The roller coaster markets continue on Wall Street. The definition of a recession according to mcwdn.org:
A time of less business activity, usually lasting at least three quarters of the year or nine months.
And according to Morgan Stanley, a full recession alert is here for the US economy:
Morgan Stanley is the first major Wall Street bank to warn that it is may now be too late to stop a recession, though most have shifted to an ultra-cautious stance in recent weeks.
The bank doesn’t think Asia and Europe will help this time around. Yesterday, the market tanked on news that only 25 basis points (.25%) were dropped in the interest rate instead of a hoped for 50 basis points (.50%), but today is rebounding a little bit on news that Federal Reserve plans to inject billions of dollars into the system.
What is worrisome to a layman in finances like me is how they’ve done this several times and it’s been little more than a temporary bandage. The market will come back a little bit and then plummet huge amounts. Then they do something, and there is a minor correction and things fall apart again. Being the holiday time of year, the best time for retail stores historically, shouldn’t the market be reflecting these times?
Or is the subprime loan mess putting coal in a lot of these businesses’ stockings? Whatever the case, the roller coaster ride continues. Investors seem at best uneasy about the current financial climate. The U.S dollar has rebounded a little bit and now is back to being worth (slightly) more than the Canadian dollar.
Is Open Source Recession Proof?● Big wave surfing at Cortes BankMorgan Stanley’s Top Long Ideas For 2008Analysts: eBay Running Ahead of ExpectationsKim Stanley Robinson on “Comparative Planetology”