Nightline's Daily Line

With any investment, there are risks. We take them when we buy a home, invest in the market, or our 401k's.

Responsible lenders and responsible consumers are not the problem here, that falls on the heads of greedy corporations and individuals wanting more than they can afford.

Yes, my home value has dropped, my investments have lost money and my 401k is shrinking, but like all things, in time once we purge the system of the corrupt practices, things will rebound.

All this means is that I will have to stay in my home longer before the debt to value ratio flips back to the positive. My investments and my 401K will need to be reinvested to recoup the losses, but I'd rather win and lose off the market and it's corrections than to artificially correct it and pay via a govt. bailout for the irresponsible.

I am middle class and this to shall pass !

For long-term investors it's not that big of a deal. If you were smart, you have a bunch of cash sitting around to start buying the deals that are out there.

For those getting closer to retirement, it could mean delaying your plans by a year or two (or more if this continues too much longer).

Again, the market is the market. It goes up and it goes down. The trick is the same: buy low and sell high. So, when you think things are getting low then the cash you've stored behind becomes the vehicle to make you money while everyone else panics.

The DOW Jones average is lower today than when George Bush (Republican) first took office nearly 8 years ago. Nice return.

In your report on the Bailout bill failing to pass you kept blaming Republicans for voting against it. Quite a few of them voted for it but the only reference to Democrats were when you said 60 % voted for it-nothing about the 40% who voted against it. Why did'nt you mention the fact that there were enough Democrats there to pass the bill without a single Republican vote? No, I guess it is safer and more politically correct to blame Republicans
for everything. This would include your digs at George Bush at the end of the report. Is it any wonder that alot of people have a hard time taking the established media seriously?

WELL YOU MANAGED TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THE REPUBLICANS KILLED THE BAIL OUT...HOWEVER YOU FAILED TO MENTION THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAD ENOUGH MEMBERS TO PASS THIS BILL BY THEMSELVES...YOU NEVER MENTIONED THAT BARNIE FRANK, BARAK AND THE OTHER SLIME BAGS ARE THE ONES THAT FORCED THE BANKS TO MAKE LOANS TO THE POOR, WHILE CLAIMING EVERYTHING WAS O.K. WITH FANNIE AND FREDDIE...GET WITH THE FACTS AND LET US KNOW ALL THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THAT TOOK CASH FROM LOBBIEST TO KEEP THE LOW INCOME HOUSING LOANS GOING, ALL OF THEM, DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS....

The passing of Bill should not be passed till it becomes non-political. 1 trillion dollar is an illusion.

The FDIC should learn the lesson. Give Washington Mutual bank stockholders a fair value instead of seized the bank and sold to JPMorgan almost free. No one in the world would like to invest in US stocks especially the Banking Industrial Stocks because your investment could be worthless anytime if FDIC seizes the Bank. Can you imagine that WM has 32 billions in assets and only 8 billions in debt but the Bank was seized by the FDIC and sold to JPMorgan for 1.9 Billions? infact, the stockholders got nothing even an appology from the FDIC. And anyone knows that JPMorgan wants to expand their business in West Coast. WaMu is their target to takeover for not very long ago.

Mellody Hobson apparently has a very poor grasp of how the stock market index relates to the value of 401K acounts. She stated in her report that a 7% drop in the market index today means that 401K plans are worth 7% percent less. Incorrect. Your 401k account would need to be 100% invested in the stocks that move the index, and have no fees, to suffer an exact match loss.

She further stated that there is a "true threat of recession" in the immedidate future. Most economists have already agreed that we have begun a recession, but if you ask most of us on Main Street USA we will tell you we've been living in a recession for almost two years.

Her remarks about the "the longer term reinforce her appearance as a financial simpleton.

I have to wonder, how did this report get past an experienced finance editor? Such a simplistic view of finance lessens the public opinion of ABC news.

When people lose the confident, it's game over for Wall Street and then Main Street. I converted all my investment including my sons' 529 fund last Friday after bought 2500 shares of WaMu on Thursday and lost almost $6000 on that Thursday night when the FDIC seized the Bank and sold to JPMorgan 1.9 Billions and investors got nothing from the deal.

When Bank of America, Citibank are in buying spree, how can this be a problem? Bailout will help only the people who have heavily invested in the Wall Street. What is the guaranty that these investor after receiving these lost trillion dollar will not take these money out and put in swiss bank and create more problem. Will Government come to help then?

PM: Yes, the players who know the true values are buying. Without a cash-for- trash bailout, the markets will fix the problem. Uncle Sam can't even balance his own budget, even with democrats in charge of congress.

Larry: "HOWEVER YOU FAILED TO MENTION THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAD ENOUGH MEMBERS TO PASS THIS BILL BY THEMSELVES." Yea, and if the dog hadn't stopped to take a dump, it would have caught the rabbit. Thank you to the Democrats who stopped this taxpayer rip-off.

Terry, Perhaps the dear Mellody has never heard that markets go down as well as up. She's only a dimwitted reporter, not a financial guru.

HOWEVER YOU FAILED TO MENTION THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAD ENOUGH MEMBERS TO PASS THIS BILL BY THEMSELVES."
**************************************

Hmmmm and 132 Republicans voted no! I do not think they will survive it, not whenb the lay offs start.

I'm a lib but I want to thank the alliance of Repblicans and Democrats that shot this down. We make take some short term or even long term pain, but at least they won't tie up all the money in debt so that nobody on Main Street will ever be able to get the government services we need again because it's all tied up in debt. I'd rather have it crash and we can make the banks clean up their own mess.

stock_craft: Common stock holders are always the last in line. Sorry. Do some research before you buy next time. You are getting fair value. They're bankrupt.

Thinking: Like WMD's in Iraq, the layoffs are an illusion. This is just a rip-off of the taxpayers. The players on the street will buy the assests that have value. I don't see the need for the taxpayers to buy whats left, the trash.

Warren Buffet is buying, and driving a hard bargain for what he gets. Remember "It's a wonderfull Life" Mr. Potter and George Baily where the only two that "kept their heads" during the panic. The rest sold for pennys on the dollar.

The HYPE is getting out of control. I work in lending and lots of people are still getting loans. I have not had a single email stating there is any changes to lending since this all began.

Some of these people think that there will be just a little inconvenience. That kind of thinking is not realistic. There is the dreaded domino effect and this thing will have consequences for everyone, not just investors. We're promised increased job loss, depletion of savings, lay off's, the whole nine yards. I think a bailout is necessary to shore up the economy and prevent a depression...not just a recession. When knowledgeable people warn of dire consequences, I listen. I don't presume to have all the answers as some here are doing. We are playing with fire and I resent it that the Congress refused to take action...after all deregulation got us into this mess. The least these greedy idiots can do is hold off a catastrophe.

Uncle Moe, Warren Buffet is one of those who warn of dire consequences. I trust his opinion...I think he knows what he is talking about.

I'm glad this bill failed and so is the vast majority of the public. The members who voted No for this didn't just because Pelosi acted like a moron, they did it because of the deluge of e-mails and calls they've received from citizens. Even the Dems who have the majority and can easily pass this on their own are afraid to because they know most of the public is dead set against it. They should do a work out instead of a bailout, none of us wants to just throw 700bil at the problem and simply hope things work out, we want assurance that wall street will work this debt off.

The American economy has obviously been running on fumes for along time now. We are destined for a recession -- is $700 billion really going to restore our faith and confidence in Wall Street? No. Let the chips fall where they may --I have zero sympathy for Wall Street.

The HYPE is getting out of control. I work in lending and lots of people are still getting loans. I have not had a single email stating there is any changes to lending since this all began.
---------------------------
I know of at least three different mortgage companies in our area of central VA that have halted loans until the result of this debacle is more clear.

This is not hype.

The "it's just a recession" people sound really stupid to me. This is not a simple market fluctuation. It's potentially the end of credit. That will stop our eceonomy in it's tracks.

People will spend $1 trillion on a war that has served no purpose and not even care. But try to prevent an economic collapse and people flipout.

Too bad they didn't post the costs of the Iraq War before they lied and got us into it. Maybe some of the flag waving "free market" psuedo patriots would have cared.

This may have been a bad bill but the cost of doing nothing will be very high. I hold responsible both Democrats and Republicans who voted against this bill. When those who are against it get laid off because their employers couldn't get credit to keep their businesses going, maybe they will have a change of heart. There's going to be lot of suffering and I feel badly for those people who are so short-sighted and vindictive that they don't get it. The politicians in Washington need to grow up. If the Republicans who voted against it did so because Pelosi offended them, shame on them. If the Democrats who voted against it did so because they are worried about re-election, shame on them.

Stating that "1.3 trillion just evaporated" misses the point. That's a daily average. Not even weekly. Not monthly, let alone annually. And with long-term investments, and that's what most people have, that is really the only benchmark that counts.

Claiming that if you invested 10k, you just lost 600 dollars makes as much sense as saying that because the Dow is up again (as of 10 am this morning), you just gained 200, and you should go out and buy yourself a new TV with that.

The 1.3 trillion didn't evaporate any more than some 300 billion miraculuosly just reappeared again.

Why don't we hear about the 500 point rebound.
What did that do for the same investments.
I also wonder if the banking industry has money to lend and are just forcing the US citizen to pay for their bad business practices. Do we need a blackmail investigation?

Does $700 Billion dollars worth of toxic assets sound absurd to you? (THE 7-YEAR TAXPAYERS BAILOUT PLAN)

Look no further.

What the Federal Reserve is imposing IS NOT the only way to solve this crisis. Instead of shutting Main Street out of the equation, this proposed plan lifts the heavy weight of mortgages off of homeowner’s backs temporarily while covering all mortgages (Freddie, Fannie, Bear Stearns, Lehman, WAMU, etc.).

It’s a plan where the Government and the Homeowner work together to funnel revenue back into the economy.

1. Revise mortgage loans at 75% of the original value, with a new 30 yr, 6.5% fixed interest rate.
(Current average monthly payment: $1,389)
2.
The Government pays the difference of new mortgage and old for 7 years (NEW average monthly payment for YOU: $846)
3. Original debt held by Government as a second note. Then a 40 year note with payments starts after the seven years. You can pay this debt off at anytime, but can not refinance without paying down.

It’s simple.

It gives the economy 7 years to recover. It relieves the heavy mortgage debt on YOU. It cost CONSIDERABLY less on YOU and the Government than this $700 Bailout plan. Think about it. Less cents equals MORE SENSE.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK... POST COMMENTS

who cares if the Dow tanks - Biden's promising to pay off your mortgage and let you keep your home !!!

This is what he said in the debate last night ---
Number two, with regard to bankruptcy now, Gwen, what we should be doing now -- and Barack Obama and I support it -- we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal that you owe.