September 23 Email Commentary to Clients: “Dow Fell 800 Points Today”

It’s no secret by now that the Dow fell almost 800 points as the market reels from the House vote on the Bailout or Rescue Plan today. Today was the worst day the stock market has seen since Black Monday in 1987 and I wanted you to know that I will be in my office all evening in case you needed to discuss the markets, your portfolio or just to talk. I need to leave for a short time to attend a wake and/or may be on the phone with another client, if you reach my voice mail please leave a number so that I can call you back.

As a taxpayer, the thought of spending up to $700 billion or more to stabilize the financial markets can make you lightheaded, but I have been saying that Congress needed to do something sooner than later in order to water down this global credit crisis which has been spreading like wild fire around the world. This has been an urgent matter since last Monday when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought the severity of “no action” to our attention. Since then, it has been kicked around Washington and today it became very political.

I have done my best to learn about the pros and cons of this bailout package in order to better understand it and went so far as to call my Congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand (202-225-1168), in Washington DC to ask why she bucked her party and voted “NO” even though her counterpart Michael McNulty voted “YES”. Unfortunately, she was in a meeting so I left a message and will call again tomorrow.

As we saw today, this wasn’t just a Wall Street problem; it actually spread to Main Street quickly. Investors have lost money in the stock and bond markets, depositors are panicking and taking their money out of any and all banks even though they may have FDIC insurance and anyone who needs to borrow money for a car, home or anything else, will find it that much more difficult to do so. Calmer heads will prevail and now is not the time to panic which is why I am making myself available for you.

I don’t take today lightly and have the utmost confidence in the investments that you own in your portfolio(s) which are the same investments that I own personally as well. This week may seem like the longest week ever and to cap it off, all eyes will be focused on Friday’s job report which will give us a better indication of how well our economy is holding up.

Thank you for taking the time to read my market updates and please contact me if you need to.