Hyenas

This is a small part of an October 2 New York Times article. I think I had already said the same thing here - that the foreign countries would take advantage of the situation to gain the upper hand.

"President Dmitri A. Medvedev has blamed what he called financial “egoism” for the crisis and said it should be taken as a sign that America’s global economic leadership was drawing to a close. Along with some European leaders, Mr. Medvedev has called for greater multilateralism in financial regulation, echoing a Russian position on international relations generally.
“The times when one economy and one country dominated are gone for good,” he said Thursday at St. Petersburg State University during the eighth annual Petersburger Dialog, a forum devoted to developing relations with Germany. After the American banking collapses, he said, the world does not want America as a “megaregulator.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, in Russia for the forum, said Germany, too, would “always support a multilateral approach” to market regulation.
Along with the Germans and others, Russian leaders contend that poorly regulated American markets caused the current crisis. While it is hardly a new sentiment, in Russia there is a gloating quality, as the American crisis deepens."

That's not the Kremlin, by the way - it's the local racetrack at Sunland Park.

World Finance

OK, now we know. The market is not going to get better any time soon. If people want to panic, they will panic. If they want to riot, they will riot. French President Zarkozy has already made some pronouncement about the need to change the world financial structure - whatever that is. The meaning behind that is ominous. It has become clear that the U.S. has - up to now - exerted too much influence over world money markets. When things have gone sour here, they then have soured the rest of the world financial order. That is no longer acceptable. He didn't say it in so many words but that's what he meant. It is now clear that Europe does not want to be held hostage by economic or financial conditions in the U.S. A meeting will be held some time in November to initiate changes - whatever those may be.

The lack of transparency is being held up as one of the key issues. As a result, it may well come to pass that cash will be eliminated as an exchange medium for buying and selling. Perhaps only banks will be allowed to transact cash. You and I will need credit cards. Electronic transactions is the only way to keep everything transparent. It will also cut down on the crime rate since every dime you have will have to be accounted for. Pretty clever. Let's see what happens. In the meantime, buy the cheapest stocks you can find.