Cazual Conversation

The DOW plummeted Monday and for some reason this seemed more serious than past debacles.

Maybe it is because it follows so much uncertainty in our economic future. Maybe it is because the TV happened to be on as it moved from 490 points down to more than 700 points down in an hour or so.

The reality is it seems more real because I did, for the first time, exactly what I knew not to do: I looked at my 401-K retirement plan online.

It has lost nearly one-fifth of its value this year.

That makes it personal. When the Real estate market is bad, it hurts but not everyone suffers. When AIG fails, and it’s not even the biggest failure of the week, there is some hurting going on.

I jokingly told folks, before Monday, that I am the ostrich with its head in the sand as it goes to the bank failures and stock market fluctuations. I have no control over it, so I’d rather not know.

My head came out for a short time today and I’m having trouble getting it back under cover.

Yes, the plan is for the long haul. Things change. It’s not the first time the market has done this.

For the first time in years, since 9-11 really, I’ll be watching the opening tomorrow. I’d of been better off keeping my head in the sand another 20 years, but it is too late for that.

One of the first questions we are supposed to ask as journalists is: “How does this story affect you, the reader?”

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.