Back to our Musical theme, one of my favorite Supertramp Albums is a good title for the Financial world right now.
Let us recap of some of the things destabilizing our financial world this week:
The Subprime interest rate debacle in the U.S. is tainting and affecting (effecting) pretty much any financial institution world wide. Why? No good reason in most cases, just a lot of “What if?” statements being made. This smells of the S&L scandals of the 80’s.
- The infamous Chinese toy recalls, seems every day something made in China (not just food any more) is being recalled, and this will effect the Chinese economy, but it will also effect the American companies that sub-contracted to China and didn’t keep close tabs on production (shame on you guys, you need to keep your eye on the product).
- The subprime’s direct problem which is the “collapse” (not really) of the American housing bubble and the ensuing economic issues and ripples that this will cause, oh dear this is going to be an interesting one!
- The Canadian dollar is taking a pounding as well, and is dropping like a stone.
Crisis? Should we all just smash open each other’s skulls and eat each other’s brains? Um, no, calm down, relax and read this very good article from the Globe: A 10 Step Recovery Plan for Panicked Investors . Go outside, enjoy the sunshine relax.