 currently). My bank upped my mortgage rate by 0.6% today. It's only three weeks since the last time :-/

I haven't checked the stock exchange today. Our national budget that was presented today has taken over our local media.

[Elf]

The stock exchange fell by 5% and our dollar fell to a five year low by the end of trade.

Most of the markets in Asia have fallen by 5% or more.
Japanese down 9.38%, the biggest loss since the 1987 "Black Monday" crash, as panic-selling erupted over the global financial crisis.
Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea were all down by about 5%
In Indonesia, a 10% fall in share prices prompted officials to suspend market trading.

That sucks about your mortgage. Maybe you could change banks.

My bank isn't in any hurry to pass on the 1% cut announced on Tuesday.

[H-kon]

We're going to change banks as soon as things slow down.

We're down another 9% today.  We're at 244 points total now. We had a record last june at 530 something.

[Elf]

244 points total!!! What happens if it gets to zero?

We are on 4320 at the moment.

[H-kon]

The total is now at 220 or something. the markets are bleeding bad.

looks like we're in for a almost great depression kind of period. I expect unemployment to reach 15% or more in the western part of the world by 2009-2010.

[Elf]

Our market closed 8.4% down today. The biggest one day fall in 16 years.

In our news I saw a 106 year old woman who remembers the great depression of the 1930's and she said this is nothing compared to then.

Our national unemployment rate is 4.3%. Last month it was at 4.1%. Who know where it will be in a year from now.

[Elf]

G7 announces plan of action.

We commit to continue working together to stabilise financial markets and restore the flow of credit, to support global economic growth

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5071177/g7-announces-plan-action-crisis/

[Elf]

The Australian market rose 5.1% on Monday. A lot of European markets also finished in positive territory.

Norway is on 304 points, up 5%